Leaves
By Elsie Brady

How silently they tumble down.

And come to rest upon the ground.

To lay a carpet, rich and rare.

Beneath the trees without a care.

Content to sleep, their work well done.

Colors gleaming in the sun.

At other times, they wildly fly.

Until they nearly reach the sky.

Twisting, turning through the air.

Till all the trees stand stark and bare.

Exhausted, drop to earth below.

To wait, like children, for the snow.

SKELETONS AND SNOW CONES!!

If you know my boys, you know they live from holiday to holiday. They, like their Mother, thrive on decorating the house. At any given holiday, our house could easily be mistaken for the inside of a Walmart store. I'd say we go most crazy with Halloween. We do our best to hold off on decorating until October 1st, just so we don't annoy the neighbors. Today, Evan is out of school, so I promised the boys we'd start decorating - a few days early won't hurt, right? The problem is, it's almost 80 degrees, and the projected forecast indicates it will only get hotter. It just doesn't feel right decorating when it's so warm. I'm a Colorado girl. I need rain, sleet, snow, ice, dark clouds, warm blankets, roaring fires, snow days, snowmen, snowballs, and all else that some may consider 'gloomy'. So for now, our Halloween decorations must wait tucked away inside the boxes where they've been held unfairly captive for the past year. To bring them out in this weather would be unjust. As I broke the news to my Monster Mash-humming boys, I had to be creative and come up with a 'peace offering' back up plan....

Hmmm.....Snow cones, anyone?

I'm sure my neighbors appreciate the decorating delay....

Wes' MasterCard Commercial...

Prescription medicine for acid reflux...$7.00 per pill.












Special formula made for Wes' protein allergy....$27.00 for the small can.





















Watching your baby sleep like a baby...PRICELESS!!

MANIC MONDAY....

This is our privilege jar. (Each boy has his own color privilege sticks. (You misbehave, you lose a privilege....Mom & Dad get to choose. It's up to them to earn things back.) The jar is usually pretty full, but today was different. The sticks were flying out of there so quickly, it was hard to keep up.

This is the stack of privileges hanging ever so lonely on the fridge. Should I mention ALL of these were taken in a matter of minutes? Can you guess who's color is BROWN? That poor boy lost everything.

And last, but certainly not least, this is the t-shirt I desperately need to order for myself. Any questions?

Friday Night FIRE Night...

Dear Daddy~

We brothers wanted to write you a letter of request. We don't want to hurt your feelings, so we'll just cut to the chase. Tonight, when we make silly popcorn (also known as Jiffy Pop), we feel it would be best if you'll kindly hand the reigns to Mommy. Mommy doesn't start things on fire like you do. Frankly, although we didn't show it, we we a bit scared last week when we saw the flames. Since we have unanimously decided to revoke your corn-popping privileges, we would like to appoint you to a new task of your choosing. You may pick from the following:

Filling our sippy cups with milk

Laying out our sleeping bags

Starting the Friday Night Party Night Movie

We feel these may be simpler ways for you to contribute without placing our family in danger. We hope we haven't been too harsh, Dad. We know you mean well and we hope you understand the reason for this reconfiguration.

With love,

Evan, Luke, Jack, Logan & Wes

One Month Old!!

Mr. Sneezy and Mr. Happy!!

Happy birthday to me! I'm one month old now, and thought I'd post a few pictures of myself to show you how I've grown! Mommy interviewed me as to what my current 'favorites' are. Here are my answers:

Food~Similac Soy Formula. I tried two others before I decided this one suited me best. Soy rocks, baby! Milk was for the birds....who needs all that extra gas?

Time Of Day~Nighttime! That's when I come ALIVE! Sleep? Now that's a word Mommy and Daddy are very unfamiliar with.

Friends~I have four best friends. Their names are Evan, Luke, Jack & Logan. They still think I'm cool and they love to kiss, hug & hold me.

Football Team~Must you even ask? BRONCOS, OF COURSE! My nice neighbors bought me my very first Broncos outfit, and I think it must be a lucky one. (If you saw the game, you'll agree) I promise to wear it for every game this season. I begged Mommy not to wash it.....wouldn't want to jinx anything.

Sorry, folks....enough questions. I'm getting rather tired and must take a nap or I won't be able to stay awake tonight. I hope you enjoyed learning a little more about me. I love you all!

Love, (big yawn)

Wes.....ZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Cousin Craze!

Declan and Lorie are in town with their two boys, Braden and Ryan. The Olivas Frat is having the BEST time playing with their cousins!! We've had sleepovers, Jeep rides, football games, and light stick parties (All the lights in our house were off and each boy was holding 8 or 10 light sticks. They were dancing around the living room waving their light sticks in the air.....I'm sure the neighbors are still wondering....)

Look at how much FUN we've had!!!