Halloween 2009

Here is 0ur Star Wars troop...Darth Vader, Yoda and a Obi Wan Kinobi

Here is Isaac's $20 Darth Vader costume and we couldn't find the helmet when it was trick or treat time....it is somewhere in the house. We have searched high and low and it is no where to be found. I am sure it will show up tomorrow.

Ben was trying to trick the boys with his "witch's brew" he made in the garage.



The boys love it when Ben teaches them about science. Here he is doing something with dry ice. They loved it!

Eli thought it was fun to take his pumpkin guts out and put them in Evan's pumpkin!

Eli wasn't sure about the pumpkins at first. By the end, he was LOVING it!

Warning: Do not leave unattended

There are really no words to describe what happened tonight. He was left unattended for maybe 5 minutes.....this is how I found him. He had a 45 minute bath and I still can't get the lotion off. It is so greasy the water is just beading off of him. His hair is matted down and I think he is going to be slippery for a long time.



Click on the picture for the full effect....

Family Pictures

This weekend we went to a pumpkin patch after church and then we took the "dreaded" family picture for the year. The boys hate this...Ben hates this....and I usually get crabby and frustrated, but I still make us do it. Each year, for the past 4 years, we have taken the tripod out on a nice fall day and attempted a picture. I have found that they turn out better if we take them ourselves than if we go somewhere to have them taken by a stranger. This year was no exception. I thought we got some really great ones....So, instead of waiting until our Christmas card to share them, I just have to share them now! The boys smiled so nice...even though there technically wasn't anyone behind the camera.

Busy Weekend

This weekend we had a surprise 80th birthday for Ben's grandma. Her birthday was on Eli's which was also the day of Ben's cousin's wedding. We didn't get to do much for her special day, so we surprised her with a party! She was so happy and it was fun to see all the little cousins play.

Eli loved baby Keegan. He wanted to hold him (even though he is about the same size as Eli) and he loved helping him drink out of his sippy cup.

It was fun to watch Eli interact with Keegan. He was so cute....especially cute because we told Eli that he is going to be a big brother in May! We are expecting Baby #4! The boys are very excited! The night we told them, they were disappointed because they thought we were giving them a new wii game...Evan thought when we told him we had a surprise after supper that it was going to be a new video game! Isaac was mad when we told him it would be at the end of school....he shouted "that's a long time to wait for a surprise!" After dealing with that, they were very excited and have been talking about it ever since.

We are excited and of course very nervous. I am nearing the end of my first trimester and feeling great. I had my 12 week appointment this week and decided when I was leaving the appointment that there is nothing better than hearing your baby's heartbeat for the first time.

School pictures

What a difference a year makes. I think Evan looks so grown up in his 2nd grade picture.


Oh Isaac. My child with the most beautiful smile just can't seem to pull it off on picture day! He also looks so much more grown up than last year.

And he really does look a lot more confident in himself and not so shy and unsure. I can honestly say I have never seen that smile before! Not sure what he was doing.

Eli the talker

Each and every day we are amazed at what Eli says and how clear he is talking. He is putting 5-6 words together to form sentences. This morning at daycare I told him goodbye and the other two year old, Eden, said bye-bye to me too. Eli responded with a huge smile on his face "Edie say bye Eli mommy" He is so proud of himself when we understand what he is saying.

His big thing right now is throwing. We have never had a kid throw as much as he does. I am sure we don't help the situation because right before he throws stuff, he squats down and says "Eli football guy" and then chucks whatever it is that he has. This is always done with the squat and a very loud grunt! We laugh every time, so of course, this keeps happening!

Fireman

Every fireman knows how to unscrew a fire hydrant. Eli did this all on his own. He loves wearing fire hats. He put it on in the garage and went running down to the hydrant. I followed him because I thought he was going to run out into the street....all he was doing was trying to unscrew the hydrant! He is one smart cookie :)

Sugar High

Note to self....do not leave the candy unattended! We were working in the basement this weekend and pretty occupied with things down there. We didn't notice that Eli had snuck upstairs and found the candy. When we found him, he was double fisting the candy mix and shoving it in his mouth as fast as he could before he got caught! He doesn't eat much, but he sure does have a sweet tooth!

Fall

Last night it actually felt a bit like fall instead of winter. The last few weeks have felt like it went from summer to winter and skipped right over fall. It was nice enough for the boys to actually play outside for a bit. Of course, the first thing they went to was the last remaining dirt pile and started digging!

The best things in life....

I found a fun site and I was playing around with it tonight....The saying on Eli's picture is a saying that we have on our wall. I look at it everyday, and everyday, even when things are not going well, I remind myself that these are the best things.....

We had a great weekend with the kids. We spent a lot of quality time together and had lots of laughs. We took time to sit on the floor with them and really watch them. We laughed at the cute things they said and did. We noticed things things we haven't noticed in a long time. It seems like life has been so hectic and crazy lately....But, these are the best things. Even on the most frustrating and tiring days.