Almost Halloween

Ethan has been running around asking if Halloween is here yet and then checking the windows to see if it is coming...Here are some pictures of our trip to a pumkin patch with Brandon's class.

 brandon holding baby bunny

 pumpkin patch with view of smith rock

 Ethan singing in the car

hayride

Well here are some things that have been happening around here.  The other day Ethan's friend Jonas was coming over to play and I told him about it.  He told me that "Jonas is not a bum-face.  He is a nice boy."  I looked at Ethan and just thought...ok?  That is all there is to that story.  I thought it was really funny and Ethan says things like this all the time.  "Mom, we don't say faout (fart), it's not a nice word.  I am a nice boy and I don't say faout."  He also told us today the Heavenly Father died on the cross over and over after church.  I wish I could remember more but that is all that comes to mind right now.  I need to get on here more often I guess while I am remembering what he says. 
We did get to the Pumpkin Patch yetserday to get some huge pumpkins.  It was windy and cold for the first time since school started.  Halloween here is typically about 30 or below, so cold.  Living here you have to get used to the fact that it is mostly either hot or cold.  Not a lot of in between.

Paige and Patrick came over last weekend as well as my parents and Tyler got baptized.  He was excited, Brian baptized him and confirmed him.  It was great.  The next day we hiked around Smith Rock and it was so fun.  We don't go enough considering we live 5 minutes away.  Here are some pics! Ok, so Brandon usually doesn't let people take pictures of him and the other two boys are not always very compliant either.  Wellllll, last weekend we had a breakthrough.  They all loved that Paige was taking their pictures.  I am sooo excited about this fact.  I have been sad for a while that they will not pose for ANYTHING, let alone a family photo.  So here is the new colllection!  Ethan has discoved his happy face that's for sure.  We also went swimming up at Eagle Crest Resort where my parents stayed which is always fun. There are some pictures of Brian and Patrick shooting guns as well.

Funny Boys

So I do hesitate to share most of what happens around here but I know that there aren't a ton of people that read this....and I hope that you don't judge me when you do!  I am about to share some funny stuff that just seems to happen around here with three boys.  I try so hard to teach them good manners, polite....things I guess.  Anyway we'll see if it ever actually takes.  Here are some things that happen to me on a daily basis and I only share because this is my only record of it.  I dont really write in a journal cause I have carpal tunnel and typing actually hurts less! So here goes.  Not all of it is offensive.

I can't believe how fast time is flying by. The boys are really liking school. Brandon REALLY likes it. He loves to learn. Tyler does too but not like Brandon does. Brandon wants to write all day long. Letters and numbers. Brandon and his Grandma Carla are like pen pals now. He had her send him something in the mail and he got it today, his eyes were so big and so was his smile. He ran home, opened it and made her something that he immediately mailed back to her. So cute. She drew him picrures of Souki and River (her dogs), and a frog. It was awesome.


Luckily no one was around when Ethan learned to ask me this particular question....."hey mom, wanna see my butt qwack?"

Yep, that is what he learns from two older brothers. Nice.

He says tons of funny stuff of course, he thinks he is 8 like Tyler. He rides a scooter really well now and I am so afraid for his safety. He thinks he is so old and industructable. He also does MANY tricks on the "twampoweem" that are very impressive. I hear these words most of the day, regardless of the current activity,

"Mom, watch!" "Mom, did you see dat?" "Mom watch dis!" "I was like....oh and den I went ohhh!"

I get the same from Brandon and sometimes Tyler too. It's all very cute. After about an hour though it gets a little old I have to admit.

ok here is a rare one of mom, Marnae

                                                  Brandon Loves to fish as do the other boys

                                                               Brandon and Dad

Well, even though it is almost October we have been going to the lake, fishing and waterskiing and wakesurfing and we LOVE it!!! Here are some Pics. This is a blurry picture of Brian and he won't like it cause there are better ones on his mom's camera, but I think it's not so bad!  I have only one picture of myself but for the record, I waterskied and wakesurfed and wakeboarded all summer long!!!  It's ok, don't love pics of myslef anyway. This one above is from earlier that my sister Piage took in McCall, Idaho at our family reunion which was soooo fun!

3 and 8

August 25th Ethan turned 3 and we had a big cul-de-sac party with tons of friends and family.  We played carnival games and had cotton candy!  My friend Courtney has a machine and she came and made it for us.  It was so fun.  The kids had a blast.  I decided to have a big party for Ethan but also because it was the end of the summer and we wanted to have a big party anyway so this was a fun excuse.  Ethan did really well considering there were seriously like 50 people here. 

Tyler did a smaller party last week (his birthday was September 19th, turned 8) with some of his friends and they went bowling and did bumper cars.  It was great fun as well.  Here are some pics. This morning Ethan said a few funny things like usual.  We saw a hot air balloon over by smith rock behind our house (we can see Smith Rock from our back yard!) Anyway it was at breakfast and the boys were eating and they saw it.  Ethan was so amazed and wanted to know what it was called so we told him it was a hot air balloon.  Well he now tells everyone all day long that we had an AIR HOT balloon in our back yard this morning!  So cute.  Right after that we took the older boys to school and they all three ride their scooters.  He jumped up on a curb just like the older boys do but he had to stop and tell me that he had "just GRINDED!" He learns all these terms from the other boys like "grind" and "table top" and "tail-whip".  I am not totally sure what some of them are or how they learned about them but Ethan doesn't miss a beat that is for sure.

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Ethan 4th of July

The Whole Thompson Clan

Well I am having trouble doing what I want to here but here are some random pictures. But the one I really wanted to caption and couldn't is my sister and Law Angela Casey's wife and her new little cute baby Joshua at his blessing in Boise. Congratulations guys!

Wow, I found more Pics

Brandon with his sparkler

Summer Update

Here is Ethan with his little friend "Kenzie"

Cousins at Cannon Beach

We were able to get to the sand castle contest! I somehow got a couple of these pics doubled up sorry.

Brandon at his finest

Grandpa Bob and Ethan-so cute

This was a "herd!" or "flock" (depending on who you are! You know who you are. The same people who don't believe in wild cows) of pelicans which was a first for me to see at the beach

Roasting Marshmellows

Tyler         ?????

Look how big a pelican is!

Cute Cousin Savanna

Brandon and Grace digging a massive hole!

Ethan "hot dog and marshmellow camping" was what he told me he wanted to do again

Cousin Annica

Cousins Alec and Parker

The View from our House in McCall ~ amazing huh? (thanks Mari)

Brandon

Trying to get Brandon to smile for a picture - whata goof

We have been having a lot of fun this summer and things are just starting to slow down a little.  We started out our summer with going to the beach for a week with Brian's family for a little family reunion.  It was tons of fun but we already miss everyone.  We then headed to McCall, ID for a week with my family to waterski and wakeboard etc.!  Tons of fun again and we miss those families now too.  Since then we have benn attending ward camp outs, BBQs, stuff like that.  We did get to go waterskiing this past weekend and down to the houseboat for some fun.  That is the plan from here on out----HOUSEBOAT FUN!  We got the jet skis running now and so things are a-go.  Tyler drove the jet ski this last weekend and he loved it.  Brandon and I went for a little ride also.  Tyler has tried to wakebaord a few times but still has a little more to go and he'll get it.  Both the older boys have wakesurfed with Brian and the like that.  Ethan is not going to the early beginning waterskier that the older boys were.  He is a bit more timid though he does like the tube!  The weather here in central oregon has been just great so we have been having a great time palying in the sun and water.  We love living here!
I have added a bunch of randon pics from our adventures.
So there are some things that  I would like to get written down so that I can go back some day and read and actually miss these things that I am not always grateful for as they occur: 

• Dirty door knobs.  I have a really hard time going in and out of doors around my house because of the grubby feeling they all have!  My boys are in and out and all about.  Once I clean them, they are dirty within minutes. (the kids and the door knobs)  I usually only try to get them clean at night before they go to bed.
• Messes. This is a given with kids and I know that.  I read a quote the other day that said, "A messy house is a sign of a wasted life."  How true, maybe, but I can't live in chaos and gunk so....
• Whining. Constant, insecent, whining from a 3 year old that needs naps but won't take them.  The same 3 year old that just went A-Wall about not being able to get out the front door due to the nasty orange cheeto build-up on his fingers, nicely illustrating why my door knobs suffer the way they do.
• Tape, paper, staples, and more tape.  Permanent markers that I hide in a new spot every 3 days.
• Otter pop or popcicle stains on the garage floor making it sticky with every other step that I take.
• Doing laundry only to fold it when it's dry and find that there are shirts riddled with stains that I didn't see the first time around and spraying them and throwing them back in for the next wash.  Thank goodness for spray and wash!
• Snacks....snacks.....SNACKS....the constant eating and SNACKING of my boys.....it's insane. The "I'm Hungry" that occurs just as I have finally finished cleaning the kitchen from the meal that we JUST finished.  No wonder a lot of moms are on Prozac.  Or working outside the home!  It must be easier that way right?
• Teasing.  More Teasing after being asked nicely to stop.  More even after being yelled at to stop, threatened even. Do I have to expand on that?  A sure road to insanity.
• Crying, whaling, gnashing of teeth
• Darkening the same room 3 times each day hoping that this time will be the blessed moment that my 3 year old will just take a little nap so that he can make it through the evening.  Unfortunately it is now 4:40pm and I just don't care because if he stays awake I don't know if he nor I can function.  Hopefully it's just a little nap so that he is not jumping ON me in MY bed tonight at 10pm when I want so much be alone!

I will be able to think of more later I am sure.  I always tell myself I am going to get these things down on paper because it's funny, a lot of it, after you have lived through it.  Not while your are dealing with it though.  And I don't want to forget it all!  I love my family and the challenges they bring but there are a lot of things that  I love that they do that are great.  Like the hugs, kisses, the little "I love yous" and ALL the funny things they say and do that make it all worth it.  I will have to try and list all of that someday too.  I have tried in previous posts to at least start!  I put in when I can remember it.