incommunicado!

Ok folks, I'm not going to be able to post for a while. Before we left the wonderful city of Pittsburgh (yes, that was sarcastic), both of our computers crashed. So until Mark and I can afford to purchase one of those evil demons the world seems to thrive on there will be no McDaniel family updates. However, once I'm back in the real world, (its kinda weird saying cyberspace is the real world...) I'll blog my head off!!!!!!! 'Til then!

Go Beavs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Alright, I'm sure if you know me you know that I'm a true Beaver Believer. Even when we suck (which with the exception of baseball is quite often - I will however say kudos to the football team this year beating the stinky Ducks at Autzen!) I still love them. How can you not????? Anyway here are some beaver moments from the weekend with Bob. Ok, so this wasn't from our weekend, but its a picture of my favorite cheerleader Jordan Stutzman!!!!!!!! He's the one at the very bottom of the picture. Representin' on our hike up the butt. Teaching my kids who the coolest school is!

On our way back from our girls day in Bend, we passed a Semi that was decked out in all kinds of Orange and Black. Look at that angry beaver!!!!!
Here is the backside of the truck. This poor truck driver didn't know what the heck we wanted. We passed and backed off a couple of times.... He was a good sport though.

Here is the back of the truck again. This time some color.

All I gotta say is GO BEAVS!!!!!!!!!!

Hiking the Butt

Yes, I know I spelled Butte wrong. The butte/butt mispronunciation gives me no end of amusement. (yes, I'm that mature).

While Bob was here we went on a little day hike excursion. Here are the pictures from our adventure. (only when you have a two year old can a 1 mile hike be an adventure)

Movin' Out. No, I didn't have a carrier at that time. Yes I ended up having to pass Kenny off to my dad. (you'll see later what kind of break my arms actually got.)

I love this picture of my dad and B-rox.

Braxton's attention diverted - 1time. Couldn't help but pet the little puppy. Braxton's attention diverted - 2 times. Loved the rocks.

Gorgeous views from the side of the butt. Yes, there it is again. haha.

Yep, this is part of the arm workout I recieved after passing Kenny off because of tired arms. Go figure right. Plus this is a really cool picture.

Here is the other part of the workout. Don't think it's working my arms? Try it. You'll see.

We made it to the top. This would be a pretty good picture with the exception of the fact that my little brother can't seem to cooperate beyond a two-year olds ability. Seriously, what kind of face is that?????

Apparently that mile tuckered the poor baby out. awww.

This old couple cracked me up. At the top of the butt there is a circle plaza visitors area. This couple (probably in their 60's) moved all the way around the circle, and every time they did this is the stance they would take. I thought it was absolutely hilarious!

Four words. Hunchback of Notre Gay.

It was a pretty enjoyable day. Braxton did great and hiked most of the way up the hill himself. he only had to be carried the last prolly 1/8 of a mile. Way to go kiddo!

Us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bob and I have somehow made it four and half years without having our photo taken together too many times. Here are some of my favorites from the very few!Ok, this is exactly what it looks like. We were in the theater by ourselves and were taking pictures. We both thought it was humorous that my feet barely reached the seats in front of us and hers extended past a good 6-8 inches. Bob dwarfs me. (not that its too hard with me being only 5'4").

You don't even want to know what put those ridiculous smiles on our faces!
The lighting in this picture isn't so great, but we loved the background of the mountains. (I believe those are the Sisters... but don't quote me)

BOB!!!!!!

Friday my best friend drove her little booty up here to visit me for a whole five days! She left today. (of course there were tears!) This visit had many photo ops, so there will probably be a few posts with this particular subject.

This one is devoted to my favorite red-head, BOB, herself.

Ok, this isn't from either of our visits in the last year. This one is of her in Berlin. But, I love the dweebiness of it anyway.

Ok, this is apparently her drive up here. Yes, the car is in motion.

This is how fast she was going while taking pictures of herself driving up to see me. Thank God her guardian angel drives faster than she does!
LOVE YOU BOB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bad Habits

First off, I want to say that I don't want anyone to take this post the wrong way. It just happened to be a funny deal - very blog worthy in my opinion.

Everybody knows that grammas spoil their grandkids, often times leading to bad habits. Too much sugar etc. etc.

Well, my mom is no exception.

She decided to sneak B-rox some coke this evening, but keeping my sanity in mind fed it to him in a medicine dispensing cup. When I walked in this is what I saw

To me it looked like he was taking shots. NOT exactly what I expected - or wanted to see my two year old doing. After I got over my shock and dismay (mom explained that she put it in the small cup so that he wouldn't get a whole lot, but would be placated by having had his "pepsi"). I realized that it was pretty funny and had to make it a photo op.

So Perfect

So, my mom spammed me, and normally I don't appreciate it unless it makes me laugh. A blurp from an email containing the difference between men and women made me laugh because Mark and I have these conversations frequently.

~A husband read an article to his wife about how many words women use a day... 30,000 to a man's 15,000. The wife replied, 'The reason has to be because we have to repeat everything to men... The husband then turned to his wife and asked, 'What?'~

Cracks me up!

Little Boy All Grown Up

Ok folks, after many comments about him looking like a girl, and my husband telling me I can't come home - I finally had Braxton's hair cut. It was a lot less painful than I had expected. These are the before pictures. Look at how long it is... Here is the front... Man what a crazy kid! This is Braxton getting his hair cut by the infamous Tawndy.

He was such a good boy.

And now for the final "do".

This is the back. About 6 inches shorter.

A little less Psycho. Looking all grown up.

My little ladies man getting his flirt on. He has good taste. Tawndy is pretty good lookin'!

Thanks again Tawndy, his hair looks great!

Dog Days

Ok, I always feel like I'm skimping on my faithful blog stalkers, (yes you know who you are!) if I don't post some pictures. I didn't take my camera along with me today shopping. (I couldn't have captured so cute anyways...) So I thought I would post a little bit about a very special dog. By special I mean special-ed. Tucker is mentally retarded. His mother bit him when he was first born, breaking the growth plate in his snout and puncturing his sinus and causing drain bamage. (hehe) So, having had his nose broken it grew funny. Here are some pictures of this beast.

This is the look he gets when he hasn't had enough of his "doggie ritalin". This is what I mean by "grew funny". The top part of his snout grew crooked and now doesn't line up with his lower jaw. It looks like he's growling at you, and coupled with his size he can be intimidating. (he is a newfoundland/border colie mix and got most of his genes from the newf.) Really he's a big love bug and wouldn't harm a fly.

Alright. Thats all I got for today.

Shopaholic

Well, my mom and I headed to Bend today to have ourselves a little shopping excursion. Of course the boys came with us. The boys are doing what kids do best and outgrowing their clothes. So our first stop was Fred Meyer's and the kids clothing department. What do most people say when they're shopping for babies clothes????? "Oh thats so cute". Well, my mom and I were no exception. This however would come back to haunt us....
At each stop we made we looked for kids clothing, (hey, gotta buy it while its on sale man!) and in the womens department for ourselves. Braxton, being the smart cookie that he is, picked up very quickly on the fact that when we liked something we told eachother how "cute" it looked. After Freddies, Braxton decided that he couldn't let his opinion go unnoticed. So whenever he saw something he liked (which happened to be just about everything he saw) he would exclaim "oh, its so cute". Hilarious. Then in JCPenny's (which happens to be absolutely laden with mannequins) he discovered that the "girls in clothes" were "so cute". We passed by a mannequin in shorts, and Braxton stopped to exclaim over it. This wouldn't be abnormal from the rest of the excursion except he really clarified what he thought was cute. This is what he said; "oh, so cute - cute KNEE" Then he started to rub it. Can anybody say fettish?

A good friend of mine from High School now has her beauty license and cuts my hair whenever I'm in town. (see the "new do" post for Props to Tawndy) Well we ran into eachother in Freddies. (This is Central Oregon... population - not many). We informed Tawndy that we made an appointment this morning for her to cut Braxtons hair (I'm tired of him being called a girl). After our encounter with Tawndy, other than "so cute" all B-rox could talk about was Tawndy. I believe they were even used in tandem a couple of times. "so cute Tawndy". His first crush. My little man is growing up. sniff sniff.

The Greats

Since we only have two weeks (well, less than) here in Oregon before going back to meet up with Mark, we've been visiting as much family as possible - especially since you never know what twist life has in store for you. The most recent visits have been to the Great-Grandparents, my gramma and grampas. Of course, we documented with picturage.If you count my mom and dad taking the pictures, there are four generations in this picture. Lookin' good Gramma and Grampa Dean!

This is my dad scaring the living bujeezus out of me with Braxton on his shoulders... Braxton and dad both loved it. So, I documented. It was an absolutely beautiful day outside so we left the confines of G-ma/G-pa Deans house and went for a stroll through the neighborhood. Gotta enjoy the great out-doors while weather permitting. Braxton loved having this much space to roam around on. The first thing he did was dig in the flowerbeds... Boys.

This is my red-gramma. She would KILL me if she found out I posted a picture of her without her hair done! So its a really good thing she doesn't have a computer... I think she's cute anyways.

Can't is a four-letter-word

So Braxton in what happens to be infinite wisdom of a two year old has decided that throwing temper tantrums is a thing of the past. (ok, not totally, but I am witnessing a change.) He has now decided that when I tell him its time to do something he doesn't want to, he should inform me that he is incapable. This is how our conversations go:
Me: Braxton its time for bed (or substitute anything you can imagine a two-year old doesn't want to do i.e. pick up toys, eat veggies - you get the picture)
B-rox: I can't mom.
Me: Yes, Braxton, you can
B-rox: No, I can't
Me: (trying to keep my cool at this point, or keep from laughing. You choose which) Braxton, its time for bed lets go.
B-rox: (also visibly frustrated, and continuing to chow down on his cheerios) MOM, I said I can't!!!!!!!!!!
THis is the point in the conversation when I pick him up and carry him to the bathroom. He doesn't much care for it, but by the time we sing "itsy bitsy" its all good.
Two year olds....

Mr. Eggleston

It pains me to start the month this way. Today someone dear to me passed away. His name was Ken Eggleston. Always known by me as Mr. Eggleston. (Much to his and Mrs. Eggleston's dismay). His suffering from cancer was finally put to an end and he is now in a better place. Though in times like these it makes me wonder how God can take such a wonderful man from the family and friends who love him so much. However, he is no longer sick and can still watch over those whom he loves from heaven. With him there is no doubt that by God's side is where he'll be. We'll miss you Mr. Eggleston.