Monday

The boys were out of school today, so we had a pretty relaxed day around the house. One thing I love about school is those few precious hours where the only person actively messing up the house is Neil. It's much easier to pick up after a two-year-old-- or better yet, lay him down for a nap!-- than it is to restore order to a home that has been subject to the day-long imaginations of Tom, Gord and friends. Luckily, I did make brownies for FHE which served as bribery for cleaning up the family room. Whew.

I am not at a point in my self-confidence that I would dare take or post a picture of my messy house, so I'll just leave this funny one of Neil and his fists full of love.

Everyday life

It's been fun playing with my camera. We haven't done much out of the ordinary in the past couple of days, so I've been taking a lot of pictures of the boys just playing around in the house. Of course I think pictures should be taken at events and outings, but there is something kind of fun and smile-inducing about seeing photographs of just everyday life. So, here are some of my favorites from this week.

Neil is TWO. Each of those letters are capitalized on purpose. He is a sweet boy, but man, he whines a lot. I am sure there is something about being the youngest and his having to defend himself more often than the other two, and probably something more about me giving into his fussing way too much. Ah, well. They don't call it "terrible twos" for nothing. This picture makes me laugh and I suspect that it will make me laugh even more after he has grown out of this phase.

I love this picture of Tom not so much for the great expression on his face, but for the story behind it. Gordon had been watching Over the Hedge in the family room while Tom was doing homework, and Tom overheard the part where RJ, the raccoon, is explaining that humans have food "out the wazoo". I was messing around with the camera and took this picture right after I answered Tom's question: "What does 'wazoo' mean?"

Homework break: jumping off the couch.

These two look like a couple of little conspirators, don't they? Little devils.

Since it arrived in our Netflix envelope yesterday, we've been watching MegaMind almost non-stop. A couple of friends had told me how much they enjoyed it, and I completely agree. I think it may be one of those movies like The Incredibles that I just don't get sick of, no matter how many times I see it. I love the witty dialogue, and the fact that it isn't filled with bathroom humor, and I love the fabulous expression in the characters. And the music-- awesome. Two thumbs up from this chica.

Murray the Bengal kitty

For quite a long time now, I've been pining for a nicer camera. I kept saying, "the next time we have some extra money..." and planned to buy an entry-level DSLR. I did all of the research and found what I think is the best camera for my needs-- the Nikon D3100. And finally, with our tax return, I bought one-- it arrived today!

Chris isn't as needy and materialistic as I am (also he doesn't care as much about taking good pictures), but he did want a little something, too. His prize of choice? A cat-- specifically, a bengal. These babies are expensive-- a kitten can cost more than my fancy camera!-- so we were looking for possibly an older cat or one that needed a new home because of a move. We didn't find anything on craigslist or on KSL, but when we did a google search for bengal cats in Idaho, we found a breeder in Pocatello who had one of her own pets available for adoption. He is more than a year old (we think almost two), doesn't have as vivid markings as some other, more expensive bengals, and he has all of his shots and neutering done. This afternoon we drove out to take a look, and we came home with a new little family member.

Meet Murray:

I'm not really a huge pet person myself, but I could tell from the first moment that Chris was crazy about him. And honestly, I can't help but love him, too. Our last pet, Schroeder, while absolutely adorable, was not very people-friendly when we first brought him home. He actually spent his first night meowing sadly in a space under the unfinished laundry-room wall. Murray has been the complete opposite-- he has spent most of this evening in his new little cubby in Chris's office downstairs, but then sat with Chris and me while we watched "Bones" reruns for an hour or so. He looked around the couch and the family room for a bit, but seemed mostly content just to cuddle up to one of us.

Chris is in heaven-- I had kind of forgotten how much he loves animals and it's no wonder Murray has warmed up to him so quickly.



One of the cool things about bengal cats is their coats-- Murray's is extremely soft and has a range of colors. He has cool black stripes on his tail, spots on his back and belly, and a lot of orange in his fur. We also like his green eyes and his "mascara".

The boys have been pretty receptive to our new pet-- Tom even included Murray in a short story he wrote tonight. Gordon is an animal-lover, too, and even Neil let go of me for a few minutes to say good-night to the kitty. The boys got a kick out of watching Murray play-- I think he'll be a great fit for our family.

Did I mention that I love my camera? I do. I am thinking about taking an online digital photography course this month. I should mention that I am not interested in becoming a professional photographer or anything, I'm just excited about being able to take better pictures of my own family and use the camera in my scrapbook design business. So exciting!

I love these close-ups-- can't get enough of those eyelashes!!



And with such great subjects as these two cuties, I think this camera is going to get plenty of use!

President's Grandparents' Day

Hooray for President's Day-- a little 3-day weekend right in the middle of February is just what we needed! And better yet, we had two fun visitors!

Chris's other siblings all live in pretty large metropolitan areas where there are lots and lots of fun things to do on any given day. Although we love our hometown, we realized that Idaho Falls doesn't have a lot to offer on winter days-- especially federal holidays. The two museums in town were closed and it was too cold to venture out into the great outdoors, so the entertainment options were scarce.

Luckily, Grammuh and Grampuh are happy just to hang out with us and the kids were thrilled that their hotel had a pool. The boys had a great time swimming-- and I had fun sitting on the sidelines taking a few pictures.

After a tasty lunch, we took Gramm and Gramp to Sarah's Candy Cottage for a fun sample session. We loaded up on truffles and licorice, while the boys picked Lego candy and golf-ball-sized jawbreakers. My favorites are the sea salt caramels-- yum!

We enjoyed a quiet afternoon playing Wii and Carcassonne, eating some of Grammuh's sugar cookies (as if we didn't have enough sugar in our systems), and visiting. We loved having Grandparents' Day and hope they'll come again soon-- maybe when it warms up a little bit!

Close up

I should have knocked on wood when I gloried in that Spring yesterday. Winter is back and it sounds like it's blowing down the house! Ah, well. It's February and in Idaho, February means Winter.

Here are a few sweet little pictures of the boys up close. They are cute, aren't they? Don't say otherwise.

Thomas is currently reading a book called 101 Ways to Bug Your Parents, and he is perfectly thrilled that the book includes the list of 101 ways at the back. I've been hearing giggles coming from his room for the past 20 minutes.