Summer Hair Cuts

So as anyone who knows Tj knows that for the last several years (basically since we've been married) he has progressively cut his hair shorter and shorter until he could get it no shorter and now shaves his head bald. Well after many discussions the boys decided to have daddy cut their hair like his.

May I present Summer Hair Cuts in August:


Joel went first. Going.....

Going.....
Gone!
Vance watching the action. I was actually curious to see if Vance would actually follow through.
Vance's turn. Going......
Going......
Gone!
Watch out Pa! You're next. =)

Love these boys!

So these boys crack me up! I love them so much. So they have really been using their imaginations and it makes me so happy and makes me laugh. They are so smart and have memories like a steel trap- unless it conveniently forgets. So their latest imaginary situation is them pretending to be dogs. Joel is Kensie and Vance is Woof Woof. We were over at Tj's parents house and they were loving pretending to be dogs and were even playing with Molly's dog bones and Tj's dad was putting the leash on them. They randomly will decide to play Woof Woof and Kensie and sometimes that's really fun and sometimes it's a challenge. But I love that they have "their" thing.

I love that they are song birds. Music has always been such an important in my life and in so many of my memories that I think it was inevitable that I would try and share that with my boys. Tj thinks we're a little crazy sometimes because we're ALWAYS singing and making up silly songs. But I love hearing them sing to each other or to themselves, singing along with the radio or asking me to sing songs with them.

Life is chugging along. We found a little preschool that we applied for to send Joel one day a week. It's just a little church preschool but one of his friend's from church is going to attend there and I think he would enjoy and benefit from it. If not he'll hang out at home with Vance and I some more, either way I think it will be a good thing. And we got registered for the story time here at the local library with one of Vance's friends. So hopefully we'll get into a routine- although our non-routine life has fit us pretty well for the last year. :)

Happy Second Birthday, Vance!

Okay so the pictures are all messed up as far as the time line is concerned. So I'll try and keep it straight. Of course again, it was a three day extravaganza- starting with playdate on Friday, Chuck E. Cheese with Pa and Nama, and then the actual Birthday on Sunday.

Actual Birthday

Vance and the birthday sign and the decorations.

Vance and his decorations.

The gifts!
He got the "Elefun!" game, doctor kit and boat with blocks.

Vance's birthday muffin.

Saturday Night

Keeping the tradition, this was the first year Vance got to help make his cake.

Decorating the cake with sprinkles. He picked Orange as the frosting color."It's my party and I'll cry if I want to."

Vance with the finished product, although he was done with pictures.

Saturday Morning

Vance being very serious about his driving with Chuck E. Cheese

Happy Birthday, with Pa!

Friday Night

Nama and Pa found this pinata and thought of Vance. We had volleyball with some of the adults at church Friday night and brought it to entertain the kids. It was pretty fun.
One thing I didn't get a picture of was the cookies we took to the swimming playdate Friday morning. But it was a fun start to the birthday extravaganza.

Sunday Night

So one of our new neighbors has one of these mini trampolines.
Knowing how much the boys LOVE jumping I knew what Vance should get for his birthday.

Joel was just as excited for the trampoline as Vance.

Vance opening his gifts from Pa and Nama.

Pa bought him a view finder, he LOVES it.

Vance was a lot more excited about his cake Sunday night.

So we are done with the birthday extravaganzas for this year. Well we still have Pa's birthday in December but it's awhile away still. I have plenty of time to recoup from too much birthday. And next year we're topping out on 2 days worth of birthday, that's it!

Happy Happy Birthday, Vance Dear!

Dear Vance,
I can't believe it's been two years since you came to our family. I will always remember the day that I found out that I was pregnant with you and the powerful assurance I received that it was your time to come to our family. You are our cayenne pepper- you spice up our family, sometimes make me sweat with your antics but can be oh so sweet. Life is never boring with you around, you take after your dad in that you can always lighten the mood with your sense of humor.
It's hard to remember sometimes that you're only turning two, Vance. You are so smart! Your vocabulary and logic really surprises me sometimes. You have been talking in full sentences for such a long time that it's hard to remember when you haven't been able to voice your opinions. People are always so surprised because you're quite petite but you're so vocal and smart. You are also so stubborn. This has provided for several humorous experiences (such as when you insisted that the onion was an apple and refused to say otherwise even after trying it) as well as given us, as your parents, the opportunity to develop patience. You are so brave- and sometimes that's scary for me as your mother- because you will jump, climb and face whatever challenge happens to be in your way with an "act now think later" mentality. I hope that you will always feel confident as you face challenges in your life as you are now. You have such a strong and independent personality and often try testing the boundaries that are set. But you also are such a good helper and really want to be good. You love learning and you love books. I love that you often approach your dad and I with a book in hand and want for us to read to you. Your favorite books lately have been, "The Giving Tree", "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you See?" and "Where the Wild Things Are." You are also still our little cuddle bug and I love that!
This year has been filled with so many milestones: you have basically all your teeth and love to brush them, you love feeding yourself with your spoon and fork and using a regular cup just like your brother- although after meals we still usually have to hose you down, you love to play with your brother and keeping up with all the big kids. You are still particular about what you like and what you don't like to eat. You love chicken (in any form: nuggets, baked, etc), tomatoes, bread, oatmeal, hot dogs and anything that's sweet. You like to put puzzles together, build with blocks and figure out how to take things apart (and sometimes put them back together).
Vance you are such a blessing to our family and to those around you. You and Joel are best friends. I love that you are always so willing to share with him and think about him often. (Even this morning you couldn't wait to share your special birthday balloons with him!) You are constantly making us laugh- even when you should be getting in trouble!!- and are so loving and tender. If you see someone sad or hurt you always try to help make it better and are concerned until they're okay.
Vance I love you! I can't imagine what our family would be like without you. You make life exciting and humorous. I'm excited to see what life has in store for you and for all the fun we'll have along the way.
Happy Birthday Vance!
Love,
Mom (and Dad)

It's a hard knock life.

So one thing I knew when we had kids was that kids have accidents and get banged up. It's still never fun to see them- or hear them- when they get hurt. With the two boys it seems like someone always is getting hurt or on the mend from an accident. But alas, besides wrapping them in bubble wrap there's nothing you can do to protect them.


Joel and Vance were jumping into their little couch and jumped head first into each other. It was a very sad day. But nothing a little ice couldn't fix.

Later that same week Vance took on the table in Nursery at church. Apparently the table won. Vance is on the mend and intends to re challenge the table soon.

Fort Fun!

I think one of the greatest memories of being a kid is building a fort. The possibilities are endless. Chairs, books, blankets, more chairs, more books, more blankets! The boys were introduced to the joys of forts yesterday. One of the benefits of having Tj home lately is that he is an expert fort builder. He helped the boys make a really great fort in their room. Then he went in and set up their portable DVD player (that usually is reserved for long trips in the car) in there. He then taught the boys a secret knock and hand sign to get into the super cool fort. The boys had a really great time playing- and I got stuff done around the house. I think the most humorous part of the experience was that the boys wanted Tj to watch the movie with them so there he was with his legs hanging outside the fort watching Monster's Inc. with the boys. What a good dad!

The fort. (We couldn't get the boys to pose.)

You've gotta have the right tools.
(I have no idea what Joel is doing goofy child!)

Hanging out in the fort.

For the love of pictures.

When you don't blog for a long time you miss out on the chance to share random everyday pictures. So here are some of my recent favorites of the boys.

Look at my baby. Vance is getting so grown up! Forget the fact that he's practically begging me to let him potty train too and the fact that he's constantly in trouble for back-talking; just look at him! He has lost all traces of baby. Luckily he still loves to cuddle.

This picture cracks me up! You know Tj had to be exhausted to actually fall asleep in the toddler size bed beside Joel.


One of the best pieces of advice that I've ever read is that it is our job as parents to raise kids who are capable and contributing members of society. My other favorite piece of advice is to never do for a child what they are able to do for themselves. Hence the following pictures:

Joel gets dressed by himself everyday now. Sometimes this is a longer process than other because he gets silly.

Joel being silly and putting his shirt on upside down.

Vance is just now starting to dress himself. Sometimes he gets the order of things confused (aka take off your pajamas first!) and he often comes up with original ways to get the clothes on. But as long as he is doing it himself and the clothes are covering the right parts of the body who cares what method he took to get them there.

This was Joel's first outfit that he picked out all by himself and dressed himself too. Classic. By the way I'm so proud of him. He is completely potty trained! So nice.

Summer Catch Up

Have you ever gotten so behind in blogging that you don't even know where to start?! That's how I feel right now. So this summer has been a busy one for us. I know I have lots to catch up on. There was a visit from my sister, swimming, seeing "Thomas Goes to the Circus", hanging out with Pa and Nama, playing with the neighbors and so much more. I'll try and see if I can keep it all straight.


First off I have to share current favorite media of the boys. Pa introduced the boys to "The Wizard of Oz". It was pretty funny because he started with the munchkins and then slowly started added scenes. The boys will now ask for the 'flying monkey' movie. This is hilarious because when they watch it they are fairly frightened and snuggle together and try and be so brave until the scary parts are over. It's like they LOVE to be scared. They also to love watching the short pixar films with Pa. Their favorites are "Bounding" and "For the Birds." I also introduced them to the joys of Carebears much to the chagrin of Tj (according to him Carebears are about rainbows, feelings and hearts and that's girl stuff). lol Vance will ask for it sometimes and Tj just shakes his head. Although, again Dark Heart scared them a little bit. Pa also, bought them "Where The Wild Things Are." Vance loves it!!! I think Vance has a little 'Max' in him and likes the part where Max rules over the wild things. He likes pointing out all the wild things and saying "and that a wil' thing, and that a wil' thing...." I think Joel was a little frightened by the book at first but couldn't be showed up by his little brother so he put on a brave face. So funny!

Joel and Vance snuggling during the scary parts of Wizard of Oz.

We've been really fortunate to have Pa around a lot this summer. The boys have been loving it! Pa is such a fun playmate, teaches them all sorts of fun stuff and spoils them rotten! The boys have been forgetting their 'pleases' and 'thank-yous' so Pa taught Vance to say "Don't boss me around Nama, and don't boss Pa either." Fortunately for Pa and Vance he hasn't said this to mommy or daddy. lol Pa took us all out to dinner last weekend and we pulled up to the restaurant and Joel cried out "It's the cow place!!!"The boys with Molly after eating at "The cow place" with Pa.

So a few months back Pa saw that "Thomas Goes to the Circus" (or something like that) was coming to town so he splurged and got 4 tickets to the show. Tj was busy that day so the boys and I went with Tj's mom. It was actually really fun! I was surprised at how good the show was and the boys of course LOVED it.

We are so excited we finally have neighbors! Well we've always had neighbors but now we have 2 families from church that live across the street from us. It has been SO fun! And we are expecting 2 more families from church to move across the street in the next month! Our neighborhood (and especially that side of the street) has been nicknamed "Little Provo" at church. The kids are all around the same age and so the boys have loved having people to play with and it's fun to have other moms around too.
We had a pizza night on a Monday night with our neighbors and then we attempted to have a family home evening lesson. Here are all the kids trying so hard to sit still for the first picture:

Exhibit A.

Here's how the night really looked! Josh bless his heart just kept trudging along with his lesson.

This summer has been filled with lots of swimming. Swimming at Pa's house, swimming with the neighbors at the community pool and swimming for Friday playdates- and that doesn't even count the few trips (and by few I mean like less than 5) to the beach. Joel is starting to swim a little bit without any help and depending on whether it was his idea or not does fairly well. Vance wants to swim by himself but is also fairly content to use the floaties or his life vest. I was hoping to get Joel swim lessons this summer but I guess we'll wait until next summer- which is fine too.

So my baby sister came out and stayed with us for about a week. It was so fun! The boys had a really great time with Auntie Jay Jay and I really appreciated the help and the company. We went to the beach, hung out at the pool, wandered around the outlet mall, cooked, baked, watched movies, and talked. It was a really fun time! It's hard to imagine your youngest sibling all grown up- especially when you missed most of it (I left home when she was only 10). But we had a really great time and wish she'd visit more often. (And no Jaron I haven't forgotten about your post. It will come!)

Anyhow, that is a generally summary of what's going on here with us. I'm hoping that now that I've gotten this out of the way I will be better about my weekly posts again. Here's hoping.....

We love Joel.

We love Joel. He such a good boy. We are still working on potty training but he is trying. He loves singing. His favorite songs are "Jesus Comes Again", "Daddy's Homecoming" and "I'm Trying to be like Jesus". He enjoys saying the blessing on the food although we still have to correct him as he currently prays to "Heavenly Family".

I took this picture of him from a weird angle but he looks SO grown up here.

Of course when Vance was riding the the train Joel wanted a turn.
My silly boys.

This outfit was my nephew's.
Joel is finally big enough to wear it.
Seeing him wear this made me feel very patriotic.

Here is Joel with his disc-man.
He can now listen to "Man From Snowy River" anytime he wants.
So funny!

We love Vance.

We love our Vance. He continues to surprise us and makes us laugh. His vocabulary and sentences literally keeps us on our toes. He loves reading and constantly wants us to read to him, again and again. He also loves singing and our day is never complete without his rendition of Happy Birthday.

As mentioned previously Vance is our "Little Linus". Nama found this shirt for Vance. Vance kept laughing as he told us "I am the head." He thought that was really funny, he has such a funny sense of humor.

Vance loves riding toys- even if they're not proportionally correct.

Vance loves music. Pa bought him a disc-man- as any 2 year old needs. lol

Vance is our sweet sleeper. He loves sleep and will actually ask for his "blankey and nap". He has also taken to using his Pooh Bear as a pillow. I love watching him sleep and he have to resist picking him up and cuddling him at night.

Vance is hilarious. He will confiscate anything that is Pa's- especially his glasses and phone.
And of course no day is complete without his "Elmo shirt". If I had any idea that this shirt would be so popular with Vance I would have bought half a dozen of them.

Our First Rodeo

So last weekend Pa took us to our first rodeo. It was a bit rainy but ended up being a fun night. We got to the fairground to stormy skies.


Not five minutes after we got there the skies opened and it began pouring rain. So we all ducked for cover. While waiting for the rain to clear the boys got to get close to a horse named "Hollywood".
The skies cleared, and we were set to watch the rodeo. We all stood for the National Anthem.

We watched a few rounds of bull riding. But then it started raining again.
As you can tell the boys were not excited about the rain. Vance kept saying "I got all soaked wet." But they loved their first rodeo. Thanks Pa for the fun night!

Happy Father's Day

So while everyone (Joel and Tj) were napping I was attempting to keep Vance from waking them up (we nap in shifts at our house on Sundays). Here's Vance's rendition (with a little help from mommy) of "Daddy's Homecoming."

Happy Father's Day to all my favorite dads! Most especially you Tj, Love you!

Summer fun.

It's hard to believe that summer is in full swing here. You lose track of time when it has been hot and humid for the last four months. But we're starting to get the afternoon storms which signal that we are into our infamous hurricane season. I am praying that this is a slow season!

Things have been pretty busy though. I don't have any pictures because I'm a slacker mom lately. But here's what we've been up to:

• NEIGHBORS! We had two new families move in across that street. They go to our church and even better have kids for the boys to play with. (One mom told me that Vance and Joel have been nicknamed "The Boys Upstairs".) One family has a little girl and the other family have two little boys (well they both have babies but Vance and Joel don't play with the babies much although Vance is very interested in them). It's been so fun to have other moms close by to chat with while our kids play, other kids to ride bikes with on the street and just all the fun things that come with having fun neighbors. Of course this means that we'll probably move (that's just my luck) but I'm enjoying it while it lasts!
• SWIMMING! So as I mentioned before it is HOT and HUMID here. We are loving that Nama and Pa have a swimming pool and that our Friday playdates are usually scheduled for pools or at least around water. The boys are getting to be pretty good swimmers. Nama has talked about getting them swim lessons which I think they'd both love. So hopefully by the end of the summer at least Joel will be a free swimming fish. They of course have been loving to go over and swim at Pa's house recently because Pa has been home the last couple of weeks. That is always so much fun! And then of course when Pa is home they cap off the day with a little "Man From Snowy River".
  
• POTTY TRAINING! Right now it's the bane of my existence. It is the ultimate necessary evil. I know this sounds dramatic but this week was our first week of underwear only for Joel. It has not been going well. **shakes her head** But alas I keep trudging on. Today I had a stroke of genius (okay everyone else probably had already figured this out but it was a new idea for me). Joel had had several accidents in his underwear today. So I thought I'll buy him plain white underwear and if he can keep those clean and dry then we'll break out the fun Thomas and Bob The Builder Ones again. It's hasn't been going ALL that great after that but tomorrow is a new day.
  
• MISSING NAMA! So the boys are missing their Nama. She had gone back to Idaho for a wedding and then stayed to visit family for a few weeks. She got home and they had a really fun sleepover last Friday night but then she left for church camp on Tuesday. Vance asks for her every time we see Pa. Joel misses her too but disguises it as annoyance. (I guess during the sleep over he told her "I'm mad with you because you left me for a long time." Or something like that.) We'll all be glad when she comes back from camping. (Maybe her most of all!)
• FUNNY THINGS KIDS SAY! The boys continually crack us up with the things they say. The other night we were trying to teach them the art of the knock knock joke. We started with the ole "Boo" joke. (Knock knock- who's there? Boo- Boo who? You don't have to cry about it.) Vance totally 'got' it. The punch line was the best though. His take on it: "Stop cryin'!" He continually amazes me with the sentences that come out of his mouth. He LOVES books though. He loves to read and he loves to be read too. Today at the gym there was an older girl (maybe around 10 or so) who had a book (I think it was one of the "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" books) and he wanted her to read to him so she was reading out loud to him. I don't know how long it lasted but it was so cute. Joel is getting so big. He makes me laugh with the way he reasons through things. My babies are getting so big! His favorite thing is when we're driving somewhere he'll call over to Vance "Hey Vance- you sleeping?!" Sometimes Vance will say yes and sometimes he'll keep calling even though he doesn't get a response. Joel LOVES singing. It makes me so happy to hear him sing. Tonight we went and got ice cream with Pa and it was starting to storm and Joel started singing the "Raining pouring" song. It was so funny- he didn't know all the words so he'd rush through the parts he didn't know and kind of mumble something until he got to the part he did know. The other night we were driving to the beach and we had the radio on. The song "Never say Never" by The Fray came on and it repeats the line "Don't let me go" over and over and Joel started singing along. It was so sweet.
  

Anyhow. That's us. Nothing more to see- move along.

An "Ah- Ha!" moment captured.

Every once in awhile I think that as parents we're blessed with those "Ah-ha!" moments. The ones were you feel like you're given a little insight into what you're doing right. I had one of those this morning.

I think having boys is the best. Now this is because I have boys. When I had one little boy I thought he was the best, then I had two and now I think having two boys is the best. I'm sure if I had a little girl or if I had girls I'd think they were the best too. But I especially think that boys are the best. In the news and in society you hear about all these studies and you may see all these little boys who are mischievous, active, and high spirited. You hear everyday about the numbers of kids-but especially boys- diagnosed with ADD or ADHD. You hear about how boys struggle in school and get into fights and you get the feeling that as a parent of boys- look out! You're in for struggles. I was terrified when I found out I was having a boy- I didn't know how to raise a boy.

My boys are energetic, they love to race and wrestle, they love shooting monsters and/or aliens with guns, they love playing with each other, they love jumping off of anything and EVERYTHING. They love swimming and splashing. They love "pain" and love giving "pain". They think goofy faces and noises are hilarious and potty humor is a comedic gem. They make up stories involving monsters and animals- who usually are getting into trouble- and they themselves are the heroes of the day. And you know, I feel so blessed to be able to experience all of this with them. They are such good boys and yeah they have their moments and most of the time I feel completely wiped out trying to keep up with them. But I love being part of their "boy world". Nobody can prepare you for a little boy. And heaven knows I have SO much more ahead of me that I can't even begin to imagine.

I just hope that I always remember this moment. Sometimes I feel like I'm a slacker mom because I don't sit down and drill my boys on shapes and colors and numbers. We don't do flashcards and I don't start teaching them how to read at age 3. But I read to them and we talk and I let them play. And I realized today that right now that's what matters. I love that when I have Vance in my lap it's his first instinct to grab a book and have me read to him while we cuddle. I love that Joel is so concerned about his friends and his brother. I love that when things are stressful or they're away from me they ask for me because they know that I love them and will try and make it better- even if it's just giving them a hug and telling them I love them.

I think there is so much pressure today for parents and kids alike to perform. There's the expectation- whether internal or from society- to put on appearances: drive the "right" car, have the "right" house, maintain said house, have kids meeting the "right" milestones and achievements at the "right" time or early. And it's so easy to get caught up in all of it that you forget the important things. Eating dinner as a family, playing and pretending, treating people with kindness and respect, and maybe most importantly showing love and appreciation for those people who matter most- your family.