Christmas #1

Thanks Grandma, Don, and cousins for all of the great gifts! Eli couldn't wait to get home and tear into his new castle. He sat and played with it for an hour before he had to go to bed, and he loved it!

Happy Birthday Hubby!

We had Joel's birthday party and our Christmas celebration at Grandma Cathy's tonight. Notice Eli in the background by his toys. We told him that we weren't going to open anything until we got home, so he didn't really want to stick around for birthday cake.

pajama day

Since it's storming outside and everyone inside is still trying to get better, we pretty much just laid around in our pj's today. Noah did get dressed this morning, but he was pulling his pants off and asking for pajamas before noon.

more food pictures...

much better than pictures of what was coming OUT of him a few hours earlier. Yes, nothing like an ice cream sandwich at 10:30am after a night of puking. He had already eaten a banana, two pieces of toast and a little cereal (In the Christmas letter, I forgot to mention eating as something you can find Noah doing when he's not on my hip). I guess he was feeling a little better although that's pretty much all he ate all day. He took a 5 hour nap and went to bed at 6:45. It's been a fun week with strep and the flu at our house. Needless to say, I was cleaning and disinfecting today.

yummy...

squash and chicken noodle soup- what a combo. Out of the blue today, Eli decided he wanted squash. I already had to go to the grocery store to get a few things to make my sick husband some chicken noodle soup, so I picked up a squash too. What child requests squash?

As you can see, they both loved it!

peek a boo

Nevermind all the stuff he had to take out of there in order to fit. This poor little guy isn't feeling very well I'm afraid. He went to bed last night with a little fever at 6:30. It is 9:00am, and he is still sleeping. I guess it's a good day for a snow day. The roads are covered with ice, and MORE snow is on the way.

snow much fun!

These are the snowfalls I love (when I don't have to drive). It started around 11:00am and stopped around 6:00pm leaving a few inches of fluffy snow. It wasn't cold or windy, neighbor kids were out, and the boys were so excited to play in it! I think Noah could've walked up and down the sidewalks all night.

Christmas card pictures

Why oh why didn't I order Christmas cards when we had family pictures taken????? Oh I remember why. I had this great idea for a picture that of course Noah will not let me take. I have spent the last week trying to get one normal picture. Obviously, it is not working.

cream puffs

Eli was reading one of my recipe books on Friday night, and all of a sudden he decided that we needed to make cream puffs. I'm not sure why he picked cream puffs since he has never had them, but they are one of my favorites. We didn't have time to make them on Friday, and then Eli was sick all weekend. We finally made them tonight. What a treat!

just like big brother

Eli had the stomach flu on Sunday and has been laying on the couch for two days straight. Noah kept trying to crawl in with Eli today, so I had to get him his own blanket to lay with in the chair.

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!