For you Debi

So you know how we found a stray dog {which I badly wanted to keep}? well we couldn't keep him. He chews the plants in the yard too badly, and another shock collar for our fence would cost about as much as a whole new system! Anyway- he was still here when Loni came over and she took quite the liking to him. He was scooting around on his bottom and Loni was a bit worried about him. She came in and told me... {are you ready for this?}.... we need to check his anal glands for worms. :) Yes. I sure wasn't ready for it! I just busted up laughing, I couldn't help it. Stewart reminded me that Loni is sure to know more than I about animals since her mother is a vet.

Just thought you could use a good chuckle about Loni today!

Lucky to have Loni!

Last weekend we were lucky enough to have Loni come over to our house for {almost} the whole weekend! Addison absolutely adores Loni, and it was so nice for her to have someone to play with! {I put a bunch of pictures in there for you Debi- and I'll be sure to keep putting them on as fast as I can get them off of my camera -we've just been so busy having fun!}

Loni and Addison enjoyed playing in Addison's room. Addison has a ton of little people and Loni was very good at building a little village!

Then we ate our BBQ chicken kabobs and some pineapple for dinner.

Loni is so good at making Addison laugh!

We made some very lime green sugar cookies. Loni enjoyed cutting out all sorts of shapes in them. {And I only burned one batch of them... but we ate all the good ones before I took a picture. That's why I have a picture of burned lime green cookies}.

Then we dropped off Addison and Brogan at Grandma Jensen's house so we could take Loni to the Ranch Rodeo here in Gooding. They have some outrageously fun events that don't happen at a rodeo. Teams competed in different events that would happen on a real ranch. Cow branding- the team had to rope 2 cows and brand them. Team doctoring- the team had to pick 2 cows {1 cos at a time}, out of the herd, get it to the other side of the arena and have it roped twice, once around each set of feet, all while keeping the other cows at the other end of the arena. Bucking horses- one team member had to ride a bucking horse, and they had to ride for 8 seconds with a regular saddle {saddle horn and all! -ouchie!} Range race- {this was so stinkin funny!} Two team members had to take off their boots, bridle and saddle and put them in the middle of the arena. The other 2 team members held their horses at the other end of the arena. The 2 guys had to run to the 1/2 of the arena, put on their boots, carry their saddle and bridle to their horse, put them on their horse, then race across the finish line first. Not only was it hilarious to watch these men sprint bootless in the arena, but when they saddled up their horses, they did it very quickly, and didn't do the best job. When they got on their horses and raced across the line, a bunch of horses freaked out. Needless to say there was a second bucking bronc show :). Last was cow loading- the team had to get one cow into a trailer with the door shut. This is the second year we've gone to this rodeo, and I just have to say- it's one thing we will look forward to year after year. Some great entertainment!

{I have to say Debi- I was ill prepared for Loni. I spend my day talking to my two babies who hardly ever respond. (mostly I'm just talking to myself). When Loni came over she fired the rounds of "whys" at me so hard and fast, I was totally unprepared! She's such a smart little girl and wants to know everything about everything. I am doing a bit better at answering all those tough questions, but I don't think I've thought about all those things since I was her age asking them!

Being silly watching the rodeo.

Loni rolling down the big hill at the fairgrounds. She didn't want to do it at first, but I think it was more fun than she thought {she did it over and over again!}

Super dizzy!

STILL dizzy! {and eating a hotdog}.

We picked up our kids and headed home.

{So much for a movie and popcorn! We'll have to save that for next time :) }

The next day {I forgot my camera}, but we went to a little "Heritage Days" Parade. They herded some cows down main street, had a youth mariachi band, a ton of horses, and horse drawn wagons. It was pretty fun. Loni did find a little ant nest on the wall we were sitting on. I told her to kill some of the ants {bad idea}. Ya- the small ant nest exploded!!!! millions of ants came out of the wood work! It was okay though- we didn't sit much anyway.

After the parade I went to a friend's wedding, and Stew stayed home with the kids. Loni played our high school musical sing it game {I bought it because it was cheap}, and boy can she sing! She played outside with Addison a bit, and played with Brogan too! We went to the rodeo again, but Loni was sort of bored with it. She was a little nervous about going to church in my ward, so she had Grandma come get her. {Secretly I think she just wanted to see the Dalton boy from Shoshone at church on Sunday -you know- the boy she had a crush on last summer?} ;) We did take her on Gooding's (not so famous) roller coaster road. And even though she gets car sick I think she liked it! Her and Addison {and even Stewart} giggled the whole way up and down it!

We had a fun weekend with Loni, and hope we get to have her over again soon! She is tons of fun and keeps my kids totally entertained! {And now I'll be thinking about why anything does anything -just in case :) }

Tired but not Sleepy

Lately Addison has been going through a sleeping funk. Her two year molars are coming in, so I know that often has something to do with it, bu she also has a hard time napping. She really needs two short naps, sometimes takes one long one, but lately, she's been taking one super short nap in the afternoon {which is not long enough for her OR me!}. Lately Addison likes when I sing her to sleep {even though she won't fall totally asleep}, but she doesn't like to snuggle to sleep. On this particular day, not only did I sing her completely out, she was also snuggling :) Ah, how I love when I get to snuggle a sleeping little sweetie! {Doesn't happen very often!}

The Circus!

Last week we went to the Circus! {Did you know I have NEVER been to a circus in my life? I can't blame my parents though -that thing was expensive!} My best friend from high school {Jordon Braga} was in town so we went together. {And can I just say how much I miss that girl!? I had so much fun just hanging out and catching up -felt like the good old days {well plus two kids and a husband ;) } Anywho- back to the circus!

They had a little "petting zoo" where the kids could pet some llamas and goats {why are there always goats at petting zoos??}. Addison liked the way they looked. She even tried to feed them some grass!

Cool Camels! You don't realize how weird they look until you see them up close.

{Don't you love Addison's fishy face? Thanks Grandma Bingham! :) }
Addison took to Jordon pretty quickly, and she loved her! Jordon helped Addison so she could feed her grass to the llama {Addison dropped the grass as the llama was going for it... and I don't blame her... those things are a little intimidating!}

I could not believe how talented those circus people are! They had tight rope walkers {who even rode bikes and jumped over each other on the rope}, trapeze people, jugglers, a contorshonist {ya that's spelled way wrong} trick dogs and ponies, rope dancers {for lack of the real name of those things}, a way funny {and talented} clown, and these AWESOME elephants! These babies can move! They did some pretty cool tricks too!

Addison feeding the goats some grass

Addison really enjoyed the circus! There was a point when Addison wasn't so interested in the circus acts, but instead wanted the peanut shells off the ground {eww}. So her good daddy got her some popcorn. She was pretty content after that :) .

Me and Jordon.

The Bingham clan at the Circus!

Brogan was such a good boy too {besides spitting up majorly on my shirt}. It was even time for dinner and bed, and he was very patient with us. {Sure love that boy}.

After watching the circus {and being amazed with those elephants} I had a slight interest in joining the circus! Then I loaded the car with those two sweet babies and decided that I have my own little circus to run, and I'm happy where I'm at :)

Loni's here!

Loni is finally here! Addison's cousin Loni came out this summer to raise her 4-H calf to show at the fair. She got here on Tuesday night and we were SO excited to see her! She got right to work on catching and brushing her little calf. According to the pedigree chart, this little cow's name is Maeve, but that wasn't quite Loni's style. Are you ready for the "new and improved" name? ....Maeve La Milkshake!! (Milkshake was my idea and the "Maeve La" was Grandma Bingham's). I think it's pretty darn catchy!! (The other one's name is still pending at this point)

Anyway- we are so excited for all the fun to come this summer hanging out with Loni. Addison absolutely loves her and I think she'll be Loni's little shadow over the next few weeks!

Loni's brushing the "other" little calf. This calf is a bit younger, smaller, and a bit more tame {I think Loni's not so afraid as she is of "Maeve La Milkshake". But no worries... she'll tame up in no time!}

EEEW! Dirty!

Here is the calf that will steal the show! Maeve La Milkshake!
Addison was Grandpa's little buddy too when he got home.
Addison, Loni and Grandpa. All are very interested in this cute little calf! :)

A puppy anyone??

We went on our first bike ride of the summer tonight! Can I just say I MISS riding my bike! It felt so good to be out in the fresh air getting a little extra exercise! I pulled Brogan in the bike trailer {in his carseat} and Addison rode in the little "extra" seat on Stewart's bike. We went up the road past Cindy Gillette's house, and out of nowhere this cute little puppy just started following us! So we stopped at Cindy's to see if it was hers. {we also saw Owen's sheep}, but it wasn't Cindy's dog. She thought it probably got dropped off there {I guess this happens quite a bit}. She told us we'd better take it home or it'd find it's way "up to heaven" {that's in my own words ;) } So we took him home with us and introduced him to Rambo. Rambo was SO excited to have a little friend {and he is VERY little compared to Rambo!} So far "scruffy" {that's what we're calling him for now} is pretty scared of Rambo, but I think they'll get along.

SO the final verdict on the puppy {which I think Stewart secretly likes} is that if his owners don't claim him, this Bingham family will give him a good home. :)

(Now we just have to find the right name for him if he is staying. Scruffy is something I came up with off the top of my head, but I'm not sure about it. He's a very small wiry, gray haired puppy. Name ideas are welcome ;)

Look at the difference in size! {maybe we'll call him tiny :}

Anyone want to claim this puppy?!

{hope not ;}

Whip it Good!

My family has a few nuts in it. Jon is a nut, and my Dad is definitely a nut too. And well, I think Addison has officially been initiated into the "nut club" :)

Addison had to watch Uncle Jon and Grandpa do it first.

{This is the "learning" stage}

Addison being initiated...

Silly kids!

{And she did like it. She even signed "more please"}

Whipped Cream is YUMMY!

"Milkaholic"

Addison loves to have a good bottle. {Remember she's still only one?} The doctor had the nerve to tell me I need to get her weaned before it's "too late" {what's with these doctors anyway!? Too late for what?} I have been doing very good, only giving her a bottle of warm milk before nap and bedtime. Stewart on the other hand, hasn't been doing very good. He doesn't like to see his precious girl cry, so he gives her a bottle whenever he's watching her, and she starts to get ancie. It hasn't helped that Brogan ALWAYS has a bottle. It just makes her want more bottles. Lately however, Addison figured out how to get bottles a little more often {without the help of Daddy}. Just before Brogan is done with his bottle, she will try to take it from him to finish it off. Yep- that's right- just helps herself! Sometimes Brogan doesn't finish the last ounce or two. After I set that bottle down you can see Addison planning her attack. She sneaks over to the bottle. If you're watching her, she cautiously picks it up and raises her eyebrows {with great anticipation} as if to say "Mom- do I have permission to finish this off?" I'll say "Do ya want to drink that?" She replies with a "yesh" and a great big set of nods. {How Could I tell her no?} If you're not watching her, she sneaks the bottle into a different room and guzzles that baby down! It's too funny to watch. It's like her little fix. Just an ounce or two will tide her over till nap or bedtime. It's also funny because the way she drinks the bottle. She throws it back and looks around somewhat nervously.

{sort of like this ;) }

My little "Milko"

Ready to pass out :)

Silly Kids!

My kids are fairly silly. I know that I can be pretty silly myself sometimes, but I think they get most of their silly genes from their Daddy. He tries to pretend he's shy, but once you get to know him, you know he is pretty darn silly! Anyway- I've snapped a few pictures here and there that are just too silly! I love my littel kiddos! You'd better believe they keep me laughing ALL the time!

"Self portrait of a {drunken} orphan child"

{too much milk}

"sad face"

"She doesn't know I just farted on her!"

"But aren't I cute enough to sit on him Mom?"

"No more Candy -it's bed time"

Cuddled up {on the kitchen floor} with a bottle, and a blankie? NO silly- a doggie!

"Hey baby... did ya get your tickets.... to the gun show?"

"Buger anyone?"

"Rigamortis?"

{He slept with his hands up like this for a whole nap!}

{I was obviously impressed}

You've heard of a "towel head"? Meet "diaper head"

A Fetish?

I've said it before, but I have to say it again. Addison LOVES SHOES! She likes to try on any style that is available, but her favorite are boots, all types of boots!

The beloved mudboots

Mom's flip flops

That darn mudboot is so hard to figure out!

Dad's work boots

One boot

Mom's tennies {she likes hats too}.

Mom's cowgirl boots

These puppies are her favorite!

{I think it's because she wore them in the mud at Grandma Jensen's house}

She'll even sleep in them!