Happy Halloween!

We were at Craig and Jen's tonight for the 2nd annual pre trick or treating party. Halloween treats from Jen, Jen's Mom, and Jen's Grandma filled the bags before we even went to the first house. Eli and Noah only wanted their pictures taken if they could be monsters.

Austin in action. This is my favorite picture from the night. The kids were so excited. They sprinted from house to house.

What's wrong with us??

Joel went to a sandwich place to get us lunch today. After he received our subs, he watched a prep guy (who never handled our sandwiches) run in to the bathroom and could hear him throwing up. Since this completely grossed him out, Joel went to another location and purchased the same subs. As he was telling me why he had extra sandwiches in his hands when he got home, I said, "why didn't you tell someone what happened and ask for your money back?' The sad part is that I would've done the same thing except I would've gone to Burger King or something.

VERY IMPORTANT PERSON

Eli was super excited to be the VIP at school today. In fact, he was so excited that YESTERDAY morning he woke up earlier than normal and ran in to our bedroom to say, "Today is Monday, and tomorrow is my VIP day".

His excitement caused us to finish breakfast and get ready faster than usual today. We even had a few minutes to play before we left. I thought we were doing pretty good until we got back from dropping Eli off at school, and I realized that I had left my electric skillet on with two pancakes inside.

Halloween Party

Erin hosted a fun party last year, so I said I'd throw one this year. However, I wasn't really doing anything about it. A few weeks ago, Jack started asking me (a couple times during the week) if I was going to have a Halloween party. On Tuesday, I set the date and started planning the Friday night event. Here's the crew...minus Tyden. Tyden has never played at our house before, so he was much more interested in the toys than my silly party.
Making treat bags

Stringing a candy necklace



Playing "tip toe through the pumpkin patch"
We also ate supper, decorated cookies, made spider webs, had a costume parade, and played ghost, ghost, witch....in less than 2 hours.

**When Jen & kids came, I sent the kids downstairs and asked Jen to put shoes in the closet (something we NEVER do, but she did it anyway) where Joel was waiting with a scary mask. Oh my gosh, I have never heard two louder screams. Sorry Jen! Joel is still feeling bad about that!

One more...

stolen from Erin's blog because she was smart enough to bring her camera to preschool!!

Cowboy Day

IHOP NIGHT

Yesterday morning I told Eli to spend some time thinking about where we should go out for supper. He said, "I'll tell you now...IHOP". I should've known. We called it a celebration for hearing such good things about the boys at their parent-teacher conferences.

According to Mrs. Henning, Eli is... "a perfect student"
-stays on task
-eager to learn
- smart
-a little quiet


According to Mrs. Ystebo, Noah is... "ahead of his age" (she obviously only sees him a couple of hours a week).
- does things independently
- is a good listener
- has great pre-writing skills
-participates
- is not attached to Ella at the hip (I'm not sure I believe this)
-a little quiet

We're very proud of our boys!

Future Cobber??

Eli and I went to Concordia last night to watch Katelynn. She was a crown bearer for Homecoming Coronation (something her mommy did when she was little too). She was so cute!!! Her Auntie Rachel was the escort for the winning queen candidate.

The program mentioned how everyone was tied to Concordia. Katelynn was listed as...... granddaughter of Penny '75 and Bucky Burgau. Eli was reading it and said, "So, Grandma Penny is 75?".

Makes Me Laugh!

Eli got his first basketball hoop from Aunt Jennifer for Christmas when he was 9 months old. It was a Leapfrog toy that said the alphabet letters or counted after you made a shot. Eli played with it all the time, but he mostly just pushed the button inside the basket to hear the letters and numbers instead of actually throwing the ball in there. He got a Little Tikes basketball hoop for his 2nd birthday. While Jake (who is 3 months younger than Eli) perfected his jump shot, Eli only used this hoop as something to decorate with bugs and other animals. The Christmas before he turned 3, Eli received a little Leapfrog basketball hoop that hangs on a door handle called 100 hoops. Again, this toy was loved by many, but Eli preferred pushing the button to count to 100 over actually trying to make a basket. When Noah turned 2, he got a new basketball hoop. Here is Eli today.

This child (who did not have school on Friday and has this whole week off) spent most of the morning playing by himself in his room. I asked him if he felt like he was getting sick to which he replied, "no, I just miss school". Later, I sat down to check my email, and I had a message from Baby Center. The subject was "Your 5-Year Old...Gimme Space".

Boring, Boring, Boring

That's what we have been lately. I thought I was going to have a new picture last night. Joel took the boys to the pet store, and they came home with NOTHING!!! Joel was willing to get fish, but Eli only wanted a hamster. Could you imagine Noah and a hamster under the same roof???

FAMILY UPDATE

*Joel got home last Friday night after TWO work weeks in Des Moines.
*Every day Eli says kindergarten was "great".
*Erin and Ella stopped by one night last week to pick up blankets that were left during the day. The boys were in the tub but jumped out to say hi. Eli put his pj's on while Noah did 5 minutes of naked gymnastics for them. As they were leaving, Noah slipped out the door and ran around the house NAKED. I guess I could've posted that picture.
*We spent Saturday night at my parents' so we could check out the newly remodeled kitchen which looks fantastic!
*Oh, and Eli was asking for a Nintendo DS for Christmas. I told him they cost a lot of money, so I'm not sure Santa would get that. He said it doesn't matter how much things cost because Santa doesn't need money.

breakfast of champions

While Eli and I were eating cereal and chocolate chip pancakes, Noah chose frozen blueberries, frozen peas (strange, I know, but I couldn't refuse) and a banana.

More pictures

The boys played at their favorite park for over 2 hours this afternoon.
Much of this time was spent climbing trees
which may have been the cause of the hole in Noah's BRAND NEW pair of jeans!

Fall Festival

Funny by Noah

After preschool yesterday, Noah was telling me about something he did with one of the teachers.

Me: Which teacher was helping you (there are 3-4 in the room)?
Noah: I don't know.
Me: Was it Mrs. Ystebo (the lead teacher)?
Noah: No. She had silver hair.
Me: Was it Mrs. Nelson (one of two gray haired teachers I've seen there)?
Noah: No.
Me: Was it Mrs. Grosz (pronounced Gross)?
Noah: She didn't look gross.

Eli's BFF

Eli was soooo excited when I told him on Wednesday that Jake would be coming to visit for the weekend. Chad's cousin got married in town on Saturday, so they decided to make the trip from Iowa. They also brought along their newest addition.

MEET 3 week old AVERY
Eli wanted to keep her.

Chase, Jake, Eli and Noah with baby Avery.

Thanks for coming guys! We had a great time!

stolen from Jen's blog

Lindsay's Wedding

I took two handsome dates to my cousin's wedding last night. Drew and Katelynn were the Ring Bearer and Flower Girl. They were so cute! Drew changed his clothes before the reception, and I bribed him with a dollar to put his tux back on for the dance.
At one point I was dancing with Eli and lost sight of Noah. When I saw him a few minutes later, his face was covered with chocolate. He had been under the head table eating hershey's kisses.

waiting to dance

I'm not sure who had more fun dancing...the kids or Grandpa Steve!
The next family wedding is in May. That means I have all winter to teach the boys The Electric Slide!

first day of preschool

The big map at preschool is a hit! We had to stop and look at it every day last year!
Ella told me all about their first day today. I'm sure these two won't cause any trouble!
After Kindergarten and Preschool, we had a picnic at the park. What a great day!

First Day of Kindergarten

I thought it would be fun to walk, so Ella and Noah rode in the wagon, and Eli and Jack tried to avoid puddles. I was really second guessing myself by the time we got to school. However, a teacher walked in behind us and said "I wish the school kids walked this good", so that made me feel better!
Eli was VERY excited for school. He was not excited about my camera!
I was greeted with this sad little face after school. Someone REALLY wanted to ride the bus home.
Later he told us that school was great: they sat at circle time for a LONG TIME, Mrs. Henning showed them around the room, they got to drink milk from a carton without a straw, and the boy named Owen who has glasses like Noah actually has black circle glasses, not oval like Noah.
Then, he was telling me the names of the kids, and he said there is an Allison which kinda sounds like Allosaurus. I said, "Don't tell her that". He said, "I tried to tell Mrs. Henning, but she didn't hear me".
How's that for day one?

And so it begins....

We needed to be in two places at one time today.

The boys both had orientation this morning. Joel took Eli to Kindergarten while I took Noah to Preschool. The day was a crazy one at our house, but it went much better than I anticipated it would!
Eli said Kindergarten was "great", and Noah did not want to leave Preschool!!! They both insisted on wearing "pocket shirts".