I'll Be Back...

...But I first need to take a Bloggy Break.

Life is getting a little busy around here, and so the first thing that will go are my blog posts.

I have many, many upcoming responsibilities with church callings, the holidays, visiting family coming in, etc., and I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed.

And of course, I've got to have some time to hang out with these hooligans:






See you sometime after the 6th!

Cyrie

Porter and Evelyn have a brand new cousin!


My sister Lindsay and her husband Josh are the proud new parents.

(I love the way Josh is looking at Linds here)

Her name is Cyrie.

(I had so much fun making her little sideburns curve like that!)

And she is absolutely beautiful!


And Evelyn is thrilled to have someone else to pull hair bows off of!

Someone is turning 11 months...

Guess Who?







Yep. It's true.











And I think she's pretty pleased with herself!

I've had lots of people ask me...

What my blog title "A Cookie In Each Hand, and other family quirks" means.

Well, my family loves cookies.

A lot.

Especially my husband and son. They give the term Cookie Monster a new meaning.

It is a regular occurrence in our household to have a hot pan of cookies devoured in exactly 2.3845 seconds.

Seriously.

My husband once read on a drinking mug of his uncles that said, "Happiness is a cookie in each hand". He came to conclude that it meant that not only do you have a cookie for now, but also one for later. And so, since then, he has adopted that as his motto for life and regularly shares it when there are cookies around.

And Porter is more than happy to oblige.

Here is Bill, Porter and our good friend Stephanie enjoying the latest batch of cookies:






And let me just tell you.......



That having a cookie in each hand can make you kind of,



Ummmm....










A little bit quirky. :)

Did you ever use your mom or dad's razor when YOU were little??

I did.


I guess Porter does too.


Porter decided to experiment in the bathtub after his haircut.



Here is a picture of Porter with sideburns:








And...without:









With:













Without:








The apple doesn't fall far from the tree I guess :)

I really, really, really...

Love this man.

WOW

Porter has been looking to capture a wow shot. He loves taking pictures with mom and dad's camera.

He has been excited to enter the annual PTA Reflections in the photography category. This year's theme is WOW.

His awesome dad woke him this past Saturday, before sunrise, put our camera around his neck and headed out into the early morning to see if he could get a great shot.

They had a fantastic time together. Bill and Porter were gone for almost an hour and a half. When they returned home I had breakfast ready for them. We quickly ate and then went downstairs to view his pictures on the computer.

These are a couple of my favorites:













I just had to hug him and simply say, "Wow".

There are 149,727 people out there.....

That share my first name.




AND....




39,724 who have my last name.




AND...

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 19 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

...there are 19 individuals who share my first and last name in the United States.



How bout you?

Porter is growing up.

This is the first year that he has not really been interested in dressing up for Halloween.

We have been asking him for at least a month what he would like to be. I didn't think it would be an issue. The last two years he has happily gone as Mario and then Luigi from the Mario Bros.

But this year was different. He just didn't want to do it.

Bill finally told him one night about a costume that his cute mom did for Halloween one year.

Porter smiled and readily consented to honor his Grandma this year by dressing up like she did one year:














**Stay tuned for a couple more posts in the next few days about what Porter has been up to lately. It is so amazing to watch this kid grow up.

Man of the House

Bill's been working a lot lately. A lot of nights.

When this happens, leaving me and the kids at home, Porter earns the title Man of the House.

I think he likes this title.

I can tell by the slightest hint of a smile that I see when I call him this. It's one of those smiles that I know he doesn't want me to see...but what he doesn't know is that mom's are really good at detecting these smiles :)

Bill is always the one who spearheads the yearly carving of the jack-o-lantern. But since Bill has worked every night this week, that responsibility has fallen upon Porter, the Man of the House.

Here he is cutting the opening for the top so he can proceed to scoop out the guts:






Intently concentrating with each cut:






His biggest fan cheering him on:





The mouth and nose finished:






The finished product (Porter trying to mimic the face he just carved):






And who can carve a jack-o-lantern without roasting the seeds?






I think I'll keep him around :)








Man, I love that kid.