Summertime

I like to take the boys out in the early evening when there is shade in the backyard We are enjoying the summer. We just wish the Dad/Husband was able to be around a little more.
Here's Vance putting some air in his ball. He was able to do it all by himself.

Just for fun...

I'm trying to make up for being a lazy blogger by posting some pictures of the boys I took tonight. I wish they would hold still, look at me, and smile long enough for me to take their picture and to get a picture of the both of them doing that... At least I got a good silly one of them together.

I know I've been a lazy blogger lately. Sorry. I just haven't had any post worthy things to blog about I guess. My kids keep me busy and they are cute and fun and sometimes a little less fun than other times, but this is all normal.
Vance has been very into playing Mario Kart on the Wii or "exercising" using the Sports Active on the Wii. He also has fallen in love with a Zelda game that Stephen has on the DS. He loves Link. He loves to pretend to be Link too which as long as he isn't hitting anyone or anything I'm okay with. I definitely have to do some monitoring of how much I let him play on this stuff. He must have gotten this love from his dad because I know it didn't come from me.

Tanner loves to have us put him up on the counter so he can check out what is in the cupboard for himself. He LOVES books. He will pick out book after book for me to read and there are plenty he makes me read a dozen times before putting them down. Vance will sit through a book (maybe two around bedtime) and he is good, but Tanner never seems to tire of being read to. He is entering a phase where he is becoming scared of certain things- parts of movies, strangers, normal things like that. He is currently scared of a couple of puppets of Vance's. When Vance discovered this he thought it was great entertainment to chase Tanner around with a puppet on his hand. Brothers, what can I say? Vance really is a sweet, caring boy but I guess he has that older brother mean streak in him too.

I've found that I am having to reorganize closets, cupboards, and other areas of our place now that we've been here for five months. Why don't these things stay organized on there own? I also decided to try out some homemade laundry detergent (which I've used a few times and really like so far). I also tried out some homemade dishwasher detergent. The first time I used it I thought I was going to like it, but after that it all went downhill so I am back to the store bought stuff.

You saw what was new with Stephen in my last post- new glasses, getting old, and a bad haircut. He is working away, very busy with the summer months.

Stephen is officially old...

and BLIND! A couple of weeks ago Stephen went in to get his new license (yes, we are way past the 30 days you are suppose to get a license in a
new state... thanks for bringing it up). Anyway, he didn't have all the proper id he needed (his birth certificate-thanks Mabel for sending it so promptly), but he also failed the vision exam at the dmv as well. Thankfully our vision insurance started in May so Stephen got himself an eye exam and confirmed that he did indeed need glasses. He got the optometrist to sign a form for him so that he could get his license while he awaited his glasses which arrived today. So now he can probably see much better than me! Here's a look at his new glasses. Please overlook the bad haircut if you can. It was not given by me, I want to make that clear. In fact, I had to fix it after he came home from getting it cut- it did look much worse than this. I'll take another picture of him with a better haircut, shaved face, and gelled hair another time.

Strange to think about...

Tanner is two days away from officially being 21 months old. Why is that noteworthy, you may wonder. Well, because the day Vance was two days away from his 21 month mark I gave birth to Tanner.It's kind of weird to think about trying to place myself in the shoes of having a brand new baby right now. Tanner is definitely a toddler and not a "baby" but it still hard to picture having another little one right now, but I did it before. I've never regretted having them less than two years apart, however that doesn't mean that I plan on having anymore less than two years apart either. :) I guess we'll see what the future holds for us.

Happy Birthday Stephen!

It's Stephen's birthday today. Of course he is working away, but I'm hoping he'll get off at a decent hour so we can celebrate with him. I don't know if Stephen is excited for it to be his birthday, but the boys are...or maybe they are just excited for cake... I couldn't get them to do a video together so here are two videos.

Vance singing his version of the"Happy Birthday" song.

Tanner enjoying the birthday song.

I told you they were excited for cake, didn't I? Anyway, we hope you have a WONDERFUL BIRTHDAY STEPHEN/DAD! We love you so much!!!

We Just Got a Letter

Yesterday when we checked the mailbox Vance was in for surprise. There was something for him and Tanner from Grandma and Grandpa Jeppson. They were happy to get letters and love the Cars chipboard pieces. They've already worn them out pretty good. In the picture with the letters Vance is reading his to me. Thanks for sending them something in the mail.