Trouble is His First, Middle, and Last Name

Have you ever had one of those evenings where is seems like your child is determined to run amok no matter how hard you try to keep him out of trouble? Tonight was one of those nights... and it was my first Thursday evening at home, since I don't work at UVU anymore.

This afternoon Ephraim woke up from his nap just as I was getting dinner ready. Jacob was outside helping Joe paint our sun-faded wooden playhouse, so I figured that I could easily finish getting dinner ready while Ephraim played inside the house. I would only have my little one-year-old boy to watch, which shouldn't be too hard, right?

Think again!!

I was in the kitchen cooking hamburger, when Ephraim walked in carrying the plastic bag that the diapers come in... but it was empty. I took the bag away from him and then went to his room to see what happened to the diapers. When I got to Ephraim's room I found the missing diapers scattered all over the place. It was like a bomb had gone off in there...Oh what fun!

So I got the diapers all cleaned up quickly and headed back to the kitchen. There I found Ephraim holding the water bottle that Joe had set down after riding his bicycle home from work. Of course he was holding the water bottle upside down, with the spout open, laughing as the water splashed on the floor! He thought it was great fun to stomp his little feet in the water that was now all over my kitchen floor.

So I took the water bottle away from him, and got a towel to clean up. I checked on dinner and then Jacob came inside. Of course Jacob had paint all over his work clothes, his hands and face from helping daddy paint. So I immediately went to strip him down so he wouldn't get paint anywhere else.

As I was cleaning the paint off Jacob in the kitchen sink, I realized the I didn't know where Ephraim had gone. I went down the hall and found him in the bathroom. Apparently he figured out how to lift up the lid on the toilet and was plunging bath toys in and out of the toilet water, having a great time.

At this point I didn't know whether to laugh hysterically or have a good cry. I couldn't believe that Ephraim had done all of these things within a half hour! I quickly got him away from the toilet and started cleaning up Ephraim and the water he had splashed all over the bathroom. I got everything cleaned up and then had to divert Ephraim from playing with the full-length mirror in my bedroom on his way out.

I am amazed that I managed to get dinner ready without burning anything, and with both children still intact. We all survived the rest of the evening too, which is somewhat amazing considering the fact that Ephraim figured out that he could climb up the ladder and get onto Jacob's bed. I found him up there later that evening, running back and forth across the bed, laughing as he flopped down on the pillows. I swear that kid has absolutely no fear (or sense of self-preservation!).

Forget the terrible twos. We haven't had any problems with that at our house. If anything we are suffering from the overly-adventurous ones!

He'll grow out of it.... right?

p.s. We have since taken the ladder off Jacob's bed so Ephraim can't get up there any more!

Day in the Park

Today was a gorgeous day! So the boys and I decided to head to the Lindon Park for a little while. I decided to take my camera and practice on the boys. I have to say they move awfully fast!

But they sure are cute!

Ephraim is absolutely fearless! He LOVES to climb up the play structures, and isn't afraid of going down the slide at all! As a matter of fact, he will back up so that he can go down the slide backwards on his tummy!

What a fearless little guy! Jacob used to be afraid of going down the slide, but now he is loving it too! We are going to have tons of fun at the park this year!

Tiptoe through the Tulips

Our yard is abloom with glorious color and it makes me SO happy!

I just love tulips! They have to be the perfect flower. You plant the bulbs once, and then they come up every year. Now that is my kind of yard work!

Tripod Tub Time

Over the weekend we bought a new tripod, courtesy of Grandpa Devereaux (Thanks!!). Joe and I were both excited to get one so that we will be able to take our own family photos if we need to, and I will be able to do a better job of taking photos for others.

This morning the boys were being so cute in the tub, and I was trying to take some photos. Joe got out the tripod and set it up in the bathroom at the boys level. Here are some of the fun photos that we got this morning.

Jacob was being so cute and cooperative! Hopefully it goes this well at our next family photo session!
Trying to get both of the boys looking nice is still going to be a challenge though!

For some reason Ephraim got upset, but I thought the pictures of him being sad were actually darn cute.

Besides, he wasn't sad for very long!

What a cute pair of boys we have, don't you think!

Spaghetti Head

Thursday before work I made spaghetti for dinner. I ended up eating with just Joe before I left, so he fed the boys while I was at work.

Apparently Jacob was really into the spaghetti that evening. Check out this messy face!

Yummy!

He may be messy, but at least he was enjoying his food!

Hard Hat Area

The church building near our home is getting much closer to being finished. Lately they have been putting brick on the exterior and tiling the roof. On Sunday afternoon we took a little walk to visit the construction site. Here is a photo taken from the northwest corner of the lot.

Jacob is still excited to see all of the construction equipment on the site. Since the machines are all off, we let him get up close and take a good look at them... and of course we have to take photos. He keeps telling me that "there is a bulldozer just like mine!" or "Look! A grader just like the one I have!". He is loving the mini construction equipment that he got at Easter. He has told me that when he gets big he wants to drive trucks like these.

He is SO little compared to these huge machines!

(ignore my hand... I haven't have time to Photoshop it out yet.)

Ephraim would be in some of these pictures, but I have him strapped to my back most of the time when we go visit. Besides, he's pretty quick and I wouldn't want to try to get him to stand on top of any of this tall equipment!

Jacob on the other hand will stand wherever we put him! What a good boy.

Aaah! The claw!

You almost can't see Jacob in this picture because he is so small!

They will probably have the church completely finished by the end of the summer. I hope that we get to go to church in the new building because it is SO close to our house! We could even walk during the winter because it would probably be just as fast as loading everyone in the car.

So there's your construction update for this month! :o)

Fun in the Sun

This week the weather has been gorgeous! What a drastic change from the cold and snow of last week. This week each day it has been sunny, and the temperatures midday have been in the 70s. Consequently the boys and I have been spending tons of time outside.

We have been playing in the sun and sand and enjoying every minute of it. It has actually been nice enough that on Saturday (19th) I made the boys put on their hats before playing outside. Isn't Ephraim a cutie?

I have been practicing my photo-taking skills with little children, who may or may not be feeling cooperative. I am figuring out how to tease them and say silly things to make them smile. I was working on getting Jacob to smile, and managed to get some nice smiles out of him. Now I just need to find a nice place to take some photos and we are all set!

What a handsome boy!

Ephraim loves being able to roam around the backyard. He plays in the sandbox with Jacob and they both get really dirty. We have to be sure that we keep the gate locked though! The minute you open it you can be sure that Ephraim is going to head for the front yard!

I just know all the fun stuff is on the other side!

Ephraim and Jacob are starting to figure out how to play together a little bit better, which is wonderful. Jacob likes having Ephraim play in the sandbox with him, and they have a great time together. I am excited for this summer and being able to spend time outside in the grass, sun and sand with my boys.

April Snow Angels

This morning we woke up to a winter wonderland. Not only did we keep all the snow from yesterday, but we also got several more inches overnight. I think we had about 5-6 inches of snow on our lawn.

So I grabbed my camera and ran outside before the sun came out and melted all the snow off the trees. It was pretty incredible outside!

The trees were absolutely coated with snow.

Though I wasn't happy about the snow, I did think that it looked amazing!

I bet the birds were a bit surprised by all the white stuff too. I got out my zoom lens and managed to get a couple of pictures of the birds out on our trees.

When I got back to the house Jacob said, "Mommy, I was thinking about making a snow angel."

At first I didn't really want to go outside to play in the snow, but then I thought, "Why not? How often do you get to make a snow angel in April?"

So I bundled Jacob up and we went outside.

He had a terrific time making his April Snow Angels.

Then he was off and "dashing through the snow". Can you see that the snow almost goes to his knees?!

Then Jacob would fall down on his tummy in the snow and laugh. He thought it was great.

I ran back inside to put Ephraim in his snow suit. It was a bit too small, but I figured it wouldn't really matter. He wouldn't be wearing it for too long.

At first Ephraim couldn't get the hang of walking around in the snow, but he didn't seem to mind crawling on his tummy. Jacob meanwhile was running all over the place...

just being silly in general and having a blast.

I am so happy that we have reached the point where Jacob doesn't mind having his picture taken. He actually wants me to pay attention to him and asks me to take his picture. I certainly don't mind because he is a cutie!


Ephraim did figure out how to walk around in the little snow suit. He was intrigued by all the white stuff. I tried to get some good pictures of him, but he is pretty fast.


When I sat Ephraim down to try to get a picture, he instantly tried to get back up. He ended up falling forward into the snow on his face, which he definitely wasn't happy about!

Ephraim was done with the snow after that, so we all went inside. I think you can tell from the back yard that the boys had a good time this morning.

Now the snow is nearly all melted! Joe and I are hoping to get in some long bike rides this weekend, so I hope we don't get any more snow! They are actually calling for temperatures in the 70s by Monday. How crazy is that?

Wet Snowy Wednesday: a Picture Post

Yesterday was a wet, slushy, snowy day outside. So we tried to make the best of it by playing and having fun inside.

First we had another Easter egg hunt. This time Ephraim got to participate. I tried to help him find eggs and put them in his bucket, but he was mostly interested in opening them.

And why not? All the good stuff is inside, right?

Rather quickly we had jellybeans spilled all over the carpet. I guess now I know why they taped the eggs shut for the Easter egg hunt we went to at Macey's.

Yum-o!

Ephraim also figured out that the fastest way to get eggs was from Jacob's basket!

Jacob did a great job finding all the eggs. We may be playing this game again in the coming weeks when the weather isn't great. :o)


I ran outside to take some pictures of my tulips in the snow.

Of course Jacob wanted to come too. He thought it was funny that we were having snow again.



Last night Joe ended up coming home pretty late because he was teaching a class about Virtualization. So I got to keep the boys amused all day and all evening.

Actually, they were pretty amusing. Jacob and I made brownies together. At one point he left and came back in the room and I noticed something funny. Can you spot what's wrong with this photo?

Nope. Not the moose antlers. Are you sure you can't tell what's wrong? Does this photo help?

If you haven't gotten it by now, this picture should get your rear in gear.

Yep. Jacob went to the bathroom and came back with his pants on backwards. He and I both thought it was pretty funny because he hasn't ever done that before! What a silly boy!