So, a couple weeks later, here’s our Halloween update. 

Brandon made it back from bird hunting just in time.  We didn’t do much door-to-door trick or treating, just stopped by a few friends’ houses to say hi and let the kids play for a bit. 

Here’s a photo of the motley crew.  There’s a monkey (Cooper), a princess (Evan), an elephant (Nolan), and a baseball player (Xander), and of course two mommies as crew leaders.  These kids to quite a bit of playing together.  All close in age, and another mother who knows what it’s like to have two kids under two years (Evan and Xander are about 16 months apart as well).

Nolan was done with having his photo taken.  Unfortunately, he’s in this stage where he’d rather play with the camera than smile for it.  Ugh.

This costume still cracks me up.  I loved it last year with Nolan in it, and again this year with Cooper.  Silly monkeys.

And we finished the evening with a little house warming get-together at a friend’s new house that she just closed on.  Her and her family spent all day moving her in and we showed up at the end for Chinese food.  Yes, we’re bad friends.  At least the boys provided entertainment – Nolan spent the evening playing chase with the dog, and let me tell you, watching an elephant chase a dog is pretty darn comical.  Coop did his part by attempting to ride the dog (with a bit of assistance), and then spent rest of the evening slobbering on all the gals.

All in all, a very fun Halloween for the Briels Bunch.  Can’t wait to see what’s in store for next year.

Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see our neice for Halloween, but here’s a photo of her (thanks Amber!).  Can you guess who she’s suppose to be?

Cyndi Lauper!  How stinkin’ cute is she?!  Her mother has brought her up well, instilling a love an appreciation of the 80’s in her. 

Here’s another photo of her, because you really need to see the whole outfit.

Here’s one of the niece and the two nephews (the one in bandages and the one with the hunter orange vest).  Fun group!

Now, if we could only convince them to move to Baker….

So, while I was waiting for the bionic puppy to get her new hip, I killed many hours in Sun Valley, Idaho.  Very pretty town, so killing time wasn’t too terrible.

The town reminded me a lot of Whistler, minus the gaggle of drunken college students that inhabited Whistler the one time I was there.  It was gorgeous and the day couldn’t have been any nicer.  I ended up spending hours in the library catching up on work, and reading when I wanted to procrastinate doing the work that needed to be done.  I don’t think I’ve spent that much time in a library since my days at the University of Oregon. 

Oh, Knight Library, how I miss you.  The naps I took there in the middle of the late night cram sessions.  The freezing cold temperatures to try to keep students awake durring those late hours.  Good times, good memories.  Happy to be rid of the rain though.

The other weekend, a couple of my favorite people came to visit.  It seems that I never get to see my favorite people near enough.  Annie and Jonathan came down for a long weekend.  Jonathan was able to get some duck hunting in and Annie and I were able spend some time doing what we do best – chatting, eating, drinking, and laughing.

Sometimes, it’s great being a girl.  We can spend a whole weekend doing nothing, but feel like we didn’t waste a moment.  For Annie and I, a weekend of “nothing” is about the best gift ever.

The timing was great too.  Brandon made it back from deer hunting hours before Annie and Jonathan arrived.  I think we were all spoiled.

Brandon was able to visit and sneak in some extra hunting time with Jonathan.  The pups were spoiled with all the birds they got to hunt up and retrieve.  I was able to spend time with Annie.  The boys were loved on constantly by their Aunt Annie and Uncle Jonathan.  It was one happy household, let me tell ya.

And lucky me, I have to go to a training in Portland in another few weeks, so I’ll be seeing these two again, very soon.

In a few hours, Hannah will officially be bionic.

After a trip to our regular vet and a set of x-rays, it was pretty darn apparent that the blonde needed a new hip.   The doc wasn’t sure how she was still walking on it, let alone hunting and jumping around.  Sure, she’s pretty sore afterwards, but according to him, she shouldn’t be able to do them in the first place.  She’s a tough one I tell ya.

How could we not get a new hip for her?  Who else would Nolan have to chase around and lay on?  Porter definitely isn’t stepping up to fill that position, and the cat’s a little too easy for Nolan to squish.  And the girl’s got lots of pep left in her. 

Come next bird season, she’ll be ready to do some damage.  As for me, I’ll be hanging out in Sun Valley until 5 tonight, trying to occupy my time until I can go rescue the cute girl.

And if you’ve never been to Sun Valley, it’s a very pretty place.  Reminds me a lot of Whistler, only I don’t think the skiing’s as great.  I’m willing to bet the prices are just as steep though.  Think I’ll be doing some window shopping later this afternoon….

It’s Friday.  My mind’s jumbled.  The list is long.   I’m impatient.  So, randomness is the result.

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Pooped.  That’s what this boy was.  But I had some things that had to get done, so he made due by sleeping away in the cart.  Thank goodness for the boy inheriting his mother’s sleeping abilities.

Apparently powdered creamer is better than sand.  The boy is fast when it comes to making messes.

Two peas in a pod.  Or two good looking boys on a couch.  Cooper’s looking a lot like his daddy.

My “baby” is looking and acting more like a “kid” every day.  He wasn’t to happy with being in the car the other day, so I handed him an apple thinking that the new object would keep him entertained for a while.  I didn’t think he’d dig in and eat it whole!  Apples are now one of his favorite things to eat, but only if you give it to him whole – apparently sliced apples are for babies, not big kids.

Our wonderful daycare lady sends me photos and videos of the boys while I’m at work.  I, we, adore her!

Coop Man playing away in the exer-saucer thing-a-ma-jig.  He’s a talker, let me tell ya.   Jibber-jabber central.  He definitely takes after his daddy. 

Check out the rolls on Coop’s legs (two photos above) and his cheeks and chins (above).  His 3 month weigh-in had him at 18 pounds, 4 ounces.  That 4 month old, 17 pounder, that was denied for health insurance for being obese has nothing on this chub.  Love the chub.

Both boys are down, praise the lord, and I am determined to get this darn blog updated!  Well, after I shower anyhow.  So on that note, I leave you with this photo as a teaser….

The quality, not so great.  The story behind it, pretty darn cute.  This was the first time I put the boys down today.  Cooper was fast alseep in the crib.  I then walked Nolan into the bedroom and put him in his toddler bed.  After a few minutes, I thought I heard some commotion.  I peeked my head in and this is what I saw – Nolan had crawled into the crib with Coop and thought he would hang out with brother for a while.  I don’t think Coop was too happy about it.  Silly boys.

My husband is a rat bastard.  I get to say this for two reasons:

1)  What he did deserves it.

2)  I gave him fair warning that I was going public with this.  He laughed.

Now on to the story……

Yesterday evening, Brandon was doing something in the kitchen and asked me to put his wallet in his lunchbox.  So, being the wonderful, kind wife I am, I obliged.

This is what greeted me.

I am most definitely NOT a fan of snakes – they scare the living bejesus out of me.  Hubby seems to think it’s pretty funny to stick the occasional snake in his lunchbox and then ask unsuspecting me to get into the lunchbox for some reason or another.  This is now the second time he’s pulled this little stunt.  I told you he deserved the “rat bastard” name.  

I did get a little chuckle out of the ordeal though….  Brandon had just finished saying how this was one of the most gentle bull snakes he’d caught in a while (he catches them on a regular basis and brings them home to help with the field mice population that surrounds our house), and the snake started to vibrate his tail to imitate a rattle snake and started hissing.  Then it happened, the “gentle” snake striked at Brandon several times.  It didn’t hurt B, but I did have to point out that Karma was getting him back.

As retaliation, B’s off hunting next week, so I will be doing some major redecorating.  Be afraid hubby, be very afraid.

That’s right, 3 sicks. I have 3 sick boys.  Snotty noses, congestion, crankiness.  I’m not feeling at the top of my game either, but I seem to be weathering it the best.

In the mean time, that hasn’t stopped Nolan from enjoying the outdoors.  He was playing outside yesterday evening while I was tending to Cooper, and all of a sudden I heard him scream.  I ran out there to discover that while filling  a bucket up with dirt, he decided that it would be a good idea to dump it over his head, with his eyes open.  Results, not good.  Luckily, his tear ducts were in prime form and watered most of the debris out in no time flat.  He was so covered in dirt, he left a trail while he made his way to the bathroom.  Bath time it was.  He seemed to take it well.  And let me just say, this photo doesn’t do the dirt justice – it looked much worse in person.

In other news, he also received his first helmet this week.  I know I’m going to be eating my words, but I can’t wait until he can ride the big bikes by himself.  Let’s just hope he’s not quite a Travis Pastrana – I don’t think my nerves could handle that.

Maybe it’s a result of the sickies, but whatever it is, I’m grateful – Cooper has taken to sleeping through the night.  Not even any squeaks, which is saying something since this boy loves to squeak.  I have a feeling that he’s going to be the talker of the two boys.  All I know is that this tired mama is very appreciative of the undisturbed sleep.

Hmm, it seems that my earlier post somehow deleted itself.  So, here’s what I think I meant to post…

One of Nolan’s favorite things to do lately is hold little brother.  I think he feels like a big boy.  I’m just hoping that he doesn’t get the idea to pick Cooper up.  I know I’m probably hoping for the inevitable, but hopefully he doesn’t attempt it until Coop’s a little less breakable.

I should probably be worried about what Dad and Brother are telling the little one, but I just don’t have time for small fish like that.  Besides, it’s male bonding.

And of course, Nolan was the recipient of many boo-boos last week, all of which decided to accumulated on his face – forhead, nose, chin, that’s just what happens when you face-plant in gravel.  I swear, there’s not a week that goes by where that kid hasn’t banged his head on something hard enough to leave a mark.  Oh well, we’re not posing for professional photos anytime soon.  Lord help us when that time comes.

And here’s another few photos of the brotherly love, just because I want to.

And the numbers are in…

Weight – 15 pounds, 2 ounces, 97th percentile

Length – 24.5 inches, 90th percentile

The boy is having no problem growing, lactose issues or not.

Chub rolls galore.  Brandon actually asked if Coop was swollen the other day because his numerous chins were out of control.  No honey, he’s just that chubby.  Happy, chubby, baby.