Look-alikes

Whenever I have a baby, I constantly hear how much they look like Taylor. I hated hearing that, but as time has gone on, and as they have grown older, I tend to hear more of a mixture from people.

I wasn't surprise by the results of Jordan's, but I was definitely by Noah's. People always say that he looks like a mini-Taylor.

Family Picnic

Every year, we get together with our extended family to catch up on each other's lives. I can name my cousins, but I couldn't even try to guess the names of their children.

Everyone chatting and eating. It didn't seem like as many people showed up this year. I wish they would because these picnics are much less stress to attend than the Christmas party.

Jordan & Noah playing a game of football.

Noah loves the babies......especially when they hold still like Charlie always does.

Hailey & Audrey eating together in the car.

Dadoo holding his newest grandchild Charlie.

Ben tried to figure this shovel out, but he ended up giving up and pushing dirt by hand into the scoop.

The "Koch Test" is always fun to perform, especially when others are around who haven't experienced it. They always freak out.

Visits from Reese & Charlie

In October, we got to have our two newest cousins Reese & Charlie visit us.

Reese wasn't too thrilled being held by Hailey.

Staring Hailey down after she's been released from captivity.

Reese was more intent on checking out our dog Katie. She would follow her wherever she moved.

Unfortunately, Katie will attack you with kisses if you get within 6 inches of her face. Reese doesn't look like she's experienced this kind of affection before.

Charlie and Hailey

My Unlucky/Coincidental Day

Noah and I went to the podiatrist yesterday to check on some foot problems we were each having. As we were walking out to our car, I biffed it by catching my heel on the edge of a curb. I am always such a clutz.

Since I'm so close to the doctor's office still, I waddle on back in and ask them for another x-ray. I thought for sure I just sprained it, but I just wanted to make sure. After a couple x-rays, sure enough I see a chip out of the bone at the top of my foot. Noah was such a huge help and showed me what a man he is.

So, lucky me, I get to wear this beautiful thing for the next 6 weeks. My other option was a cast. Amazing how such a little chip out of a bone can cause such pain and warrant this massive contraption.

Funny Pics of Ben

Ben enjoyed trying on different things when we went shopping for Halloween costumes. My favorite was "Reggae Ben".

My friend was watching Ben for me one morning. She said that she went upstairs for a few minutes and when she came down she saw all the cushions looking like this. She said, "Benjamin did you do this?" and then he dove under the cushions thinking she couldn't see him. She texted me this picture with the tag line "Ding Dong Ben is Dead" because he looked like the Wicked Witch from Wizard of Oz.

Halloween Time Again

One of the most fun, yet most dreaded times of the year for me is Halloween. It's fun to pick out all the goofy costumes, but not fun to deal with the massive amounts of candy that go through our home. True I like chocolate, but trying to keep my kids from overdosing on it during the next few weeks is very exhausting.

Hailey finally opted for something other than a princess costume. I was so excited she chose this one because I always wanted to dress like this for Halloween when I was a kid.

Noah is always such a good sport when it comes to choosing costumes. When he tried on this basketball player costume, we knew it was the one. He especially loves the fro, but he wouldn't agree to put a pick in it.

Jordan made me realize how close I am to having a teenager. He wants to go for a "cool" look that his friends will admire. For the past two years I've tried to get him to be Napoleon Dynamite because he's got the look and the build.

Instead, this year he went for his own creation . . . . we ended up naming him "The Unfortunate Skateboarder".

The gang

Eyeore!

Benjamin is the fourth and final child of ours to wear the Eyeore costume. I always think Disney costumes are adorable, and since Halloween is usually pretty chilly here, this costume has been perfect. We've definitely got our money's worth out of this costume.

(I can't seem to find a picture of Noah yet.)

JORDAN

HAILEY

BENJAMIN

Trunk Monkey

"Trunk Monkey" has got to be one of my/our all-time favorite Youtube videos. These were commercials made for a car dealership up in Portland a while back. I saw the compilation of all the commercials on someone's site and had to share it on our blog as well......Enjoy!

Ben's Visit to Costco

Bread, Beautiful Bread!

I cannot believe it, but I actually made homemade bread today. I have always wanted to do this, but I never learned an easy way to make it, never learned the correct way to make it, and using my bread machine always turned it into bricks. I am just so excited I can hardly contain myself! My kids are inhaling every bit of it up too.

I ground a bunch of wheat today. Since the machine is so unbelievably noisy and puffs out a lot of flour dust, I grind it on my back patio. Katie decided to help me out by eating the bits of wheat that were tossed on the ground. By the time I was finished, she had a big layer of flour all over her coat.