BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.....

ROOOAAAARRRRR..................

Eli was going to be a lion....But, the head was so heavy, he couldn't hold it up....we opted for the bumble bee instead.

Finished product and some very scary faces...

pumpkin fun!

We carved pumpkins last night...The kids had a messy, fun time. Eli was not at all scared of the pumpkins. In fact, he dove right in like he had been doing it all his life! His favorite thing to do was take the guts out of his pumpkin and put it in theirs. It was pretty funny! At one point, he grabbed the spoon and started scraping it out like an old pro. 

pumpkins

pumpkins

So cute....

Thumb sucking is so cute when babies do it. Any ideas how to get a 6 and a 4 year old to STOP sucking thier thumbs...I swear the only way they are going to stop is if I cut off their thumbs!!


Evan 9 months

just cute.....

I really don't have time to write much. Here are some pictures that I just feel like sharing because they are cute. Nothing fancy, just really cute. I love these boys that I share a life with. How did I get so lucky???

Like Father, Like Son

The older Evan gets, the more qualities he has that are just like Ben's. This morning it really hit me....Evan drew a picture in church. It was of a water scene. In the picture he had a tadpole swimming in the water. Then an arrow pointed to the next stage of life...the "creature" had two small feet and still had a tail swimming in the water. Then out of the water he pointed to the next stage. A frog with four legs and still a tiny tail. An arrow pointed from that "creature" to the full grown frog. He is so science minded....just like his science teacher, dad. Everything Ben explains to the boys is so scientifically correct. The boys love it! They always have more and more questions for him. Evan loves science.

I'll remember this day....

Yesterday, I helped pick up trash along a highway with the local Women of Today group. I had Evan come with me, as I knew he would be great help and I was also looking forward to spending some time with him and just him....no little brothers, just him. 

We had a great time talking on our walk and he had the time of his life digging trash up from along the highway. When we got in the car, he said "I'm gonna remember this day for a long time. It was so much fun!" How sweet!

It is so hard to find quality time with each child individually. It doesn't happen as much as I would like, and usually it is taking one with me to Wal Mart...which they hate! It was so fun to spend time just with Evan and hear him narrate life along the way. 

Sunshine

Eli loves to dance! Tonight I was sitting at the computer listening to iTunes. I looked in the laundry room and Eli was dancing to the music. This song is his favorite and everytime it comes on, he just can't help himself! It was too cute not to share!

Better...

Eli is feeling much better. He is almost back to his normal happy self. He is still waking up at night, but he is eating good and sleeping good during the day, so I am sure the nights will come too. He is into EVERYTHING....and very happy about it too. He enjoyed his first wagon ride around the block today. He thought he was pretty cool stuff!

We have decided that he should get a day job being a greeter at WalMart. He loves to say "Hi" to everyone he sees and he loves to wave at them. He has figured out that if he waves and says hi, people respond to him. He spent the first part of church saying "Hi" to everyone he saw. He just kept saying it until they made eye contact with him...And then he laughed in delight of their response.

He now has his three teeth on the bottom and none on the top. I can see them on top, so it looks like he will probably get them all at once. He has no interest in walking either. It is just fine by us! He is into enough the way it is. When you let go of his hands, he just gently sits down instead of attempting to take steps.

Toilet paper just for you....

Tonight Isaac was using the bathroom and needed me to come help. I had to get a new roll of toilet paper from the closet. He asked if it was the last one. I told him we had more and he looked disappointed. He said he was going to ask Santa to bring me toilet paper for my birthday. Then he asked if Santa was for birthdays or Christmas. I told him it was Christmas and he said "oh good, Santa is going to bring you toilet paper and a new washing machine" He must be thinking of what they did yesterday at daycare. So, I am very excited for Christmas when I get my new toilet paper! Don't be jealous....

Today

I am home with Eli today. He seems to be doing alright. He had a really rough night last night. He was up a lot and very uncomfortable. He was screaming for a period of time and kept spitting his pacifier out...it was almost like it hurt his mouth. He had a stream of drool from his mouth and he was refusing to shut his mouth and swallow. It was horrible to watch him, he was just beside himself. 

Today is better. He has played a bit, but is still pretty clingy and cuddly. He has taken some good naps and is in a fairly good mood. He will play for a bit, then all the sudden he will just cry out. Hopefully things don't get worse. 

For Mommy....

I got an email today from Vickie that just melted my heart.

"We got newspapers out to practice cutting. I told them to cut things they wanted for Christmas and we would send them to Santa. Every time I asked Isaac what he was cutting out, it was always something that his Mom would like - new freezer, washing machine, clothes, etc. How sweet!"

I don't spend enough time on here talking about how sweet Isaac is. Sometimes he says things that just totally catch me off guard and melt my heart. There are times he will rub my back or stroke my hair and it is so cute. It is totally unexpected when he does this and he has a special way about him. The difference between he and Evan is that we aren't surprised when Evan says and does sweet things, it's just who he is. There are times that Isaac does stuff like this and it is so special because it doesn't happen everyday. 

Poor Baby

I took Eli to the doctor tonight after he had been running a fever since last night. I assumed that his fever was due to teething, as all my children have run a low-grade fever with their teeth. He doesn't have any top teeth and only 3 bottom teeth, so I was thinking it was time. 

At the doctor's office, his fever was 103 degrees. They checked for strep and RSV. As they were doing the throat swab, they noticed that he had white sores on the top of his mouth. Both swabs came back negative (strep and RSV). It was determined that Eli has Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease. He is is rough shape. I am hoping that he doesn't get much worse the next few days. He is out of daycare the rest of this week. Ben and I could see the sores on the top of his mouth and are just praying they do not get worse. He is still eating alright, he is just very clingy and fussy. He still has a fever but is sleeping in his crib right now...hopefully he has a good night's sleep. 

School Pictures

For such a beautiful boy, this may possibly be the worst picture ever taken of him! When I asked Isaac what happened, he said:

"I don't know. The guy said good picture...I don't think he knew what he was talking about."

Looks like we will be having retakes!

Fall is here....

Today was a beautiful fall day. We traveled to the pumpkin patch to pick out some pumpkins and enjoy the activities. We met my folks there and just had a great day. The kids enjoyed a Hay Ride, going through the cornfield maze, watching the "Punkinator" shoot pumpkins at an old school bus, seeing the farm animals, and jumping on the inflatable castles. The whole time we were there, they were begging to go to the haunted house. We went last year with no problems so we decided to try again this year. Every activity they did, they were begging to do that next. We got about half way through and I didn't know how we were going to get out. Evan freaked out...planted his feet and would not move. Isaac was scared because Evan was scared. They were literally FREAKED out and crying. It was pretty scary! We finally made it to the end and they vowed to never go in one of those again! We tried to tell them! Some things, I guess, you just have to experience on your own.

The day was wonderful! The kids had fun and so did we. Here are some pictures of the day....That is one thing that you never havc to worry about from me.....I always have plenty of pictures to share!