10 Random Things for September

And we have reached the end of the month.  September seemed to go by in a flash. Now is a good time to look back and find ten things about the month that make me smile:

1. We did the Monster trucks as a family:

2. We got our first snow of the season:

3. Both boys have done fairly well at school.  Bruiser is rocking kindergarten and Turbo is adjusting to middle school.
4.Nick had a awesome time archery hunting.  He didn't get an animal, but he got to see some amazing country.
5.  Nick's excitement about his new piece of equipment is pretty cool!

6. We went to a home game for the Wyoming Cowboys--the local university.

7. Bruiser learned to ride a bike:

8. We enjoyed the season beginning of Big Bang Theory.  We truly enjoy watching that show.  It's fun, funny, and pretty good for our whole family.
9. Bruiser got his glasses replaced.  He really likes having his glasses for school. 
10. I have loved having time with these two awesome boys:

And now for a bit more random:

• Nick did not succeed in getting an elk or a deer during archery season.  Now we are into rifle season.  Well it actually starts tomorrow. We are going to be going for a drive this weekend and the rifle will be going along as you never know what you will see. he will be taking more time to go hunt, but not time from work.  Rifle season is a bit easier--you don't have to get as close to them.
• There was an epic sleepover at our house this weekend.  Sunday night to be exact.  The kids had Monday off from school, so I stayed home with them and we had cousins and another friend over for a sleepover.  The living room became kid central. Everyone had fun and there were no tears--mostly.
• I rocked the laundry.  That feels so good, even if the piles just start growing again immediately.
• We have gotten over an inch of rain in the last two days.  That is a ton of rain for these parts.  And the treat of snow is in the forecast again for tomorrow night. But by Monday it's supposed to be in the 60s again.  Weird, wonderful Wyoming weather.

Well that's my random for the week. Have a great week and go see Stacy! She who is now Random Queen, or our fearless leader of the random!

Confession Random

So today is Friday.  Finally!  This week took forever to get through. But the weekend is upon us, as soon as going home time hits!  Now let's get on to the confession part of the program:

• The laundry fairies have eluded me again, therefore it is necessary that I tackle mount laundry again.
• Here's to a weekend of laundry.  Sounds fun, yes?  No? Well, necessary anyway.
• Nick is hunting this weekend.  
• I really hope he manages to get something.
• Our freezer could use the meat.
• We totally enjoyed the new Big Bang Theory Monday and are eagerly looking forward to next Monday.
• I had two girls night's this week.  
• I went out with a good friend on Tuesday and that was a blast.
• Then another good friend came over last night for mojitos.  
• So good and so fun.
• I have these thoughts far more often than I should:

• I do have to confess that I like having Nick gone for short periods of time.  I miss him like crazy, but enjoy having time with just the boys.
• I keep thinking about getting back to scrapbooking.  I think the stronger the urge, the easier it will be to get back into it.

So there you have it, my confessions for the week.  Go see Aubrey at High-Heeled Love.

Spin Cycle--Fall

I have done several fall posts over the years.  I like fall.  It's a gentler season transition around here and there is just so much to love about fall.

And so with the beginning of fall having just happened, I wanted to spin this one to some fall/winter goals:

1. Stay active.  I am not running right now--my feet and knees just can't do it.  So I have been trying to stay active.  I attempted the 30 day shred, but fell off the wagon after a week.  I think I should commit to something I can work around my schedule--say three days a week.  I can commit to that.  Anyway, I must stay active to stay ahead of the middle age spread.
2. Keep up with meal planning, and then actually cook.  It's so easy to just say bag it and do an easy freezer meal. Like pizza or corn dogs or, even easier, quesadillas.  I have just had a huge case of the blahs recently.  I must shake that off and do better at the meal planning.
3. I want to try to crochet something this winter--other than a granny square.  I'm thinking about talking to my mom about another crochet pattern I could do that would occupy hands but leave my attention to be directed to kids and hubby or TV, you know, whatever.
4. Regular get togethers with friends--it's good for them and us.  I really need to set up some play dates for Bruiser.  It's hard right now because he doesn't have any contact info for the friends he is making in Kindergarten. We will muddle through somehow.
5. Family activities.  Not just movie watching, but things that take us out of the house.  I'm not looking to spend tons on this, but we had a great time going to see the monster trucks.  An activity like that or even going swimming together.  This will be easier to do once Nick is done hunting, so maybe more of a winter goal.
6. Get out cross country skiing this winter.  Last year the snow was awful and I didn't go once. This year we are going to try Bruiser on skis, so I get to ski with Turbo while Nick works with Bruiser.  All we really need is enough snow to make it worth it.
7. Institute family game night and family reading time.  Turbo needs to do more reading, I love to read so making time should be easy and Bruiser is learning tons at school, so he should be reading easy stuff soon. As for game night, this plays into the family activity stuff.  Have a no TV, game playing evening once a month would be good for us.
8. Get the boys bedroom situation shifted by spring. We are moving Turbo to the attic, Bruiser to Turbo's room and the office/hobby area in the attic to Bruiser's current room. This will require so new dressers, some new ideas on laundry, and some heating fixes in the attic.  It will be a process, but in the end that area will be all boys.  Turbo will have a room in the attic, but there will still be a place for kids to hang out in the attic too.  Which is oh so nice when they start to get on our nerves in the winter and we can't kick them outside.
9. Have adult time with Nick.  Some activity, outside the house, without the kiddos, for the two of us. Go to dinner. Go for a drink. Find something fun to do together. Just to keep the connection alive.
10. Take time to be me.  Not feel guilty about taking some me time. A girl's night out, a bath with a glass of wine and a good book, watching Castle--my newest guilty pleasure TV.  Time to do something me oriented that is not shoe horned in between doing for the guys in my life.  I love them, but I'm a better person if I take time for me.

So there are some fall/winter goals.  I really hope I don't fall short on these.  I think I have plenty of time to get through them.  We will see how I have done come spring.
Do you have fall goals?  Or a fall spin?  Spin it up and link up with Ginny!

Old School Blogging--Fall into Fall

 I've seen this on a couple other blogs and thought, in honor of fall starting, I'd join in:


1. What Fall traditions do you have? We like to make chili for the first snowfall, or in the case of this year, significant snowfall.  We live where getting to a pumpkin patch is not so easy--it's over two hours to the nearest one, so we don't do that.  We do try to head to mountains to look at the aspens as they change color.
2. What is your favorite fall recipe? I have a yummy pumpkin pie bread that is pretty great.

3. What is a favorite Fall photo (or photos) you’ve taken? Last year we made it up to look at the colors:

4. Football – love it or hate it (maybe it steals your hubby away)? We are not really football fans, but we do enjoy the games of our local college--Go Pokes!

5. What was your favorite Halloween costume as a kid? I was a white bunny for a couple years and the was fun.
6. Pumpkins or Ghosts or both? I like pumpkins, but I have boys that like some fo the creepy for Halloween at least.

7. What’s your favorite fall fashion item (boots? scarves? sweaters?, etc.) Sweaters.  And boots.  I like being able to bundle up.  I get cold easily, so being able to wear more layers is nice.
8. Is “leaf pile jumping” your thing or not? Not really our thing--we have dogs and they tend to leave "gifts" in the yard, so the leaf pile always holds unpleasant things.  Jumping in is not something we do much of.
9. Is “It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” a must-watch at your house? Not really.  We have watched it, but it's not high on the necessary list. We are more a Young Frankenstein house.

10. What are you going to be for Halloween this year (or your kids…)?  I don't think I'm dressing up this year.  The kids on the other hand, well, Bruiser is thinking about being batman again, but he may change his mind.  Turbo has almost outgrown trick or treating, but he might be convinced to dress up, when the candy is on the line...     



There is also Wednesday Hodgepodge which is fall themed this week:
1. It's fall. Y'all. My favorite season of the year! What's something you love to do this time of year that makes you feel it's officially fall? And unrelated to that, do you ever say-'y'all'? Well, sort of covered this above, but I do like getting out my boots and sweaters, once it's cool enough.

2. When did you last have a falling out with someone? Has it been resolved? Gosh, years ago and it has been resolved and we are friends again.

3. A song you love with the word 'fall' in it's title? It would be Kenny Chesney's Boys of Fall or Tom Petty's Free Fallin'
4. What's something you've recently let 'fall by the wayside?' Scrapbooking.  I really need to get back into it.  With Brusier getting bigger, a change in the boy's rooms, I just might get both time and location to do some scrapping.
5. When did you last attend an event, read a book, watch a movie, try a new recipe, or visit a shop-town-tourist attraction that fell short of your expectations? In what way? We stopped at a location that has signs pointing to it outside of Casper Wyoming called Hells Half Acre. It is a beautiful geologic/landscape.  However there is nothing but a large parking lot in disrepair and a chain-link fence blocking access to the area. It was once a nice area, but the county has not kept it up or improved the area.  Movies have filmed in the area--most recently for the movie Starship Troopers. It's sad that there is nothing more there.

A glimpse of the landscape through the fence.

6. Describe a time you said or thought, 'The apple doesn't fall far from the tree." With both our kids.  At times they are so much like us it is scary.

7. Was today better than yesterday? Why or why not? Today is better because it is one day closer to the weekend.

8.  Insert your own random thought here. We definitely need to get back up for a drive in the mountains.  I love bumbling down a dirt road and looking at the fall colors in the mountains.
 

Randomly Tuesday

So here we are at Tuesday.

Yeah, the best thing about Tuesday is it's time to get all random!

• Bruiser loves riding his bike--he's still not quite big enough to start on his own, but he is awesome at stopping, which in the long run, is more important anyway.
• Turbo had homework last night, and he actually got it done before I got home.  I'm stepping back a bit and only helping when he asks for it.  Otherwise the kid is on his own about getting it done and getting it done correctly. He needs to learn some time and he seems to be doing OK so far.
• For the smile:

• I get to tackle the laundry this weekend.  It's definitely a needed, but hated task. Which is why I put it off and only do it every two weeks. However, that means a massive mountain of laundry to scale and whittle down.
• In honor of Autumn starting:

• I think I need to start ironing more regularly. Not a fan of the ironing, but Bruiser likes to wear button down shirts on occasion, Nick wears them all the time and I have a few I wear that could benefit from a pass of the iron. Ugh, ironing.
• It might be a bit early, but I could totally get behind an advent calendar like this:

• And for those of you looking to add a little excitement to the day:

 So there you have it, a bit of random fun for a Tuesday.  Have a great week and go see Stacy! She who is now Random Queen, or our fearless leader of the random!

Again with Monday and MMMM

So here we are again with Monday.  Not really up with the Monday thing.  I'm just not feeling it today.  Then again when am I feeling Monday?  Never.  But about last weekend...
We had one very busy Saturday.  Nick started it off with a bike ride.  He did better than he had expected and climbed all the hills without stopping, so he's getting in better shape. I knocked grocery shopping out of the park.  Then we dropped the boys off at my mom's and went to the tailgate party for our local college team.  We had fun and got to see the first half of the game.

Fun with my honey!

Go Cowboys!

College football is a great time!

Bruiser had a Birthday party to attend at 4:30 and when that finished up we headed over to a friends house for ribs and good times.  We finally got home around 10:30.
Nick was up at 4 am to go hunting.  He did manage to get a  bull elk close enough to shoot, but the elk was looking at him so he couldn't draw on it. He plans to hit it hard this next weekend.I truly hope he gets an animal with his bow as that would make his year.


And this week's MMMM is stadium music.  Since we were just at a game I can share some of the music we heard snippets of during the game.

Jump Around by House of Pain:

Thunderstruck by AC/DC

The half time show was band day--17 high school and junior high bands joined the college marching band to play Happy by Pharrell Williams:

It was cool to see all the kids out playing their hearts out.

Friday Five

Let's hear it for Friday!  Whoop Whoop!
This week has been so busy that it has flown by for me.  I like weeks like that.  Now, I really hope that the weekend doesn't speed by, but since it looks busy too, it probably will.
On to the 5 thoughts for Friday:

1. Bruiser learned to ride his bike this week.  He even rode his little bike to school yesterday. He's so very proud of himself.  We found him a larger bike and he is learning the stopping and starting part of riding a bigger bike.  He still has some practice to do, but he really loves riding his bike.  This makes Nick so very proud and happy.  Bikes are very important to my hubby.
2. I have really been enjoying the cooler mornings we have been having.  Makes drinking tea much more fun. The leaves on our trees are turning yellow all over town.  Fall is definitely here, no matter what the calendar says.
3. We were able to pick up Bruiser's new glasses yesterday.  He finally gets to wear glasses to school. Now watch, the old ones will turn up next week sometime.  Even though I have scoured the house looking for the darn things.  
4. We have a fun weekend planned.  Nick and I have tickets to the college football game.  This comes with tailgate time and all the associated fun.  The boys will be with Grandma and they will enjoy that, I'm sure.  Bruiser has a birthday party to go to Saturday afternoon/evening and we may get together with friends Saturday night.  Sunday, Nick is hunting, so I hope he catches the big one. I get to spend Sunday cleaning house.  The dust Rhinos are beginning to charge.
5. I'm thinking that it is time for me to get my bake on.  Banana bread, pumpkin pie bread, spent grain bread, scones, cookies, brownies.  It all sounds so very good.  My waist and hips will hate me, but I just want to bake.

5 pictures:

Just after proudly riding his bike the seven block to school.

Love this goober of a dog.

Archery is big at our house.

This kid is growing up far too fast.

Family photo op!

 Now join up with Emmy Mom and do your own Friday 5!