Cowboys Are My Weakness

When I was in college we read a book of short stories by Pam Houston entitled Cowboys Are My Weakness which had some pretty good pieces that I enjoyed. Imagine my surprise when I found a song with the same title and I just couldn't resist using it on my blog playlist. Then I began searching for other cowboy inspired songs or songs about cowboys and ta da my new playlist.

I've always been a sucker for cowboys and I'm not sure why. Is it the cowboy hat pulled down just so; the slow swagger in those cowboy boots? I can't honestly say. Whatever it is, it is pretty darn amazing that I have three cowboys in my life who are wonderful and make my life complete.

I'm very proud of Brad and am so excited that he has a new job that keeps him close to home. It has been so nice to tell Wy that daddy went to work and will be home soon instead of taking Brad to the airport and telling Wy every day that daddy won't be home for x amount of days. I won't lie either it has been super wonderful to not have to feed the horses, take care of the yard, keep the house together and take care of the boys all by myself. His new job works him seven days 6 to 6 and then he has seven days off which has allowed us already to travel and do things as a family that we were putting off until the work schedule at his old job evened out. I am so grateful for a loving Father in Heaven who answers prayers and knows what's best for us when it is best for us. I am also so very thankful for family and friends and their prayers for us that Brad would find a job that would not require so much travel. We have been truly blessed in the past six months and I am very humbled.

Wyatt never stops EVER! To say he loves our house and the yard is a serious understatement. When I hear nothing but silence in the house all I have to do is look out the window and there is my boy, running with Toby, riding his bike, climbing the fence, hauling dirt, or watering my plants (this last one is not always a good thing!). He is growing up so fast and some days I just stop and watch him, amazed by all the things he knows and how fast he puts ideas together. He is constantly telling me about my husband and refers to his grandparents as Dad's mom and dad or Mom's mom and dad. The other day I was cleaning the kitchen and was singing to the radio. Wy, playing in the other room, told me to stop singing until my husband came home. I am unsure if it was the song or my singing but either way it made me laugh.

Conner has decided that even though he is turning 1 yr old in a week he wants to continue the easy life: no walking just being carried everywhere EVEN though he can stand up by the couch and stand for a few seconds on his own. He never wants to give up his bottle and if he can help it anyone in eye sight should feed him if they have the audacity to be eating and not offer him any. His new trick is to push his chair away from the table and then laugh. He gave me a scare when I turned around and he was over by the garbage can instead of in front of his plate at the table. He has discovered blocks and will sit in our spare bedroom sorting the blocks and then putting them in their bucket. He also has a very good arm and will throw anything he can get in his hands. We try to keep the hard toys from being tossed but sometimes he is just too darn quick for us.

I can't imagine anything better than my life with my three cowboys. I am so lucky to be a part of their lives and love the craziness that is our Patterson life.

Family Vacation June 2010

After almost a month of rr post surgery, Brad took off again to Rock Springs, Wy, for work. Wy was a little disappointed as he really wanted to go to work with his daddy but we consoled him with the promise of a trip there at the end of the week to pick daddy up and go to Grandpa and Grandma Teuscher's. That seemed to do the trick and he asked every day that week if today was the day to go see daddy. Finally Thursday came and I loaded us up and we headed over the mountains to Rock Springs. I told Wy that we had to drive over the mountains and then we would be to daddy thinking that this would make the drive better and also make him excited to look for deer and other animals we usually see when driving in the mountains. Big, BIG mistake. We made it up the switchbacks and he yells: Yeah we are over the mountain, where's daddy? Yep the long drive to Wyoming over and through the MOUNTAINS went like that the entire way. We did see wildlife on our drive. I think I saw the biggest antelope buck I've ever seen; we saw a lot of deer; we stopped to count 16 wild horses. We sang There was an old lady who swallowed a fly, Wy learned that Wyoming begins with his letter and that monkey begins with Aunt Mauria ( I think he meant the letter m but he knows that her name begins with m). Finally we made it to Rock Springs! We unloaded our things and then took the boys to McDonald's so Wy could run around. While we ate he played, invited himself to a birthday party, and made a new friend. He is a charmer that one. Conner was content to eat chicken nuggets, and play with his toes.

The treat that night was not the small cone at McDonald's but rather a long soak in the tub at the hotel! We don't have a bathtub yet so the boys take showers but that night they played and played so hard in the tub that I looked like I too had taken a bath and that there had been a flash flood in the bathroom! After baths Wy played with his new Shrek toy ( have I mentioned that he loves those movies?) and Conner played with his mirror buddy who he discovered while inspecting the digs.

Friday while Brad was at work we went to visit our friends who were recently transferred to Rock Springs. We saw there new house, played with the toys and then went to lunch. After we went back to the hotel to pack and the boys took naps. Wy told me he didn't need a nap and that he just needed to sit on daddy's bed and watch TV. So I put Conner down on the bed (yes our child has to sleep with the blanket over his head!) and Wy sat there for 10 minutes before he too fell asleep. They woke right before Brad showed up and we set off for Geneva and the Gary and Sylvia Teuscher Family reunion weekend.

This year the reunion was in Blackfoot where we took family pictures at the park then drove over to Craters of the Moon by Arco, Idaho, and had a picnic and a lot of adventure! I grew up in Idaho and lived only about 3 hours from here but I had never been there. It was so amazing to see all the formations: to look down into a cavern that was so deep that the snow there never melts; to walk through caves that used to offer shelter to Indians as they traveled from summer to winter ground; to look at a large piece of land and see so many differences in such a short space. It isn't the prettiest part of Idaho but in it's own unique way it was a beautiful sight. It reminds one of how creative God really is. After climbing up and down cones and crawling through caves we headed back to Blackfoot where we had a BBQ at my sister Rachael's house.

We left Sunday morning and drove to Logan where we saw Aunt Becca one more time and our friends Randy, Jen & Addi who ditched Vernal a year ago and moved to the cutest house ever. We had a great time catching up and took pictures of our kids who have grown up so much in the last year!

Itty Bitty Ball

This spring Wyatt played Itty Bitty Ball which gives young kids ages 3-5 a chance to learn and play a variety of sports. In five weeks he played: soccer, golf, tennis, basketball, and t-ball. He had a great time and wants to do it again in the fall. Play on little man, Play on!

Conner 9 Months

Conner was a very busy boy at 9 months. He was perfecting his rolling capabilities and learned to roll up the slight incline in our hallway. He was a fast little bugger and could practically beat me to the other end of the house all the way from the living room. He worked super hard and managed to cut the 4th bottom tooth - still none on the top freakishly enough. He made an attempt at crawling but discovered that the lack of carpet sort of puts a damper on all the fun so he has decided to stick with the rock'n and rollin' for now. He also discovered books and spent an afternoon "reading" a few of the books Wy had checked out from the library. I was a bit nervous as they are paper books rather than board books but he was very careful and would return a book to the shelf before grabbing another.

He also discovered balls and he can't get enough of them! He really enjoyed going to Itty Bitty Ball with Wy especially when they played soccer as he got to "participate" as well.

And finally, since the weather turned somewhat warm and decent he has quite enjoyed going to the park. Aunt Sarah, Kyle and Nathan came to visit in April and we took the boys to the park. Conner finally got his chance to swing and seemed to like it. Now to conquer the slide!
He is a very busy little guy and has quite the temper. He makes us laugh with his fake outrage and temper tantrums and we hope that he outgrows them soon.