Jack has made a shift in the last week. Instead of crawling all the time with a few steps in between, now he walks almost 100% of the time when he needs to get somewhere. He's really good at getting up, he doesn't even use his hands most of the time. Here's a little video of the new skillz...plus his current favorite phrase, which is "ducka-ducka-ducka-ducka."

The girl's Cousins' Closet sale is a big hit! They've had 2 days of selling now, and are getting tons of traffic. They're making a lot of money for a lot of moms...its really cool. We're expecting a big crowd tomorrow for the final day...mostly because KGW Newschannel 8 came out and did a story on them today! Jen called me and left a message and said, "Channel 8 is here and they're interviewing your wife!" Crazy!

Here's the story:

I'm so proud of the girls! They quadrupled the size of their business since the summer sale and have done a great job organizing the whole thing. We've had some amazing help from friends and family...shout out to Nina, Jen, JoJo, Steph, Katie!

Oh yeah...and our last name is Bunch...not Brunch. At least they spelled it right.

Oh yeah...and how about that lady who tripped...so sad.

We've been a little wrapped up in the girls' Cousin's Closet prep, so haven't had much time to blog. Still don't, so this is short, but thought I should at least get a few pics up!

Last Saturday we had a great trip to the "Punkamin Patch" for the Thompson's 10th annual Harvest Party!

Jack got his first introduction to chicks (the furry almost-chicken kind). We were a little scared he would go all Lenny from Of Mice and Men on them, so we supervised carefully. Steph endured some chicken pee on her hands for the whole thing...thanks Steph!



Jack loves his Grandma JoJo!

Bapaw and Jack checking out the patch on the hay ride.

Don't worry Dad, I got these two!

This Sunday, I headed down to the nursery to pick up Jack and as soon as I got there the workers were shouting, "Jack walked across the nursery!" They also informed me that he was stealing graham crackers from the other kids....oh dear! Now we have a walking, graham cracker stealing boy on our hands and we couldn't be more proud of him. Here's some video of Jack's progression into walking. The first part is from early last month when he was just at one or two steps, the middle is from a couple of days ago, and the last part is from today.

...the Bunch Bunch

Becky and I decided to paint the bathroom a while ago. At work the other day, I got the inspiration to take out this nasty old heater that we never use, since it's basically just an eyesore and temptation for Jack to play with.

I did all my research on how to deal with the electricity, how to put up the new drywall and finish off the project. Then I went to Home Depot. A couple days later, we've got a clean, painted wall with no evidence of the ugly heater! I'm very proud this is the most complicated home-improvement project that I've tackled.

I forgot to take a picture of the joint compound/drying stage. I hope you'll forgive me.

sleepy baby!

So...after the avocado picture, we realized Jack's hair (although cute) was getting a little out of control :-) We love the curls, but they were getting a bit too long. Today we decided to give him his first haircut (we're not counting the rat-tail that we cut off when he was 2 months old).

Here's the before:

the during:

and the after:

...by the way, you can see Jack's first tooth in the last picture.

...and by the way Steph and Sarah, Becky has already had a few tears :-)

Avocado Anyone??

Jack had a busy play date yesterday, and it apparently wiped him out. I was working away at the computer- getting ready for our Cousins' Closet sale and I looked back to find this:


When I said something to wake him up, it just startled him enough to move and turn on the animal sounds and lights on his jumper- didn't phase him a bit!

Later...I was trying to feed him dinner and just at his last bite of carrots this happened:

We decided it was a day to head to bed a little early.

:::::EDITED BY AUTHOR:::::

Boy - I was TOTALLY WRONG! That's not Steph. But I'll bet if she donned Treky makeup and hair, she'd look just like that!

:::::

For those of you who don't visit the world of Facebook...I just had to share this with you. Yes, folks...this is Stephanie Marr.

that is all, Peaby.

As Jim blogged, we had a great 4 day / 3 night backpacking trip leading up to Labor Day weekend. We tackled a few tough hikes, but reaped the rewards of solitude, natural beauty, and accomplishment. Seriously, this was one of the most perfect backpacking trips I've been on. Even the sprinkles in the night on Friday were just light enough to be pleasant. I took my friend Kristen's awesome wide-angle lens with me, and I seemed to develop a pattern in my shooting. I'm glad Jim and Jason had cameras too, otherwise all the photgraphic record of this trip would be:

Lake 1:

Self Portrait 1:
Lake 2:
Self Portrait 2:
Lake 3:
Self Portrait 3:

It's been a fun few days. Mike is out of town backpacking (we miss him) so Jack and I have been keeping busy. Wednesday night was the kickoff for choir at church, Thursday we spent some time shopping with my mom and I got to hang out with Henry that evening (what a cutie), and yesterday we got together with some friends to go swimming. It ended up being quite an adventure with a padlocked pool, 5 kids in swim diapers that only hold so much, and the hot sun beating down. Are you picturing the scene? There is just no turning back once you get kiddos pumped up for the pool so thankfully we found some fellow swim enthusiasts, made a phone call, and were able to get into the pool with it all to ourselves. It ended up being a great memory and a good lesson in determination. Today our adventure lies in berry picking. I've wanted to go all summer and today is the day. Since I didn't take any swim pictures for you...you can rest assured I will be taking berry pictures- you don't even have to tell me...I know you were hoping I would.

So with the hope of berry pictures to come, I leave you with some pictures taken last month of Jack enjoying the sand for the first time. They were from our annual beach trip with the Posenjak gang. We had a great time and miss them already.

Getting ready to dig into the sand...

Mom's best attempt at stopping the eating of sand...

that obviously failed....

Some very sandy feet....

So here it is...my first blog post. I have enjoyed the benefits of simply visiting my favorite blogs without having to do any of the work, but my time has come. I can't promise I will be a consistent blogger, so bumming off of my hubby's site seemed a good place to start- plus THE BUNCH BUNCH....I mean does it get any cuter than that. :)

Some might be asking themselves...what inspired this decision to blog??? I'm sure you've figured me out, but my big inspiration - my boy Jack. We get to hang out everyday and the idea of sharing more pictures and video of him (in addition to the ones my wonderful husband shares)...well a mom can never get enough. So if you were thinking you would be getting your knot-tying instructions here - you will be very disappointed (sorry Jen, but because I love ya...here is a website you can check out for all of your knot-tying needs http//www.realknots.com/knots/index.htm. You can tie your shoes extra fancy and people will be amazed!). So if you're into hearing more about the Bunch fam - this is the place for you. And now....

...onto the fun. Jack has been talking a lot lately. Here is some video of him talking with his cheerios. Sorry it's a little long..I'm working on my video editing skills.

Well...as you can see, there's been a coup! The title mmm...Peaby has been usurped! theBunchBunch has taken over this blogdom!

But don't worry, you'll still be exposed to the random thoughts and feelings of Peaby...but now you'll also be getting wonderful insights, knot-tying instruction, political exposition, box score analysis, and NASCAR highlights from Becky! Actually, she'll probably leave out the NASCAR stuff and instead post pictures and stories about JACK!

Stay tuned for her first post! (hint, hint, Becky)

Peaby

This is my photo-tribute to my sister-in-law and brother-in-law. So many good times...today I ran across a few pictures from the old days, and could not miss the opportunity to share them.

...AND my personal favorite!

johnny loves his big beef and cheddar! and getting spikey hair-do's courtesy of daddy!

Probably the most random blog I've ever posted.

This is the moon over Beaverton from last night.

This is...I don't know...

Part two of my vacation was our annual trip to Still Creek Campground on Mt. Hood. We load up the whole gang for a weekend of fun in the sun (and sometimes rain). Normally around July 4th weekend, this year we postponed to welcome Sydney instead. And Jen was brave enough to pack her up and bring her along this year too...so we were complete! Unfortunately, I have to go back to work tomorrow, so I'll spend a few more minutes reveling in my time off with these pictures...also for your enjoyment.

Of course, I had to take a few "nature" shots in the midst of all of the beautiful people.

Jack and his beautiful mommy.

Me and my little camper!

Jim and Trent...taking a bath together after their jog in the woods. I don't write the jokes, people.

Bunch / Bunch

Jack's cousin's playing peek-a-boo with our little guy.

The girls!

The boys!

4 families that look a lot different than they did 3 years ago at this campout!

...and one more, just because I love this shot!