Ho Ho Ho Haircuts

before we get to the wee makeovers...



christmas boxes rolling in on the doorstep are so exciting, no?  even i can't wait to just rip into them and see what's in them.



the only fun thing about living far from every single family member.



ok, so who let this kids hair get this long?  oh wait, that would be me.  teeheehee.  do you cut your family's hair?  i've been cutting jon's hair since we were dating i think so that would be pushing 12 years.  i just kind of got in the groove and kept on going with the boys.  would i cut my kids hair if they were girls?  not quite sure.  likely though.

the problem with being the family barber is that i rarely feel like dragging out the scissors, sweeping up the hair, listening to the complaints about itchiness & following the whole thing up with baths (to wash away the itchies). when i think about how much we'd be spending on 4 extra haircuts though i suck it up and get it done.  apparently just not often enough.



seeeerrrriiiooouuusssssllllyyy jack! his hair is soooooo shaggy! and not in a purposeful justin beiber kind of way.





normally i take them in the backyard for their trims so i don't have to sweep.  i refrained from popping them out in the snow though (mostly selfish reasons), wrapped them up and sprayed them down.



ya know what, don't let your children get started drinking water from their hair spray bottles.  they may, at times, get them confused with with cleaners.  remember you were warned.  fortunately we use Shacklee cleaning products so it's never been scary.





all trimmed up! and looking good.  one down.



teehee.  #2.  so proud to get a cut like his big bros.



3 down



jack's itching.



at the white elephant exchange with our AIA students i "stole" a football "signed" by tim tebow.  it reads "God Bless, Tim Tebow #15"  niiiiice.  i got it so finn and i can toss around.  it's my prayer that he'd be bold about his faith like timmy ;)



our advent nights are the best.  i've written about them before, but really they're the sweetest times after dinner.  Advent allows Jesus to overshadow anything else the christmas season may try to be.



ya gotta get the book.  we bought a used one for $0.01.  and don't allow the busy to overtake the nights.

Glasses Glasses Everyone

we finally got to the eye doctor a month ago.  his wait is terrible seeing how he's the only pediatric opthamologist in town. 



finn and jack had a great time using all the equipment, watching movies, getting treats.  it ALWAYS pays to go to someone who specializes in pediatrics.  can i get an amen?  for real.



they both got their eyes dilated and scored some pretty sweet shades for the ride home.



and here we go.  TWO boys in glasses now.  one more to go i'm sure. 



finn was handed down the blue pair all snazzed up with his own new lenses.  he's so stinkin' cute!



and jack is now sporting some sweet black plastic frames with lime green on the inside.  yes!

people ask me all-the-time how i knew the boys needed glasses.  my guess is that most of you haven't even taken your kids to the eye doctor at all for the first time.  both boys showed the same behavior at the exact same age and have basically the same problems.  jack used to stand super duper close to the tv (with his hands in his pockets) and i thought, "oh just a kid thing."  then one day at the zoo he wasn't really looking at any of the far away animals i was pointing out. 
"see the zebra"
"huh?"
"the zebra.  see it?"
"uh, no"

it was hard to tell if he was just kind of ignoring me or couldn't really see them!

finn would ONLY watch the tv (i know, big problem) if he was sitting on the arm of the couch closest to the tv.  sure enough! he needed glasses too. 

boy, it's a good thing i let my kids watch tv!

they both have astigmatisms.  the doctor said if they go uncorrected, someday they won't be able to fully correct them because they'll have compensated for too long.

ok, now how do your kids watch tv?! better go let them watch a show ;)

New Old Car

do you know that we only have one car?  i think we're going on 4 years now.  i remember feeling down right shocked when i would hear that a family only had one car.  how on earth did they pull that off! well, i'm not totally sure we could if we lived anywhere else, but we live in the 2nd largest bike commuting city in america.  makes it kinda handy ;)  not to mention in 10 years of marriage, we've never had car payments.  it'd be really hard to start now quite frankly.

when i was pregnant with rowan we kinda assumed we'd have to get a bigger car.  i'm super thankful for some wise counsel we received.  a financial planner through cru suggested that we make what we have work.  he said in europe people have these little bity cars and they just pull a trailer or strap stuff on top if they go on a longer trip and basically just make it work. we liked it.

lately though, with jack going to school every single day, we've been feeling the crunch of one car a bit more.  God may have provided a solution...



so i kinda rear ended a guy and then a girl rear ended me all at a stop light on monday.  since the car was making a horrific sound, we dropped it off at the shop and they gave us this 95 bmw as a loaner. sweeeeet.  well jon loves the thing, and i have to admit that it's pretty fun to drive a stick again.  jon went to get the garage door clicker out of the buick and started asking the guy questions about the beemer.  we found out they're trying to sell a bunch of their loaners including this one.  the guy told him they recently put in several thousand dollars worth of repairs. it has new ac, new transmission and a new clutch and 165,000 miles (not terrible for a 16 year old car).  they're only asking about what a week long family vacation would cost.  i realize that could mean a lot of things.  i'm super tempted to say, but just know that for a kick around second car that's going to run well, last a long time and get us around town it's remarkably reasonable :)  i tell you that lest you judge it by it's logos.



it's not a done deal yet, but the boys were desperate to wash it.  they think it's both a race car and a "lemon"  jack specifically said to jon, "hey dad, i think we're driving a lemon" :)



even though it might be a "lemon" it still says bmw on it. i have to admit that, as a family in full time ministry and living on full support, it makes us a bit hesitant.   like i said....we'll see.



while i wanted to drive the filthy thing through the $3 car wash with free vacuums, the boys really wanted to wash it themselves.



i mean, who can resist a chance to get soapy and soaked?



i think jack looks just like my uncle peter in this one.



i asked rowan to make a silly face.  he did this then cracked up at himself.





have i ever mentioned that i try to do one fun thing a day with the boys?  sometimes it's a big ordeal like this, sometimes not.  i can handle one.  a tangible goal.



car wash turned into biking in the "rain"





multiple modes of transportation.

Push Pops

despite my post on all things fall around the house, here's one last taste of summer.
at this time last year (or was it two years ago) it was freezing.
i guess we're just privy to a bit of an indian summer.
either way, it's been gorgeous and gloriously warm.



push pops.
i have no idea why they're eating them with spoons, but that's just typical.



shaggy blond hair.



sweets for my sweets.

Brotherly Love

 

taken on the cold snowy morning of the easter egg hunt.

Scrabblish

i used to wonder if i'd be particular. play dough colors not mixing, puzzle pieces back in place, board games organized in their original boxes.



guess what, i may have been particular about such things, but i'm over that. scrabble with a million little pieces? sure! but nobody touches boggle. that ones sacred.



finn was playing....scrabble toes?



two strikingly different personalities...



two different ways to play the game.

Wipeout!

the latest obsession around here is that show "wipeout" more specifically "winter wipeout"



watching it is not enough.



it must be reenacted.



hello! they're boys!



flying objects!



sweeper arms!



lookout!!



heeheeheehee!



jump!

exhausting.

side note: can you read this font?