Today I told Noah, "You're funny!" He gave a me a very serious look and said, "No. Harrison funny. I crazy." He cracks me up. Sometimes when I ask questions like, "Are you hungry?" or "Are you stinky?" He defiantly responds, "No. I Noah William Payne!"
So, I've been contemplating for a while now chopping my hair off. I've had it long for quite a while now - last time I had it even remotely short was shortly after Harrison was born, and even then it wasn't really short. I was just ready for a change, and getting tired of the same old hair. Luckily, I have a hair stylist I really like now, whom I totally trust, so I felt pretty confident letting her do what she thought would look good. Even so, I printed out 15 or so short haircuts that I liked, and even tried on a few on this site. The top picture is my before shot - apparently I take all the pictures in this family... This was the only picture I could find of myself recently, which was on my birthday.
The next set of shots are of my new haircut - I enlisted the help of Harrison in taking several of the shots, and others I took of myself - so they aren't the greatest pictures, but you get the idea. I cut it short. And I love it. I can do it straight pretty easily now, and I can also do it curly really fast. Change is good.
A few nights ago, around 6 PM, I was checking my e-mail while Sam played with the boys in their room. Something moving outside caught my attention and I looked just in time to see a large branch from the eucalyptus tree outside fall right where the boys play in our backyard. 
Eucalyptus trees are infamously brittle, and so I was not surprised when it happened, but was very grateful that the boys weren't out there playing. It landed right on top of the toys that they didn't clean up from earlier in the day. Sam and the boys had fun playing and hauling off some of the smaller branches to the nearby bushes. The gardeners had it all cleaned up before 8 AM - 
which was good because I was teaching preschool that next day, and new it would be much too tempting for the kids during outside time. Also a reminder how nice it is to have gardeners who not only haul off trees when they fall down, but mow the lawn, and trim the shrubs. I remember when a tree fell in our backyard in Oregon, it took my dad weeks to chop it up and get it moved.
No matter how disgusting this may be, it was just too funny not to post. The other night Harrison was singing away a self composed song while he did his least favorite part of his night time routine, and when I walked by, this is what I saw. No, that's not a hat. It's a toddler toilet seat. On his head. Gross.
It was Sam's birthday last week, and we celebrated quietly at home. I made him a Chocolate Buttermilk cake with real orange frosting, and topped it with all 31 candles (I'm known to cheat on how many candles actually make it on the cake.) Here's some pictures!
My Dad came to visit between Christmas and New Years. The boys had a great time with him. He brought another remote control helicopter, this time an in-door one. The boys loved watching it fly around and dodging it as it came close to them.
On my dad's Birthday, he took the boys to go mini-golfing. It was a balmy 70 degrees, and they enjoyed hitting the ball, and putting it in the hole. They didn't quite get that they were suppose to hit it into the hole, but enjoyed playing it their way none the less. We just had to watch them so they didn't try to put other peoples balls into the hole....
My dad enjoyed a few rounds at Torrey Pines, and a break from the winter wonderland of Utah. It was great to have some family during the holidays. Noah still asks for Grandpa sometimes when he's upset. And we are all looking forward to a visit from the Payne's next month!
The boys slept in till 7 AM Christmas morning - nice break for mom and dad. We heard them come out, and go straight into the front room to the Christmas tree. The first thing Harrison said was "He really came! And he actually brought us toys!" Apparently there was some doubt in his mind, probably fostered by my constant pestering that only obiedient kind boys that are nice to their brothers get toys from Santa. Harrison's favorite gift was a large stuffed Littlefoot dinosuar (from The Land Before Time), which is now as constant in his possesion as his beloved blanket. Noah liked anything that was decidedly his - he really likes having ownership over things, especially since most things he has have been passed down from Harrison. Here's a little video to show how excited the boys were all day long.
Posts
All Comments
.jpg)
