snow

We had our first snow on Tuesday. We "played snowball fight" and built a snowman. We also bought new snow boots and got to wear our new winter coats

Dancing

For their Halloween party, Porter's class is going to a senior center. I'm not exactly sure what they are going to do with the senior citizens and apparently neither is Porter. I asked him what he was going to do and he said "dance for the old people." Maybe.

monsters

Tonight Dallin said to me, "I not want to sleep. I make monsters in my eyes. That why I not want go to sleep."

H1N1

About three weeks ago, I got a flu shot at work and realized it was time to take the boys to get theirs. The pediatrician's office only had FluMist and so the boys got that (which they greatly preferred anyway. Well, at least Porter did. Porter has been known to hide under chairs screaming when it is time to get a shot. Dallin claimed to want a shot from the doctor though. He would have changed his mind when he found out what a shot actually is). The doctor told us that the boy couldn't have another mist vaccine for 30 days. It didn't seem like a problem at the time. Little did I know, H1N1 is only available in Mist form (if it is available at all). We have to wait until November 7th to be eligible for mist. In the meantime, Dallin found a small bottle of "hanitizer" in the kitchen and has been using it liberally for about a week. Porter realized what was going on today and I had to get him his own bottle now. Hopefully, our "hanitizing" will be enough.

sleep over

This weekend was a first for the boys, they had a sleep over with Aunt Mallory and Uncle Brett. Joe and I decided to do something to celebrate our anniversary. We went to Logan, the site of most of our dating activities, for the weekend. (We thought we might go to the same spot where he proposed up in Logan canyon but we drove around for a while and nothing looked familiar. Eventually we decided to just pull over at one of the hiking trails, walk around, and pretend it was the same spot). Mallory and Brett came to stay with Porter and Dallin. Porter, my little worry wort, stewed about the sleeping arrangements for a while and was concerned that he wouldn't care for having a sleep over (what if got scared and needed me?, what if he got thirsty and needed juice? what if we didn't have enough pillows?, he doesn't think he likes sleepovers, etc.). Dallin, easy going as he is, just declared that he was going to sleep with Uncle Brett and would share his candy with both of them. It apparently was a great weekend for the boys. They went mini golfing, ate mac & cheese, went to the movies, and pooped a lot (at least Dallin did). Porter told me that Brett and Mallory will be coming trick-or-treating with them this week, even though they don't have costumes, and then they can have another sleepover.
After Joe and I got home, the boys put on their halloween costumes and demonstrated everything they could do in them. Dallin wanted to go outside and we told him he couldn't because then his costume wouldn't be a surprise, the neighbors would see it. He told us that they couldn't see his face or his body because of the costume so they wouldn't know it was him.

suspicious

Even though Dicken has left us for a new family (who showed me their dead cat who was in a cardboard box in the garage, even though I said I didn't need to see the cat), I still swear that I smell cat pee around the house. We have cleaned all the furniture, rescrubbed the carpet, and searched the house for more cat pee, but still, the smell persists. I wake up at night, certain that I smell cat pee. It could be just the pee smell that we haven't been able to eradicate from the basement but I am growing suspicion. I am beginning to wonder if Poohball has decided to pee discretely around the house, thinking that she can still blame it on Dicken. Ugh. She is a tricky one, that Pooh. I heard a story on NPR several weeks ago told by a boy who was afraid of getting up to go to the bathroom at night. His elderly grandma moved into the house and the boy decided to start peeing all over the house instead of going into the bathroom, knowing that grandma would get blamed. I wonder if Pooh has a similar plan.

lagoon trip

For my birthday, I decided I wanted to go to Lagoon. It was a big day. (1) It may be the first time that Joe has been there. He has never come with us before. and (2) Dallin and Porter are now both over 36 inches tall, which means that they can ride a lot more of the rides. Yep, that's right, we could all ride Puff the Little Firedragon together. I didn't get pictures of us on Puff, but here are some other pictures of our day.

this is my favorite picture of the boys together

Now I know where Porter and Dallin learned how to smile

birthday

Friday was my birthday. I decided to take a picture of myself to commemorate my 31st year. I wasn't happy with any of them so I just put on all of them. I learned the following things from trying this:
(1) My bathroom mirror is disgusting. I didn't realize it was this dirty. It really needs to be cleaned
(2) I can't smile without looking slightly to completely crazy and
(3) it is harder than it looks to take your own picture in the mirror

These are the pictures Joe took of me with my princess birthday cake

come on wings

Yesterday, my sister and Ashley and I took Porter and Dallin to the park by Ashley's house. At one point, Dallin climbed on top of a rock and started flapping his arms up and down. He stood there for a few minutes, just flapping. Then I heard him say to himself, "come on wings, get goin'. " I think he really thought he would take flight.
Dallin also got a coupon in the mail from Kiddie Kandids, since his birthday is coming up next month. Who knew that coupons were such a treasure. Dallin carried it around with him and even slept with it. He kept holding it up and saying, "say 'cheese' Mom." He might have thought the coupon would actually take a picture. Porter was jealous. He found it unfair that Dallin would get such a special item. I had to give him a flyer for Papa Johns to appease him. Hopefully, he will get a Toys-R-Us catalog soon. That can keep him happy for days. He looks through it over and over, deciding what he would like for his birthday and Christmas. Then he cuts out the pictures of the items he likes. Luckily, the boys also got a package from Grammy that evening and then everyone was happy with the mail.

sick boys

Today I am home from work with two marginally sick boys. I think they both just have colds but they are pretty worn down. This one put himself down for a nap, a first for him. He was asleep in minutes.


This one fought pretty hard against sleeping. He played with cars, jumped on the furniture, and ran around the house. Eventually, he brought the little tent up from the basement and decided to play in it. He ate through two boxes of raisons in there and then wanted some Doritos. He went in with his bowl, and soon, I didn't hear any more noise. I put the blanket on him when I saw what had happened. Later, Poohball joined him and they had a nice little rest.

gymnastics events

Big news. The bi-annual gymnastics tournament is coming up again soon and there will be not one, but two Montague boys competing (hopefully they will both medal :). Here is a preview of things to come. The bubble pictures do not involve actual gymnastic events but are still cute. At the end of class, the teacher blows bubbles for them and they catch them.

zoo

we went to the zoo on Tuesday. It was great fun. Porter and Dallin may have been the scariest things there.

hilarious

Have you ever heard a cat yowl? Hilarious right? No? Well Porter would disagree. Poohball tried to jump onto Joe's lap while he was sitting on the couch by the boys. She didn't quite make it and Joe tried to catch her. He must have grabbed a sensitive spot because Pooh let out quite a yelp. Porter started laughing and couldn't stop. He was laughing so hard he started drooling and crying (leaking everywhere). He laughed harder than I can remember him laughing in a long time (except when he watches Joe play a motorcycle game on the X-box and Joe's motorcycle guy crashes). He laughed for several minutes straight. Then he started up about a half an hour later, remember how funny it was all over again.

struggling

Today we went on a little bike ride and Dallin got stuck (sometimes his training wheels get at an odd angle and his back wheel will just spin without catching the ground). I asked him how he was doing and he said "I just 'trugglin.'"
Dallin has a superman shirt with an attached cape. He wants to wear it all the time. He thinks it is appropriate for both day time and night time. His favorite thing though is for his cape to blow in the wind. He wore the shirt to daycare on a chilly day but wouldn't wear a sweater outside because it would stop his cape from flying behind him. I finally convinced him after he had been outside for a few minutes that everyone had seen his cape and it was okay to put on his sweater. He especially enjoys wearing the cape while riding his bike.

Porter asked me why his eyes and Dad's eyes are brown, while mine and Dallin's are blue. I decided to explain to him about genetics. I really think every four year old should have a basic grasp of biology :-) . I told him that we all have genes inside us and we each have two for eye color. I explained that brown eyed genes are stronger than blue eyed ones so even though he got a blue eyed one from me, the brown one he got from dad was stronger and made his eyes brown. Dallin and I didn't get any brown eyed genes and so our eyes are blue. He thought I meant that he and Dad were stronger than me and Dallin because they have brown eyes. He has been telling Dallin that brown eyes make you strong and blue eyes don't.
Ms. Shauna from daycare told me a little story about Porter. There is a girl in his class named Amy. Porter calls her crazy Amy. She is very talkative. One day, Porter's class was playing outside. Porter and some of the other boys were playing in one of the toy houses. Amy came over and was talking to them. Porter told her to be quiet. It didn't work. He told her that she had to be quiet or leave. She still didn't stop talking so Porter told her that she had leave. She still didn't stop or leave so one of the other boys yelled, "Didn't you hear what Porter said?!? You have to go away!"