James & Baer in the leaves...as promised!

Isn't this just a cute picture of the boys? I think it's wall worthy.

James always says "Baer, squish me!" That means that he wants me to put Baer on top of him like this.
Close up of "Sweet Baby James" (ever heard that song?).

Cute & Cuddly Baer!

Thanks for peeking!

Not as recent but still cute!

Kids and boxes!

James loves to play in our empty boxes. This box is from a tv we got on "Black Friday". In this picture he is using it as a slide. He didn't have a lot of momentum in this picture so he was kicking his legs up to try to get his body to slide down. Of course his train car had to go down with him.

Peek-a-boo! I see you!

He was just hanging out playing with a toy in the bottom of the box. He didn't even know I was there until the flash went off.

Look at our little stud! Isn't Baer just so handsome?

Spencer's way of feeding Baer his cereal.

James and his $1 hat he put on himself.

Our little, BIG boy!

Cute brothers. James holding Baer & giving him kisses.

This is an older picture from August but it was just too cute to not share.

I have some cute ones of the kids playing in the leaves I need to add but I will later.

Misc. Pictures

Our snoozing Baer (or should I say...Hibernating Baer)!

James took apart our laundry organizer and made a slide out of it.

Maybe we should have named James: Monkey...he eats sooo many bananas it would be beneficial to have a banana tree out back. We have to put a limit on how many a day he can have!

FISHIES!!!

[Unfortunately one of our favorite fish just died a day or two ago...a black striped angel fish...we don't know what happened :( ]

Wonderful Father and Husband!!

Baby Baer

THE END!

Thanks for peeking!!

Halloween!

HALLOWEEN!

Well, I have finally sat down to put pictures up of our Halloween!

Cookies!!

James was a big helper...we made 1/2 whole wheat soft cookies for my the ladies I visit teach and for James (of course). He had a lot of fun helping Mommy cook. He still climbs up on the chair to the kitchen-aid and pretends to cook. "I cooking, Mommy!"

Trunk or Treat!!

Here is Spencer ("Ghostly Gentleman") with James (Lion, "rahr").

Me (I wasn't feeling well, so this is only half of my costume...Leopard) and Baer (ummm...a bear cub...notice the hat with ears)

Here's a gorilla that James was a little afraid of.

James and his beloved balloon sword (his first one popped and was so upset, he went back for another).

The clown (Rachel) who made the sword, and her son.

Here's a family picture.

A picture of our neighbor (Amy) and her son (Justin-Transformer), who we brought with us.

Baer grabbed ahold of James's huge pixie stick and would NOT let it go!

Spencer went to a Halloween party at a friend from school's house after the kids had gone to bed. I painted his face (it got a little smudged from putting the hair & hat on).

Here is James on actual Halloween Night. We went to Whole Foods and then trick or treating. Whole Foods has trick or treating in the store with awesome stuff like grilled cheese sandwiches, milkshakes, juice, fruit, candy, cookies...all for free! We love it and love that they have more than just candy! We go there every year.

THE END!!

Hope you enjoyed!

Spencer's Tag...Finally!

Well, Spencer hasn't been feeling well and so I have decided to do his tag for him. Who knows him better than me, right?

1. Spencer LOVES off-roading! He has a jeep in MT right now which is only about 3 weeks from being pretty much finished (being turned into a fully capable off-roading vehicle).

2. Spencer doesn't mind helping change diapers, but if it has #2 in it...he will gag. I find it funny because he is this big strong guy and he is so sensitive in that area. Yes, he has actually thrown up a couple of times because of it. I don't make him change the "stinky" diapers too much...I'd rather clean up a stinky diaper than adult throw up.

3. Spencer has ridden (hope that is a word) a buffalo. His family had a pet buffalo, Rodney, that he rode as a child. One time he was in the "pen?" with Rodney and some visitors were over. One lady came out yelling at Spencer and made him get out. He got in big trouble because she didn't know he was a pet.

4. If Spencer could have anything he wanted, he would have a ranch in Montana. Someday...we will have a ranch...even if it's just a small one.

5. Spencer brushes his teeth in the shower, mostly.

6. Spencer has a big heart. He is always doing projects for other people, like: building a bumper for my Dad, lending out his tools, helping people fix their cars, helping the neighbor with things better suited for men (like carrying heavy things). He is very quick to help people out!

Okay, we got tagged!

Well, I can't sleep, so Spencer will have to add his two cents when he's up.

1. I have not been diagnosed, but I'm pretty sure I have OCD in several different ways. Here's one example: When I eat, I have to chew my food/snacks in a certain way or it drives me nuts. If I'm eating cheerios for example (which I'm not supposed to eat) I crunch one on one side of my mouth and then one on the other side until they are all gone. I have wierd rules about eating them, too. If one is crunchier than the other, next time I have to eat a cruncier one on the other side so that I have crunched evenly on both sides. Does that make sense? It gets even more complicated than that, but I won't bore you with the details.

2. I am totally and completely right brained! I love anything that has to do with any kind of arts. I hate anything that has to do with logic...like MATH! I usually use my own way of doing things. Spencer tells me there is a more logical way of doing things, but I tell him I just have to do it the way I know how and not to confuse me.

3. To me...noise is a pollutant! I get wound pretty tight if there is much noise around the house. I have been known to snap when things get a little noisy...like if the dishwasher is going, the tv is on, and Spencer is talking on the phone...I go nuts! It pollutes my mind!

4. I feel closest to God when I meditate. I know that I should probably feel closest to God when I am at church or in the temple, but it's not the case. I feed Baer almost every hour (which is probably why at 2.5 months he weighed 15 lbs already), so I don't get much out of church. I have had some pretty incredible experiences while meditating.

5. I love music and everything that goes with it...like dancing. Dancing is one of my greatest passions. I took dance lessons at a studio for 8 months or so. I was told that I could compete or even teach. It gets expensive and Spencer won't go with me so I don't do it anymore. I miss it a ton!

6. When I have my dream house, nobody will be allowed to wear their shoes in the house. I will have a hidden walk in closet in the entry way that people will take their shoes and coats at. I will have a basket of clean slippers socks of all sizes for people to wear and will launder them after every use. Now you all know what a nut I am!

I tag Jake & Kenna. I think everyone else that I know on here has already been tagged somewhere, sooo... not sure what I do now, so... I'm adding Ken & Shelly to the "tag" because they recently got a blog!! (Shelly, you can do Ken's if he doesn't have time...it looks like I'll probably do Spencer's, too)

THE END!

Oh, wait...P.S. Those of you who have been doing this longer than I...how do you find people you know on here other than seeing them on someone else's blog?

Pictures!!

James enjoying movie night with Mom & Dad & yummy "pahcorn".

Our cute little Baer.

James found my mascara in my diaper bag and decided to brush his hair with it. Should have known it was too quiet :)

When Cliff & Diane were in town (beginning of October) we went to the Deanna Rose Children's Farmstead to go to the Pumpkin Hollow.

Unfortunately Spencer wasn't feeling well, so he decided to stay home.

The only time the farmstead has a fee is during the Pumpkin Hollow...which is when they do their fundraiser to keep it going. James loves going to the farmstead to see the animals, and I love that it is close and free!

Briggs Hansen (James & Baer's cousin)

Ethan Hansen (another cousin)

Briggs & James: good friends

They had a lot of fun games for the kids to enjoy, like pumpkin ball (b-ball), pumpkin skeeball, fishing, a corn pit (like a sand pit), a hay maze, corn maze, hay ride: pulled by horses, and more!

Baer obviously though it was pretty boring...he slept through most of it!

Everyone gets to take a pumpkin home of their choice.

After a long (but fun) morning, the kids were tired! We put them all down for a nap at our place. Here's Lisa reading them stories to get ready for naptime.

Playing in the back yard.

Baer hanging out.

THE END!

Celiac Awareness Month (I guess)

I just found out that this month is Celiac Awareness month or something?? That's funny...I think I heard of it a few years ago, but kind of forgot. Well I have Celiac's so I thought it was pretty cool when I heard that Hyvee (grocery store) is doing Gluten-Free food sampling this week! I'm pretty excited and I hope to be able to find some yummy things that I haven't discovered or been able to try yet.

October!

Isn't October just a FUN month? Halloween is one of my favorite holidays! I love carving pumpkins, decorating sugar cookies, making elaborate Halloween costumes, sitting in the hot tub in the cool weather, taking James trick-or-treating (and to Whole Foods for their activities and treats for Halloween), the parties, fall family portraits, the change in wardrobe, knitting scarves, and so on!

We have sure been busy! Spencer has been busy with school at Cleveland Chiropractic College...and studying! He's also building a bumper for Dad Bassett's new Jeep & for the winch...it's looking awesome!

James getting sooo smart! He turned 2 in August and he can already count to 10 in English and 5 in Spanish (further with help). He knows a few words in Spanish and Sign Language, some shapes, the basic colors, and of course...animals & sounds. He loves to read and to repeat everything we say, so he really picks up things fast! Oh, and he ADORES his new baby brother!!

Baer will be 3 months on the 24th and is growing soo fast! He already weighs 15 lbs and is barely over 2 feet long. He smiles and laughs and has cowlicks that make him have a natural mo-hawk...you should see it, it's pretty cute!

I am keeping busy at home with the boys! My hobbies [when I get time :)] include... singing (I now have a mini recording studio in my basement...needs put together though), dancing (I took ballroom for 8 months), amateur photography, photobooks (I'm not much of a scrapbooker and I have my own hard-bound binding machine, yay!), knitting, painting & crafts, cooking & baking for fun (not the daily stuff), and just about anything that has to do with any kind of arts! I miss MT for the obvious reasons...family, mountains, rock-climbing club, small town friends and activities...but I do like it here in Kansas. Just can't wait to make it back to MT for good (December 2009).

Well, this is starting to sound like a Christmas letter, so I'm going to leave it at that and maybe post up some pictures a little later :)

Thanks for taking a peek, Peace!