Girls Weekend in Boise

So I think I have said it before, but I went to college with some of the greatest people in the world. I am casual facebook friends with most of them, but there are a select few, known as the Logan family, who remain dear to our hearts. When visiting Utah in June, we threw out the idea of a girls weekend in Boise. It was fun to dream about, a weekend with some of my best girlfriends and no kids.

I am proud to report that it came true. Why Boise you ask? Most of the girls live in Utah, one in Idaho, me in Washington and our farthest living in mid-west. We though Boise would be a central location for those out west and we could stay at our friends mother's house. All the girls in Utah decided to carpool and I was going to drive down (about 6 hours), but then Blake and I decided I should just fly. I was going to bring Hunter and it would just be easier. Yes, it was easier!

I arrive around 6pm Thursday evening. The girls were leaving Utah around that time. Laurie (the mother) picked me up. We did grocery shopping for the weekend and then headed back to the house to eat dinner and visit. I am fortunate enough to be good friends with Laurie, so I always love stopping by and visiting when we are in town. The girls finally arrived around 11 pm. I was too excited and bummed that i missed out on 5 hours of car gossip. That's ok, the weekend made up for it.

When I got home, Blake asked what we did. The only thing I could say is, a whole bunch of nothing and it was GREAT!!! After staying up until 3 am Thursday night and having to wake up with Hunter at 7 am, we headed to the Boise Temple open house. I have never been to an open house before. It's a time for anyone and everyone to take a tour of the temple before they dedicate it and begin the Lord's work. You can learn more about temples here. 

They had us (a room full of people) watch a 10 minute video about the Boise area and temples. It was nice and the narrator sounded familiar. Without going into too much detail, we were all saying, "oh, that must be the same voice." Well, a gentleman in the back overhead us and asked what we were talking about. We told him the voice sounded like another narrative voice we as temple goers recognize. He said it was. "How do you know?" someone asked. "Because it is me." We met the guy who produced the temple video we were currently watching and other temple videos. It was pretty neat.

The temple was beautiful and I could feel the spirit so strong when we went into the Celestial Room. There is peace and pure joy that is felt in the House of the Lord. I was so happy we decided to do this, thanks Lindsey.

After the temple, we changed and headed out for lunch. We wanted something unique to Boise, so we headed into downtown Boise and ate at Fork. It was SO good and we all ate way too much. They had parmesan cheese fries that were to die for. We all agreed that we could have shared with each other.

When plans were discussed for the weekend, it sounded like most would be bringing their babies. There are 2 others around Hunter's age. But through some miracle, they got to stay home. So, he was the only man on our trip.

I didn't think I would mind bringing the little man, but it turns out I did. He was just getting over an ear infection and was just awful. I know everyone else didn't think he was too bad, but I was the one up all night, waking up early and trying to calm a crying baby. I felt like I missed out on just being lazy and hanging around. Never again will I bring a little one. He was less than perfect on this trip and that was sad for both of us.

Friday night we went to Lindsey's sisters house and utilized their theater room. Our old roommate from college, Arianne who lives in Boise, came over to spend the evening with us. Our goal was to watch a movie. We arrived at 7 pm and I don't think we started the movie until after 10pm. We were having too much fun talking. Sara read the most hilarious blog post about "The Fart that (Almost) Altered My Destiny." We were all dying, whether it was from the blog itself, Sara's commentary or the lack of sleep. I don't know, but Blake was laughing so hard when I read it to him at home.

The next day we slept in and eventually (around 1pm) headed to the mall. Why, because we are girls with almost no kids. We spent over 4 hours at the mall. I know this was hard on some of the none shopping girls, but overall, it was nice to take our time. We all went into a jewelry shop and had our rings cleaned while we admired the different diamonds in front of us. We dreamed of future rings we could have and were reminded of the times we got engaged. Needless to say, 4 hours in the mall with 7 girls wore this little man out.

We came home and did what we do best, talk! That evening Lindsey came up with the idea to have a favorites party. We all were to bring one of our favorites to share with the group. Monica brought a cute vase and bulb (picture to come when it's sprouted), Jamie brought her favorite bar of soap, gum, and candy, Lindsey brought foot cream and nail polish, Kelly brought some yummy smelling lotion (which I needed so bad), Shandy brought lotion kit and candy, Sara brought a HUGE chocolate bar and I am finalizing my recipe book. (I have compiled all of our recipes into one full proof recipe book.)

Sunday came too soon. We headed to church for their primary program (I missed Braden's program at home, but I hear he rocked it). It was cute. We headed back to the house for a big lasagna dinner. The girls headed out around 2 pm. I didn't leave until 6pm that night, so I got to get some more Laurie time in. It was nice. 

Laurie took us to the airport where this little man went crazy. You can tell he's into push-ups. He's got to keep his body.

He was all about getting his wiggles out and that was ok with me. 

The plane ride was only an hour, so it wasn't bad. This was his first plane trip and he was a champ.

I was glad to be home, but I can't help but sitting on the couch at night after putting the kids to bed wishing I was still in a little room with these girls. We plan on making this an annual things, so Andrea, Hillary, Krista and Meg, start saving and planning. We realized a couple things. #1 Only plan for breakfast and dinner. We were completely stuffed the whole time even though we cooked everything and didn't snack much. #2 Go someplace free (minus travel). We honestly just laid around the house all day and it was perfect. We plan to utilize free places like Arizona, St. George, California or any place where we can stay for free.

I can't make this post without saying a HUGE thank you to my friends Camille and Christina. They were the ones watching my 2 boys at home so I could be playing. And of course, thank you to my wonderful husband for helping me make this happen. I think he understand how hard I work and I appreciate him allowing me these "vacation days" for my job as full time mother. As for now, I am already planning Girls Weekend 2013 and will be excited for the new additions that will arrive before then.

Red Barn Farms Pumpkin Patch 2012

A couple weeks ago we headed to the pumpkin patch. I looked in the back to discover Brody groovin to them music. I love how he really gets his shoulders into it.

We were really excited about Red Barn Farms this year. It was supposed to be bigger and better than years past. They even made several corn mazes. Blake and I were supposed to go on a group date to the Haunted Corn Maze the night before, but the wind was strong and the rain was coming, so they closed it down. That's ok, we went out to eat with some great friends.

Back to our day. The wind from the night before completely flattened the corn maze. I felt so bad for the owner's. There was nothing they could do to bring it back to life and as a result, had to charge everyone a cheaper price to get in. We still had a blast though. There was potato sack races, drawings, silly places to take pictures and so much more.

The big hit of the day was the pea pit. Who knew dried peas could keep kids attention for HOURS. Well, now I do.

They also had a corn cannon, but instead of shooting corn, we shot tennis balls. The workers would even run out into the field and try and catch the ones we were shooting. (Bottom Center) The boys loved shooting things.

It wasn't too cold, but still cold enough to keep Mr. Man all bundled.

And you can't go to a pumpkin patch without seeing the pig races. Brody still talks about it today. They had 2 heats, 3 pigs each. I guess pigs love marshmellows, so they'd race from one end of the circle to the other in hopes of getting the marshmellow. The neighbors met us there and the 3 boys loved watching these pigs. In the first race there was one pig who out ran the others quite easily. The other 2 had lost and accepted that fate, so they just show boated in front of the crowd for awhile.

Family picture on the hay ride. There was absolutely nothing to look at on the hay ride, but the boys liked it.

Dad and son.

Dad & his boys

Some fun in the bounce castle.

And even though it was flattened, we still headed out into the corn maze. The wind was a blowing, but we still had fun. It was actually kind of nice that you could see everything. It didn't make it easy to get through the maze, just easy enough to watch the boys as they ran ahead. Isaiah and Braden led the way and they did it. They got us out of the maze. I got to tag back with Brody and just enough the fake corn.

Then to the pumpkin patch. The boys had fun looking at pumpkins, but got too distracted to actually buy any. We kept bringing them back over and realized, why are we forcing them to buy pumpkins? So we didn't.

I think this was on the hay ride too.

There were tons of vendors there, so we got some food to refuel.

The boys had hot dogs while Blake and I enjoyed some yummy pulled pork sandwiches.

Hunter just watching the activities.

We went into the Red Barn and enjoyed the fun music. The boys loved dancing. There were many more vendors in there. We looked around, but didn't get anything.

We finished our 3 hour adventure with a cake walk. It wasn't too organized, so we only participated for about 5 minutes before we were all ready to get home.

Overall, we were so glad we braved the wind and went out. It occupied us all morning and created some fun memories. There was a creepy guy dressed up. I am sure they used him for the haunted corn maze. It freaked all the little kids out (I don't know why they would have him walking around during a family friendly event, but whatever.). We will definitely be heading back next year.

What we've been up to

I have about a million blog posts to make about fun things like pumpkin patches, girls weekend, swimmers, crawlers, and potty training (ok, that's not fun) but life just won't slow down. How can we fix that? So this is a random blog post about little things that have been going on in the Barnett household.

#1 One month homemade bread. That's right folks, I have discovered how incredibly easy and cheap bread making is, so I have vowed not to buy store bought bread for the next month. So far, so yummy! If you have any must have bread recipes, let me know. (They can't use eggs though.)

#2 The other day I peeked out our window and saw a bunny in our little wagon. I eagerly grabbed the camera and the boys. We rushed outside to discover this bunny, dead as a door nail. The boys didn't quite understand, but Blake sure taught them the lesson when he came home, took them to a field and threw the bunny out. Now Brody just keeps saying, bunny dead. It's been 3 weeks now.

#3 Friends. Braden took the next couple photos. We have been spending time with friends. These pictures our the lovely Lionetti's. We swap babysitting with them once a month. We watch their girls (3 yrs and 6 months) and they watch our boys.

Yesterday one of my good friends Collette moved (top center). She has been a major inspiration to me and the path I have taken in my life. She encouraged me to run a 5k after I had Braden, then motivated me to try the my first half. She got me into the gym to try her spin classes and eventually told me to get certified. She managed to get me through my marathon and was a huge help mentally after I had Brody. I love you Collette and hope Utah knows how good they've got it.

#4 Lazy days at home. We really don't have much going on. Blake and I have been trying to do date nights with the boys once a week, but other than that, we are mostly home in the evenings playing referee and...

building cool things. 

#5 Awkward sleeping. We have been finding Braden in the most uncomfortable sleeping positions lately. How could being wedged in between the bookshelf and love sac be comfortable?

Or sleeping on your knees hunched over on the bed. Seriously?

#6 Date Nights. Blake and I decided about a month ago that we needed to go on more dates so we could remain on the same page as husband and wife. Fortunately, we are blessed with the best babysitter in the world. We have outstanding date nights on the 2nd and 4th Saturday of each month. We surely love Lizzie and so do our boys. She is one busy girl, so we have also had her younger brother Spencer watch the boys. They love the whole George family and so do we.

#7 Blake getting toys stuck on his finger. This was really funny. He honestly couldn't get this off his finger. We finally had to soap it down and pull with all our might. A few tears may have been shed. Blake won't make that mistake again.

That's whats going on right now. I promise to make more detailed posts. Maybe tonight when the kids are in bed I will try and get out 3-4 more. We will see.

Brody 2 1/2 years

Oh this little boy. He has given me extreme stress attacks, but I love him. Why you ask? Let me tell you a little about my 2 1/2 year old Brody. He doesn't realize he is 2 1/2. He thinks he is almost 5 like his big brother. He is willing to jump higher, run faster and do all the stupid things that Braden realizes he shouldn't do.

He is such a funny boy. I think he might be teething. He is always putting things into his mouth (as shown above and below). This drives me nuts, especially since he has gotten into Hunter's binky. I am washing them all the time.

He knows when he is being naughty and funny. I try not to smile, but sometimes he just gets me and I can't help but laugh. One of our favorite things is that he comes into our room in the morning and loudly declares, "I awake!" It's something I have expected each morning.

This shows how he is a little boy. You can see his eye all scrapped up from jumping off the couch, onto the couch cushions flipping into the tv set. He is one tough cookie though. Honestly, if this happened to Braden, he would have been down and out the rest of the night. Not Brody, he cried for a minute, got a snuggle from dad then mom and then was right back at it.

He loves babies and acting like a baby. Here is Braden holding baby Brody. We are just now starting to catch glimpses of happy moments between these two. Don't get me wrong, they still fight all the time, but there are happy spots that Blake and I just smile at. I think these two can become the best of friends, eventually.

He is the most sympathetic little boy. Blake and I were watching this show the other night (Brody had come down from bed and we were just too lazy to bring him back up) and a woman was crying. Brody's little yes got all teary and he just kept saying, she's sad. It is so sweet to see him be so tender hearted.

He loves his baby brother, a little too much. He is just now realizing that Hunter is a little person, especially since he can crawl now (another post). I have seen him hit (not hard, but still), push and yell at the little man.We have really been trying to talk about being soft and Hunter still being little.

Still, he loves Hunter and Hunter loves him.

These two. I don't even know what to say about them. They make both Camille and I sick. They are the best of friends. They fight like enemies, but defend each other like siblings. I know he will be heart broken when Evelyn moves in April. (That will make 2 of us little dude.)

Camille and I switch kids twice a week. I take Evelyn for an afternoon and then another day she takes Brody. It's a win-win-win for everyone involved. They love their playtime.

Overall, I am really enjoying my Brody. We have noticed a HUGE difference since the surgery. He is able to communicate so much better. Even he calls and speaks to my mom for minutes at a time and she can actually understand most of what he says. My mom keeps saying and I am starting to agree that Brody will keep getting easier as he gets older. I sure hope this is true. I absolutely love him, most days!

Braden's Race Day: Pumpkin Dash 2012

Ok, I said weeks ago that I would post this. So here it is. To run a race, you need a couple of things.

#1 Race Packet

 #2 Encouraging signs

 #3 Race Shirt

 #4 Running Gear (in this case Black Spiderman costume)

 #5 Running Partner

 #6 Competitors

And then you are set. Nerves begin. I don't think they began until a couple minutes before the race. (I usually start with my nerves the night before.) Braden and I walked over to the park before Blake and the younger boys. This race was a 1 mile race to raise money for YMCA Special Olympics. It was at the park right by our house.

The gun went off and everyone began to run. I didn't prep Braden for the gun, so he was nervous for a second, but then we got going. The course was really hilly, but Braden was a champ. We stopped for a quick water break. You can see flags along the course. Anytime Braden hit a white flag, we would walk. Anytime we hit a red flag, we'd run. I have to admit, we ran a lot more than I thought we would. And although complaints came within the last 1/4 mile, he was able to sprint it in. (Note bottom picture.)

Braden is #1. It was a pumpkin dash, so everyone who finished got a pumpkin. According to Braden, he picked out the best one.

Brody wanted a picture of the pumpkin he would have chosen.

Hunter was there to cheer.

And here's our happy family.

We couldn't be more proud of Braden. Training was rough, but he came ready to run and run he did. I look forward to many more races with this boy. I've said it before, but I see him as more of an individual sports boy, so running may be in his future long term.