friends

i love this picture.

not only are my boys brothers, but they are best friends too. and although they have their not so nice moments, for the most part they really get along. i love that they play with each other. i love that they are concerned for each other and sensitive to one another. it warms my heart to listen to my boys play and pretend with each other. and even though evan is not in this picture, he is just as much a part of the group.

my 3 amigos - i sure love them.

p.s. it was crazy hair day at school - i don't spray my kids' hair red regularly...especially since it ended up getting everywhere! oh well, the picture was worth it.

i love where we live

yesterday we went on a small hike with the kids and some friends, just outside of cranbrook. it was a beautiful day - warm, sunny, and so many different colors as the trees are starting to change. i love the fall. i love all the colors and the coolness mixed in with the warmth of the sun. we hiked to this amazing little water fall and had fun climbing the rocks, feeling the water, and exploring in such a wonderful place.

and to think it was just 20 minutes away from our front door. i love this new place we call home!

baby grace

so, we made our last trip of the summer to good old saskatoon this last weekend. brent went to play golf and the boys and i couldn't pass up the chance to tag along and visit the newest member of our family, grace leelynn allred. my sister marion and her husband, tyson, welcomed their little girl on august 26 and we were so happy and excited to meet her!! and she is adorable!! all i wanted to do was hold her and look at her. she has the most adorable feet i think i have ever seen - and her hair!! grace is fabulous and we all love her so much already. burton was especially enthralled with little grace. the first time he held her, he was so excited to see her every movement...."mom, her eyes are opening!! mom, she's yawning! mom, mom, mom......." burton sat on the couch for almost half an hour, holding her with this little smile on his face. it was precious. some time during our 2 day visit, burton said to marion and i, "i loved her before i even saw her!" he is such a sweetheart and so is little grace.

makes me hope this next one is a little girl.

oh yeah, we are expecting:)

first day of school

yesterday was the first day of school. jensen is now in grade one and burton started kindergarten. as excited as i am for my boys to go to school and learn, i find myself experiencing a mix of emotions as i drop them off at their classrooms - separation anxiety (on my part, not their's!), sadness that my babies are growing up, anxiety as i entrust their safekeeping to someone else, worry that they might get picked on and will be able to make friends, excitement for their learning opportunities, gratitude for the ability to send them to school to learn, proud of their intelligence, and extreme love for my little boys.

i am so grateful to be a mother to such wonderful little boys. i am glad that i can send them to school and trust that they will be examples to their friends and teachers, help out, be polite, listen and learn, and act appropriately. they are good boys! i feel somewhat humbled to have been entrusted with the care of such sweet little spirits and find so much joy in being with my boys. i am happy that they aren't too grown up to give me a hug and kiss when i drop them off at school - i hope they never outgrow that!!

starting a new school year has filled me with all of these thoughts and feelings. watching my boys walk from my arms in to the walls of the school has reminded me just how much i love jensen and burton and how proud i am of the little boys that they are!

oh, and i love evan too, of course!