The Campers, The Shredder & The Snuggler - 7 QT Friday

Hello, Friends! How has your week been?? Great, I hope.  I haven't been blogging much, since we're having internet connection issues, so today's 7 QT's is a nice little summary of (most) everything that's been happening in our neck of the woods.  Have a wonderful weekend!!

- 1. - 

Three Flew the Coop to Go Camping 

Last Saturday, Steve, Benedict, Andrew and Steve's Dad headed to a remote location in Colorado to go camping.  I was very excited for them, but let's just say I wasn't thrilled.  And, that's only because I'm afraid of bears and mountain lions and anything that could chew on my children. But, I sent them out the door anyway, hoping that maybe they would come home a day or two early, hungry and tired, needing my arms, a hot meal and a warm bath.  Dream on, honey.  They not only survived the cold and the bears and feeding themselves, but they wanted to stay until Saturday.  The second they came in the door last night, all of the boys tackled each other. Literally.  Then came all of the crazy stories and the souvenirs....

- 2. -

Souvenirs

Let me tell you how much fun it was to stumble into the kitchen and find the remnants of a squirrel parked by the coffee maker this morning.  Uuggghhh.  Really? What are we going to do with that thing?? I'm just waiting for one of the boys to tack it to the living room wall. While Ben and Andrew would have preferred to hunt deer and elk, they didn't have their hunter's safety licenses, and so their hunting ventures were reduced to little critter quests.  Ben was so proud to bring home a squirrel pelt for Henry as a souvenir, and Henry was so thrilled with the gift you would have thought it was Christmas morning!

- 3. -

Leafly Love

Every fall I look forward to the day when I can grab a cup of tea, a cozy sweater and a lawn chair and sit and watch the boys play in the leaves for hours.  We have a nice sturdy oak in our front yard, but it's been slow to give up it's leaves, so yesterday, George grabbed a big bucket and robbed the neighbor's yards theirs, just so Charlie would have some to play in. And, play he did!

- 4. -

Pink Polka Dot Perfection

Getting a surprise package in the mail is always such a huge treat - especially when it's from your sister and her family - AND that surprise is a brand new pink polka dolt fleece blanket from Lands End.  It's butter soft ya'll.  It's also a big baby magnet.  It took an army of kids screaming "MOM!!! The toilet is overflowing, and I think it's poop!!" to peel me off of that couch. Sadly, that's how it happened. C'est la vie.

- 5. -

Praises for Panera

While Steve and the oldest two were off searching playing Man vs. Wild in the mountains, the boys and I tried to have a little fun of our own here at home.  One day for lunch I hung up my apron and let Panera Bread cook for us.  The boys were especially polite that day.  They walked right up to the counter, greeted the cashier, placed their order with pleases and thank-you's and sugar coated it with some adorable toothless grins.  While they skipped off to the soda station, the cashier says this to me, "Your boys are so incredibly polite and gracious.  Would you like to have a free cup of coffee on the house?" This was a hallelujah moment, people!  After years of drill sergeant stare-downs and threats in the car moments before waltzing in to every restaurant finally paid off.  Best cup of coffee EVER!!

- 6. - 

The Shredder

This is our 5th copy of Go Dog Go.  Seriously, every time I go to Sam's Club, I scour the tables for any copy of this little gem, because out of the 100's of books we have in the boys' library, this is the one they read over and over again as toddlers, and it always ends up shredded.  Charlie will not to sleep without a pile of books in his bed, but, unfortunately, he likes to rip out the pages, throw them over the rail and watch them flutter down to the ground. I don't have the heart to take them away from him, and one can only have so many board books.  So, I just buy a lot of tape and let him "read" 'til his heart's content.  I love that he is fascinated with books. Every day I find him in some corner of the house with a pile of books pouring over the pages.  And, every day, one of the boys yells, "Mom! Charlie is shredding!" Due to the uncontrollable shredding, we are currently in library/bookstore exile.

- 7. -

Sad to See the Season End

Tomorrow will be the first Saturday in weeks that we won't spend a good part of the day on the sidelines watching Ben and Andrew play Cougar football.  I'm a little sad to see the season end, as it really was such an incredible time for our entire family, and a great opportunity to get to know many of the wonderful people here in our new community. (More football season photos and highlights here!).  But, something exciting is always around the corner - basketball and wrestling are up next, and I can't wait!

{More goodies here!}