T.J.'s Football Shirt

T.J.'s football shirt. He looks so good in it. Looks old.

Has all the kids names from his team as well as the coaches on back.

I had to get one, too. So did Cody and Hunter. Good team spirit at the games.

Still can't believe how old he is. He's doing great at football. Running faster, hitting harder, and lovin' it. He was built for this sport. So happy to see him so happy.

Poor Henry

So sad to report that our friend Henry, the tarantula, died. I found him today when Cody, Bill Drury and I went to feed him a preying mantis. Poor Henry. He'd been shrinking some since we caught him. Heard that was normal. We'd fed him grasshoppers, and saw he'd eaten them. But I think what got him was Cody forgot to put some water out for him a few days ago. Cody felt so bad.
Even though we were pretty creeped out by him at first, we all grew to like him. He was fascinating! We'd stay out there and just stare at him as we'd feed him and such. Friends would come over to see him. It was fun to have this sort of "pet". Hope we find another one up at my parents house soon.
So long Henry.

Learning To Drive a Stick Shift....

Jared's Dad is borrowing this little Daihatsu truck. And when I say little, I mean little! I'm as tall as this truck. I can't believe Jared can even fit in this thing. It looks like a little European truck of some sorts. Plus, it's so ugly, it's kinda cute. Anyways, it's a good little truck to learn a stick shift on. Very basic shifting. So Jared got T.J. and Cody out driving this past weekend. (So weird to think they are already learning a stick! Feelin' old right now.)

T.J's up....   Friday night fun before Pizza Night....

T.J. did SO good. Didn't kill it once. They drove it all around Grandpa Morse's place. He got up to 2nd gear. Didn't even grind the gears as he shifted. I'm not surprised. This kid catches onto this kinda stuff really fast.

The boys all think it's funny they are learning how to drive a stick when I can't even drive one. In my defense... I was learning on Jared's '70 Chev when we quit driving it because of all the repairs it needed. So technically I can't drive one as of yet, BUT, I was learning.

The little stinker pulls up next to me and says, "Hey mom, want me to teach you how to drive a stick?" Then immediately says, "Dad told me to say that," to avoid getting in trouble!  Love that cheeser grin on his face!

Taking a ride together before it got too dark. Sorry these aren't the best pictures. Had to use my phone.

Driving around Grandpa's place.

Cody's turn.... Sunday evening before dinner....                                                          

Jared took Cody around first to show him the brake, clutch, and gas pedal. Cody hasn't had any experience in driving a truck yet like T.J. has so we thought for safety reasons, we should probably do that first!

Don't ya love the sun rays coming down in this picture?! Again I used my phone so I thought it turned out pretty cool. Cody did really good at driving!!! He didn't kill it once either. He payed more attention to driving then T.J.. Cody hardly looked over at me as he'd pass. He took it nice and slow and didn't hit anything! (This is huge for Cody! When he cuts the grass, he usually hits the picnic table, haha!)

T.J. jumped on back.

Looking at this picture makes me feel really old right now. So cute though!

My cute boys. All growing up so fast. Not sure if Hunter is going to learn this. We're not sure if Grandpa's place can handle that wild child's driving yet.

Hunter's Valiant Warrior

Every week in primary 2 kids are chosen to be Valiant Warriors. There are clues given about this child, and then other kids have a chance to guess who it is. After they guess right, that child comes up, dresses in the warrior costume, and has nice things said about him from the kids in primary. Today was Hunter's turn to be the Valiant Warrior. My cute friend Tobie Kent is in primary as a teacher so she said something abut Hunter, too. She said "Hunter is a really good singer. He knows all the words to all the primary songs." That is so true. One of Hunter's favorite parts of primary is singing time. He's a good little singer, too.

Isn't he so cute!

This is the page I had to fill out about him. I love that he said his hero is Mickey Mouse. That is so Hunter!

They give each child a card with this picture on it of a Valiant Warrior. And on the back it has the scripture Ephesians 6:11-17

To summarize, it says, "Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand."

Love this. Hope these kids realize what this truly means. They are going to need it to live in this world we have today. Good thing we have such valiant kids being born these days. There's no doubt they've been saved to live in this time.

It's so cute to see these kids dressed up in the armor. Can't wait for Cody and T.J. to have their turn.

Shopping with Jared

Jared took the boys shopping this morning for my birthday. They had this little plan that Jared would pretend to take the boys to school but would sneak to Walmart first so the boys could buy me a present, and then check them in. I knew what they were doing, but the kids didn't know. And neither did Hunter, cause he'd tell me. So this morning I was playing with them a little, asking if they were riding their bikes to school. Hunter immediately said, "I am!" and Cody looked at him and said very strictly, "No you are not!" Hunter didn't end up going shopping with them anyways, he didn't want to miss school. I think it's because Oaklie came over to go to school with him. But he already has a present ready for me anyways... a Sugarland concert performed by him after school. Can't wait!

Jared said it was so much fun shopping with the boys for me. When they got there Cody said, "Let's check out the book section and see if they have an Erica Mopfield book". Jared looked confused and said, "Who?" Cody said, "Well, it's something Field." He meant Anita Stansfield. Haha! She's my favorite author. But Cody decided on something else. He wanted to look at the cameras to buy me a new one. He said, "I have a $150 dollars so I'll buy her a new camera." Ya, Cody brought all his money with him! Jared told him no so he looked at getting me a tripod for my camera. T.J. immediately said, "Oh no, you are not getting that. She'll take a ton more pictures. Well, she already does. But then she'll take even more." Haha, he knows me too well!
As they were looking around Cody found something was that a hundred dollars but Jared told him he can't spend that much money. So then he found me something for $20. Jared asked if he wanted to spend that much, and Cody said, "What, isn't mom worth it?!" How cute. So he bought it.
T.J. looked around for a while before he decided on the perfect thing for me. Jared said they were there forever cause T.J. couldn't decide. T.J. puts a lot of thought into presents. When he was 4 he picked out a chicken table runner, a chicken floor mat to stand on while doing dishes, and a hot pad all by himself. I was shocked that he could tune into me so much to know what I would need. I can't wait to see what these boys got me. They are so cute!!
Then they hit the Halloween section and Jared text me these pictures. Made my morning. Trust Jared to take time out of school to play in the Halloween section.

T.J.

Cody

Hunter a.k.a. Jennifer Nettles

Hunter was listening to Sugarland this morning on my ipod as he ate breakfast. (This is a typical morning with him. Actually, a common thing everyday, all day, with him.) He stopped eating long enough to tell me in a matter of fact voice, "If her ever dies, I'm taking her place". Oh my gosh, I couldn't stop laughing. First of all, that just shows how much Hunter loves Sugarland. And second, he could easily take her place. He can sing all their songs and has studied and memorized how she dances in her music videos. He'd have no trouble at all steppin' in.


One of those moments when my kid becomes even cuter in my eyes. Made my morning.

Halloween Pillow

It's finished!!! Finally! I started this last year. Got all the hand stitching done, which I absolutely love! And then it sat. I'm still somewhat new to this sewing thing, so figuring out this pattern was a little more tricky for me. Turns out what I was making was a pillow case, and the pillow inside. So once I got this figured out, it was time to finish it for this year's Halloween.

It's huge! Roughly just longer than 3 feet by about 18 inches tall.

The witch and her sign were all hand stitched. These are my favorite kinds of projects. I love hand stitching something first then putting it all together afterwards. One of my favorite things to do at night to relax.

It's hard to tell but the black circles one the corners of the squares are tiny beads.

Isn't it so cute! I love the fringe at the ends. And I LOVE that orange material with the purple. Oh, I love Halloween!

The back of the pillow case. I love that material, too. Although the flash on the camera made it look a little lighter than it really is.

As soon as the boys saw it finished, they immediately started shouting, "I get to lay on it first!" Um, sorry boys. This thing is mine! So Hunter settled for a picture with it instead.

I love Halloween projects!!! Probably my very favorite holiday projects to create!

Henry Goes To School

Ha ha, doesn't this sound like a title to a book? "Henry Goes To School", by Jenn Morse. Had to throw that in. Please keep reading. I promise I won't throw in my weird humor again.

Anyways.... The boys were so proud of this tarantula we found so they decided they needed to bring it for show and tell at school. We took it Wednesday morning to Cody's class after he got permission. And as it worked out, Jared didn't work until later so he could help bring it (And carry it!!!!) Once we got to school I went with Hunter to ask his teacher if we could bring it in their class, too. She immediately said no. Apparently she's terrified of those things. Hunter was so disappointed. He tried so hard not to cry. But he went off to class and was ok.

It went really well at Cody's class. The kids were all so excited to see him.

Cody got up and told what we learned about Tarantulas and how we caught him and played with him all day.

He did really good. He doesn't get too terribly shy when he has to talk like that.

The principal popped in the classroom at the right time and checked out Henry. He told the kids some things he knew about these spiders, too.

Then the kids came up in groups to check him out.

We told Bill Drury he was our volunteer to have Henry crawl on his arm. Ha ha! He didn't like that idea too much.

Doesn't Cody look so cute?! He looks so much like my Dad right there.

Friday I took Henry in to T.J.'s class. Yes you read that right... I took Henry. Jared had to work so it was up to me. When I went out to the garden to put Henry's cage in the truck, it was just my luck that Henry was very active at that time. He was crawling all over that thing! But I was being brave and did it!! (Very proud of myself!!!) Of course I held that cage out as far as I could. When I walked in the main doors of the school, one of the office ladies saw me and immediately stood up and said she'd be back when I left. Ha ha! Apparently there are a lot who don't like these things. I used to be one. I have to admit, he's really growing on me. They are so fascinating.

It went pretty good at T.J.'s class as well. T.J. is a lot shyer then Cody so he wasn't too happy about doing this and having to talk so I helped him out some. But he did good.

Turns out T.J.'s teacher had a pet tarantula once. So we all told what we knew about them.

Showing the class. There were quite a few in T.J.'s who hate these things. There's also 4 kids in his class from our ward. I think they were surprised to see what we have living at our house.

T.J. helped me carry Henry out. He's such a good boy.

(Had to wear his Jersey today. Game day Friday... most kids wear them to school. Love this.)

Growing Up T.J. Style

It seems like the last year or so T.J. has really grown up. But you know what really makes it seem like he is? This...

T.J. no longer needs Dad to help him repair his bike. T.J. can put in new tubes, air it up, and even fix his chain if need be. Then he moves on to his brothers bikes and helps them with whatever needs fixed. He reminds me so much of my Dad. They both can fix anything. And if they aren't sure of how something works, they figure it out. Most of the time T.J. sits back quietly and just observes. I know the wheels are crankin' in his mind, figuring out how everything works. It started young. When he was almost two, he'd walk around and check out every hinge, wheel, etc. before he'd go play with other kids.

Doesn't he look so old?!

Look at this! He loves when my brother Jim lets him play on the skid steer or track hoe. T.J. was in heaven on Labor Day when Jim let him take a spin on this. He can drive this all by himself now. No more sitting on Jim's lap.

T.J. loves to dig. Jim helped guide him on running the controls so he could scoop up a load of pee gravel.

Jim's so good to these boys. And our boys sure love to play with Jim. They have a lot in common. Especially Hunter who's Jim's mini me. Haha!

It's crazy how old he's getting! At 10 years old he's already running machinery. It's amazing to watch T.J.. It's so fun to see how he puts together in his mind how something works and then to see he's right. He's one smart kid! Who's growing up way too fast!

Henry

I never thought I'd blog about this subject. I hate spiders. But for some reason this one grew on me. So it's Labor Day, and we're hanging out with my family. We'd just got back from a picnic up the canyon. Jim and I were in Dad's garage talking when Jim looked down and suddenly said, "Oh my gosh!" I looked over and saw this...

Let me tell you, when I saw that thing I didn't know whether to scream, run out the open garage door quick, or stay calm, so I just froze. I guess I was waiting for it to crawl as fast as it could across the floor, but it didn't. Jim and I stood there for a minute, both shocked. We knew they had tarantulas around their place. (That's what you get for living up the canyon.) In fact, this is the 3rd one we've caught there. The first time they found one, my mom was doing dishes and it crawled out on the counter from behind the can opener. And it was bigger then this one! Gross!!!! (We think my brother John let it in. He came home late one night and forgot to close the door. Left it open for 3 hours.) The second one was smaller then this. We caught it in an ice cream bucket and Teegan took it home. And now this one.

When I finally realized it wasn't going to crawl after me, I ran out of there (yes, still freaking out a little that if I moved, so would he), and started yelling for the boys and Jared to come quick and see this.

Jared got there first and immediately put it in a cup. (By this time I felt like I had a million crawly spiders on me.)

Then we put him into this metal can.

Everyone checking hi out. Sorry it's blurry. This is the only picture you'll see of Jamie by it. She's scared to death of spiders. Cody and John showed their understanding of this and kept chasing after her with Henry in a bucket. At one point she used me as a bodyguard. Really thought I'd have hand print bruising on my arms from her, but I lucked out with just major red marks.

Mom on the other hand did really well. And this is coming from someone who wouldn't read Charlotte's Web when she was younger because it was about a spider.

Jared playing with Henry.

Cody loves insects of any kind. He was so excited for this. Cody decided the tarantula's name needed to be Henry.

Still a little unsure of his new friend, but that wasn't stoppin' him.

Transferred him to a 5 gallon bucket. He was pretty close to crawling out of that metal can.

So you remember the sand castle I was telling you about that John and my boys were making? Well, they decided to make a huge one, and then have Henry run through it.

But first Dad came out to check out the spider before leaving for work. He didn't believe us they had tarantulas up there. He does now.

Jared did some research on his phone to find out more about tarantulas. Here's what we learned...

If they bite you, it feels like a bad bee sting. But it won't kill you.

His thorax is bald, which means he's old. Tarantulas loose the hair there like old men do when they get old.

Tarantulas can live to be 35 years, and can be the size of a thumbnail to a dinner plate. Henry is about 4 inches in diameter. I'll take that size over a dinner plate.

Check it out. On the other side as well there was more mazes for it to run through. It was pretty cool.

Releasing Henry.

He didn't run though it like we thought. Actually, he didn't really like it at all. He kept trying to climb over to the brick and get out. But it was sure fun to watch. We'd move him into different places of the sandcastle and watch (and by "we" I mean John, Jared, and Cody. I'm trying to sound tough.)

Look at him! By this time he was fearless of that thing. He had a BLAST playing with that spider!

He'd get so close to that thing, almost to where it would crawl on him. Had my mom and Jamie freaked out a little. Ok, a lot.

On one run through the sandcastle he found the side of the garage to climb on. He liked that. So did Jared. That's when Jared touched him.

And you'll never guess who else touched him. That's right... ME! I was quite a bit nervous to do it but I have this thing lately that's pushing me to get over my fears. So, Jared carefully held the spider on something, I reached out, and touched his leg. Aaaaahhhh! Then I went in the house and washed me hands. My finger felt a little weird for a little while, but that was probably in my imagination.

I felt pretty proud of myself that day.  :)

We had so much fun playing with this spider. I think we spent about and hour and a half playing with him before we could tell he was getting tired.

Isn't that cool? And creepy.

Jared being his typical self.

We brought Henry home to live with us. Cody begged me to keep him. It felt weird driving home with him in the truck. Cody put him in the cage he got from Mr. Blaine. It worked perfect. The holes were small enough that he couldn't climb through, but bugs could so he could eat. We put his cage in the middle of the garden.

It looked creepy to watch him crawl around in this thing. Jared's goal.... to keep him alive long enough so he can put the cage on the front porch on Halloween. He wants to see how many kids will notice and how many he can scare. Hee, hee.