Post: IFHE24335HNMNCIO763

Last week our neighbor was trying to get rid of a tree he had chopped down in his back yard. Rather than take it to the dump he decided it would be more economical to cut it up and burn in his backyard next to his house. Luckily, the wind blew the smoke and ashes directly over his fence into our yard leaving traces of ash as a souvenir on our vehicles. As he loaded more and more wood onto the bonfire it actually became quite sizable. He strategically placed the fire right in between his home and his fence. Maybe he had a sweet insurance policy and he was trying to burn his house down to cash in on it. Anyway, the smoke, ashes, and obvious fire hazard got Valerie a little upset. Okay, really upset. She called the police to find out if there was a law prohibiting burning fires in residential areas in hopes that someone might come out and tell him to stop burning trees in his backyard. Well, Valerie got her wish. The police department dispatched a fire truck immediately and sent a couple of firemen out. Just as our neighbor was throwing another pile of wood on the fire, the truck showed up and the fireman payed him a surprise visit. We aren't sure if any citations were issued, but at least they made him put the fire out. As you can see from the picture below, the guy had at least a five alarm fire going. Okay, so the picture actually looks more like the steam that comes out of the vent when you're using your dryer, but you'll have to take our word for it, it actually was big at one point. The lesson here is if you are going to have a fire on your property, do it inside where your nosy neighbors won't see it.

Moving on. Last week was also my graduation. Now that I have graduated I'm dedicating 95 percent of my time to this blog. The other five percent will be broken down into looking for work, finishing my latest album, and tyring to fix our broken cabinet in the kitchen.

So my graduation went well. We had great family support and at one time had about fifteen people packed into our tiny front room for a celebration. We had barbecue, cake, beverages of all types, and best of all a briefcase full of candy. As a gift I was given an amazing briefcase full of equally amazing treats, everything from Big League Chew to Circus Peanuts. For most people it might take months to eat all of the candy that was stuffed in there, but between Brendan and me it might be gone before I even finish this post.

The picture here shows me checking out some of my items while Brendan empties the briefcase as quickly as he can. Once it was emptied he filled it back up again as quickly as he could. Then he emptied it again, refilled it, emptied it, danced for 20 seconds and then refilled the briefcase again. Unfortunately the briefcase does not have a working lock so I have to be very careful who I show it to.

In conclusion, graduation was very neat. I would like to thank all of my friends and family for helping me get to this point. At this point I would welcome any tips on getting money from the government. Such as filing for unemployment and so forth.

In conclusion (again), I would like to mention that Valerie made a really cute pillow this week for some friends of hers that had a baby. I would post a picture, but we don't have one. I would draw a picture, but this blog doesn't have that function, at least not that I know of. So, I will describe it. It is square shaped with pointed corners (don't worry. The corners are pointed, but they are soft so they won't hurt the baby, hopefully). The edges of the pillow are made up up many different fabrics similar to a quilt. Some have flower designs, some don't. The middle square of the pillow is an oatmeal color I think and stitched onto it is the baby's name "Mia." The stitching is cool. It's kind of like braiding. That is all of the imagery I can come up with. If you or anyone you know would like to purchase a pillow of your own, please send a check or money order made payable to Chris for the amount of $49.95 plus shipping and handling (please add and extra $9.50 for out of state orders). Act now and we will throw in a garden weasel and something else that will probably be really nice.

This post is coming to an end. I hope all of our faithful readers have a good week and enjoy the warmer weather.

It would be a TRAVESTY

if they changed the name of Wrigley Field. Visit here to sign the petition to keep the name! NOW!

http://www.keepitwrigley.com/

You ain't seen nothing yet!

I've been on a picture-taking binge lately so I had to share some of my favorites but there are plenty more in our April Photos so be sure to check them out. Above is our little Brawny Man. Chris dubbed the nickname for him since his cute little plaid shirt is almost exactly like the man on the Brawny paper towel's packaging.

With the nice weather this past weekend, we took several trips to the park and I think this is my fave. Brendan is just too funny sometimes. He absolutely loved the park- more so than he has in the past. It was a very teary goodbye when we had to leave though.

Brendan was never a snugly baby but as he's gotten older, he shows his love more and more. He loves to give hugs and pat me on the back, especially when I come home from work. It's the best part of my day. But this was a first for me. If I'm on the floor with him, he loves to tumble over me or climb all over me but this time he simply came up to snuggle. And then he ran off to go destroy more things in our home. His other nickname is Little Destructo. Seriously.

We've kept this box around for Brendan for a LONG time and he still loves it. This time though, he pulled it out of its usual corner and dragged it to our front door where he proceeded to try to open the door. Thankfully he hasn't quite figured it out yet but he was adorable trying.

He would stand there and just babble away while pointing to things or waving. He was in quite the happy mood since Angela was over to watch American Idol. He was definitely showing off.

And this is Brendan zoned out while watching Curious George. He's in a trance when we put that show on for him. It's one of the few times during the day that he's still.

And his favorite thing to do while watching Curious George is to chomp on his teddy's nose. It's the first thing he goes for when we give him his teddy and that bear is getting seriously disgusting. It's going to have to make a trip to the washing machine soon.


Brendan managed to climb in his bookshelf after he threw out every book he owns. I was surprised that he made it though. It was a tight fit but he was determined.

And last but not least, I leave you with pure cuteness.

Bubbles

I forgot to post these pictures earlier but since I am incredibly bored at work, I figured there was no time like the present. I always knew that kids loved bubbles but it wasn't until being in Nursery that I realized just how much. The kids look forward to bubble time just as much as snack time, and they often try to get the container from the cabinet while no one is looking. Kids are very sneaky. Brendan happened to be in Nursery with me one week during bubble time and LOVED it (at least there is a perk to being a counselor in Primary/Nursery- no one can say no to me bringing my son who is not of nursery age yet! Hee hee. JK).

He seemed to get a little frightened by the bubbles for a while but Chris persisted and finally won Brendan over.


He was quite angry when bubble time was over and many tears were shed, but within a few minutes he was back to his normal self.

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention my proud mama moments. Brendan can now make several animal noises including dog, monkey, sheep and most recently kitty. His little meows are the sweetest I've ever heard. He has also starting doing the motions to "Popcorn Popping" but only when he wants to. He is especially deft at smelling his popcorn ball. Oh be still my heart- my little one is just too cute for words.

But in case you all thought that Brendan is all smiles and giggles, I should mention the fit he threw at Los Hermanos the other night. He was screaming so loud and squirming so much, that we changed our order for to-go (after he threw everything within reach off the table) and left the restaurant within 20 minutes of arriving. His screams could be heard through out the restaurant, with me getting many stares- some of which were sympathetic. It was quite embarrassing. I just don't want our's to seem like one of those blogs who make other moms feel guilty for not having a child as wonderful as their's. We have ups and downs like every other family with a one year old. But despite his fits, I still miss him incredibly when he goes to sleep and I can't wait until he gets up in the morning.

Merry Easter, Everyone!

So, I've been busy lately working on my thesis, looking unsuccessfully for a job, and doing all of my chores at home (vacuuming, dishes, garbage etc.). This means that I'm just now posting about our Easter Box Social extravaganza hosted by Johnny B-Fro and his wife Erin. The event took place on Sunday afternoon up in Ogden. B-Fro had been planning this event for some time now and he hoped to pull it off without a hitch. The festivities began with Brendan pouring Leila's cup of soda all over her. Fortunately, Carrie had brought a back up pair of pants for Leila. I guess she just assumed that Brendan would spill something on her at some point. Well, she was right. From this day forward I think that every time there is a family function everyone should be required to bring an extra pair of pants. Then, if Brendan chooses to spill drinks on anyone, everyone will be prepared and no harm will be done.

Anyway, after the spill the kids watched Monsters Inc. Or, at least tried to. You see, Brendan has this tendency to touch buttons. Especially buttons with lights on them. So, whenever he sees a TV on/off switch he has to touch it. In fact, he can't not touch it. If the TV is off, he has to turn it on. If the TV is on, he has to turn it off. If we let him, Brendan would probably spend days at a time just turning TVs on and off without ever sleeping, that's how much he loves doing that. I can't really blame him though, I love pushing buttons just as much as the next person.

Now, while the kids watched the frequently interrupted showing of Monsters Inc. the rest of us adults talked politics, weather, religion, and so on. We also enjoyed fine barbecue provided by Chef B-Fro and Erin as well as dip by Carrie, potatoes by Valerie, and brownies by Uncle Greg. Following this divine meal we headed to the front yard for the first annual Easter box social egg hunt. Spencer used his cunning to get the most eggs. Leila and Brendan managed to get a few for themselves as well. However, although Brendan found three eggs filled with candy, upon arrival at our home we discovered he now only had one egg with candy. Reputable sources tell us that Leila was playing with Brendan's eggs and she might have accidentally eaten some of his candy. Carrie must deprive her because whenever Leila is around anything sweet she eats it up within seconds, much like her Uncle B-Fro did when he was a kid.

So, in the end the box social was a smashing success. Hopefully it will not be the last of its kind. Hopefully this post will not be the last of its kind either. Now that I'm nearing graduation with very few job prospects I will likely have more time to devote to this blog. If so, then I can start posting about last years Halloween, Christmas, and other such events that I never got around to.

- Near out.

A belated post

This is a post to recognize my sister's birthday that passed on April 1st. We had a great time at dinner (sans Brendan) and enjoyed the company! :) I hope your birthday was a good one, Steph! Enjoy the pictures!!!

Good times

For Christmas, we got Brendan these fun little musical toys that came in this canister. Now he seems to like the canister more than the music toys. He discovered that the canister is a perfect fit as a new helmet.

He did over and over again...
He loved to have someone tap on it while it was on his head. He got the biggest kick out of that. We spent a good 15 minutes playing with this and laughing hysterically.
Brendan also got some shots on Thursday but despite crying immediately as soon as the doctor walked in the room, he really was one tough cookie. He is teething though so we've had some rough patches but overall, he's as sweet as ever.
For doing such a good job with his shots, we rewarded him with a new set of golf clubs. I know Grandpa Near will be very proud of Brendan's awesome golf skills. He will occasionally hit the little ball but he prefers to swing the clubs around like a sword (and so does his dad). This new little toy has been distracting him beautifully from his teething pain! And so has Curious George, his favorite show. He actually cried yesterday when it was over. Poor guy. But don't feel too bad, we have several episodes recorded so he can watch them when he pleases.

To brighten your day...

A lot has been going on around our house so I thought I'd post some cute pictures from the past week or so. Above and below is Brendan enjoying chicken nuggets from Wendy's. He hasn't shown a real interest in meat of any kind until this time and I definitely think the Ranch sauce we slathered the chicken helped.

Brendan also managed to undress himself (kinda) and Chris saved it for me until I got home so I could see it live and snap some pictures. It was the perfect thing to come home to after a boring day at work. This kid cracks me up!

If I haven't mentioned it before, I love these pj's on Brendan. I often have him wear the top just as a shirt- they're that cute.

And just because Brendan is such a hilarious little guy, enjoy the video.