Sweet Feet

This is very often how we find Tatum when we check on her

before we go to bed.

Where's Papa?

This is the picture sent to us by my dad last night with the above caption.

He spent Friday afternoon (that is him in front) climbing a support cable on the Narrows Bridge.

NICE!!!!

Nobody knew he was doing this until we recieved the picture last night! My mom didn't even know he was doing it until he got home yesterday:)

Smart man.

He was a pilot in the airforce and I guess he was missing the rush of heights.

You're awesome dad!

Science Center

I have said before how much Asher loves dinosaurs. Not just loves dinosaurs, but is a bit obsessed with them. He plays with them, talks about them, reads about them and acts like them all day and then at night he dreams about them. His favorite library book right now is titled, "Scholastic Dinosaurs A to Z The Ultimate Dinosaur Encyclopedia". Keep in mind he is three years old. He looked at this book for an hour straight this morning. Seriously.

Anyway...we finally made it to the Pacific Science Center last friday to check out their Colossal Fossils exhibit! We had so much fun exploring all of the great things the science center has to offer. The fossil exhibit is really great and definitely worth seeing if you have any interest at all in dinosaurs.

Asher with Stegosaurus

Asher and Tatum with Allosaurus

digging for dinosaur bones!

testing her grip strength...

excavating some marbles

checking out one of the many butterflies in the butterfly house

Pumpkin Patch

We did our annual trek to the local Pumpkin Patch last weekend and although it was a beautiful, sunny day, there was still lots of mud to be found.
We are the parents who get the looks because we are allowing our boy be a boy in the mud! It is so fun and refreshing to watch him in his element. Tatum wasn't too interested in the mud at all but Asher did get his awesome cousin, Reagan, to join in on the fun.

Here are Reagan, Tatum and Asher checking things out

Should I???

I think so...

Come on Reagan, let's do it!

a boy and his mud

Asher giving Ian a tractor ride

They are saying "moo"

The picture of Tatum and the corn needs an explanation. She discovered, and fell in love with, corn on the cob this summer. After we were done wtih the pumpkins, we found Tatum standing next to this "pumpkin house" trying to eat the decorative corn on the cob. It was hilarious!

DOVE

Thanks to Lisa, I was reminded of the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty. I have admired what the Dove company has been doing for awhile now. I believe so strongly in the message that they are trying to send to our girls. We have the advantageous yet unfortunate opportunity to live in a media driven world, images and messages everywhere. We are bombarded subtly and not so subtly on a daily basis with what society at large sees as "perfection". Logically, most of us know that these ideas are erroneous but those moments when our humanity takes over, it can be rough. Raising a girl today will be difficult. Keven and I are committed to raising Tatum to believe in who she is...a child of God. We want her to believe in who God made her to be and stand tall knowing that everything she is is exactly how her heavenly father created her.
But, let me say, I believe raising a boy in this world is just as hard for all the same reasons. We will have to shield Asher from the same messages. Our boys are growing up seeing these images as "ideal" also. We have to teach Asher respect and responsibility as a man.....responsibility to see women as God sees them. Also teaching him to believe in himself and in who God made him to be....enough to stand up for all of these things.

Oh man....God help us (literally!)

Check out the website above to see how you can support the Dove Self-Esteem Fund. I'm going to try to upload their newest short film onto my blog so look for it!