3 Years Old!

We had a little birthday party for Eli on Sunday morning.

He still loves his Imaginext Fire Station. We got him an Imaginext airplane and some Batman vehicles with guys to go with the set. He just loves to play with his toys and use his pretend voices. It is so cute!

THREE YEARS OLD!

I woke up this morning to a THREE year old in bed with me! I can't believe Eli is three already. I am not sure where the time has gone....I swear he was just the baby in the family. The past few months, he has turned into one of the big boys. He is FULL of personality and spunk. He is stubborn, fiesty and oh so lovable! So much has changed in the past three years. His birthday is so special because he shared a birthday with Ben's grandma. They are birthday buddies!

We are having his birthday party next Sunday since Evan has an early football game. We had a little "party" for him this morning....

In the meantime....

Here are some memories from the last couple years. I don't have pictures from 2008 because that is in the posts that the pictures were lost.

2007
2009
Eli was pretty sure he was going to have a firetruck again this year.

Big 6 Year Old!!!

 

Isaac had a fun birthday today. We didn't do much during the day....this afternoon he opened his presents. He is at such a fun age that everything is "just what I wanted!" He got some Star Wars things from us and his own tool box with real tools. He loves to build things with scrap wood that Ben has in the garage. Now he can use his own tools to do that. He was pretty excited!

Tonight we surprised the Birthday Boys and took them to Chuck E Cheese. We told them we had to do some shopping and they were pretty mad at us...instead, we went to Chuck E Cheese instead. They thought that was hilarious that we tricked them

Birthday Boy

Evan got to pick what we had for supper...he picked macaroni and cheese and pigs in a blanket...yummy!

I love the excitement on his face as he opens each of his gifts!

Let's get the H*ll out of here.....

We have been going for bike rides with the boys. Evan is getting very good at riding his bike so we have gone down to the bike trail a few times. The other night, after it had rained, there were snails all over the trail. Isaac had quite the collection by the time we came home. Luckily for all of us, he was able to put them in his frog habitat that he got for a birthday present. While we were on the trail, we decided to stop and look at snails and other nature type things. The mosquitos were out, so I told the boys we should go before we got bit up.....

Evan says, "yeah, let's get the hell out of here...." Ben and I about died! He obviously didn't know that was bad, because the minute we told him (after we laughed very hard) he felt terrible for swearing.

Isaac went through quite a few snails before he realized he isn't supposed to pull them out of the shells and tear their antennas off. Once he figured out that they die when you do that, he was much nicer to them.

Eli is keeping us on our toes. He is in to EVERYTHING right now. He isn't crawling, but he has figured out how to get where he needs to get. He mostly just wants to be in the middle of whatever the boys are doing. He was feeling very left out with all the birthdays going on. He was determined to get at the wrapping paper and presents.

He did get something new of his own....a new bathtub. He thought that was the funniest thing ever. He loved to splash and splash!

The other night while I was making supper, he moved across the living room and had himself wedged under the chair and had a hold of the lamp cord under the coffee table. He is TROUBLE already! He is still working on those teeth too...every time we look at him, he has the goofiest look on his face...It must feel good to chew on his tongue because that is what he is doing every minute of every day!

Evan had his first t-ball game tonight. He did a great job. He is very serious about it...and very focused. He had two very good hits. He even got to play catcher. I have been helping coach the boys...someone referred to it as herding kittens...they are exactly right! It is mass chaos and no one knows what to do, but they have a lot of fun!

House progress

front of the house...looking from the garage.

Looking at the back side of the house...master bedroom side

Picture window in the living room.

Front door on the left, stairs going down, and the door from the garage.

Sliding door view off of the dining room

Backside of the house...dining room, living room and bedroom.

Sometimes I forget....

We had the boys' birthday parties today.



It is so hard to believe that Evan is 6 and Isaac is 4...I am not sure where the time has gone. It seems like I just blinked and it was 6 years later! It is so exciting to see them grow and change, but also so sad to know how fast the time is really going. Things are so hectic and hard at times that I forget to enjoy life. It seems like I concentrate more on surviving the day that I forget to stop and play...I forget that sometimes kids don't listen. It doesn't mean I am doing it all wrong, it just means that they are being normal kids. I forget that sometimes kids are wild and goofy when there are people around. I foget that sometimes kids would rather eat candy and play with toys than eat their lunch like they should. I forget that sometimes I should just relax and not expect so much out of my kids. I am really going to work on this and I hope that I can begin to enjoy life as much as 6 year olds and 4 year olds. I know that it is going to be hard...I am not sure if I can do it completely perfect, but I am going to really try to slow down, and play more. My children are growing up right before my eyes...I feel like I am not enjoying it because I am too worried about other things.



The party went well today. Most everyone could come. We missed seeing Gina and Grandpa. Bob went to work at 6:00 this morning and he is still there (it is 10:03 pm) He is working in Parkersburg after the horrific tornado that ripped through their community. I cannot imagine what they are going through and how devestating that must be for the familes that are without a home tonight...I feel guilty for being upset at our situation. I often get frustrated because all of the belongings I brought with me are in our bedroom...we have stuff stored all over this part of Iowa it seems. I can't ever find things and I feel like things are such a mess. We chose this. We chose to build a house. We chose to sell our house first and move to Clarksville with Ben's parents. These families did not choose this....it is so hard to understand why this has to happen to them.



Tonight when Evan was saying his prayers, he said a prayer for the people that were in the tornados...when he got done, I told him that it was very nice that he remembered them. I explained that that was what praying was all about...He told me that sometimes he prays for peope that aren't even his family and he doesn't even know them! He is such a compassionate kid. It is hard to put into writing what the conversation sounded like and how "moved" I was, but it really was sweet.



On the other hand, I must share a conversation that Rhonda had with Isaac the other day. He too is a compassionate kid, but not in the same way. Isaac is our "great thinker" I would love to see what goes through his little mind on any given day.



side note...

When Uncle Jason is home, he is often found entertaining the kids with his magic show...he pulls toys out of their ears. His favorite toys to trick the kids with are the rubbery, magic spiders that appear in the kids' ears.

with that being said....



Out of no where the other day, Isaac asked grandma a very serious question.



"Gamma, how come when Uncle Jason pulls magic spiders out of our ears, they don't have ear wax on them?"



Hmmmmm.......have you ever given that any thought yourself??? Me neither....only Isaac!