For Nicole, this goes way back to Halloween!!!

Cuz, I think you are the only one who reads this!

So this is way over due.  Callen and Claysen had original costumes this year for Halloween.  Claysen was Chris Kratt from a PBS show called Wild Kratts.  Callen wanted to be a buffalo.  I think that originated from our trip to Yellowstone this June.  Claysen's costume was very easy to make, no sewing at all!!!  Callen's was a little more challenging.  I got lucky on the brown furry fabric in the remnant bin at the fabric store.  I used a pattern for a jacket and got creative with the horns and ears.  He thought it was great!  

Callen is really getting interested in Rusty's job and the business of trading cattle.  This picture shows how interested...Rusty is on an actual business call.  Callen asked for a briefcase for Christmas.  Papa Fred gave him one stocked full of pencils, invoices, paper, etc. for starting his own cattle business.

Want to know a cheap trick?  Glow sticks from the $1 bin at Target in the bath tub with the lights out!  Fun, screaming, loud, splashing, FUN!!!!

The boys first time bowling!  We went with some friends and their daughter.  They had such a blast.  Things have really changed in the bowling technology since I was a kid!  It has really become something the whole family can do.  They even have ramps for the ball so the kids don't have the throw the ball.

Even the shoes are adorable!!

At Thanksgiving Rusty found a garden snake.  Callen was thrilled to see and touch it.

In November our family lost a dear friend.  Her daughter Jordan, pictured below, is who gave my Mom her grandma name of Maga.  We got together with her and her grandma to make Christmas cookies.  It was fun and I hope we make a tradition out of it.  

We've been praying for snow!  Our ski hill set a new record late opening and just opened yesterday.  The boys are excited and ready to go!  Mama just needs to get over this plugged up nose!

Terms of Endearment

For quite a while now Claysen's personality and sense of humor has been well developed.  It seeps into all of us and we start using his phrases with each other even when he isn't around.

The most frequently used one and my favorite has evolved over the last year or so.

Claysen will say it out of the blue, so you know it is really heartfelt,

"Mommy, I love you, cuz you're poopy."

He says this with a strait face, no sarcasm in his voice either, just plain as if he was going to tell you he wanted to watch a special show.  Next he used this phrase,

"Mommy, you're not poopy, cuz I love you."

Oh good, I think, glad I'm not poopy anymore.  Now he loves us because we are clean,

"Mommy, I love you, cuz you're not poopy."

Now Rusty and I will just be sitting watching TV and where we would have said, "hey, I love you" it is, "Hey, you're poopy."

So for all my friends that read this,

"You're poopy!"

Long time.....but having fun instead

Rusty's horse Buddy stepped on a staple out at the ranch and ended up with an abscess.  After several weeks of no improvement and stall confinement he was taken back to the vet and they x rayed the foot and found another fragment of metal in his leg.  The hoof was dying so Rusty chose to put him down.  

Claysen has been interested in cutting things to help make dinner lately.  Here he is cutting a tomato with a butter knife.  You can imagine what that tomato looked like in the end.  We have a ton growing, so one wasted is ok in my book.  It keeps his occupied and out of the way.

 Rusty had business in Enterprise, OR on Monday so we make a long weekend out of it and enjoyed the Wallowa Lake area.  We rented a boat and fished for a couple of hours.  We started too late in the day and didn't catch a thing!  The boys were a little scared of the boat at first, but quickly relaxed and had a blast.

The views are AMAZING!!!

We road the tram to the top of Mt. Howe.  From there you can the Wallowa Valley, the Eagle Cap Mountains, and Seven Devils.  It was amazing.  The boys enjoyed feeding the squirrels and chipmunks.   

After the tram ride we rode the go karts and played mini golf.

Monday morning I saw this accompanied by two other fawns.  They laid down before I could get the camera out.

On the way home we went through Hell's Canyon and over the Brownly Dam.  This is a view of Seven Devils.

We got home Monday, they boys got haircuts on Tuesday and school started for Callen on Wednesday!  It has been a fast and furious summer!

Summer Time Fun

Callen played t-ball for the first time this spring.  I think he enjoyed it.  I was a co-coach, so I think I would have enjoyed it more had I just been a parent or a coach for another team.  

 Here is Callen "showing" his friend how to throw a ball.  This is at the last game of the season.  I think just cause I was the coach he thought he knew a thing or two as well.

We spent the 3rd of July out at the ranch for a the Jacks' Family Reunion.  Below is Grammie Cada and her siblings.

Rusty actually smiling just a tiny bit....

The boys and Mildred (Grammie).

This past weekend I went to a college friend's wedding.  It has been several years since I've seen her.  I was fun to see my college gang again.  The wedding was perfect, relaxed and simple.  

The bride and me.

An then on Sunday when I got home, Callen found a baby bird that fell out of the nest.  Claysen enjoyed holding it and wanted it to watch TV with him in the living room!  We put it in a box and back in the tree like the little guys we found last year.  

Rollin', Rollin', Rollin'

On father's day Callen started riding his bike with out the training wheels.  He practiced with Oil (my dad) and Rusty in the grass for about an hour and then we took the wheels off at home and off he went.  It didn't take him long to just get it.  I am so proud.  He is of himself too!

Yellowstone

Many months ago it was decided that the entire Roberts family would get together to honor our Grammie Darlene's 90th birthday.  Her birthday is in August, but that time of year is just not good for those of us with school age kids.  So....we pushed it up to June.  It was planned that we would rent a large house, much like we did when we went to the Hiawatha trail.  The house that was found was in Ashton, ID.  It is about an hour away from the west entrance to Yellowstone.  We drove over on Saturday and stopped off to see the Craters of the Moon monument near Arco, ID.  The kids seems slightly interested.  I had a hard time getting geared up for this trip since I just don't think they are old enough to appreciate sites like this one or Yellowstone.  They sure have fun playing with the other kids, but the traveling and site seeing part is hard on them.

Any way.... here are some pictures.  We did enjoy the sites.  Or at least I did.  We are glad to be home and glad to have the opportunity to go.

Callen and Claysen at Crater's of the Moon

Buffalo near the West Park Entrance

The falls in the "Grand Canyon" of Yellowstone

Castle Geyser near Old Faithful

Old Faithful

Claysen and Old Faithful

Callen and Old Faithful

Old Faithful Inn

Turquoise Pool at the Midway Geyser Basin

Callen and Grammie blowing out candles.

Now I get to do this...

Staying home as been wonderful!  It has been 9 months now.  I get to hang with my boys, do my chores on my own time, (i've never been one to do it "NOW"(although I expect my kids and hubby to, mental note: work on that)) spend more time with Rusty, stamp more, scrapbook more, just relax and drink more margaritas!  (that's why I am not getting any skinnier)

I wanted to share a few of my fun creative projects that I made recently:

Would you have guessed this is a Victoria's Secret Bag?    It was for our friends 1st birthday party, a Minnie Mouse theme.

A birthday card for a construction themed birthday party.

For my nephew that recently turned seven.  He's a farm boy.

For my cousin who is graduating this spring.

For a family friend who is graduating.

Both grad cards, I tried to follow or at least feature the school's colors.

The mother's day card my boys picked out for me from the several that I made.

A teacher gift that I made from scraps and a used Starbuck's frappuccino bottle.  The pencils are from Target's $1 bin.

I also bought an orchid for Callen's teacher to be the main gift.  The gift bag all finished with gifts inside you can see coordinates.  The button flower on the bag says "Thanks for helping Callen bloom."  You can personalize it.  Get your's  @ http://www.skiptomylou.org/2010/05/04/last-minute-teacher-appreciation-gift/  it is free.  Again I am reusing for this item.  The bag is a gift bag from a local upscale salon.  I covered up their logo with the green scrap and punched out the flower and stuck it on.  I love how the flower peeks out of the bag and all the colors coordinate.  The only thing that doesn't  match is the color of the pot the flower is in.  But you can't see that.  

I am excited to be making these fun things.  I purchased a small die-cut machine last year and it really has allowed for more creativity.  I think I have also collected so many supplies that I am more liberal with my embellishments on cards and such.

Life is good!