Free Range on Fairview

Pumpkin Patch with the two little boys. Dylan and Lincoln and their pumpkins and spider and bat candy container. Warning on our front door. Scotch Tape spider webs (hexagon shape getting bigger and bigger) Plastic bag ghosts and construction paper bats. Football (brown onesie and scotch tape) Warner's First Halloween, check out that drool drip! All smiles Monster Eye Balls (garlic toast with waterbottle lid dipped in blue food coloring) Frankenstein Soup  1 lb. Split Peas 2 Carrots Small Onion 2 Cloves Garlic finely chopped 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil 1/2 Cup Chopped Fresh Spinach 1/2 Tsp. Seasoning Salt 1 Tsp. Italian Seasoning 8 Cups Water In a large soup pot on medium heat add oil and heat. Add carrots, onion and garlic and sweat them for about 5-10 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil. Turn down to low and simmer for at least 40 minutes. (I started this during nap time and just kept on low until we we...

Wow time is flying and I can't seem to catch it. Warner is already five months old. He is such a sweet and smily guy. He adores his brothers, jumping around, gnawing on ninja men, eating baby food and reading books with mommy. He is a very content little guy. His hair is starting to come in and it looks like it will be the same color as Lincoln's. Still no word if he will be curly too.  Always keeping an eye on what trouble Brother will cause. Ouch, luckily the sticker came off easily. Found his toes. And his yummy fingers.

Our weather has been pretty wacky so far. We wore shorts well into October and enjoyed sunny days as we made halloween crafts. The boys love finding easy crafts we can make at home to get things spooky. Even the flowers and bees didn't know it was fall. Look at the size of that bumble bee! Then a few short days later, this happened! Snow. Enough snow to actually play in. And we've had two different days of it now. I'm pretty astonished how fast the temps dropped. After having the issues with smoke in our valley for over a month I swore I would never curse having a rainy day (at least for this winter) so we'll just have to see what the weather holds for us this year. The boys are pretty excited to play in it. Welcome Fall/Winter

Just a couple of snuggle bugs Linc climbing in Warner's bed I’ve had great dreams of bring a “yes” mom. A fun mom. A get on the floor and play Legos with me for hours mom. I imagine my kids always getting along and being happy and never complaining about what is for dinner. Unfortunately, that isn’t my reality. I have become a “no” mom. I say no more than any other word daily. No, don’t climb on top of the refrigerator. No, don’t draw on your face with Sharpie. No, you cannot have pizza for dinner… again. Some of my no’s come from looking out for my children. I am responsible for keeping my kids safe and out of harms way and sometimes saying no is ok and has to happen. I also say no when I don’t feel like I have the energy or desire to do something. No, I don’t want to let you paint and then have to spend more time setting and cleaning up than you are actually painting. No, you cannot ride your bike with your friends for just five more minutes, it’s almost di...

My boys just love their cousins.  Luke (my sister's boy) and Lincoln are shaping up to be two peas in a pod and I love seeing all the boys play together. We went over to visit them some weekend ago and they just wanted to play and play and it made me so happy to see the love.  Lukey is so happy to share his jumparoo with Warner (who also loved being IN the jumparoo) We also had a visit from my cousin Marisa's son, Caleb... except it wasn't really him. His grandma sent up "Flat Caleb" to take pictures with his cousins. Lincoln and Caleb are just a month or so apart in age so it would be fun to see them play together too. This weekend we are going to think of some other funny ideas for pictures to take with him before we mail him on to other cousins but I thought this one was cute so far.  The Sadler boys with Caleb.  Dylan also has some cousins he loves to play with on his biological dad's side of the family who are a bit older but he stil...

I opened up the photo program on my computer and suddenly there were tons of pictures like this. Deer, elk, butts of dear or elk or whatever other wild animal is running around. The night vision shots. The shots of random people walking by...  It's that time of year again when my man packs up and goes off hunting with his buddies. The women left behind have come up with the term "hunting widow" and I agree. It's not so much the week (this year only a 4 day weekend and a 2 day trip) that he is in the mountains but it's the weeks leading up to it. The trips to go up and salt and put up the trail camera, the scouting day trips, the day to go set up camp the weekend before, the new equipment needed, the shopping trip to get food, etc etc etc. It is a long process and he doesn't even go as often as other people. It is definitely not my cup of tea but I guess I have gotten used to cooking with wild game so there is one benefit I see. If all the kids weren't s...

Warner officially got the ok to start solids so of course I had to snap some shots of the momentous occasion. He is getting too big too quick :( He is a quick learner and enjoys the occasional sweet potato or pea baby food now but I'm just not ready for him to be ready yet.  Ironically he's not that messy yet So happy! Lincoln was so jazzed to help feed the baby. Unfortunately (and as sad as I am to admit I saw it coming) he got a little overzealous and gagged the poor boy. Fortunately I got it on video so Warner will know why he is warped when he grows up. 

The Easter Bunny brought Dylan some Crayola Glow Sand back all those months ago and since the sun keeps setting earlier and earlier we finally made the time and effort to get it out and play with it. Boy was it fun and not as messy as I expected. The boys had a great time mixing it up, playing with the three different colors and making creations.  Glow Sand Rocks! What they are doing with the flash on. Dylan throwing the sand in the air. Glow Hands! Lincoln freaked out a little because it stuck to his hands and made them feel dirty (OCD in the making?)  and also how bossy I am, as you can see in this silly video. It was cheap and fun and I wish we had more!

Last night I looked around my house and realized that it wouldn't be hard to tell I live with someone constantly "decorating" in their own toddler way. Not it's not the bright plastic toys in the living room or the hotwheels on the bedroom floor, it's the creative evidence I am finding. Take exhibit one.  Lincoln decided that the baby food on the counter given to us by a friend would look much better in a fancy tower. When I took this picture I didn't even notice the half eaten apple put back in the fruit bowl at first. That's my kid for you.  Exhibit two. How do you like the fancy candle stacking in my bathroom accompanied by a Curious George bath book. Shane and I both agree that the man in the yellow hat must have some kind of patience because George is really not a good monkey and gets in trouble way too much for our liking. Exhibit three. Why is there a sand bucket on my windowsill? I did have those candles flanking the vase but now t...