Thank you for clarifying

Will: Hey Mom! Remember the other day when I called you an idiot?

Mom: Yeah I remember. That really hurt Mommy's feelings. That made Mommy really sad. That made Mommy feel like you didn't like her.

Will (shrugging shoulders): That's why I said it. Because I didn't like you. Because you were stupid. Sometimes I like you and sometimes I don't.

Mom: Well Will, I like you all the time. I like you every day.

Will: I like you all the time too right now. But sometimes I don't. That's why I called you an idiot.

The week in review

We finally finished our fence! The first time I let Will loose in the back yard I gave him a big lecture about how he had to stay in the yard and not try to get out and not touch the gate. About 3 minutes after his release I didn't see him anywhere so I opened the back door and called for him. He came running back from the direction of the gate and I said "What were you doing over there?" and he said "Just messin' with the gate and tryin' to get out." So clearly our talk did a lot of good.

The other day he went out in the freezing cold to do this:

Personally I would prefer to read inside, but whatever.

Sawyer put himself down for a nap. Yes, that is an electrical cord next to his mouth. It is the plug to an overhead projector to be specific. I bet you don't have an old school overhead projector...and up until my parents drove here bringing a Toyota Sienna loaded with wonders from their basement neither did I. He wasn't sucking on the plug...it just happened to be near his face. I promise. If he had been sucking on it would I really take a picture?

We went to the pumpkin patch. We barely made the last wagon ride of the night after sitting around for half an hour threatening Will that if he did not pick up all his "monies" (i.e. about 3 dollars worth of pennies) that he had thrown all over the downstairs he would not get to go to the pumpkin patch. It is always more fun to try to find pumpkins in complete darkness.

Are all 3 year-olds incapable of looking at a camera and smiling normally at the same time? Mine is.

We tried this shot about 400 times and this is as good as it gets. Will was unhappy because some little boy was throwing handfuls of hay at us. He must have been a sad little orphan child as there were no parents around interested in claiming him or regulating his behavior...not even when Bryce asked "Hey! Please don't throw hay at us!" in a rather loud voice.

Yesterday we went to the outlets in Park City. Unfortunately, good deals were few and far between--unlike screaming children which were plentiful and always near at hand seeings as how they were my own children.

And now for a word from Will....

Will is into saying that he "likes" things and people. The other day he was sitting on the couch watching a cartoon when he said "Mom? I like you." I said "What was that Will?" and without taking his eyes off the screen he pointed at me in the kitchen and said "I like ya Mom. I like ya and I love ya." This was much more appreciated than last weekend when he yelled "Mom, you're an idiot!" at me 3 times.

Pretty much every day I have to open the front door to let Dora and Diego in to play with Will. Dora and Diego always want to get every single toy out of the closet and they never want to pick up. They also request large quantities of fruit snacks. (Dora and Diego are cartoon characters should you be lucky enough to not already know that.)

Everything was either "totally awesome" or "totally amazing" according to Will this week.

Sawyer spread his own excrement all over his crib on four separate occasions this week. That was not totally awesome.

PS: This is my very own unruly 3 year-old at his first trip to the pumpkin patch 2 years ago. How did that happen?

Now with bonus pictures at no extra cost

After scowling at the forecast all afternoon I decided that today was the last chance to go up the canyon. Unfortunately, the canyon didn't get the memo. Most of the trees still aren't at their peak, but since they are looking to get a good dousing of snow over the weekend it would seem that they may have missed their chance to show off this year.

We wandered around Sundance for a little while. I wanted a nice picture of the kids. I got several pictures of one child who could not hold still long enough to take a picture and several of another child who could not stop whining long enough for a picture. It was an exercise in photojournalism I suppose.

My parents were in town for the weekend. We managed to get my mom sick so it was a successful visit. That was her punishment for coming all the way here and only staying four days. We also got my brother sick. That was his punishment for asking if he could come do a load of laundry. No one has been sick at our house for over a week, but we seemed to be the common denominator.

I mopped the kitchen floor today. Sometimes I even impress myself.

Bonus pictures: Remember how I didn't have any pictures of our trip to Connecticut this summer because I thought I would be buying the fancy-dancy camera and as it turned out no one sold said fancy-dancy camera any more? Well wait no longer. I stole some pictures off of my dad's camera while they were here.The mountain laurel bush outside my parents' front door. Mountain laurel is the state flower of Connecticut. PS.

Somewhere near the Massachusetts/Connecticut border.

The Pinchot Sycamore = the biggest tree in Connecticut.

I told you it was big.

At the beach in Connecticut.

Sawyer got to meet both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans this summer.

I'm pretty sure he evolved from some other species.


On our 4th of July hike.