Jack's first big-boy haircut

It you haven't seen Jack lately, you may remember that he can at times look like a shaggy dog. We were worried that his shagginess would cause him some overheating troubles this summer because he breaks out in a sweat (on his head) after being out in the sun for more than 30 seconds. With his wispy, thin hair, we didn't quite know how to trim it...should we simply buzz it all off or just cut it shorter and less shaggy? Well, yesterday (Wed, June 24, 2009) we enlisted the help of a professional hair stylist from our ward and the results are below.

Before front.


Before back.


Getting ready.


Lincoln trying to get a bottle in his mouth...


and after some help, Lincoln gets the goods.


Prepping the hair.


Making the first cut.


The first locks lost.


Trimming the bangs.


Having a great time.


Not having a great time.


Still not having a great time.


Allie decorating herself with combs.


Inspecting the final cut.

Snailing around

Last week, after all of the rain and cooler weather (mid 80s), Allie went out into the backyard to look for slugs, snails, and any other insects she could find. She proceeded to find every snail and slug in sight. It was really fun for her to make little "homes" for the snails in a bucket of hers. She put grass and rolly-pollies into the bucket so that the snails would feel comfortable. She also enjoyed letting the snails crawl around her arm. Eventually Allie was able to sneak a snail into the house, which she promptly left on the couch--of course, before we discovered Allie's little surprise, the snail started to crawl around on the couch, leaving a nice 4-5 inch snail trail of slime (sorry no picture of the trail).

Monkeyin' Around

Allie and Jack often make requests of any adult near and far to join them in the backyard for playtime. They usually don't require much interaction from the adults and are quite content as long as said adults are simply in the area. So, last week I took the camera outside to capture their playtime on film (or at least digitally speaking).

Allie started the afternoon by riding a bike on the trampoline.

Jack started the afternoon by taking a break on the deck.

Allie then moved on to jumping off of the slide...

and hanging upside down...

and hanging right side up...

and sliding down backwards.

Jack slid down backward too...sort of.

Jack then climbed up high...

and so did Allie.

Then it was Allie's turn for a break.

Who Do I Look Like?

Which family member do I look like? Allie, Jack, Jen, or Adam?

Blowing bubbles

Blowing bubbles, of course, is quite fun. Our children, like many others, could blow bubbles all day if we let them (and if they didn't spill the liquid). Allie and Jack recently received some bubbles and went out in the backyard a few days ago to use them all up. Notice that there aren't many actual bubbles in the pictures.

Family Pictures

We tried to get the kids and parents to take pictures on Easter before church a couple of weeks ago. You can see the results below.

Working at the car wash

When it's time to wash a car, Allie is always willing to help. This particular Saturday, she and Adam worked on the van, which hadn't been washed in quite sometime. Allie picked out the red sponge and had a great time washing the wheels and running around the van.

Stepping Stones

Allie and Jack have been playing a game for the past couple of weeks called "Stepping Stones" (Allie named the game). The game consists of finding every book in sight and lining them up next to each other on the floor, making little pathways. Then you are to walk around on top of the pathways without touching the floor. I remember playing games like these when I was younger, but ours included jumping from furniture to furniture without touching the floor. Luckily, Allie and Jack haven't really tried that yet.

Speeding around on a bike

Jack can move faster with his feet than the pedals so that is what he does.

Our New Family Pictures

AMy friend, Emmy, and her cousin, BreAnn, have started a new photography business (http://www.bephotodesigns.com/) and they are fabulous. Emmy had used Lincoln as her subject when he was a newborn to take sample baby announcement pictures for her website. They were so good. It was great because it kept Lincoln from being the forgotten youngest child with no cute baby pictures.

Emmy and BreAnn were nice enough to take a bunch of family pictures for us a few weeks ago at The University of Texas. We figured that since our lives revolve around campus with Adam and Allie both going to school there, it would be a good idea to have our family pictures taken there. Of course being a TexasEx myself and loving most all things UT, I will use any excuse to be able to take pictures on campus. In fact it was nice because it reminded me of when Adam and I took our engagement pictures at UT. Over 6 years and 3 kids later, now we have some great family pictures to remember the university by when we leave (sometime soon, I hope).

Thank you Emmy and BreAnn! We love them.

Family Picture


Jack


Allie

Lincoln