Sunday, August 28, 2011

Zeke's New Haircut

Zeke went with dad this weekend to get his haircut downtown. Getting a haircut is fun! We think the new cut looks pretty sweet. We've not always served Zeke well in the important department of quality haircuts. Below you'll find a pictorial history of Zeke's less awesome styles.


Awesome.

Less awesome.

Least awesome.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Fayetteville

A couple pictures of where I am going to school. The University of Arkansas -- Fayetteville. We are the Razorbacks. Hogs, they say down here. Now, I guess I am a Hog. I took these pictures while I was walking around campus today. It's a pretty place. I'll take more when the light is nice.






Monday, August 22, 2011

At the Rodeo

We went to the Benton County Rodeo and Fair last Saturday night. Zeke called a ro-dee-ro, but we call it a rodeo. It was a great time. Saw a camel and some tractors. Zeke rode the Merry-Go-Round with Papa. We ate nut-covered carmel apples and Gyros.


Sunday, August 21, 2011

A Visit from the Bepe Fairy

If you've been around Zeke anytime in the past year, you have probably heard him mention his beloved "bepe" (pronounced (beh-pay). Bepe is Zeke talk for the Spanish word, "chupete", or pacifier. We realize that two-and-a-half seems a bit late to be taking this comfort object away from our little guy, but since we've had so many major changes this year, it never seemed like quite the right time.


For the past month, we've been gearing up for the big day. We told Zeke about the legend of the bepe fairy (or in some families, the paci fairy) and how she works here in Arkansas. According to Ozark legend, when a small child is ready to become a big kid, he packs up all of his pacifiers and puts them in the mailbox before bedtime. During the night, the fairy comes and gathers up the pacis and takes them for babies that don't have any pacis. In their place, she leaves a big-kid toy for the child.


We spent some time browsing at the toy store discussing which types of big-boy toys the bepe fairy might be able to bring. Finally, the big day arrived, and Zeke gathered up all of his pacifiers and solemnly walked them down the driveway to the mailbox. We talked about how the first night might be hard, but it would get easier. Some tears were shed and screams were heard at bedtime (and until 10:45pm), but Zeke managed to fall asleep without his bepe last night.


This morning when he woke up, we hurried out to the mailbox to see what she'd left. The Bepe Fairy came through for our little guy. When asked if it was worth it, he remembers his comfort object, frowns for a minute, then looks at his new digger and smiles. "Yeah."

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Blanket Game

You can have a lot of fun with a blanket. Zeke and I have been playing a game lately called Garage. The blanket becomes the garage door. It goes up. It goes down. Fun game!

Here's what the twins do with the same blanket. Fun to watch them entertain each other.


Friday, August 19, 2011

Sleeping Beauty

Karine said we were a little Ezra heavy on the blog. Since our posts have been few and far between, [via blogging in the bathroom] that means we've done a pretty poor job sharing the wonders of Zadie with our readers.

For starters, she's either smiling or doing this.


Thursday, August 18, 2011

Raffle Update

Here's the news. It's exciting. At least to us. We've sold enough raffle tickets to keep our blog alive. Thank you for your support. We've done a bit of a technology upgrade all around. No more blogging in the bathroom.

So, (we think), more pictures. More blogs. More fun.

Raffle tickets can be purchased here until August 31st.



Sometimes it's a lot of work. At the end of the day we are all tired. But it is so worth it.

Monday, August 15, 2011

Ezra: Speedy

Ezra is on the move. Fast. He's the fastest one yet. Stay tuned for an exciting announcement about the future of the blog. Probably Tuesday.

You are the best.


Saturday, August 6, 2011

Keep Our Blog Alive Raffle

The future of our blog is uncertain. Here's the deal... Since we moved into our new house, we had been enjoying some "community" internet shared freely by generous neighbors. Recently, all of these free signals have disappeared. We are now without internet at home, with the exception of email and facebook on our phones (not smartphones, but they kind of work).

In a previous post, I mentioned that we were working our Dave Ramsey approach to finances. This has meant cutting all unnecessary expenses or finding alternate ways to pay for the things you want. Dave Ramsey told us that we really shouldn't spend $40 per month to have the luxury of internet at our house. Our budget simply doesn't allow it.

But I want it. I really want it, however, I understand that blogging and uploading photos and stories doesn't count as a necessity. SO I CAME UP WITH AN IDEA!

We are going to be hosting a Keep the Blog Alive Raffle. We are going to get crafty and creative for some lucky winners. We will be selling 50 raffle tickets to win some awesome prizes. You will have a 1 in 7 chance of winning a prize. Pretty good huh! The money we make from our raffle will help pay for internet for one year.

What do you get for your $10 raffle ticket?
1. The chance to win an AWESOME PRIZE!
2. Future (frequent) posts on our blog. We can't blog from our phones. :(
3. Love and gratitude from our family.


Here is a list of the AWESOME PRIZES!
1. Homemade Tag Blanket (made by Karine) for a boy
2. Homemade Tag Blanket (made by Karine) for a girl
3. Baby Legwarmers (made by Karine)
4. Personalized mix CD (made by Tom, tailored to your tastes with some exciting new music for you!)
5. 20 Monster Cookies made and mailed to your home! (made by Zeke and Karine)
6. Reusable Cloth Baby Wipes (made by Karine) awesome for cloth diapering families.
7. One Blog Post dedicated entirely to YOU (or someone you love and want to surprise) complete with a personalized original song/video.

This raffle is open until either August 31 or when we sell all 50 tickets (whichever comes first).

To buy a raffle ticket, and keep our blog alive, please click the paypal link below. For each $10, your name will be entered one time for a prize. Thank You and Good Luck!









Super Quick Family Update

Ezra is crawling like CRAZY, chasing Zeke all around the house all day long. He's kind of a spaz sometimes, but we totally love him.


Zadie is the happiest little girl on the planet. She just sits around and smiles at us all day long.


Zeke amazes us daily with his witty remarks and funny creative play.


Karine tried to give Zeke a haircut to save a few bucks. He'll be going to a salon next time.

Also made some cute onesie cookies for Karen's baby shower...

Tom has been practicing some old classics on the piano. (Like from his childhood piano lessons book)

(Picture to come soon!)