Crayon Trouble

We have spent most of this week at home because of Jacob's fever. So as you can imagine the house was a disaster zone today. So I decided it was time to get cleaning. I started in the kitchen and cleaned up my canning messes.

Then we tidied up the upstairs so I could vacuum. Jacob helped pick up toys and then he wanted to help me clean the toilets. Then I got the vacuum out and got started, with Jacob walking around holding my hand the entire time.

As I was vacuuming in the hallway I noticed it. Apparently Jacob had decided that the walls could use some more art. The sad thing is that I have no idea when he actually colored on the wall! I am pretty sure it wasn't today! Who looks at the walls by their knees, right?

So as part of his punishment I had Jacob work on cleaning up the walls. Check this out:



I ended up searching the internet to find out how to get crayon off the walls. Did you know that WD-40 will do it in a jiffy? Now you do! (and so do I!)

Fever Finally Finished!

I am happy to report that this morning Jacob finally woke up without a fever! Hooray!

Whatever nasty bug he caught is still troubling him with a bit of nasal congestion, but that's not so bad in comparison to the past five days. His appetite has returned and he is much less lethargic today.

Joe and I are both a little bit congested, so maybe we caught the bug a little bit too.

In other news, tonight I am back at work at the UVU library after the break between semesters. They have me sitting at a table in front of the digital signage in the lobby. The reference desk and circulation desks still have not arrived. Last I heard they were supposed to be shipped on August 8th... but still no sign of them!

It is kind of silly to be in a beautiful new building and have to sit at a makeshift desk. The information commons with all the computers is not up and running yet either... because we don't have the furniture. It is so much fun to explain to students where things are now and where they are supposed to be!

Right now out in the parking lot they are having a drive-in-movie. Apparently they are watching Iron Man (anyone seen that one?). For a while I wondered what was going on out there because they brought in a large inflatable arch that they blew up and attached the screen to. Pretty ingenious really.

I would stay and watch, but I haven't really seen much of Joe in the past four days and I am looking forward to getting home. He worked late Monday and Tuesday getting everything ready for school to start. Then yesterday he had his Elder's Quorum Presidency meeting. I am looking forward to a long Labor Day weekend at home with my entire family! I think Joe and I may try to go on a long bike ride Monday and spend some time together. That will be SO nice!

Sick of the forever fever

What a day.

Jacob woke up at 4:40 a.m. requesting milk. Since he hasn't been eating a lot with this persistent fever he is mostly drinking milk. So I got him his milk and tried to go back to bed. Around 5:10 a.m. Ephraim started to complain from his crib. I guess Jacob and I probably woke him up and he decided that since he was awake he was hungry.

So I tried to pacify him with his binky and get him to go back to sleep. My alarm clock went off at 5:20 a.m. so I could go on my bike ride. I haven't gone for two days because of everything that has been going on. So I got my bike clothes on and then went to feed Ephraim because he would not be placated.

I did get my bike ride in, only to find that Jacob had thrown up a little while I was gone. He was a good boy and made it to the toilet... but it made me SO excited for the day to come. I feel bad for Jacob and wish I could just make it better.

This afternoon the boys are both awake from their naps and we are watching a movie... again. Jacob is still not feeling well. He seemed to be feeling a little better this morning and has been eating a little bit today. But then he woke up from his nap and I could tell he didn't feel great. So I took his temperature and it was 100.6 degrees.

My first thought was... "Not again!" This morning he was down around 99 degrees and I thought we were making progress. So I got out the children's Motrin and hopefully he will feel better soon.

Yesterday I took Jacob to the doctor's office and the doctor said that he probably has a nasty virus and the fever would probably be gone by today (or Not). I do know that he doesn't have strep, appendicitis, or an ear infection. If he still has a fever tomorrow I get to take him back for blood work. Doesn't that sounds like fun?

While Jacob was feeling good this morning we read some books and then he played while I worked on some canning. I made a batch of jam and then started on some salsa. I got the salsa made by lunchtime and then just had to wait for it to cook down. Luckily I managed to get all the salsa in the jars and processed before the boys woke up.

In the time it has taken me to write this, Ephraim has gone down for his afternoon nap. I am going to go sit down by Jacob and work on his quilt while he watches Mulan. I think it is one of the only movies we haven't watched in the past three days.

Here are some cute pictures I have taken in the past week. This first picture is Ephraim at my parents' house. Whenever I change his clothes and diaper he manages to roll away from me. So I decided to take a picture to blackmail him with later. :o)

Ephraim seems to sleep on his tummy a lot lately. I don't know if it's accidental, or if he just prefers it. Either way, it's cute.

With Mommy and Daddy riding their bikes all the time, Jacob wants to get in on it too. Of course he needs to wear a helmet just like we do. Isn't he a cutie?

Feel better soon buddy.

Rock the CASVAR!

*this post is slightly longer, with more pictures than the one on my public blog*

Wahoo! I have successfully completed my first ever bicycle tour!
What a busy weekend it was! Thursday Joe was at work nearly the entire day trying to get everything done before school starts (this wednesday). I spent the day at home packing. Then Friday we packed everything up and we drove to Star Valley to spend the night before our ride at my parent's house. We were all ready for the next day. We had our bike clothing, energy bars, Gatorade, our bikes were all ready... I guess the only thing we weren't ready for was this:

I was hoping for nicer weather. When we got up in the morning it was COLD! I am talking about 35 degrees! We decided to wait for an hour to see if it got any better (you could start whenever you wanted as long as you could finish in time). The weather warmed up a bit (in the 40s), but it was still windy. We got tired of waiting (I was ready to go, go, go!) and decided to bundle up and head to the start.

Check out that bicycle chick!

We got to the starting point and went to check in. I was in for quite a surprise... it seems that they had to change the routes a little bit from what we had expected. Joe's ride would be pretty much the same distance, but my ride was going to be 45 miles instead of 38! My thoughts were along the lines of... "WHAT?! You've got to be kidding me!" My face probably looked something like this -> ->
(Isn't Ephraim a cutie?)

But after you've gone 38 miles, what's couple more right? At least that's what I had to tell myself! So after we checked in and got our tour T-shirts we took our bikes off the rack and got ready to go.

Joe decided to ride with me until our routes split up. I really appreciated that, especially since I knew I would be slowing him down a little bit. What a guy!

Ready? Set...

GO!

The first part of the ride was the hardest. We were headed south towards Smoot. For the first 11 miles the headwind was awful and it was a bit cold. By the time we hit the first rest stop I was plenty warm, let me tell you! So we shed our jackets and continued on.

After the first stop I really started enjoy the ride. Joe and I were cruising along around 20 miles per hour and it was awesome! I LOVE my new bike. It makes cycling a lot more fun! Joe and I probably looked like and advertisement for Trek with our new bikes. His is a 2009 Trek 2.1 and mine is a 2009 Trek 1.2. (Wahoo Trek!).

They had plenty of places for us to stop, refuel our bodies, or use the restroom. Before I knew it we had gone 30 miles and it was time for us to split up at the Auburn turnoff. I gave my honey a big kiss and told him I would come find him after I had finished.

On my way to the finish when I was about five miles from Afton I caught up with my dad, who had started before we did. He was also doing the 45 mile ride. I would have stayed with him, but he told me to go on and finish. So I went to the finish and was the first one there from my family!

I got to watch both of my parents finish their rides. My dad finished the 45 mile ride, even though one of his legs was bothering him. My mom managed the 25 mile ride. I was really proud of them both!












I kind of wish someone had been there to see me finish. In any case, I was proud of myself. In 2 hours and 32 minutes (not counting stops) I went about 41 miles!! (I somehow missed a four mile detour that was only for my route) That is the longest I have ever cycled.

Then I went and found Joe. I caught up with him at Star Valley Ranch Road. He stopped for a minute to check his tires and give me some of his gear that he didn't need.

He was doing really well and had about 25 miles or so to go. I played leapfrog in the car with him and got some really nice pictures of him.

Can you believe that he went about 81 miles on his first bike tour? It took him about 4 hours 31 minutes of pedaling (not including stops). My husband is amazing! I am SO proud of him.

We had a great time on our first bike tour. The amazing thing is that neither of us is really sore! I guess we're in better shape than we thought! Don't get me wrong, I can tell I used my muscles a lot, but I don't feel stiff at all! Joe has been hurting from the sunburn he got on his legs more than all that pedaling.

We are already planning for our next bike tour. We are going to do one in Heber Valley on my birthday (September 27th). This time I think Joe and I will do the metric century ride together (that's a little over 65 miles). My parents will probably participate too.

Are we crazy or what?

After we had all finished and ate some dinner we went back in to Afton. Grandpa had promised some little boy an airplane ride. Here is Daddy and Jacob in front of the airplane.

Jacob was SO excited to ride in an airplane with Grandpa. He had been talking about it all week.

They just took off, flew around the pattern, and then landed. It was a short ride, but a good one. Jacob wasn't scared at all. Joe said he had fun looking at everything below.

So that was our weekend.

Jacob has been running a fever since we were at Grandpa and Grandma's house. If he isn't better by tomorrow morning I guess I will be taking him to the doctor. I would almost rather bike another 40 miles than have sick kids at home! Joe is super busy at work trying to get everything ready before school starts on Wednesday. I hope I get to see him before bedtime!

Two Dollar Tuesday at Thanksgiving Point

This week for Playgroup we decided to all go together to Thanksgiving Point. They were having two dollar Tuesdays for the month of August. We figured that since school has already started for most of the kids it shouldn't be too crowded, right?

Wrong! I was looking forward to taking Jacob to the Dinosaur Museum, but when we got there the line was already around the building. So we decided that instead of waiting around we would head to Farm Country instead.

Jacob had fun looking at the animals and getting to pet some of them.

I brought the double bike stroller because it fits in my trunk. To use my other stroller I would have had to switch cars, car seats, etc. Though I like that stroller better it was too much hassle! I was a little worried that Ephraim would be too little for this one, but he did fine. Most of the time he slept.

We did have some trouble getting this stroller through the doorway. That's another reason I prefer my other one. Anyway, Ephraim probably slept so much because we spent half of the time in line waiting to go on the pony ride. There was no way I could get Jacob to leave without riding a pony. Here he is waiting impatiently for his turn:


We finally got to the front of the line! Our friends watched Ephraim for me while I went with Jacob and got him settled on one of the ponies. Jacob had a great time riding the pony. He was just sad when his turn was done. Here's my little horseman:


We had a pretty good time at Farm Country. I can't imagine that anyone would pay more than two dollars to see the farm animals and take a little ride though. The one thing that I forgot is that I am allergic to most farm animals. So when we got home I was all stuffy, sneezy, and itchy. So that made for a fun afternoon.

Jacob was disappointed that we didn't go to the "Di-so-saur Moo-see-um" like I told him we would. I considered it because by the time we left the line looked pretty short, but we needed lunch and naptime. So I told Jacob that we would try to go next week. It will be the last week for two dollar Tuesdays, and I don't know how crazy it will be. I guess we'll see if we make it to Thanksgiving point again or not.

Weekend Warriors

This weekend Joe and I finally got to go on a bike ride together.

I have been getting up every morning around 5:20 a.m. to go on a bike ride before Joe leaves to ride his bike to work. We have both been enjoying ourselves and wanted to share the experience.

So Melinda and Jason kindly agreed to watch Jacob and Ephraim for us so we could go out together (even though it was Jason's birthday!). Thanks guys! Happy Birthday Jason!

So we got up, packed up the kids and headed to their house. Melinda was also kind enough to take a picture of Joe and I with our bikes.

Don't we look great? Especially with our shiny new bikes!

We rode our bikes from the Randall's house through American Fork and Lehi to Point of the Mountain!! Can you believe it? I actually made it to the top of that ginormous hill! Joe encouraged me and even though it was hard, I did it!

Then on the way home we ended up going east on 700 North... up the hill to the temple. I couldn't believe Joe wanted me to go up ANOTHER huge hill, especially after we had gone so far.

He must know me better than I know myself, because I made it up that hill too. My new bike is awesome! We went 22 miles total in about an hour and a half. We had a great time, and hope to be able to go out together a couple of times a month. I think cycling will be a fun activity that we can do together as a family. Joe and I are already looking at other tours that we can ride in the near future!

The CASVAR bike tour is this weekend and I am pretty confident that I can do the 38 mile ride. I think that Joe is going to ride the 85 mile ride. I'll let you know how it goes!

Ephraim at five months

Ephraim is already five months old, can you believe it? Here is a photo that I took just this afternoon:

It's hard to believe that once upon a time that little bear was the same size as he was! He is getting SO big! He likes to sit up more and more. He enjoys it when we put him in his exersaucer or bouncer and he is getting pretty good at standing and holding up his weight.

Another thing he is good at is rolling over. Now whenever I put him down and walk away, I never know where I will find him when I come back. Mostly he seems to run into the coffee table and couches and then he gets indignant... like, "Who put that there?" .

I shot a great video the other day of Ephraim rolling over. I had to sit there for a while and pretend I wasn't watching him before I could catch him doing it!



So now I often find Ephraim on his tummy and I think he is starting to enjoy it. Sometimes he rolls over after waking up from a nap and then he complains that his bed is not quite spacious enough for rolling.



This kid will be crawling before you know it!

We love Ephraim so much! He is a very happy and cheerful baby. He loves to smile and laugh. Check out these other photos I took of Mr. Personality this afternoon (You'll notice that he has also discovered his toes recently).



It is so much fun to have Ephraim laugh and smile at us. He is especially fascinated by his big brother. Once this week Joe was tickling Jacob and he was giggling and screaming with glee. Ephraim was very concerned about the whole thing and started to cry. I can already tell that they are going to be great friends.

Mommy, Daddy, and Jacob all love our little Ephraim (aka. Eper-beeper). Then again, who wouldn't love a face like this?

Pool Party

Yesterday morning (before I got all excited and distracted by my new bike!!) some of Jacob's friends came over to play in his new pool. We had Brooklyn, Henry, Kyle and their mommies over. Actually, the party may have been more for me than Jacob, but he didn't mind!

I was afraid that it might be a bit too cold already, but it was a nice hot day. For some reason none of the kids seemed to want to get into the pool by themselves. Finally I put my swimming suit on and got in with Jacob. After that he was all good. He made me play "Ring around the Rosies" with him and had a good time.

We shared popsicles with everyone... Jacob had his in the pool.

The moms had fun talking and the kids ended up playing in the sandbox as well as the pool. As long as everyone is having fun it's ok, right?

In this photo Kyle and Brooklyn were throwing sand on the ball (even though it looks like they were throwing it at each other).

Natalie finally coaxed Brooklyn into the pool, where she dumped water on her head. The funny thing is that Brooklyn LOVED it. She was laughing the entire time. What a character!

I can't believe that school starts on Monday! That means that it is practically fall... when did that happen?

I want to ride MY bicycle!

Holy Cow! I have the best husband ever! He surprised me by getting me a new bicycle and I am SO excited! It is a 2009 Trek 1.2. Isn't it gorgeous?


So yesterday afternoon Joe called me from work and said that maybe that evening we could go to Costco and then to the bike shop. He told me that they got in a bike that was my size in the model we have been looking at, so we could go check it out.

We went to Costco and did our shopping. Then we ran to the bike store. While Joe was talking to the guys (like he always does) I ran back to look at the women's bikes. They didn't have a 2009 Trek 1.2 in my size so I was disappointed. I told Joe there wasn't one there, but then they brought one out from the back.

They fitted the bike to me and then I went and took a spin on it. It was SO much better than the bike I have been riding. After I rode it for a while Joe asked me how I liked it. I said it was a great bike and I thought it would be perfect for me. He said that was good because we were going to take it home!! In case you forgot what it looks like, here it is again:


Turns out that he actually bought the bike for me last Saturday as an early birthday present. He knew that was what I really wanted and I could use it for CASVAR next weekend. We had to stop by Melinda's house on the way home so I could show it to her. Then when we got home I had to ride it around the neighborhood for a while.

This morning I took it for a ride (at 5:30 a.m.) and I LOVE it. It is FAST and light and I am really comfortable on it. I think that bicycling is going to be a great hobby for our family. This weekend Joe and I are going to go on a ride together and I am really looking forward to it.

I guess you could say that we are now a Trek family. My parents have both purchased Trek bikes as well as chipped in to help get me this one for my birthday. CASVAR here we come!

p.s. We are also thinking of riding in a bike tour in Heber City in September... on my birthday, actually. I'll let you know what we decide on that one.

My little fish

At the end of last month I decided that it would be fun to get Jacob a little swimming pool. I thought he would enjoy water that doesn't splash in his face. So I started looking around at various stores. Apparently I completely missed the appropriate buying season in Utah because I couldn't find the kind of pool I wanted ANYWHERE (I wish I had because they were all on clearance!). Anyway, I checked K-Mart, Wal-Mart, Target, Shopko, the dollar stores, you name it.

I was about to give up when I thought to ask my mom if she could find any there in Wyoming. She went to a local store and they had about 6 different kinds of pools to choose from! Go figure! So she picked one up and mailed it to us.

We got the pool last week and set it up in the back yard. Since then we have played in the pool nearly every day. It's a great size because I can even get in it with Jacob! We were playing "Ring around the Rosies" in it and Jacob was having a blast with the "and we all fall down" part. Just check out his face.

He also took his bath toys outside and played with them in the pool. We squirted each other with the rubber duckies and Jacob thought it was hilarious to dump water on my shoulders and back. We have had a lot of fun.

Then yesterday I decided that we needed to move the pool so we wouldn't kill the grass. Jacob kindly helped me empty the pool, then I moved it so he could help me refill it.


I think later this week we may invite some of Jacob's friends over to play with us in the pool. It should be a lot of fun.

Thanks for the pool Grandma Heiner!

Melinda saves the day

Last week was REALLY busy.

On Tuesday we went to playgroup in the park and had a nice turnout. I enjoyed spending time in the shade talking with the other ladies while the kids wore themselves out.

On Wednesday I got a call from the Smiths, telling me their new baby, Ty was born that morning. So I took the boys to Music Makers at the church, and then instead of going to Brenda's house we went over to play at Melinda's house.

We did some fun crafting while the kids played. I made a binky strap (for baby Ty) and some hair bows for another neighbor who just had a baby girl. Melinda's mom crocheted some flowers for hairclips which I thought were darling. So I crocheted a couple of flowers and put them on hairclips for my neighbor. Aren't these cute?










The kids had fun playing together. Here is a picture of Laura pushing Jacob on their swing. With Laura around, who needs adults?

Then I made a cute card to go with the hair clips. Melinda gave me an adorable bag, and I am going to have to go get more. Wouldn't you like to get a gift that looks like this?


Thursday morning I went to see Brenda, Todd and Ty at the hospital. Melinda was kind enough to watch my kids for me. Baby Ty is really cute. He has a lot of dark hair and was a pretty good-sized boy (especially compared to mine!).

After visiting at the hospital I picked my boys up and went home. I went to work that evening and found out that the Library retreat was scheduled for the next day... and nobody bothered to tell me! I was pretty upset about it.

Joe couldn't stay home, so I needed to find someone to watch the boys. Karyn was at girls camp, Brenda just had a baby... who to call? I was hesitant to call Melinda and ask her to watch my boys AGAIN, especially since she had already seen them the previous two days. However when I talked to her Melinda was totally willing to do it! What a great friend!

So Friday I got to go to the meeting and subtly (or not so much) remind everyone that I STILL work there, even though I am only part-time. I got to meet the two new librarians, one of whom I worked with as a student worker at USU (many, many moons ago). Then I got to go to a yummy lunch at Carraba's. It was SO good. I was extra thirsty (and still a little peeved), so I ordered two drinks.. a Diet Coke and an Italian soda. It was yummy! Next time I think I'll get a frozen lemonaid because they looked good too!

Needless to say Melinda is totally and utterly awesome! Not only did she watch my kids two days in a row, she also loaned me the fourth book in the Twilight series (which I have already finished).

Thanks Melinda!

Ephraim Laughing

I have been trying to get Ephraim to laugh on video for a while now. I finally found something that he thinks is funny. Don't ask me why I thought to sing the Muppet's "Mahna Mahna" song to him! Do you remember that one? Whenever I randomly think about it I get it stuck in my head for days.

2009 Trek 2.1

When Joe called me from work this afternoon I knew exactly what had happened just from his tone of voice... his new bike had arrived!

His boss let him leave work early and he pedaled his old road bike home as fast as he could. Then we packed everyone up and headed to the Trek store in American Fork. Joe is one of the first people to get this bike model because it is brand new. They actually haven't even officially released them yet! So here are some pictures of Joe's new bike. Don't you think it is gorgeous? I love the white and teal blue fading into navy.



It didn't take long for them to get the bike all adjusted for Joe. He rode it around the parking lot a few times and then we went and picked out his accessories. Unfortunately as soon as they attached everything to the bike we had to head for home because I am at work this evening! So Joe is at home watching the boys with his beautiful new bike sitting out in the garage.

But he will get to ride it to work tomorrow morning and I'm sure it will be FAST! He weighed all our bikes this evening and told me that the Smoothie bike I am riding weighs 35 lbs, his old roadie weighs 30 lbs, and his new bike only weighs 21 lbs... and that's with all the accessories attached! We are very excited for Joe to have a nice new bike to ride to work on.

Go Honey Go!

Brotherly Love

I caught the boys hanging out on the floor together this morning. Aren't they precious?

Trains, Tigger and Cinnamon Buns

This week has been a fun one so far!

On Monday we went to Spanish Fork and visited Stacy and Caleb. They were nice enough to invite Jacob over to play with Caleb's trains. Just check out this setup!


Jacob had a great time playing with the trains. He has been really excited about trains lately and I have been looking around trying to decide what kind of trains to get for him. I had been thinking about the wooden ones, but I may have changed my mind. The kind Caleb has are called GeoTrax and they seemed to be a bit more versatile than the wooden trains. There were bridges, towers, stations, tunnels... you name it! Here are Caleb and Jacob playing with the trains:











So maybe for Christmas I will work on finding some trains for Jacob. I know that he would enjoy helping me set them up and playing with them for quite a while. Ephraim will definitely have a good time with them too when he gets a little bit bigger.

Jacob would have stayed all day if I had let him. But we had to get home because I had to work that evening. Stacy also sent me home with some older road bikes that she had sitting around in a shed. Joe is going to work on getting one of them fixed up for me so I can take it out on my morning rides.

Then yesterday we cleaned up most of the morning, ran some errands, and went to playgroup in the park. I love to go sit and chat with everyone. It also wears the kids out so they take great naps. Even little Ephraim! Isn't he a cutie?


Ephraim just loves that little Tigger. When I put him down for the night or for a nap I give him his binky and his Tigger. He likes to hold it in his little hands and press it up against his face. It is so cute.

Then this morning I was working on getting Jacob dressed when he heard the garbage truck and took off running. So I snapped a little photo:

I couldn't help myself... he is so cute! I have been calling him my little cinnamon buns because I think he looks adorable without a hugenormous soggy diaper on his bum. Don't you?

Speaking on nicknames, here is a video where you can hear Jacob call Ephraim "Eper Beeper". Ephraim has been doing great in his little exersaucer. He reaches for the toys and even turns himself around now... and check out how much energy Jacob has. Don't you wish you could bottle some of that?