The Treehouse...

I mentioned in an earlier post how Brig is always coming up with ideas. Well, his big idea of the summer was to build a treehouse. He even started a little one in a small tree by trying to wedge a board between some branches and using a pulley to hoist up buckets filled with all sorts of boyish wonders. Cory promised that as soon as our giant farm project was over that he would build a real treehouse. And he certainly delivered! He built the coolest treehouse any kid has ever had. In fact, it is so neat that as soon as it was built Cory worried that it was too nice and too much of a tree house. It is amazing!

Duck Hunting...

This fall Brig and Cory woke up bright and early to go duck hunting with some of Cory's friends. Cory is NOT an early riser...but he is a great dad and knew that Brig would be over the moon excited about this opportunity. And he was right. Brig had his warm camo clothes (aka: anything with a camo pattern that he owned) ready to go two days before they were even going. Brig even brought his BB Gun and when Cory ran out of shells he handed his little gun over and insisted that Cory use that so they could get some more ducks. Here are a few pictures of their early morning fun:

 

 

We hadn't gotten his coat out of our storage unit yet and so he was a little underdressed...even with all his camo. Luckily his dad helped him out.

 

 

Brig even got to cook the meat on his own. Cory helped  very little. And he (and Ellie) loved it...but I am starting to think that he loves any kind of wild food...just based on principle. He is our little hunter man for sure.

 

Brig's BB Gun...

I never wrote about this but it was a pretty exciting event for our family.

(It's funny what being a parent does...things change- like what sparks excitement)

Brig is a saver and a goal setter. So back in March he had finally saved enough money (after several months) to buy his BBGun that he had dreamed about.

The Daisy Buck. $28. And worth every penny for this boy.

 

 

He was so proud and so excited. He shot it all the time.

Months later and he still adores that gun. He even took it when he and Cory went duck hunting one morning and offered it to Cory when he ran out of shells for his own gun.

 

Four Generations...

I have been wanting a 4-generation picture with these guys for quite some time. So one Sunday on a family walk- I finally snagged one! So grateful for the influence of righteous men on these boys of mine!

Perks of the River...

There are a lot of perks to living right on the river. The view and floating the river, just to name a couple.  We recently discovered another fun perk to the river...

Crawdads.

Being married to Cory can be pretty adventurous as far as I am concerned. He has introduced me to all kinds of outdoor recreation that I wasn't really exposed to (or super interested in) when I was younger.  Take our Whistle Pig experience for example. That was new for me. 

Anyhow, I digress- we heard that one could catch crawdads right behind our house.  So we gave it a go.

These two LOVED it!!! Boys...

 

 

 

 

Then we were really adventurous and tried to eat them.  I like seafood...but these were new. We were told how to cook them and then we all gathered around this slightly less than appetizing looking plate and dug in.  They weren't bad.  Cory kind of liked them. I didn't mind them but wasn't a huge fan. Brig thought they tasted disgusting and he would stick to catching them. And Ellie wouldn't even give them the time of day.

 

 

It was a really fun, really country:) experience though. So, if anyone really loves to munch on these cute little creatures...let us know. I know two boys who would love to bring you a bucket full!

 

I Forgot to Mention...

Baby #3 is a

BOY!!!!

  

 

Here he is, flexing his cute little muscles:)

 

 

We have had 2 ultrasounds now and both times he has been pretty mellow. He didn't really move around much at all and we weren't able to get the best profile shots- but we are all getting excited for this little man to join our family.

 

Brig Spotlight...

I don't know what it is about this boy but he sure has a way of melting my heart- especially when he is healthy and well rested;) He is an awesome helper and has an innate desire to do the right thing.  I am so proud of him!

He just finished his first year of preschool and he has taken to academics quite well- he can write and spell his name; spell Ellie, mom and dad; recognize all uppercase letters and most lowercase letters; and is starting to catch onto simple math concepts really well.

 

 

One of the most outstanding things about Brig however, is his imagination.  It is amazing! He can entertain himself for so long with his imagination.  His favorite thing to do is build barns (with anything...Logos, blocks, couch cushions, chairs, boxes or whatever he can find!) He definitely takes after his dad!

 

 

He does a great job with Ellie.  I love when they both wake up at the same time and he will get several books and climb into her bed and talk, read and play with her before they even come and see me.  He is such a good big brother- I am so grateful for that!

 

 

He loves to help and spend time with his dad.  They are best buddies. 

 

 

I can't believe how fast he is growing up.  Sometimes I see pictures or videos of him when he was little and wonder how the time went so fast.  It is so exciting to move forward and chart new territory with this sweet, sometimes  often shy boy who has big things in life ahead of him! I love him to pieces!

Just Me and My Dad...

Cory and Brig attended their first father and son's campout. 

To say that Brig was excited would be a complete understatement!

He could hardly contain himself.

 

 

He was a little more timid once they were up there and when they called to tell Ellie and I goodnight that evening he got a little homesick.  But he says that he had a great time!

Charmer...

Snake charmer that is. Check this boy out!

 

 

 They found several water snakes in the rocks behind our house!

 

 

This is a video of Ellie a few weeks ago when we were outside catching worms...she didn't really like them and although she was napping, I believe she would say the same thing about the snakes.  I agree!

 

Teach A Man To Fish...

How does the saying go...

 

 

If you give a man a fish, he will eat for a day...

 

 

If you teach a man to fish, he will eat for a lifetime...

 

I think the same thing goes for little boys...

 

 

After seeing the honkin' huge carp that Cory and his friend went and litterally grabbed out of the river (they were slow and beached) Brig was pretty determined that he would do the same thing when he saw this dead fish floating near the edge of the water.  He picked it right up.

 

While my back was turned.

 

All Cory said was... "Meg...don't freak out."

Me: "Oh. Wow."

 

Cory was beaming.

I think this boy will fish for a lifetime.

 

 

Worker Man...

Remember those "glubs" that we gave Brig for his birthday... they have already been well used. He always tells us he wants to be a worker man- and here he is helping his dad take our disgusting trash to the dump! Gotta love having a little boy...

A-Hiking-We-Will-Go

We went for a little hike the other day...

We found...uhhh...."fossils."

Used our "binoculars" to see all kinds of far-away things...

Took in the "beautiful" view...

But mostly, we got to hang out with a few of our favorite people....

COW-abunga!

Excuse the super lame title...I couldn't help myself!

This past weekend we headed up to Sweet.

That's my neck of the woods! However, Cory is no stranger to the sweet little town- in high school he would come up to some friends' ranch and help them with the cows.  HE LOVED THIS! He said he basically just asked questions trying to figure out how he could break into the ranching business...

So for old time's sake, we asked if we could all come up and have a little piece of the fun!

Brig and his little buddy/cousin Braxton- the louder the cow- the harder they laughed.

They were so cute and became best buds.



However, I think both Cory and Brig would recall this as one of their favorite parts- despite what their faces say in this picture!

It was fun to see these three guys together- I think we may have had a little flashback of a few years...

Thanks for the fun y'all!

And for letting my boys dream a little...

Wishing & Hoping

We spend a lot of our time wishing & dreaming...

for the

FARM LIFE!

Somewhere Brig developed a facination an obsession with farms.  Everything about them. 

Barns. Cows. Horses. Hay. Tractors.Barns. Big Trucks. Chickens. Pigs. Barns.

He loves it all!  (Especially barns!)

He builds barns ALL the time.  Infact, any enclosure becomes a barn.  Sometimes he even just "draws" a barn with his finger on the carpet!

(I think if the whole farm thing doesn't work out...he may have a future in architecture)

Well... the other day we actually got to taste a smackel of that sweet farm lifestyle! (Thanks to the Gem County Fair and some friends of ours)

Brig got to ride a "big tractor."

  

 We were able to take a nice look at some of the animals...

It was a pretty exciting day for us!

I suppose that Brig will just have to keep dreaming, drawing, building, wishing, pretending until the day that he really can have