The girls got haircuts, and Jack got a special surprise.

The girls and I really needed haircuts, so I called up my friend Jordan who cuts hair and lives in a nearby city.  I asked if she could take care of all of us in one afternoon.  She agreed, and it was great to be able to get our hair done in the same block of time, and in a place where my kids were able to play.

I went first, then we de-mulletted Eliza.

I knew we were doing her a favor, but she wasn't too sure.

This was her first haircut, after all! 

Eventually she calmed down.   I think she liked the blow dryer.

She still has a pretty good scowl, though.

Not exactly a smile, but much better than the weeping and wailing 10 minutes earlier. 

Cat, on the other hand was eating it up. 

She really liked getting her hair washed! 

What a pretty 'do! 

Jordan's husband, a highway patrolman, was home, and so was his patrol car!  So Jack was rewarded for happily watching movies during all of the haircuts with a close encounter with a real life police car.  First, Kammon turned on the siren while we waited in the house with the door closed, so the kids weren't blasted away.  Then he turned on the lights for them to see.

Then we slowly approached.... 

and each child took a turn sitting behind the wheel. I don't have a good picture of Jack, but he pretty much thought it was the awesomest thing ever.

Cat thought it was pretty cool too. 

(Eliza wasn't as excited as the other two, so Kammon rescued her pretty quickly.)

What a great way to spend our afternoon - coming home with better hair and patrol car bragging rights!

Stuff that Floats

One day in January, the woman teaching Jack's preschool group did a science lesson and showed the boys all kinds of fun simple science experiments.  Jack really liked this lesson, and on the way home we talked a lot about school, particularly one experiment, where they put a variety of objects in a container of water to see which ones float.  Jack recounted which things floated and which sank, and of course, at lunch time that day, we ended up doing our own experiment.  Jack and Eliza were both totally into it.

Bananas float!

Oranges float!

Peeled orange segments sink.

Apples float!  But we are not going to test out the pizza, Jack.
Homemade pizza is just too yummy to sacrifice, even in the name of science.

Carrots, carrot sticks, and celery sticks sink.

A few weeks later I had a pot soaking on the kitchen counter beside the sink.  And have you ever noticed how a large soaking dish tends to attract other dirty dishes?  That's exactly how this pot was.  It needed to be cleaned, and so did the several dirty things inside it.  Well, my two little scientists didn't see any reason why they couldn't continue their experiments, even in a pot of dirty water.  When I found them, they had put at least a dozen Clementines and several apples in the pot.  I washed the apples thoroughly, and the Clementines got a good rinse.

Everyday Stuff - January Edition

Eliza loved wearing this vest so much that she would SCREAM if I even TRIED to take it off of her.

Mmmmm..... mint chocolate cookie dough.
Thanks Mom, that's easier.
Oh - did you want some?

Who needs a drum set when there are pans and plastic spoons available?

Half of the reason I like taking kids to story time at the library:  a nice quiet drive home.

We went to the park one warm day in January (in the 50s) and apparently Jack was so warm that he thought he no longer needed shoes.  Or socks.

Hmmmm...... I wonder what happened here.....

Jack discovered this awesome evasive maneuver and exclaimed between excited giggles "you can't put my shoes on!"

Never hurts to refrigerate your Little People accessories, that's what I always say.

Trying on Mommy's earring.

The house we're renting has a large master closet, so Eliza's crib is in there, near a dresser.  One day I picked her up from her nap and found her wearing my striped fuzzy socks, which had been on top of the dresser.

Love my girlies!

Hiding under a blanket never seems to get old in our family.

Neither does sitting together in a bin in the closet.

"Mommy, wook.  I'm on one foot.  Wif no two foot."
(He was kind of using the potty that day, hence the training pants.)

Two cute lookouts.

Practicing another evasive maneuver.  He has really enjoyed hanging out on his head lately...

I was sitting with Cat while she practiced piano and Jack and Eliza decided to see how much of the paper towel roll they could unroll.

Creative, but maybe not your best look, Cat.

It will never not be funny when my kids fall asleep with food in their hands.

My feet are so big that Jack and Eliza can BOTH put their feet in my shoes.

This has happened too many times.... Eliza is no longer allowed to use markers.

She LOVES this little Good Night book, especially since she gets to put the blanket on the little girl at the end.

Oh, yes they (J & E) did.

You can never be too prepared.

Jack LOVES this cowboy hat he received for Christmas from Mema & Papa.

Someone, ahem, bought Cheese Puffs at the grocery store.  The kids were so excited to eat them, and though we rationed them for a couple of days, by the third day or so we were so tired of telling them no, that we just let them finish the bag off.  It may or may not have been 7am...

Love it when Cat helps unload the dishwasher!  Thanks for the happy color coordinated dishes, Cat!

Manly Interests

Right after New Year's, Cat went back to school but Ben had a couple of days before his semester started.  So one day he and Jack had a Man Day together.  First they went to the Utah State Railroad Museum at Union Station in Ogden.  Added bonus: Union Station also houses the John M. Browning Firearms Museum AND a Classic Car Museum.  Score!   Pictures, courtesy of Ben's phone, of Jack with a few of the engines are below.  Don't ask me anything about the trains pictured.... if their names aren't Thomas, Percy, Edward, Toby, Emily, Gordon, James, or Henry, then I'm totally lost.  (And yes.  I can tell each of Thomas' friends apart.)

After the railroad museum, Ben took Jack to the Hill Aerospace Museum at Hill Air Force Base.  There they saw tons of planes, including a B-17, SR-71, F-16, and a B-52.  (Nope. I don't know anything about them either.)  So trains, firearms, classic cars, and planes all in one afternoon.  Not a bad Man Day, huh?

Don't tell Ben I said this, but I'm pretty sure he had more fun on this particular trip than Jack did.  But I love that they had this time together, and hope they do many many more similar outings.

Sledding in the 'Hood

Although this winter has been decidedly mild, we have had a few inches of snow here and there.  These are just a few fun photos I snapped while Ben was playing with the kids in the back yard, then when Cat was pushing Eliza in our itty bitty sled in our neighbor's driveway.  The sled was a Christmas present from Uncle Andy right before we moved to Illinois for a few months when Cat was a baby.  It only took 6 years for us to use it again!