You Know You Are From a Political Family When...

Your 2 1/2 year old knows the names of both of the nominees running for President and which one that we support.

Brittan surprised me the other day when we were praying for lunch. Just as I started to pray he said, "Mom, pray for JohnMcCain(one word) to win." I looked at him completely surprised, prayed for our lunch and his request and then decided it was time to explore his thoughts. I proceeded to make a few inquiries and here is a little bit of what I learned. Now remember he is 2 1/2 and everything may not be politically correct.:):) "Mom, I not like Obama. Him has the devil in he's howrt. Him not like babies (I believe that he is thinking that he is like Pharoah in the Bible. He LOVES the story of Moses and Pharoah to him is the baddest, meanest guy ever!), him not like cowrs (cars)(not sure where this one is from, but not far off!). I not want him to win, I want JohnMcCain to win." And so went the conversation. I had to laugh, but also wonder where in the world he has picked this up. He is completely obsessed with it! All of his toys (usually his Cars ie., Lightining McQueen & Tow Mater) 'talk' about it. He(McQueen)asks them if they "like Obama" and then he responds back with to whichever one it is that he is talking to(Tow Mater) and begins to tell them why he doesn't like him. It is hilarious!

Brittan is not the only one, Brooklyn is into it as well, only she is the family prayer warrior! I came into the family room yesterday to find Brooklyn & Brittan kneeling in front of the couch and I could hear her praying, "And please God help John McCain to win. He is a good guy." Everytime that we pray this is her prayer request and several times throughout the day she will ask me if I have prayed for him. So I must say, if John McCain is successful in November, and I PRAY that he is:), it will be the prayers of the little children, my children included!:):)

We Have the Bug!

Yep, you read that right. We are heading into the fall season already having caught our first stomach flu bug. If I sound like I am excited, you are definitely not reading my tone of voice correctly.:)I just knew that this year was going to be better for us. With Brooklyn catching every single bug that flew past here last year, I was more than sure of myself when I thought that our immune systems were indeed hardened to sickness. Not to be so. And the lucky winner is: Brittan Riley. UGH! And I am sure that Brooklyn will follow suit shortly, as that is how it always seems to be around here. But never you fear, we aren't wondering around town sharing the lucky fortune with every soul that we come into contact with. No, we are home to stay until Mr. Flu Bug flies far, far away!! Oh, the joys of being a parent.:):) But looking on the bright side, maybe this is strengthening our immune systems to ward off any other bugs from residing here.:):) So, for those of you that I had planned on being with this week while Brooklyn is out of school, sorry! All plans have been canceled until further notice. And I am off to finish making homemade chicken noodle soup!


The familiar scene playing out at our house.:) I am sure that I will have a picture of Brooklyn to post soon doing the exact same thing, but praying this isn't so.

When Daddy is Away, Life Falls Apart!

For those of you who don't know, Brook has been away with a developing project up in the mountians just south of here. He and his partner started it about 3 weeks ago and they have been putting in long days and weeks trying to get it accomplished before the snow flies up there is a few short weeks. They are developing over 330 heavily wooded acres and are dividing them into 5 acre lots that will have electricity and water as well as nice roads when they are finished. They must first clear any brush and trees that are in the way of their roads, then cut in the roads, make them complete and ready for gravel, then get power to each site as well as water. It is a big job, but definitely a rewarding one.:) If it weren't for him missing being with the family, life would be wonderful for him!

Meanwhile back here at the ranch, things are not running quite as smoothly as they should be. Last week it was a dead battery and a flat tire that threw a kink into my daily routine. This week it was more, much more! I thought that I would mow the lawn, now this is not your average walk behind mowers for a small lawn. We have over an acre of grass to mow and use a commerical type of mower. I was so pleased with myself that I got it started. I had made one lap around the outside perimeter when it, the mower, decided that it was through for the day. Yep, it died right there in the middle of my lawn. A red lawn ornament is going to be a permanent fixture until Brook returns. I was not happy! Well, with that project completely impossible to finish I decided that I would go inside and start on my inside cleaning. Everything went along fine until the garbage disposal decided to quit. Frustration mounted a little bit more, but I decided to not let it best me. I finished the rest of my cleaning, got the kids ready to go to town and away we went to run errands. Or so I thought...my van had other ideas! It decided that 20 miles an hour was all the faster that it wanted to go. Now, for a little stroll through a neighborhood that is a fine speed, but when making a 5-7 mile trip into town on the highway while other cars are speeding by at 65 miles per hour, humiliation started to set in! I pulled over, put it in park, nothing. I turned around and headed home, only going 20 miles an hour. Upon reaching my destination and shutting off my car, I realized that I had no one to help me and I really needed to go to town. I called my husband on a whim, hoping against hope that he would just happen to be in the spot where he can actually get service, but since my luck was running so high, he didn't answer. It was with major prayer for my car to return to its normal state that I went to bed.
When I awoke this morning my van started and ran at a normal speed. I thanked the Lord all the way to school with a promise that when I hear from Brook I'll ask him if he can return home a little sooner than planned.

We really have managed fine up until now. There have been a couple of melt-downs from the kiddos, but we have made it. The kids miss their Daddy, I miss the conversation of an adult, and truthfully things really do run more smoothly when he is here! I am just hoping for a less eventful next two weeks until Brook is home for good. Oh, and I did talk to Brook this evening and he will be returning home on Thursday and until then he will be checking in on a very regular basis.:):)



Not everything has been bad - we were blessed to have some of my family visit for a few days last week and that was wonderful! I have more pics to post, but with the way my luck has been in the past few days, well, let's just say one will be fine!:):)

A Little Fish Named, Brooklyn!

FYI - This post is really for my sister Chera who is away at college in Ohio. She requested some pictures of the following. But for those of you who also care...

Brooklyn LOVES water! This being the case we decided that it was high time for her to have swimming lessons. We enrolled her in private lessons at the local Aquatic Center, in which she has only 6 kids in her class. She started a few weeks ago and at that time she had conquered her fear of water, but was still not able to swim without holding her nose. Well, she could, but didn't want to. I am still not sure what the magic trick was that her teacher was able to pull off, but we now have a little fish in our family.:)So each Tuesday and Thursday will find us sitting poolside for the next couple of months as we enjoy watching the little 'school of fish'. And soon, little brother will join as well.


My precious little swimmer!


She dove and found all the diving toys.:)


Brooklyn enjoys her instructor and hangs on her every word!


Working on the hand motions for the crawl stroke, "make the fin of a shark and then go over the rainbow." (it's something like that:) )


A smile for Mom after she successfully completed the back float.


Brooklyn and Asa, a little girl that she attends CCS with.

Labor Day Weekend Getaway!

We just returned home from a relaxing weekend in McCall. My Aunt Shirlee and her husband have a cabin there and were gracious enough to loan it to us for the long 4 day weekend. We arrived in McCall Friday evening in time to have a little snack and head for bed. Saturday was spent playing at the beach, going for walks, playing outside at the cabin, shopping in town for a little while, and just relaxing as a family. We enjoyed just being away and focusing on each other. It is in times like these that you realize that we are a busy family. Like everyone else, there is always somewhere we are going, need to go, need to do, something that we want to watch, or a phone that is ringing that needs to be answered, etc,; we don't really get to just enjoy the quiet, the un-hurried conversations with our children, or actually get to have a conversation for more than 5 minutes between just Brook and myself. But here, we were able to do just that and it was wonderful!

On towards evening, I was in the cabin preparing dinner and the children and Brook were playing outside together having a wonderful time together when all of the sudden they burst in the door out of breath. I turned from what I was doing to ask Brook what was going on and he said very calmly, "there is a bear in the back yard." I thought he was teasing, because he is known for that, but he was indeed serious and told us all to run to a window and look out. After he made sure that the little bear was not accompanied by a momma, we went outside to watch it crawl under the fence and over into the neighbors yard. I grabbed my camera, but was holding a very nervous little boy, so my picture turned out blurry. It did cause quite some excitement and the kids were done playing outside for the day.:) Later that same evening we were so excited to have my parents and my brother Brent and his wife Rochenda come to stay for the remainder of the weekend. They both were celebrating anniversaries and so that made it even more special. We had so much fun talking, laughing, sharing, going for a drive, resting, relaxing, eating wonderful food, just being together without the normal everyday interruptions that bombard us when we are home. We made fun memories together and returned home rested, relaxed, and ready to face September. We did miss the rest of the family that were not there, but they were either away at college, working, or had to work at some point this weekend. Thank you Shirlee for letting us have a weekend away with family. Next time, you must join us!


Does it get any better than this, internet service, a good cup of coffee, and enjoying the outdoors in the mountians of McCall, ID?


They played in the sand for a couple of hours. They LOVE the beach!!!


They were laying in the sand just a visiting away and had no idea that we were watching.:)





The blurry bear photo. He IS the black spot that you see.:)


Brook looking up the directions on the internet for us to play a card game.:)


So happy together!


My Dad walking the kids down to the water.


Brooklyn playing with Keaton.


My official station. I enjoyed it!


Brent & the kids wanted to make s'mores. He took them to the grocery store by himself, which is a total nother story, and then came home and helped them get started.:)


Brittan with his "lookers":):)


Rochenda getting ready to enjoy roasting marshmellows with Brittan & Brooklyn's 'help'.


Eating breakfast at the Pancake House, "The Girl's Table!"


The "Boy's Table!"


Brooklyn LOVES Nana!!!


Three little cousins.:)


All four of us in front of the cabin.

My Little Girl Started School Today

It was a much different scene than last year that played this morning as I prepared to send Brooklyn off for the first day of school. She was ready, I was ready. She was excited, I was excited. She was happy, I was happy. The difference? We have done this before.:)

It was after much debate that we decided to put her into Kindergarten again this year. With her just turning 5 at the beginning of school last year that made her the youngest. Everyone else had already turned 6, was turning 6, and some were even turning 7. I'm not someone who is a big worrier, but in this case it was different. I didn't want Brooklyn to be 11 and the others in her class to be 12 or 13. Somehow, during those years of development, a year makes a huge difference. Mrs. Trigsted informed us that she would be closer in age to the classmates of this year's Kindergarten class, than that of last year's class. We made the decision, I felt good about it, but still had some questions running through my mind about if we had indeed made the right decision. Today, my mind was put at ease. As I watched her confidentally walk into her class room, sit at her desk, and begin to work, my doubts and questions were put to rest. She is right where she is supposed to be and I am so glad.


My Kindergartener.


All packed up and ready to go.


Ready to take my little girl into school.


Mrs. Trigsted & Brooklyn.


Brittan thought that he would like to stay for the morning as well.

A Great Escape!

This last weekend, we decided to escape the heat and head for a day to the mountians to enjoy Brooklyn's last weekend before school starts. We headed up to the Waha mountians, 50 minutes away from our house. Brook is developing over 300 hundred acres up there with his partner, so we went up to the property to have a picnic, ride 4 wheelers, and just be outdoors together! Brook has been telling me how beautiful it is up there, but I had no idea what an amazing site I was in for. It didn't take me long to fall in love with the location myself and if all goes as planned, we will be taking out trailer up there so that we can spend the weekends with Daddy camping.:)

There are a couple of old, I mean hundred years plus old, cabins and it was so fun to see and go through them. Brook and his partner plan on leaving them there and eventually restoring them some. I think that they add to the beauty of the place! Here are a few captured moments from our day.



A view of the lake from up above.


We're here!


They both wantd to ride with Mommy.:)


Cabin #1


For some unknown reason, my kids LOVE dirt!!!


Time for lunch.


We found a double occupancy outhouse!:)


Brook & his favorite little girl!


Me and my little Mommy's Boy.


Brook & Brooklyn checking out a ladder on the tree.


A view of the lake





Can you guess who loved to ride?


Cabin #2 that we found


Although it doesn't look like much, this is a very well loved new/old playhouse that we came upon. My children were thrilled and Daddy made sure that it was indeed safe before the kids were allowed in.:):)


The greatest discovery of the day according to Brooklyn. She has great plans of remodeling and setting up house soon!!:)


Brittan, who also loved the new clapboard playhouse, climbed the ladder because he didn't want to leave.


Overlooking the Northside of the property.