Eli wants a pet!

The first thing Eli told me after not seeing me for two days was that he wants a pet vole. I said, "what's a vole?" He told me it's a little animal that looks like a mouse. Maybe a puppy wouldn't be so bad.

Noah and the Christmas tree

I put this big gate around the tree hoping to keep Noah from destroying it. It took him all of 5 minutes to figure out how to get in there. I know how to fix it; I just haven't done it yet. He has been leaving it alone for the most part. He likes to stand on the other side and puts toys through the gate holes.

Christmas Tree

Well- it took two nights, but we finally got the Christmas tree up and decorated. Eli was in charge of reading the directions and telling me what color of branches came next. When we were done, he said he wanted to build the Christmas tree again. We took the boys to Target last night so Eli could pick out their ornaments. He got a glittery airplane for Noah and a huge glittery lizard for himself.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Two days later

The boys were sooooooo excited about the snow!

enjoying a beautiful day

Jake, Luke, and Eli spent 45 minutes throwing this toy in the trees. They were getting very creative about how to get it down when it would get stuck.

Noah doesn't seem to mind that he poured more sand on himself than in the bucket.

another sleepover

Joel was in charge of movie night last night while I helped Jennifer paint. What a good husband; he even remembered to take a picture. Eli and Grace sat in this chair the whole time and watched "Meet the Robinson's".

while my camera was broken

Eli found his new love...mazes. We went to an apple orchard that had a corn maze. I think Eli could've spent the whole day in there. I bought him a book of Halloween mazes and he went through every one of them over and over just tracing with his finger.

pumpkin patch

Grandpa Jim even got in on some corn maze action. It was so hot this day. Noah's face in the corn says it all. We weren't even there for more than 45 minutes, and I carried him most of the time in the maze.

our little artitst

Nothing like a little naked drawing! He is getting quite good at taking his clothes off!

naptime

So, Noah is in that terrible stage where he's down to one nap, but he could still use two. Today, he woke up early plus he hasn't been feeling that well, so I put him down for a morning nap. He only slept an hour, but he WOULD NOT sleep in the afternoon. He played in his crib for 2 hours before I gave up. This is how I found him (notice the nuks, blanket, and shirt on the floor). Needless to say, he was sleeping by 6:45 tonight.

drawing

Joel kept Chase and Noah busy while Erica and I took Jake, Eli, and Grace to the Bee Movie on Friday night. I don't think it was the best kids' movie ever, but we had fun anyway. Grace stayed over, and she and Eli played "bee" the rest of the night.

Thanks Grandma Cathy!

Eli was so excited about the books he and Grandma got from the attic tonight. He had to read me TWO before bed!!!

...or he's climbing IN

This cupboard did keep Noah entertained for a little bit while I was trying to cook supper tonight. He was pretty proud of himself when he carried the fry daddy out of there. I just want to know what he has against baby einstein movies.

My view

I finally got my camera back. YEAH!!! This is pretty much how it looks from where I stand during the day. I guess it's mostly just when he's hungry or tired, but I think he's always hungry or tired. If he isn't on my hip or trying to get there, he is usually either standing on or climbing on something else like the table, the back of the couches, the big lego container ...

Halloween pictures

Thanks for sending these to me Cathy! Noah actually kept the hood of his costume on the whole time we were trick or treating.

October 31st

It doesn't feel much like Halloween. We go trick or treating the night before Halloween (beggar's night), so we did all of the fun stuff last night. Eli was a dragon and Noah was a tiger. Someday you might get to see pictures. We started with a Halloween party at Grandma Cathy's, and then we went trick or treating with Erica, Jake, and Chase. Eli LOVED going trick or treating! Noah just wanted to go in the houses. Tonight, Eli got a flu shot and ate Long John Silvers with Joel afterwards, followed by an hour or so of PS2. Noah went to bed at 6:50, and I went to a weight watchers meeting. HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Junkie???

It's official. Eli has discovered the Play Station 2, and he would be happy playing it ALL DAY! Do we invest in some kid friendly games or hope he forgets about it???

Austin's baptism

Yeah pictures!!! Even if I did have to steal them from Craig and Jen. Siriously, Austin may be the cutest baby ever, and he's so good. I don't think he cried once all weekend.

Our children

are the best car riders ever! Even our ornery little Noah sat in his car seat for 13 hours this weekend without fussing! We had a great time with my family. We pulled into Craig and Jen's around midnight on Friday. We didn't see Eli all of Saturday as he and Katelynn sat in the fort in Katelynn's closet and read books. It was Austin's baptism yesterday (I'll steal a picture from Jen's blog when she posts some). All of the cousins played great the rest of the afternoon. The kids liked Auntie Jen's idea of running in the rain the best!!! I think she was kidding when she suggested it, but everyone had a blast running around the house and finding hail. On the way back tonight, we were treated with a home-cooked meal at our friends John and Kelly's. Thanks Kel! We walked in the door at 9:00 and unpacked a few things. Luckily, Joel has tomorrow off. He will be busy ALL day! His honey-do list is getting pretty long.