Trimming the Tree

This morning Iwas cleaning up the kitchen in the morning and decided it was WAY too quiet in the house. You never know what the boys might be up to, so I decided I had better go check on them. When I walked into the living room, this is what I found.

Jacob and Ephraim snuggled up under a blanket on the couch, reading a book together. Jacob was telling Ephraim this Curious George Story, and it was SO cute!

Luckily my camera was on the end table nearby, so I was able to grab it and unobtrusively snap some pictures. I just love moments like these when my boys are having a great time together. It makes me happy!

Then Family Home Evening we talked about the true meaning of Christmas, and how Christmas is really about Jesus and not about Santa and presents. Then we got out some of the ornaments and started decorating the Christmas tree. The boys were really excited to help out this year.

Of course they can't reach very high up, so Daddy helped them get the ornaments up a little bit higher. Otherwise all the ornaments would have been gathered on the bottom 1/4 of the tree!

We actually only got about half the ornaments on the tree before Mommy and Daddy ran out of steam. We will have to get out the rest of the ornaments later.

We did manage to get the star out and put it on top of the tree. This year Jacob was actually tall enough to reach the top of the tree with Daddy's help.

After we finished decorating for the evening, the boys asked Daddy to read them some Christmas books.

We had a fun evening together as a family, getting ready for the Christmas season. I love seeing my cute boys having a good time with their Daddy. What a handsome bunch of men I have in my life.

Winter Wonderland

About a week ago the weather forecasters were calling for a blizzard. Warnings were issued, schools let out early, and we heard that people even went to the grocery store and stock up for the storm.

We watched and listened to the wind blow, waiting for the snow to come and bury us as predicted. We waited...  and waited..... and got nothing. Salt Lake was getting pounded and we assumed we were next. So we went to bed, anticipating the white that would await us in the morning.

Imagine how disappointed my boys were to find absolutely no snow in the morning! Jacob was devastated because he wanted to shovel the driveway with Joe.

Fast forward a week.

This morning when we woke up Joe looked out the window and told me that we got tons of snow overnight! There was about 6 inches on the driveway and snow was still falling. I guess you could say that the blizzard they were predicting a week ago was a little behind schedule.

So I got Jacob dressed as quickly as I could after breakfast and sent him out to help Daddy shovel. Before long Joe had to leave to go shovel at the church, even though our driveway wasn't finished.

I had just finished getting Ephraim dressed to go help, so I couldn't just make the boys come in and take their snow clothes off. Instead I let them go play in the snow in the back yard. Ephraim thought the snow was pretty cool stuff!

Jacob and Ephraim were SO excited for the first real snow! They got out their sand toys and shovels and got busy having fun.

You can see from the limbs on our trees and the fence over by the garden that we got quite a bit of snow.

I had a lot of fun taking pictures of the boys playing in the snow. They are so darn cute!

Jacob wanted to make a snow angel, so I told him to go right ahead. It was funny to watch the look on his face as the snow was falling on him while he made his angel.

Great job, Jacob! Snow angels turn out pretty well when the snow is this deep!

Ephraim tried to make a snow angel too, but basically just laid down in the snow and waved his arms up and down. It was pretty hilarious!

As you can see, they got out their sand box toys and were digging and driving their tractors around in the snow. What a pair of sillies! At least they were having fun, right?

They had a wonderful time outside. I am not really that fond of snow, but seeing my two boys enjoy it so much makes it a bit more fun for me. I guess you could say my boys have brought a little bit of the "wonder" back into winter wonderland for their mommy.

Joe got back from his ward council meeting just in time to clear a path for the van on our driveway, take a shower and head out the door. He didn't get a shave in and hasn't shaved his face since Monday. So now he had quite the beard started!

Over Thanksgiving Joe also managed to get the lights up on our house. We ended up getting new LED lights for the house, since most of our icicle lights had large portions that were not lit up. We put up our colored lights in the window, and the boys just love them. I think the house looks pretty good, don't you?

Thanksgiving

We had a very nice Thanksgiving holiday at home. Grandma and Grandpa Heiner came to visit, and the boys had a great time playing with them.

I neglected to actually take any picture on Thanksgiving, as I was busy getting our turkey dinner ready. I actually took the easy approach, since all the hard work of making dinner did not sound appealing to me, what with being 5 months pregnant. So I actually ordered a complete turkey dinner and then just had to warm it up.

Mom and I went to pick up the dinner and actually ended up buying a few presents on Thanksgiving day. She helped me and we got the dinner all done by about 1 p.m. I have to say that it turned out pretty well! We had plenty of food and had a great time hanging out and eating pie later in the day.

During our Thanksgiving break, Joe was busy working on the boys room. He finished up with mudding the wall and smoothing it. He even got the wall painted blue. It looks fabulous! I will have to post pictures when we are done with edging and everything.

The Friday after Thanksgiving was my Mom's birthday. The boys had fun going downstairs and waking her up to tell her Happy Birthday!

Then a little later in the morning the boys were coloring and getting Grandma to help. I did actually remember to take a picture then!

Here is one of Ephraim playing with the fun plane that Grandpa Heiner brought them. They had a lot of fun playing with it. They were sad when Grandpa and Grandma Heiner left later that day, but we told them we would see them next weekend at the family Christmas party!

Sunset on Timp

It was a frigid day as we waited for my parents to come to our house for Thanksgiving. Joe was working outside and he came to tell me that I should come check out the sunset. Mount Timpanogos was completely pink because of the sun setting in the west. I managed a few nice pictures before the color faded.

I had to run home quickly because even in a heavy coat I was still VERY cold!

My parents arrived shortly after this and they commented on how beautiful the sunset was as well! Dad didn't get the chance to take a picture, so this one's for you Dad!

More Thanksgiving Turkeys

Happy Thanksgiving!

We have had lots of Turkeys around here lately. After doing the turkey handprints with Jacob's preschool group, I also did them with Ephraim's playgroup last week. So now I have some cute turkeys made by both my little turkeys. Can you tell which one belongs to whom?

Then this week we had Preschool on Monday and Tuesday because of the Thanksgiving holiday. Ephraim and I went to Karyn's house for playgroup on Tuesday and made these fun felt turkeys. Aren't they cute?

The boys have been playing with the feathers and putting them all over their train tracks. What a pair of turkeys!

Snow this Morning, Gone this Afternoon!

This morning when we woke up Jacob was so excited to see that we had snow! He desperately wants to shovel the snow with Daddy.

Unfortunately (only for Jacob) the snow stuck only to the grass and melted when it hit the driveway.

By the time we got out of church the sun was shining and the snow was melting. By the end of the day the snow was all gone. Jacob was so disappointed. I keep reassuring him that there will be plenty of snow for him to shovel!!

Boys in the Tub

Just to prove that I do wash these dirty little hooligans once in a while, here are some fun pictures of the boys in the tub from this evening.

Since the boys are getting so big, I don't usually bathe them together. They have actually started to take showers with Daddy once in a while. But this evening they wanted to play in the water together.

They usually play well in the tub together, but I have to watch them because otherwise half of the water will end up out of the tub!

Silly boys! I guess in the winter when it's too cold to play outside, at least they can have fun in the tub.

At least for a while. Trust me... you will know when it is time for bathtime to be over!

Bear Bear and Buzz flying high

And now a blog post about another bear.  :o)

Ephraim also has a teddy bear. His bear is named Bear-Bear. Ephraim is really more of a blankie boy, and he has names for several of his blankets. But he wants to be like Jacob so badly! So when Jacob plays with Teddy, Ephraim will get out Bear-Bear and play with him.

When Jacob and Ephraim play together, I can often count on Jacob to let me know when Ephraim is doing something he shouldn't. Today Jacob came running out of his room and told me that Ephraim was throwing Bear-Bear around and he was stuck. We have been working on NOT throwing toys, so I talked to Ephraim about it. Then I went into his room and saw where Bear-Bear ended up.

Not only was Bear-Bear up on the ceiling, it seems that Buzz flew up to save him and got stuck too!

The sight of these toys up there just made me laugh, so I had to go get my camera and take a picture. That Ephraim! What a character.

Teddy gets Stuffed

You may remember that one of my first blog posts was about Teddy and how much Jacob loves him. That blue bear has been around for a very long time and been through a lot. You should go read that post again to get reaquainted, but just to jog your memory, here is one of the earliest and best pictures I have of Teddy with Jacob.

This picture was taken before Jacob was even a year old. It was in March of 2007, so Jacob was about 10 months old. Even then he loved Teddy. I can't get over how soft, clean and fluffy Teddy looks!

Then when I wrote my last blog post about Teddy it was in June of 2008. So here is what Teddy looked like over a year later.

You can see that he is not so fluffy and definitely looks well loved. Teddy has been Jacob's companion for the past two years. Teddy goes with us on long trips and keeps Jacob company in bed. Usually Teddy stays in Jacob's bed during the day, but occasionally he comes out to play and be silly.

Lately Jacob has been begging me to put some more stuffing in Teddy. Apparently Teddy was getting a bit too flopsy for Jacob. I can't say that his assessment was wrong. Here is a picture I took of Teddy this weekend before his minor surgery.

I realize now that I should have washed Teddy before I restuffed him because he is a bit dirtier than usual in this picture, but at least it shows you how loved he really is.

In case you can't tell, Teddy had absolutely no stuffing left from his neck down to his legs. Don't ask me where it went!

So I finally picked up some batting so that poor Teddy could sit and stand up again. Jacob was really excited that I was going to make Teddy less floppy and more fat. He watched as I carefully opened up the seam in Teddy's back. Then he even helped me stuff in as much stuffing as we possibly could. Then I sewed Teddy back up.

Here is Jacob with Teddy post-op.

Jacob is really impressed with all the things that Teddy can do now! Teddy can sit up by himself. Teddy can stand on his head! Teddy is much more huggable! Jacob LOVES that Teddy is no longer all squished flat.

I am glad that I finally got around to Jacob's request. It really made him happy. Jacob made me laugh when he told me that Teddy is no longer bossy now that he is stuffed! How funny is that?

Next Teddy needs to take another spin through the washer. I hope it doesn't compact him too much!

My Beautiful Boys

I love being my own photographer and taking pictures of my boys! If the weather is nice and the boys are having a good day (and by that I mean cooperative), we can dress up and go take pictures. No appointment to schedule, no waiting for our turn, and no uncomfortable smiles.

I know some fun locations nearby for pictures, so on Saturday when the weather was nice I got the boys dressed and we headed out. I figured I had better get some nice shots of the boys before my belly gets too much bigger and I get less motivated. Who knows, these may be the last shots I do of them before we add their little sister to the family!

I was so happy with how the pictures turned out! I LOVE them. Here are the ones that I love the best.

I was so happy that I got nice pictures of the two of them together. They are smiling and looking so happy!

My biggest concern was that I wouldn't get a good photo of Ephraim because he is such a busy body and doesn't really smile on command. Imagine how thrilled I was when my favorite picture of the day was this one:

My favorite picture of Jacob is a toss up. I like his smile better on the second picture, but I like his head position in the first one better. I guess they are both winners!

What a cutie!

Here is my second favorite picture of Ephraim. He found this old trike he wanted to sit on, so I just went with it and ended up with some cute photos.

This was the first photo session of the boys where I have ended up with SO many photos that I really liked! I guess either they are figuring this whole picture thing out, or maybe I am just getting better at it.

Here are some of my runner-up favorites.

I love the pictures I got of the boys in the door frame of this dilapidated old house. They couldn't really get down unless I helped them, and then I made them laugh by throwing leaves on my head and singing a silly song. I guess it pays to be a goofball!

Ephraim loved this old trike, and I thought it made a nice photo prop. The leaves were lovely as well.

I actually had a few other photo locations in mind, but we did so well on the first one that we only stopped at one other place on the way home.

I managed a few more nice shots of Ephraim before it started to snow lightly and we decided to call it quits.

I was SO happy with how well these photos turned out! The boys did such a great job! I am planning on getting some of these photos printed at Costco in the next little while, so let me know which one(s) you would like for your photo frames and I will get them to you before Christmas!