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!

Jacob and Ephraim on Easter

Before church on Easter morning Joe helped me get some cute pictures of the boys. Jacob has gotten over his reluctance to have his picture taken, which is wonderful! Ephraim does pretty well at smiling, the hard part is getting him to hold still.

Here are some of the best photos:

Aren't they just adorable?

Easter Egg Hunt

Sunday morning before church we decided to have a little Easter egg hunt for Jacob. We were going to have another egg hunt in the afternoon after Ephraim's nap, but we didn't get around to it. Maybe we will have to hide the eggs again this week... but not today because it's raining!

Jacob had tons of fun finding all the eggs I had hidden. I would walk around with him and give him a general idea of where he might look for some more eggs.

I thought he looked so cute walking around with his red bucket.

He was very excited to find the Easter eggs! He would shake each one and exclaim, "there's candy inside!"


We didn't actually eat very much of the candy before church, and actually most of the eggs still have candy in them.

We were glad that the weather turned out sunny and warm because on Saturday (Joe's birthday!) it rained most of the day.


I couldn't decide which pictures I liked the best, so that is why there are so many. I just think my kids are so darn cute!

Don't you?

What was in Your Easter Basket?

We hope you had a fun Easter! The boys had a great time.

The Easter Bunny left some pretty fun things in the boys' Easter Buckets.



















Jacob got a Buzz Lightyear kite, four picture puzzles, and some mini construction equipment. Ephraim got a Little People School Bus. Of course they got some Easter eggs filled with candy, a chocolate bunny, and marshmallow chicks!

Jacob was so excited about the construction equipment!

He has been playing with them constantly ever since we opened them. I guess the Easter Bunny found just the right thing for playing indoors on rainy spring days.

Ephraim was so excited about the bus! He just knew that it was for him! He could hardly wait for Daddy to open it.


He even started saying "Buh! Buh!" that morning. So I guess the Easter Bunny picked the right thing for him too!


The boys have been enjoying their Easter presents... so what was in your Easter basket?

Happy Birthday Joe!

Happy Birthday Love!

Today is Joe's birthday. He is a whole 29 years old. What an old man! :o)

For some reason birthdays get a bit less exciting the older you get, so we didn't do anything too spectacular. In the morning Joe and I got to go on a 20 mile bike ride. It was fun to get to go with him, even if we got rained on!

Then Joe cleaned up our bikes while I watched the boys and cleaned up. Later in the afternoon we cut Ephraim's nap short and went shopping. We bought Joe a long sleeved undershirt for cycling in cooler weather. We have also ordered him a pair of bib shorts for cycling that should arrive next week.

We had fun shopping, and went and found some membrillo like Joe had when he was in Uruguay. It was interesting to go into the South American market stores and see what kind of products they had. Now I just need to find the right kind of cheese and crackers and we can give in a try.

When we got home I made us steaks for dinner. They turned out yummy! We also had some Guarana to drink (South American soda), and it was delicious. Then we put the boys to bed and spent some time together. It may not have been a terrifically exciting day, but I think it was pretty nice.

We love you tons and bunches Joe and hope you have a happy year!

Dying Easter Eggs

Today we finally got around to dying eggs for Easter. I boiled the eggs earlier in the day, and then just before Ephraim's nap time in the afternoon we got organized and got to work.

Jacob thought it was pretty cool that the eggs changed colors.

He helped me write on them with the crayon and drop them into the cups of dye.

I was a little nervous about letting him do this while I took pictures, but he did great! I made sure that he held the cups before he dropped the eggs in so that he didn't spill any dye. We tried using the little wand in the egg dye kit, but it was too hard. So we used our hands instead.

It was pretty fun, and Jacob had a great time!


We both ended up with a little dye on our hands, but it mostly washed off. I thought Jacob was so cute in his little apron. We will definitely have to do this again next year.


Next year Ephraim will probably want to help too! This year he mostly watched and then begged me to put him down for his nap. Poor boy!

Jacob got to put stickers on his eggs when they dried too. He thought the eggs turned out beautiful! What do you think?

Princess and Knight Party

Yesterday we were invited by Laura to go to the Randall's house to attend a Princess and Knight party. Of course all the girls got to wear princess tiaras, but Jacob and Ephraim weren't left out! Melinda had procured some awesome Knight masks for the boys. Check out Jacob in his mask.

Sir Jacob

Not only were there cool masks and tiaras for us to wear, there were also yummy cookies for us to eat!

There was also much music and dancing. Don't these ladies look splendid?

I can't think of a better way to spend a cold and cloudy afternoon! We were treated like royalty and got to have tons of fun and delicious treats.

I tried to get Jacob to wear my tiara, but he didn't think it was quite as cool as his knight's mask! Just check out the look on his face!

Get it off me!

I even got Ephraim to put on one of the knight's masks... but only for a second. I actually had to have Melinda take the photo right after I put the mask on! What a cutie.

Luckily there wasn't any jousting or swordplay, but I'm sure as Jacob gets older we may end up having a bit more of that.

Thanks Melinda and Laura for a fun party!

This morning we woke up to a cold and snowy April Fool's Day. I keep hoping the snow is really a joke, but I guess not! Hopefully April will warm up as the week goes on.