I mean, what can you say? Really, when you see these pictures? A 3-and a-half-year-old, who puts himself into the baby carrier and waddles around the house… around and around… 
And ACTUALLY yells out… ‘MAMA! HELP! I’VE FALLEN AND I CAN’T GET UP!’
Ah. The weeks off to a great start.
1. Did you look at catalogs when you were little, in preparation for Christmas or your birthday? I don’t think I did. But thanks to these boys’ Mimi, they do. :) It is only the beginning of October and Gage already knows exactly which Playmobile set he wants. And the benefit of doing this so early is that we have 2 months to prepare him for the fact that he will not receive every. single. set in the catalog. 
4. This sweet boy learned how to make his own instant oatmeal the other morning. He can also get Kaden out of his crib and provide him with Cheerios… I wonder if I now have permission to sleep in and have them fend for themselves? No. I know. I’m kidding… kind of.
5. Those scratches on his fore-head? In a word: Cooper. Gosh, Déjà Vu. Did I already explain those scratches in another post? Anyway, amidst their struggles to sometimes get along, the other night we had a moment that made me tear up and hug them a little tighter. We were reading a bed-time story when Cooper quickly got up from my lap to go do something else (he’s easily distracted). So, Gage seized the opportunity and slid himself onto my lap for a snuggle, which resulted in Cooper throwing a fit. Thoughtfully, Gage slid back onto the floor and encouraged Cooper to sit back down with me because he’d “rather Cooper be happy than himself”. And we proceeded to read the rest of the story with Cooper’s arm draped around Gage’s shoulders. Oh, how I live for those moments!
Happy Friday!
Just when I was cozying up to the idea that Fall was here, we’ve gotten an influx of 70+ degree days. So much for slow-cookin’ this week… its back to the barbeque for a few more days.
However, before the hot weather started I got in one meal of good-‘ol comfort food. Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup. I found this recipe on Becky Higgins’ blog, so again, I totally can’t take credit for its goodness, but I will take credit for passing it on to you! :) And I have tweaked it to add a bit more broth – when I first made this recipe it was more like a soupy casserole. Oh, and I ALWAYS double this recipe. We couldn’t handle it any other way, and leaving half of a soup can in the fridge is just silly. Ready? Enjoy…
2 chicken bouillon cubes (or 2 tsp. granules)
2 cans chicken broth (or about 4 cups)
1 c. chopped carrots (I usually just do 4 large ones)
2 c. chopped celery (I usually just do 4 large stalks)
1/2 can cream of chicken soup
1/4 c. milk
1/2 cube (4tbsp) butter
1/4 c. flour
2 c. chopped cooked chicken (2 breasts)
4-6 oz. egg noodles
Directions
Boil chicken until fully cooked, remove but SAVE THIS WATER. In Dutch oven dissolve 2 bouillon cubes in 1 cup boiling water. Add chicken broth and vegetables to the liquid until tender. Meanwhile, cook noodles in the water that they chicken was boiled in (adding more if necessary). In separate bowl, whisk a half a can of cream of chicken soup and milk until smooth. Whisk soup and milk mixture into broth and vegetables. Melt butter then stir into flour. Add to soup mixture. Add chicken and noodles. Season with a little salt and pepper and we love to add garlic powder, too.
This soup kind of freezes funny, so its best if you either make this recipe as is, or double it, as I mentioned, and eat it for dinner and lunch for two days straight.
(And buttery biscuits are kind of a must-have-side for this soup!)
Matt and I just attended, what we think will be our last “Friend Wedding”. In our 7 and a half years of marriage we’ve attended quite a few and it feels weird to know that this season of our life is coming to a close… and let me tell ya, Sarah and Jon’s wedding and reception this past Saturday sent us out with a bang. I attended college at WSU with Sarah, where we were sorority sisters and often classmates, as we shared our major of Communication. Sarah is an easy person to adore – she is cheerful, quirky, and entertaining to be around. I remember many times when we would ‘ponder’ goofy things, discuss feeding squirrels, and laugh till our cheeks hurt. Anyway, she is VERY organized and VERY detail-oriented … thus, planned a wedding that was nothing less than PERFECTION.
I feel like I should note, that this was the first time Matt and I had been ‘out’ together, without kids, in a very. long. time. Okay, onward.
My phone’s little navigation lady easily directed us to the wedding location, where we were so gladly welcomed by another wonderful college friend, Alicia and her husband, Reggie. We joined up with my other ‘sorority girls’, Dana and Kari, Kari’s husband, Ryan, and Tiff’s husband, Nik (Tiff was in the wedding… see her down there, standing by Sarah?? ).
(Nice picture, taken by Matt of Dana, Kari, Alicia and me, aided by the beautiful natural light filtering in through the huge window behind him)
(and it got darker, and therefore harder to take photos, but I was determined! And I actually love this one of Dana…)
(… caught the photographer’s flash as I was trying to capture Sarah and Jon at the head ‘Seahawks Table’…)
I am pretty sure Matt took this one …
And this will tell you just what a blast this wedding reception was…
(check out the guy in the back! and I was still refusing to turn on my flash…)
But then he violated my camera by switching it to Auto and using the flash… for the first time…
Oh well. The memory is captured and that’s what matters… red-eye, shiny cheekbones, and all.
This was the fancy-pansiest night out we’ve possibly ever had and it was SUCH a blessing to share it with these girls…
And congratulations to Sarah and Jon… thank you for the amazing night!
… this summer was roast marshmallows. I think we only did it 3 times… All Summer! How does this happen. But I suppose it isn’t something that has to be restricted to warm-weather-days… after-all, we are sitting by a fire. 
(This one has nothing to do with the marshmallow… except that his face is just about as sweet as one! Its pretty blurry (seems like most of my pictures are these days) but I love it just the same.)
I hope you are having a great day!
At our house we are surrounded by fir trees. The few maples we have drop their leaves into the hay field and are quickly dispersed by the wind. So, playing in the leaves on a beautiful Fall day was a special treat for our boys … especially because they were among such fun friends…
Below is Julie… she is Miss Em’s (whom I mentioned here) grandma and she is so great… a dear, generous woman who loves each of these kiddos like they could be her own grandbabies. She and her husband, Don, open their home to our friends time and again and their hospitality is remarkable…
Besides playing in the leaves, the gator got lots of use, around and around the yard, full of kids. Eventually it ran out of “gas” (but not before I heard one of the curly-haired kiddos in the front tell the other that they won’t marry them unless they do what they are told… hmm… my lips are sealed when it comes to WHICH curly-haired-kiddo it was… )
I LOVE these shots…
As we transition out of summer and into cold and flu season, I know these play-dates will once again become scarce. But they will be worth the wait when the good weather rolls around, once again.
1. I got my hair cut this week and um, hello, short. It is to my chin and I’m trying to get a grip on it. But that’s hard when I can’t even put it in a pony-tail…
2. Kaden turned 9-months-old last Friday and had his check-up a few days go… he now weighs 19 pounds 11 ounces, has 3 teeth and is everywhere. He’s in the 40th percentile for both weight and height, which is SMALL for my babies! But if we’re comparing him to his brothers, he is beyond where they were at this point in several developmental categories.
4. After I did Miss Em’s photos, we raced down to her grandparents’ house and took some photos of her entire family… let’s just say, I learned A LOT. And am praying I got some images they will like! I came home with such an adrenalin rush from the evening that my eyes felt like they could shut forever, but my mind wouldn’t stop racing. I guess that means I enjoyed myself…
5. My boy Cooper hit his head REALLY hard the other night while playing in his room and we had our first head-gushing blood situation. I was on the phone, at the time, planning the above photo-shoot when I heard it happen. Then I heard Matt saying, “Gage, tell your mom to get off the phone.” Not good. Matt stayed so calm, that Cooper never even knew he was bleeding. Bag of frozen veggies applied, hair washed in the sink “salon style” and Coop was good to go. I asked him lots of questions, watched his pupils and prayed over him, a lot. I knew he was fine when I asked how old he is and he told me ‘Five’. He always tells me his ‘Five’.
… it is by the Lord’s hand that we have not had to go to the ER yet with one of these boys…
Happy Friday!
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