2/25/11

Big Change for Big D

We've debated about it for a month or so.

People from both sides of the aisle have weighed in.

There were strong feeling for each position and no one was going to escape this unharmed.

Finally, last week our decision was made for us.

We were out to dinner with my parents.  As we were dining I noticed an elderly woman who kept staring at Dylan throughout the meal.  She was captivated by him.  Now, this isn't entirely new.  Dylan is a cute kid and people love his look.

As she got up to leave the woman stopped by our table and politely said, "You have a beautiful little girl."

That was it.  Time for a haircut Big D.

Dylan didn't even care about the whole process.  I think it was much harder on Tara than anyone else.  I guess there's something about cutting those curls that women struggle with.  In the end we got our son back.  He's still a pretty cute kid.  He's even a better looking boy!

Closeup


Haircut

Now, we just need to do something about keeping his face clean!

2/22/11

Snowed in New Harmony

geocaching the kokopelliLast weekend we took the family South for a relaxing holiday getaway to the warmth of Utah's Dixie. Friday was awesome as we hit the desert with Jason, Coleton, and my Dad for a little geocaching. Apparently there's a huge multi-cache out in no-man's land west of St. George. When you look at the cache from the aerial maps it creates a giant kokopelli. This was too good to pass up on a beautiful 60 degree day.

Unfortunately, the aerial maps don't give you an accurate depiction of just how large this area really is. With Kennedy and Alex in tow, we only made it up one of the kokopell's legs before fatigue set in. I knew they'd only last as long as the treats did, which was about an hour. Oh well, I guess there 's something to take us back to the desert in the next few months.

It's a good thing we hit the cache on Friday, cause that's when our desert getaway ended.

winter in new harmonyWe awoke Saturday to a snow storm.

That never wanted to end.

It snowed all night and most of Saturday in New Harmony.

It snowed thru mid-morning on Sunday.

It took the power out for several hours.

It kept us inside the rest of trip.

With nothing to do on Saturday it became time to head to my parent's basement. Now, my parent's basement has been a topic amongst my family for years.

It's full of boxes.

Lots of them.

No one knows what's inside or where they came from, but they don't want to leave. Each time you go downstairs it seems there's more of them. It's almost like a 50's horror movie.

"The Attack of the Dollar Store Christmas Decorations!"

My mom finally relented and allowed us to help her go through many of the boxes. We sorted, trashed, organized, and moved more stuff than I could have imagined. Tara and Kristin deserve special commendation as they worked for hours going deep into the heart of the basement. They went after the Holiday room.

I was super proud of my mom.

She's never let us work on the basement before.

holiday roomWhen the dust finally settled, progress was made. You could actually see some of the floor in the Holiday room. Now, we just need to get to the point where we clean off the ping pong table. If that happens I know anything is possible.

Peace in the Middle East.

A Woman in the White House.

Alex actually flushing the toilet and washing his hands (TMI - I know).

It was a great weekend. Thanks to my mom and dad for letting us invade their house. Thanks to Jason and Kristin for helping with our kids. Thanks to the man upstairs for making it snow so much we had nothing else to do.

2/15/11

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day from the crew.  We had a fairly calm day.  I spent hours making cookies for the entire neighborhood for some reason.  (Mostly visiting teaching people, but the list just kept growing).  Dylan helped in his own special way with the cookies.

Valentine's Day

The kids got tons of candy at school and a fun treat from mom and dad later that night.

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day

A highlight for me was helping in Kennedy's class.  She is always sad that we don't get to help in her class like we did last year in the co-op preschool she was in, so it was nice to help with the Valentine's Day party.  We decorated cookies, made a craft and played some fun games.  The kids had fun and I was glad to help out.

Jared and I actually didn't do one thing for each other on Valentine's day.  Are we boring?  Yes, very much so.  Happy Valentine's day anyway, honey.  I love you!

Life with a Two-Year-Old

There are those moments as parents where you know they're up to something.

It's because there is prolonged silence.

And then you find...

what a mess


Good thing Dylan wanted to help clean up the rice.

typical clean up