Picture a Haircut

Joe ended up taking part of Friday off, so we decided to get some haircuts done while we had the time.

Ephraim: "Mommy, you should take pictures of me getting my hair cut!"

Me: "You're right. I haven't taken any pictures of you getting your hair cut in a long time. I'll go get my camera."

It happens every month. I cut Joe's hair and he in turn gives the boys a cut. Ephraim is my sweaty head and when his hair gets long it sticks out every which way. We tried growing it out to see if it would lay down... nope! So we just keep his hair really short.

It keeps him cool and I never have to worry about combing it. Everyone wins!
(Plus we cut hair outside so I don't have to worry about sweeping it up off the floor.)

When we got married Joe informed me that I would be cutting his hair. That was so nerve-wracking for me at first! I think the very first time I cut his hair I used scissors and my mom was there to help me and it sill took me an hour and a half. But Joe didn't give up. Now I actually like cutting his hair because I can cut it the way I like it (I use the razor and it only takes 1/2 hour).

Jacob and Ephraim don't really enjoy getting haircuts, but they are definitely learning to tolerate it a little better. We have mostly outgrown the tears now, thank heavens! Haircuts are part of our little routine. One of those ordinary little things about our life that I love.

“Things don’t have to be extraordinary to be beautiful. Even the ordinary can be beautiful.”
― Wicker Park

My Heavy Sleeper and the Potty Incident

Can you believe Ephraim still occasionally takes naps in the afternoons. I am SO lucky, huh?!

When Ephraim gets really tired all he has to do is lay down for a few minutes and he is out cold! He is such a heavy sleeper that I can sit right in front of him, happily snapping away with my camera and he won't even flinch! Need to change the ISO or adjust my settings? No problem!

Consequently I have the best pictures of my little Ephraim asleep! I can hardly ever get any of Jacob or Amelia because they would wake up with the first click of my shutter... but not Ephraim

Of course, being a heavy sleeper also has its disadvantages. Ephraim has a hard time making it through the night dry because he sleeps so deeply. He just doesn't wake up to go to the bathroom! So I have been trying to wake him up to take him potty before I go to sleep (which means he has been asleep for a few hours). Every time I wake him up I have to try hard not to laugh since he staggers around and is so obviously not awake.

Well, last night the laughs were on me! I got Ephraim up and carried him to the bathroom. I helped him get his pajama bottoms and pull-up down, sat him on the potty and told him to go pee. He was so asleep that he didn't quite have it all together (or pointed down, I should say!), so he went pee and sprayed me from neck to knees!!

Needless to say we had a little cleanup and clothing change before I made it to bed last night. And of course my sweet boy doesn't remember it at all in the morning! Oh the joys of motherhood!

Swing and Ride with Amelia

Amelia is my outdoors girl. Every day she wants to go outside to play. She is no longer content to be inside and play with toys. She wants to go OUT. It seems that lately she really is interested in the boys bikes. Can you tell?

So I finally got smart and pulled out some of the smaller riding toys that we have. Amelia has been in heaven!

She loves to scoot along on our little riding toys. Another thing she loves to do is swing!

Whenever we have to go out to the van to go somewhere (which is every day!), Amelia will start to walk towards the swings and say "whee! whee!". Yep. She wants to swing!

Sometimes it is hard for me to want to be outside when Ephraim is at preschool because I had stuff to get done in the house! I need to clean and do laundry and work on the computer. But sometimes I just have to remind myself that Amelia is only going to be little once. So we go outside and play.

Sometimes we even play in the rain.

Maybe wanting to be outside is Amelia's way of helping me take a minute to stop and enjoy my surroundings. I know she sure does!

Brigham City Temple Dedication and Sunday Fun

Today was a bit of an unusual Sunday at our house. Today the Brigham city temple was being dedicated, so we didn't have our regular church meetings. Instead, members with recommends were invited to attend one of three dedicatory sessions.

Joe and I attended two different sessions. He went first thing in the morning, and then I went at one o'clock. I really enjoyed the session that I went to. It made me even more excited for the dedication of the Star Valley temple. They have not even started building the temple in my hometown, but when they have the open house and dedication I definitely want to go!

Since we had no church, the boys got to spend the day at home. Luckily they were having a day where they were mostly getting along. I even caught some funny pictures of the two of them coloring.

Don't you just love that Ephraim is randomly wearing rabbit ears that he made at preschool? I think it's awesome.

I love these two boys!

Provo Canyon, Fall 2012

Yesterday we decided it would be a nice day to go for a drive as a family. So we went up Provo Canyon. The colors there were beautiful this time of year. The greens were just starting to give way to reds, oranges and yellows.

We actually decided to drive up to Squaw Peak because it was more colorful up there.

We went up the road to Squaw Peak, but didn't actually make it to the lookout. We drove left instead of right and ended up driving up a dirt road.

I was a little nervous about going up there in the van, but Joe is a great driver! Plus the trees were gorgeous!

We had a really great view of Cascade mountain and all the beautiful fall colors!

The road we drove on was a little dusty, but the scenery was still beautiful!


We even found a place to pull off the road and after walking 15 feet or so we could see Utah Lake and the valley below. It was beautiful!

The kids were happy to get out of the van and roam around for a minute. As you can see it was later in the evening, so the sun was right in our eyes.

We didn't go too much further before we decided to head back down the mountain.

Since we were so close, we decided to drive up to Bridal Veil Falls. The kids always love to see the falls.

The leaves are just barely starting to change colors near the waterfall and it was really lovely. It was a beautiful day for a drive and we all really enjoyed ourselves. We will have to remember to come up again next year!

Father's and Sons

This weekend Jacob and Ephraim got to go on a Fathers and Sons camping trip with Daddy. They got to sleep in a tent and even cook dinner over a campfire!

Joe was ambitious and rather than just having hot dogs for dinner, the boys had steak and potatoes! They said it was delicious. The boys also really enjoyed roasting marshmallows over the campfire and making s'mores (of course!). 

The boys had a blast camping! Not only did they get to hang out with Daddy and sleep outside, they also had several friends their ages to play with. Before they headed for home the next day, Daddy took the boys on a hike up the nearest mountain.

From their viewpoint they could see Utah Lake in the distance as well as their camping site. Joe took these awesome photos of my boys sitting together and enjoying the view. I love them!

Apparently camping was so exciting and exhausting that Ephraim fell asleep in the car before they even made it to the highway! He slept the whole way home and didn't even wake up when we unloaded the car.

After we got everything unpacked, I could tell that Jacob was feeling a little out of sorts. When I asked him what was wrong he started to cry and told me that he didn't want to come home! That is how much he loved camping!

So it looks like next summer we are going to have to do some camping and maybe a little fishing together as a family! Should be fun, and at least I know the boys will LOVE it!

Sleepy Kiddos

This week as we have been adjusting to our school and preschool schedule, I managed to get some really cute pictures of the kids sleeping.

I guess I should say I caught pictures of Ephraim and Amelia sleeping, since Jacob is at school all day long!

Ephraim is such a heavy sleeper! Whenever he gets SO tired that he decides to take a nap, I have no problem sneaking in and taking pictures of him. Most of the time he doesn't even flinch.

Amelia is much more difficult to take pictures of! She tends to wake up when she hears the click of the camera, so I often don't even try to take her picture because I will wake her up.

I managed to snap this picture of her and her bear just before she was going to sleep. It is blurry because I was trying to hurry! Then there was one afternoon that she was so tired that I dared to take some pictures.

What a pretty girl! As you can see, her piggy tails are pretty long. She is also starting to grow a bunch more hair in the front.

I usually pull her hair back because it is getting pretty long and tends to flop into her face. Then she can't see a thing. Amelia also has beautiful eye lashes, just like her brothers.

I just love these pictures of my baby girl asleep. I think my kids look so angelic when they are sleeping!

Soccer Game

One of the highlights of our weekends in the Fall are Jacob's soccer games. Every Saturday we have to organize our day around the time of his game. He really enjoys playing and has a lot of fun.

I don't get to watch quite as much as I used to now that Amelia is mobile. You really have to keep an eye on her because she has fast little feet and will make it pretty far away before you even know it! I did manage to get some good pictures this week though.

This year we are playing on a new field and we really like it. The field is closer to home, is a little bigger, and is more level than the field was last year.

I debated about whether or not to sign Ephraim up for soccer, but he doesn't really watch Jacob's games or show a lot of interest. So we told him that he can wait until he is 5 to play soccer.

So far our first week of school has gone pretty well. It was a little strange at first having Ephraim gone during the mornings on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. But I have plenty to do to keep busy! Ephraim is adjusting to his new preschool pretty well. While he is gone I try to go grocery shopping and do other errands. That way I only have to take Amelia. It is also fun to spend some time alone with my little girl.

The Day the Duck came to visit

Last night Joe was teaching class at UVU, like he does every Monday and Wednesday. So in the evening I decided to go for a walk with the kids. We went to the park nearby and played around for a little while. When we got home  you will never guess what we found...

There was a duck on our lawn! How is that for random? Apparently he stopped by to sleep over, because when we woke up this morning he was still there! This is not a shy duck, let me tell you. I got fairly close to him with my camera and he didn't really even shy away from me.

I didn't really want a pet duck, so I was happy that later in the day when I came home he had flown away. The kids thought it was really funny to have a duck waddling around and napping in our yard!

First Day of Preschool

This year is the first time that I will actually be sending one of my kids to preschool. Last year I taught preschool for Ephraim as part of a cooperative group. At the end of the year it was apparent that the group was not going to last another year. So we found a preschool for Ephraim to go to.

I think it will be good for him to go to a more "formal" preschool. Plus he will probably be able to make friends with some of the kids that will be going to Kindergarten with him at Mount Mahogany next year, which will be nice.

Today was Ephraim's very first day of preschool. So of course we had to break out the sign and take some pictures.

Isn't he a handsome boy? He was very excited and a little nervous to go to preschool. I think I am also a little excited and nervous for him to go to preschool! He won't know any of the other kids in preschool, so that will be a bit different for him.

I am hopeful that he really enjoys it and has a good time! He is such a smart boy and already knows his letters and their sounds. I think that this year while Jacob is in school and Ephraim is at home I will work on teaching Ephraim to read. He loves books, so hopefully he enjoys learning how to read them.

Labor Day weekend with the Devereaux's

As our trip to San Francisco drew to a close, I was ready and anxious to go home. I had a great time in San Francisco, but I was missing my kids! So on Friday we came home.

The kids were happy to see us, and the feeling was mutual! They had a great time with Grandma and Grandpa and Joe and I were lucky to get to spend a few more days with them before they had to go home to Tucson.

Saturday and Monday (Labor Day) one of the first items on the agenda was to go fishing. On Saturday it was just the boys that went fishing, and Ephraim caught a fish! How exciting!

So we cooked that large mouth bass up with some salmon. Yum, yum!

Monday Amelia and I decided to tag along on the fishing expedition. On the way there we saw a hot air balloon. It was one of the same ones that we saw when we went to the balloon fest in Provo this year.

It was a nice day for fishing; sunny and clear. I got some pretty nice pictures of the boys fishing with Grandpa and Daddy.

This time they didn't catch anything, but they still had a good time. The boys really enjoy fishing with Grandpa Devereaux and Daddy. We will have to plan a camping and fishing trip sometime. I know the boys would love it!

Amelia and I mostly walked around and took took pictures. I even caught a nice one of some geese flying overhead.

Besides the fishing, we did some catching up on what we missed while we were gone. We also all went to church together and took our annual picture. Don't we all look great?

All too soon it was time for Grandma and Grandpa Devereaux to go home. The boys were sad to see them go and we will have to figure out when we can go see them in Tucson!