girls vs. boys

This is probably the closest I will ever get to having a girl. And then there are the boys!!! Eli was at preschool or he'd probably be in the middle. Just kidding. He might be, but more than likely he'd be reading with Ella.


Mommy Ella did join in after a while. She is just so darn cute, and she can hold her own against these big boys (as long as they don't sit on her).

burning energy

Noah had his first gymnastics class tonight. He was shy for about 1 minute, and then he was off.

This is how he waited for his turn. I know he really should've been sitting, but I thought it was pretty good that he actually stayed in one spot (we'll work on the sitting thing next time).

bookworm

Eli got the first 4 books of The Magic Treehouse series from Grandma Cathy in the mail today. I let him take one to bed at naptime. He read the entire thing in a little over an hour, took a little nap, and was so excited when he woke up. He said, "that was the best book ever!". Thanks Cathy; we'll have fun reading those with him.

Happy Monday!

Ella says this is Joel.

This kid cracks me up

Me: "Noah, please stop drawing on your hand."

Noah: "It's a bracelet"

Trick or Treat

Last night, we went over to Craig and Jen's for a pumpkin shaped pizza, lots of goodies from Jen's family, and trick or treating. Eli was the designated door bell ringer, but then he would hurry and run behind Katelynn before the door was opened. Eli and Katelynn were ready to be done after one trip down the block. Noah went to the last house by himself.

This was my mom's idea!!

Is it Halloween or Christmas??

A big box of goodies showed up on our doorstep. Thanks Uncle Fred and Aunt Jensine!!!

Big boy!

Noah got his first issue of the Animal Baby magazine in the mail yesterday. He thought it was pretty cool that he could read magazines just like his big brother. Thanks Grandma Cathy!

On another big boy note... TMI, I know, but he pooped on the toilet for the first time yesterday. Joel thought we needed a picture, and not just of him sitting on the toilet (thanks honey!).

"Yay, woohoo one hundred dollars!"

This was Noah's response to the $10 dollar bill in his Halloween card from Grandpa Jim. Joel and I took the boys to Walmart to spend their money tonight. Can you guess who bought the fire truck and who bought the books?

Yep, out of all the toys in Walmart, Eli decided on books. Thanks Grandpa!

Too much Spiderman???

The other day Noah was running around with a little bat on his forehead saying, "I'm the rhino". Today he was working on an alphabet puzzle. As he was putting the letter "O" on the octopus picture, he said, "O is for Dr. Octopus". Pretty soon he'll be like his big cousin, Zach who ran around outside looking for a spider to bite him so he could turn into Spiderman.

It's 1:25pm (naptime)

What is Noah doing?He is putting on pajamas which is fitting since he put on jeans and a sweatshirt right before falling asleep last night.

What am I doing??

I'm trying to decide which reading material to start with after my trip to the library last night.

Preschool Cowboy Day

Thanks Grace and Grandma Cathy for supplying part of the outfit!! (He's holding the Spiderman bucket because he's been carrying all of his favorite things in there since the party on Saturday.)

Noah update

We have realized that Noah will not stay in his bed, and putting the crib back up isn't the answer. Eli has always laid on his bed and talked and played forever before going to sleep. Noah does the same thing; he just uses his whole room. We put a gate in his doorway, leave his door wide open, and sit in the living room where he can't see us. He throws his blankets and bears over the gate, does gymnastics, sings songs, changes his pj's, and eventually goes to sleep in his bed. I'm okay with it. Now.....if we could just get him to sleep through the night again.....

party

On Saturday afternoon we went to Jack and Ella's for a Halloween party. The boys were so excited and had a great time! Thanks for the fun Erin and Joe!!!Eli told me that his favorite part of the party was tossing the hula-hoop around the pumpkin. When we first tried to get him to play, he refused. Then later when nobody was around, I caught him doing it by himself.

Noah- showing off his bat tatoo.

yep, we're still dealing with the bedtime battle

Noah lost his boxspring and bed stand last night. I though maybe he would have less fun at bedtime if he couldn't jump off the bed. He still found things to do for 2 hours before finally giving in to sleep. We're giving the "supernanny method" 5 days, and if there is no improvement, he'll have a crib (with a crib tent) in his room by Sunday!!!

MY child

Me: Noah, get down please

Noah: But, I love the sun!!

Have you seen these girls???

We were missing most of them last night. Andrea, Amber and I had to represent the group at out 10 year Cobber reunion. Of course I didn't bring my camera, so this 10 year old picture will have to do. It sure was fun to catch up! Thanks girls!

Hulk's pecks

Aunt Jennifer sent us home with a couple of bags full of toys. The boys have been in transformer and superhero heaven!!!! Noah was pulling at Hulk's chest.

Mom: What are you doing?

Noah: I'm trying to get his __st off.

Mom: His vest off???

Noah: No, his breast.

IOWA

Eli, Noah, and I returned from our Iowa trip at 11:45 pm last night. I really can't believe how well they travel. We made one stop at Kelly and John's to eat, use the bathroom, and put on pj's (thanks for the pit stop and PB & J's!), and then stopped again for a nightcap from McDonalds (vanilla latte for me, and chocolate milk for the boys). They went right back to sleep when I got them in their beds which was a little different than when we got to Grandma's at 12;30 am Sat. It was 3:15 before either of them got back to sleep! I think they were just a little too excited!! The boys had a lot of fun playing with their cousins (We decided that Tyler must be getting too old!)

Poor Noah got sick on Sunday. He fell asleep going for a walk at 10:00 Monday morning. Thankfully, he was fever free and back to his busy self when he woke up yesterday.

Eli got to meet up with Luke, Jake and Chase at Recess on Monday night. They always love being together. I've never seen 4 year old boys give so many hugs!

Grandma Cathy got tickets for Jenninfer, Tyler, Matt, Ben, Grace, Eli and I to go to "Walking With Dinosaurs" (stolen picture from Jennifer). It was really neat, and the kids loved it. Eli did get a little scared at the beginning and decided that he didn't like the allosaurus anymore!

Cathy and Don-

Thanks for the fun and for putting up with all of us!

It's a beautiful day!

Jack, Ella, Noah and I got Eli from preschool and went straight to the park. We had fun playing, eating, and looking for leaves.

Thanks Aunt Linda...

for the fun Halloween book!

Oh Noah!

I find myself saying that a lot lately. Here's what the little monster has been up to... We have to hide the bathroom stools because he is constantly trying to use one to reach for something that he's not supposed to have! One day I'll be glad that he's so independant right????

This is what most of our cereal boxes look like.

This is his new electric toothbrush. He loves it so much that I have to hide it (somewhere he can't reach with a step stool). He saw Eli's toothbrush the other night, and REALLY wanted to use it. I told him that maybe he could get one if he stayed in his bed. Before I left his room that night, he said "go buy it". Well- wouldn't you know that little stinker managed to stay in his bed after I left, and he got his new toothbrush the next morning. Too bad he hasn't stayed in bed since!

Fall Festival take 2

Last night Craig, Eli and I met up with Krista and the boys and my parents thinking we were going to see a good high school football game. Well, I spent most of my time watching my child run around instead of the game, and P.R. won 54-0 (good for the home team but not that exciting). Eli got to spend the night at Grandma and Grandpa's with his cousins. Krista brought the boys up today, and we went straight to the "pumpkin patch". The lines were much longer today, but the boys had a great time...until it was way past naptime, and we were trying to get them to leave.

Eli and his bugs

Cathy,

I thought you'd get a kick out of this!

The Farmer in the Dell

Thanks to Grandpa's Steve's lovely rendition of this song, Noah has been running around singing "The farmer takes the cheese" for the past few days. I keep telling him, "No, it's the farmer takes a wife". Well- today he was singing, "The farmer takes the wipes".

Just the two of us

Eli and Joel spent a couple of days at Grandpa Jim's, so Noah and I were on our own. My parents were in town babysitting Katelynn and Austin this weekend and offered to keep Noah Friday night, so I actually got to go out. On Saturday, we took the three kids to a Fall Festival in town. Katelynn and Noah had a blast! We might have to go back this coming weekend so Eli can check it out! decorating pumpkin cookiesriding the train

parks and preschool

We haven't been up to much lately besides enjoying the beautiful weather. We only have a few more parks left on our list. We did go to my Aunt's last Sunday to celebrate my Grandma's 80th birthday (all 6 kids, spouses, 18 grandchildren, and 9 great-grandchildren made it for the party- pretty amazing!). The weather was not beautiful, but the kids still had fun running around outside and playing with their cousins.

Eli is still really enjoying preschool. He comes home with new information everyday.

*my favorite conversation this week*

Eli: On Alvin and the Chipmunks Dave talks to people for his job. He doesn't talk on the phone and look at his computer like Daddy.

Me: People do all sorts of different things for their jobs: like Erin is a teacher. She helps kids learn.

Eli: What does Jen do?

Me: She sticks people with needles to take their blood.

Eli: Ouch, what does Craig do?

Me: he sells insurance to people to help them pay for their doctor's visits.

Eli: how about Brent?

Me: he sells insurance too.

This went on for quite a while since he was stalling on his way to bed. Finally he said, "and what does Luke's Dad do?? "

Me: He sells stuff too, but I'm not sure what he sells.

Eli: Maybe bananas!

Thanks Grandma Cathy!

We took the boys costume shopping tonight. Eli had Noah convinced that they were going to be Transformers (he found the outfits in a magazine that Grandma Cathy sent), but he changed his mind after we didn't find any at Walmart. I told him that we could keep looking, but by that time, he was positive that he wanted to be Spiderman. I wonder how many times he'll change his mind before Halloween!

2 hours,

3 poopy diapers, probably a little yelling, and a clothing change later.... Where is all of his "stuff"?

in my room, and it didn't seem to matter ONE BIT!!!!

I'm pretty sure it was just last night that I was commenting on he goes right to sleep for his naps now. Can't wait for tonight!

My boys...

showing off their "zippy pajamas". Eli was WAY TOO excited to go get pajamas at Target the other day. Noah's may need some alterations. They don't make footed pj's in XXW!

PRESCHOOL STORY- Everyday Eli has gone to preschool for the past year, Joel has asked him if he played with anyone to which he always replies "no" . Well, today he told us that he played with a boy named Matthew. When I asked him what they played, he said, "hockey". Does our little Iowa boy even know what hockey is?????

"I love em!"

* Noah's response to his new bed sheets

Now that Noah is finally sleeping better, and I have stopped asking Joel to put the crib back up, I decided it was time to work on his room. The sheets are as far as I got today.

first day of preschool

I took a few pictures, but this was my favorite pose. I didn't get any info from the teacher and very little from Eli. I heard that he liked it, they put yellow, blue, and red paint on piece of paper and folded it to make butterflies for art, art was his favorite thing, they have a different calendar than the one we do at our house, oh and ALL of the other kids brought snack except him. Hmm..... I might have to check on that one!