Back at it...

We missed a few days of posting. I had to make a trip to the City, and it was very productive. It seemed unseasonably warm up there though. It rained the last two days, which made things well...wet and nasty and harder to catch a cab. Anyway, back at it again....Returned a couple of days ago to more rain....Our average rainfall for the month of October is suppose to be just over 4 inches, but so far we have had probably close to 20 inches of rain ....I think we have had enough. We got some up close and personal pictures of the monster mosquitoes, and we will try to post them tomorrow. The Bulldawgs take on Idaho tomorrow, and we are hoping for our first road win.

Not much

Not much going on other than rain, rain, rain... I don't think it will ever end. The mosquitoes were already the size of quarters so after this batch of rain they should be the size of a baseballs. I have pictures I will post tomorrow. Jax and Riley amaze me. Today Jax was playing in his golf cart and he decided he needed to put a CD in so he started making all of these noises and using his fingers to press this and punch that - just amazing for three. While that was going on I looked at Riley in his brothers closet just pulling the toys out - he is so strong. The other day I heard Jax telling a story to his "Honey" on the phone and I was wondering where he had heard it. Tonight she asked me if I had told him and I told her no. So after I hung up the phone I asked him and he said mamaw told him and then he told me the story again. It is amazing what kids can comprehend. It brought me to tears.

Saturday Update

Riley has had the worst runny nose so I took him to the doctor this morning but he said he was fine. I think it might have something to do with he has a top tooth coming in. Riley took his bottle tonight and decided to feed his stuffed dog. I mean the kid is 11 months old and he has started mimicking and it sounds like he is saying things we say. Maybe this is normal but why of course I think he is one of the smartest little guys. Hopefully he will sleep through the night tonight or at least only wake up once.

Weekend...

Not a lot this weekend. Riley is sick and the wife is taking him to the Dr in the morning. The Bulldawgs play Utah State, so maybe another win?? At least it is not raining. It is cooler and hopefully things will dry out some.

Here comes the rain....

It is suppose to rain again through the night, with up to 4" expected....YEA!! As if we haven't had enough. Went for a walk with the boys this evening around the neighborhood, and the "state birds" were all over the place and us. Every person we passed either walking or working/playing in their yard commented about how bad the mosquitoes are and how big they are. Seems like I am not the only one that thinks these in particular are HUGE. I will try to get some pictures to post. The JaxMan just walked in...can't sleep and wanted to see what I was doing...gotta go get him back down.

Big as Birds....

That is the size of the mosquitoes here....I killed 11 within the first 5 minutes outside this evening, and it looked like I had been shot with a paint gun...red splat marks all over the arms and legs....These are the biggest mosquitoes that have ever seen in my life. Hopefully the bug truck will drive by again soon and spray the area. On a different note, Riley has inherited the "love of the vacuum" gene. He can use it like a pro, and goes running to it as soon as it is brought out of the closet. Sometimes you will even find him beating on the closet door that it is in.

Ready, Set...

Go...Riley is running. He is very mobile now and full of surprises. JaxMan's "tailgate" wounds are almost not even noticeable. The wife and the boys went to R-town this afternoon for haircuts. Yes, all the way to R-town for a haircut, but the lady there that cuts the wife's hair is also the only one that the 39 incher will allow cut his hair. They got back later this evening and all was well. JaxMan through a fit last night, for some unknown reason. One of those emotional, spur of the moment 3 yr old things I guess, but this evening was very easy, thank God. Off and running for another week.....

Wonderful weekend!

We had a great weekend! Hope you all did also. Yesterday I took the boys to a neighborhood fall fest. Honey was sweet enough to come along with us and help me control both of the boys Actually they were both really good. Jax was shy until right when we were leaving. I could not believe he would not get up into the firetruck. The weather has been great all weekend!! Jax ran into husbands truck twice this weekend and busted his lip (and the gum area above his top tooth) and then he hit between his eyes. Riley had an slip and fall accident earlier in the week and he has a bruise on his eye lid - it looked black today. I told the husband we need to get helmets and body pads for both of them. I want to say Happy Birthday to my big brother. Hope you had a great day and have a wonderful year!!!

Catch Up

The husband is usually the writer and I am the picture poster. Well, I have been slacking. So tonight you will be getting lots of pictures from the past week.

Riley had his 11 month birthday on Sunday so I took his 11 month picture in the same chair and with his bear. He is getting soo big.

Riley loves his brother's little 4-wheeler. You can find him on it or the golf cart rocker. He knows how to sling his leg over and drive. He has also turned into a trick rider and likes to stand on the back of the 4-wheeler :) Fun times ahead!

We had a huge spider in our back yard - here are some pictures. It was really amazing watching him build his web.

Once Jax started feeling better yesterday he put his safety glasses on but told me he needed to take the sunglasses out (the lenses). Funny guy!

Sick Day

I knew Jax was getting sick and sure enough he woke up sick. I thought it was just a runny nose and a little stomach upset but his fever would not go away. I got a little worried so we took him to see the Doc. She said he just had a very fast virus and he should be better by tomorrow (hopefully). Since he was not feeling well we painted pumpkins this morning. I try and include Riley in on our crafts. He loves to draw. I just have to make sure he does not eat the crayons.
Happy Birthday Molly!!! and we would also like to say congrats to Matt & Esther - we can't wait to meet her!
Here are some cute pictures from today.

A Snorkel and Fins....

is what we need. It finally stopped raining....for a while. Everything is waterlogged, and it is suppose to rain tomorrow, but hopefully it will be out here by Friday. Maybe we will get a few days to dry out. JaxMan is kind of antsy, but who can blame him. They can't go outside at school due to the monsoon season. We tried to go out for a little while this evening, but the state birds (mosquitoes) are all over the place. We are looking for a Bday gift for Riley, and we are getting it narrowed down to something to ride on. The dawgs have New Mexico State for our homecoming this weekend...maybe they can pull out a win.

Trick Rider

Riley has decided that he can be a trick rider on the little 4-wheeler. He likes to sling his leg over and then kind of jumps up on the 4-wheeler. I think we are going to really have our hands full with him. Jax is doing really well in school and is now learning is months. He just love his teachers and all of the kids.

Hard at Work....

JaxMan decided that Riley's walker needed repairs before we put it in storage..Riley is the supervisor....This speaks for itself.

Not Much

We had a great day. It was rainy so we stayed in and tried to organize. Hopefully the rain will be out of here soon. Have a great week!

Rainy Saturday

Not much going on today. We had a great family day. I made some really great taco soup. I am posting the recipe below. We are now watching the gators chomp the Tigers.
Taco Soup
1 lb. ground beef
4 cups water
1 can pinto beans drained
1 can nibblet corn drained (sweet) You might want to add 2 cans of this - just depends on if you like a little sweetness.
1 can red beans drained
1 can black beans drained
1 can diced tomatoes and chiles (I drain part of this can)
1 15oz can tomato sauce (I used 2 8oz cans)
1 can tomato soup
1 package taco seasoning (I don't use the whole package about 3/4 of it)
1 teaspoon salt ( I only added a shake)

Brown your hamburger meat (I added garlic and chili powder)
drain your hamburger meat
add the water, beans, corn, tomatoes and chiles, tomato sauce, tomato soup, taco seasoning, and salt.
Bring to a boil and then simmer for 1 hour.
It makes enough for us to eat off of for 2 days and then also freeze for another night.
I leave you all with some recent pictures of brothers at play.

A few of you (okay probably everyone that reads our blog) were pulled to our vacuum closet by Jax when he was around 14 months old. Jax loved the vacuum's when he was little. He still likes them but he is not as passionate about them. Well, we knew Riley did not mind the vacuum but today I found out he has the same passion as Jax had. He followed Jax all over the house with the vacuum and was his little assistant (the vacuum was not on - they were just pretending). When we got home from taking Jax to school I was in the process of putting the vacuum up when the phone rang. I grabbed the phone and turned around to find Riley with the vacuum. He was on top of it trying to ride it and take it apart. I guess we will have some clean engineers. The husband's mom came and watched the kids while we got to have a dinner date. We have not been out together since one night while we were at the beach. I am very grateful for her doing this for us. It was nice to talk and not have Jax trying to get our attention and I got to eat my food. Hopefully Tech will beat Nevada tonight (we are down right now) GO DAWGS!!! Some pictures of Riley on the vacuum.


Have a great weekend!

Friday....

is tomorrow, and the Bulldogs play Nevada. It should be a good game, and we should pull out a win. JaxMan is getting into that testy 3 year old stage....It can be frustrating. The wife had to take away toys today due to him not listening. He has been good at school though, at least that is what they are telling us. Riley is still learning how to be more mobile. He is mimicking Jax more and more....already wanting to be like his big brother. We are going to have our hands full.

Hitting

Jax has started hitting his little brother. I don't know if it is because Riley is more mobile now and wants to play with his big brother. I have tried to explain to Jax that his uncle K is my big brother and he never hit me, pushed me, or stepped on me. I also told him that aunt W never did those things to his daddy. (note: I am sure(okay I know) that the husband and I both gave our older siblings hell but I do remember some pinches in return :) I know he will get through this phase. I just hope it is soon for Riley's sake and mine.

I had to go and find Jax some more pants today that would fit him. The poor child is tall and skinny - I have no idea where he gets it from. I had him enough pants and tops but when I went to put his new 3T pants on they would fall off. If he wears a belt he has a hard time getting it un done to go to the bathroom. Luckily, I found some at JcPenny's that fit. I hope the little guy fills out a little more so he doesn't have this problem his whole life. Riley is full of all kinds of tricks. Today he decided he didn't like the fence (that goes all the way from the fireplace to the other side of the TV built-in) up anymore so he knocked it down. He did a few other things that scared me to death. He now loves to pull the cushion out of the chair in the living room and then crawl up in the chair and stand. While he is standing he stretches is arms out and slides back and forth - you would think he was at least a year old. I really think he thinks he is 3 - like his brother. They keep me on my toes :)

Another Day....

JaxMan did NOT take a nap today, which makes for a long evening with his ornery little self. He tends to whine a lot when this happens, and almost always gets in trouble for throwing a fit or something....Needless to say, it did not take long to get him down tonight. We have talked to him, and threatened to take toys, and hopefully it will get through to him. He has agreed to take a nap tomorrow, so we will see. We have one of those fence things around the fireplace to "try" to keep Riley away from it. He has figured out how to get around it. Twice tonight, he took off for it when we were not looking, laughing when we found him. The little booger knows what he is doing...might be smarter than his brother was at this age.

More Rain and Another Weekend gone.....

It started raining last night and continued throughout most of the day. JaxMan and I ran some errands this morning, hitting the major stores (Target, Dick's Sporting Goods, and WallyWorld). I had to run to the office for some work while he and his brother took a nap, but the whole fam loaded up for a second Target run when I got back. We finished off the day with some serious building by JaxMan and some intense walking and talking by Riley. Another week at the grind, but we are making way at work with the new Portfolio Analysis Tools, and should still be on track for an early Novemeber launch. If you manage Cap Tables, run exit scenarios/waterfall analysis, need help getting that FAS157 pricing done, and need private company comps, then let me know. WE have the tool for you, and it can do it all in a fraction of the time of the spreadsheets that you are currently using.

Tractors and Pumpkins

We had a great day in the big R town today. It all started with photos at a local store that gets hundreds of pumpkins to sell as a fundraiser for Domestic Abuse. Pictures with a 3 year old and a 10 month old are extremely difficult. I think we might have gotten a few good ones. We went to my parents next and Jax and Riley had so much fun with the tractors. Jax played out side all day and smelled like a sweaty ranch hand :) It also helped that he had his cousins playing with him and chasing him all over. He also showed us how he could start the tractor himself (now this is the old red tractor that is a little harder to start). Justin had to jump out at it and push the brake. The kid watches everything so we really have to be carefull! We had a great Fall weekend!

No Sleep

Riley has not been sleeping lately. He has never been a great sleeper but he has decided to start waking up every 2-3 hours. It makes for a very long night. I think his teeth really bother him and I have to keep telling my self that at 11pm, 1am, 3am, 5am. He is usually so precious and happy during the day but he has been cranky the last two days so I think his top teeth are busting out. Please say a prayer that he sleeps all night tonight. I am stilling working on getting the crayon out of our clothes. It would not have been so bad but it was our cold load (which is our good clothes). I took pictures so I will post before and after later. I will also give you the recipe just in case you have melted crayons in your dryer. The crayons were washable :)
We are going to take our fall pictures with the pumpkins tomorrow - I hope to have a lot of great pictures to post. If you read this blog (even if we don't know you) leave a comment about what your favorite part of Fall is. I love the weather and fall decorations. I would love an outdoor fireplace to roast marshmallows and just lounge by. Have a Great weekend!

The wife is sick....

To top off the Crayon incident, the wife is sick. She went to the Dr today, and he determined it was a moderate sinus infection. She is on an antibiotic, so hopefully she will get better soon. The JaxMan came in a little while ago and needed to go to the bathroom. He wanted some water before getting back in the bed. He had a flashlight and Highlight magazine with him. I heard him moving around on the monitor, went and checked on him, and he was sitting up in his bed with the flashlight and magazine, reading to his stuffed animals. He is getting loud now, so I need to go check on him before he wakes up his brother.....wait...he just walked in again....needs to take care of business...maybe after this he will stay in his bed and we can all get some sleep.....until tomorrow.....