In the last few months Eli has fallen in love with trains!  We have train tracks a little ways from our house and he can hear the train long before any of us would ever notice....he gets real quiet and his eyes open wide and he cups his hand to his ear so he can hear the train better...oh my, it's adorable!  And every time he hears or sees a train he yells, "oooh, oooh"- as in "choo choo".  Today he started "oooh-ooohing" and pointing at what he thought was a train (but was really a very large oil tank on campus that looked a lot like a train car)!  Oh my goodness I love this stage!

Grumpy, Sick Days...

I just found this picture from earlier in the fall, but it about sums up our last week.  As usual the kids and I picked up some kind of cold/respiratory infection at our staff conference right before Thanksgiving (it never fails)!  Eli has cheered up a bit over the last day or two now that Grammy and G-Pa are here, but the last two days of the conference and our first day or two home were rough.  Coughs and runny noses abound and our sweet little Eli was a total bear.  At one point in the conference I just couldn't get him to stop screaming- going outside didn't work, visiting the train they had there didn't work, and even fruit snacks didn't work (3 of Eli's favorite things)...unheard of!  Thankfully a Maisy video saved the day and we have survived the trip.  The coughing and runny noses are still ever present and poor little man's chest is just rattling, but I cautiously think that we are on the upswing...hopefully!

Fall Crafts & Goodies!

We have been busy this fall crafting and baking and creating!  Lily just loves it and asks me nearly everyday if I have any "projects" for her to work on!:)  Eli likes to help too, but his attention usually starts to fade a bit before the end!  It's a fun stage with the kids.  Often this fall I found my hands covered in paint or flour or glitter so I didn't get many pictures (and none of them actually in progress) but I can assure you that most every project, craft, or tasty treat was good, messy fun!  And as you can see, we created some cute little fall decorations (except for the ghost and candy corn bags which my mom sent).  I can barely wait to start our Christmas goodies!

Our Other Birthday Boy...

Eli isn't the only man in my life with a birthday in November!

Happy Birthday (today) to my wonderful husband!

Joe is such a loving, patient, supportive husband and an amazing hands-on, caring dad.  I have no doubt that he'll keep out little family in adventures for many years to come!

P.S.  Thansk to our friend Brave for taking these pictures earlier this fall!

The Day After The Party!

I love that many of things we did for Eli's birthday party (the bean bags, bean bag toss, music wall, stuffed monsters, etc...) are things that we are continuing to enjoy now that the party is over!  Not that we really needed it, but it has given us even more incentive to get outside and play during these last weeks of fall!  I shot these pictures the day after Eli's party and it was really fun to watch them play the day after.  The bean bags continue to find new uses inside as well and the music wall is just too much fun (now if we could just convince Joe to keep it up through the winter)! Truth be told I think I enjoy it just as much as the kids!:)  And of course there is always room for old friends as well (like our stuffed bunny and squirrel- seen here climbing trees and flying through the air)!  It's nice when things are still fun and exciting the day after (and beyond)!

Eli's 2nd Birthday Party!

 

This year Eli's birthday is the day before Thanksgiving so we decided to have his party a little bit early!

 

The theme for the party was MONSTERS!  Perfect for my little boy who doesn't say much, but can do a perfect monster roar or growl!:)

 

But he wasn't the only little monster there...

And the monster bean bag toss was quite the hit!

As part of the party we also made Eli his own Monster Music/Bang Wall!  We had guests (mostly family and a few close friends) bring an item to add to Eli's music wall (something that might make a good sound)!

This was so much fun!  The kids loved it (and even a few adults couldn't resist)!

And of course there had to be a monster pinyata (made by Aunt Marianne)!

And after Eli took the first few hits at it we let all of the other kids have a turn...

 

And the last one did the job!  Goodies flew out everywhere!

We had a good little lunch and then it was time for cake.  This is exactly how Eli looked the entire time we were singing to him (I'm not so sure he liked it)...

 

And still thrown off by the singing I think he just stared at the candles and refused to blow them out (we had to get his sister to do the job)!  He did enjoy eating the cake though!:)

 

And he started breaking into his presents before it was even time (notice the fire truck book he is already holding here)!  He really enjoyed that part!

And overall it was a really great birthday party... we were able to be outside for much of it (Eli's favorite place to be), and it was just perfect for my sweet little monster!