Marlee's chair

Last weekend I did some thrift store shopping & I found Marlee this little chair. I thought it would be perfect on one of the kitchen chairs so she could sit with us at the table. Marlee has been dragging this chair around the house; she puts it in the living room to sit on it when she watches a baby Einstein, she puts it on the couch & sits on it, she sits in it when I do her hair, she sits at the table with it, she loves it. Who would have known that a $2.99 chair would make her this happy. The only problem is that she is very possessive of it, when the twins sit in it she screams & freaks out, she's not very good at sharing yet.

Here she is ^kickin' it in her chair watching some tv.

We represent the lollipop gang....

Whenever Laun goes on a trip he usually brings back a surprise for whoever wasn't able to tag along. Marlee and I stayed home from this trip and the boys were so excited to give us our lollipops. Marlee is too focused on her treat to look at the camera.

And I also had a surprise waiting for the boys at home. But I couldn't take the credit, my friend Rachel Allen dropped by this cute little guy:

This is probably the cutest little reptile I have ever seen.

I also had white truffles waiting for them, one of Laun and the boys favorites.

Clayton's 1st pack meeting

Clayton has been loving scouts, especially since Laun is one of his leaders. He was very excited to earn his first badge tonight, the bobcat.

Laun had the boys compete to see who could tie a knot the fastest:


Clayton putting a pin on me (I can't believe how tall he is getting or how short I am):


Marlee was so bugged that Laun was at the front without her so, she went up & joined him:


It was cute how Clayton carried the flag, kind of like a witch with a broomstick. I guess he will need some practice on flag carrying:


The handsome crew with Clayton holding up his chocolate bar-every boy who earned a badge got a chocolate bar:

After the pack meeting I set up name tags for the upcoming primary program with my first counselor. I am anxious for the primary program. It was a busy Tuesday night, which means I missed one of my favorite tv shows- The Biggest Loser. True sacrifice I tell you:)

Kids & Chocolate

Tonight Laun & I were in the kitchen cooking while our kids were in the living room playing with blocks. Or so we thought...we came in to find Marlee like this:

Apparently the boys got sick of Marlee knocking down their towers so, Clayton thought this was a great solution. I have to hand it to him, he is a creative problem solver. Marlee on the other hand wasn't a fan of being connected to the entertainment center.

Laun & I were sidetracked with making these homemade recess cups:

The finished product was a little neater looking:

Or maybe not when you look at what a mess our kids faces are:

I realized Clay still had on his church pants, luckily his white shirt was off though:

Port looks like he is growing facial hair at age 6:

And Marlee even shared with her doll, disgustingly sweet:

And we have been having camp fires in our backyard lately. Is it cold? Not really. Maybe the weather will get the hint & cool off already.

And with all this baking going on lately, I am on sweets overload.

cinnamon rolls

Since Laun & Clayton were out of town on a round-up, I thought I would welcome them home tonight with cinnamon rolls topped with cream cheese frosting. Porter loved helping roll out the dough (I like how Porter is still in his pj's). Too bad I got side tracked & forgot to let them rise before I started rolling them out. And Marlee who was sick this weekend woke up earlier then I planned & cried while I finished making them. And then I thought about all the things I needed to do for school and that my house was still a mess. Why do I bake when I have so many things to do? It is my way of putting off my to do list, that's why. Plus people don't usually come over & say wow Catherine I can tell you mopped today; no, they think man these cinnamon rolls taste good. Except they would be lighter & fluffier if you remembered to let them rise:)


Sage salivating at the door.
I think Marlee is her fav now since she throws her food from the table.


The finished product without the frosting:

The sweetest part of the evening is that my husband is back home.

Blue Eyes & Freckles

Laun took Clayton with him to the Smarts Ranch to go gather cattle. Clayton had so much fun. He had a fight with a tree and lost (notice his hat is missing in the 4th picture down). He ate pinon nuts and prickly pear. His cousin Pearce was there too and those two always have fun hanging out together.

Clayton the mule skinner^

Half way through the round up Clayton stopped for a granola bar, a drink, and a lizard.

Clayton feel asleep on the way home and when he came in from the truck I told him to jump in the shower. I never heard the water come on so I went in to check on him and this is how I found him:

A sure enough cowboy^ though he's only eight.

I LOVE this man

Yesterday I told Laun that my car brakes were bad & before the day was even half way over, wah lah he installed new brakes. I love that he knows how to fix anything. No mechanic necessary, he's go that built in.

Thursday night I have school and Laun not only took care of our kids, he did laundry & mopped too. And I didn't make dinner that night so, when I got back, he went out & picked up something for him & I . Sometimes we have date night at home. I don't know what I would do without Laun, he is so supportive of me & helps out so much. I'm so thankful for all he does and I love him so much.

student of the week

This week was Porter's turn to be student of the week & he was so excited. He filled out the poster: Read All About Me & brought in some photos of his pets, family, things he enjoys, etc. He also took in one of his favorite books, some rocks, and a coin to show his classmates. The teacher said that he has enjoyed explaining his pictures to the class.

He filled in the poster all by himself^

last nights celebration dinner...

Laun suggested that we have a special dinner for our friend Carrie since she is officially a CPA. Laun thought it would be fun to have chicken, pasta, and asparagaus since those foods start with the letters cpa.
And that same day we found out that her husband Davey, who is in medical school, passed his boards. So it was a great night of celebration. These two have accomplished so much, especially considering that Davey has battled with cancer throughout a lot of their marriage. And they have twin boys on top of it (which are the same twin boys I babysit).

We also had the Allen family join us last night for dinner and dessert.

I let Costco do the honors of making the cake- it said Congrats' Horners on CPA and Boards.

Play time

Now that both the twins are walking, the kiddos can play outside-yeah!! The last couple mornings they have had a blast & cried when they had to come inside. Carrie gave us this sweet little play house, Marlees favorites are probably the pink slide & the door.

Mark & Marlee^

I'm not sure if the pets are lucky to have the kids attention or not....

the poor cat with Kevin^

Marlee has to close this little door every time she enters or leaves.

Word Mole

The boys like to play this game called word mole on Laun's blackberry. Here is Porter looking up words in the dictionary to help Clayton spell words. The harder the word, the more points you get. These boys are great spellers.

Marlee has the sweetest hair ever

Please try not to be jealous of Marlee's awesome hair, it is bad to envy:)

I just had to take some pictures of her hair today because I don't know if it has ever been this crazy before. And she still is so cute, crazy hair in all.

So happy it is fall & we can enjoy the outdoors

Please don't disturb Marlee, she is trying to study.

This little girl always wants to hang out with her daddy, even if it means doing homework on her laptop.

Marlee makes some cute faces:

The boys like to play frisbee,or anything that involves throwing.

Here is Clayton showing Porter how to throw a frisbee (I am having a hard time telling from Porter's face if he is interested in this lesson or not)-

We are loving this cooler weather.

Cook out in our backyard....

Laun cooked us dinner outside tonight over the fire. We had hot dogs & smores.


I just don't think that Porter has enough ketchup on his hot dog.


Marlee was shortly after sent to bed since she was worrying me half to death around the fire.
It was nice to spend time with our older ones.


These boys love fire & roasting marshmallows.


I think Sage likes it when we are all outside because she gets lots of attention.