Parent's Night Out

At the end of September, my sister in law, Marie randomly called to ask if she could have the kids for an evening so Randy & i could go out. Umm, yes, you sure can, i told her! It was so nice to not feel guilty about asking someone to keep the kids. We NEVER go out & it is mainly because we don't feel like putting others out so we can have time together. So, since she offered, i didn't feel one iota of guilt! We took the kids over on Saturday evening & we went to the Outback for dinner. We had a great adult meal & the kids had a blast playing with Kaleb. And i think Marie was thrilled that Kaleb was entertained also! Here are some pics i took when we went to pick them up... apparently, they had an incredibly good time!

{are you ready for some football?}

{Daddy showing Eli how to get the sit & spin to work!}

{even though he looks cute in the helmet, i vote for a lesser contact sport!}

{Such goobers!!} {playing dressup... the fireman & the construction worker}
{rock n roll!}

Sleep, Child, Sleep!!!

Seriously, since we took the pacifier away from Eli back in AUGUST, he has not been a great sleeper. This has been such a bummer for us because he was the most awesome sleeper before. He would even come to us, blankie & pacie in hand, & want us to put him in the bed! Not anymore. Nope, now he LOATHES the bed. And as a result, we also now loathe nap time & bedtime (until he finally zonks out!). He goes to bed screaming & having a tantrum & then he has been waking early. This is what getting up before dawn will do to you by 10:30am....

And this is what it looks like on the weekend when Daddy is home:We really hope things will get better in this realm, but since it's been 2 monthes & it is still touch & go, then we just aren't sure! We are contemplating putting the boys together in a room, since Eli really just doesn't like to be in there by himself, but we fear they will play around rather than go to sleep. So we will see! Until then.... say a prayer for a good nights sleep!

HT Triples

Towards the end of September, Harris Teeter did a triple coupon weekend. Yippy! I love it when this rolls around, because it means i get to stock up on things we need or use for el cheapo. I decided i was only going to go once (you can only triple 20 coupons per day) & i went on a Saturday morning & took Eli with me. Usually, i try to go without the kids, but this time it didn't work out that way! He became my helper & would put the items into the back of the cart for me. So on our way out, he got a prize.....

He even brought one home to Jackson too! These kids love balloons, but honestly, we (the parents) hate them! The kids fight over them - even if they both have one! So they usually hang around until bedtime when they "accidentally" have a run in with my scissors while the kids sleep!

Happy Birthday, Nanny!

Here is a little message for you on your special day. Sorry we couldn't spend it with you, but maybe this will make you feel like we are there! We love you!

ps. Eli blew that kiss all on his own (i didn't tell him to at all!)

Pullen Park Playdate

Last week, I took the boys on a playdate at the park with our friends Ms. Candace & Mia Tate. We had a picnic (where none of the kids really wanted to eat!) & then went to play on the equipment & ride some rides. I was finally able to convince Jackson to ride the train (last time it was a no-go because it was "too loud.") & they also got to ride the boats. We had a great time & it was nice to catch up with Candace & see how much Mia Tate has grown!

Isn't this a sweet picture? He loves being a helper! And he is getting to the age that he really likes to help "little" kids.

Taking a boat ride...
Waiting for the train...

On the train...
Can you tell what is going on here? Eli is having a toddler moment- not wanting to share & Mia Tate is wondering what his deal is! Meanwhile Jackson is oblivious!
Enjoying having the space rocket to himself...
Eli still loves the swings. He pure giggles out loud while he swings- it is quite cute!
We took home this rock as a souvenir- only because Eli wouldn't leave it behind!

Red, White, & Blue

As it turns out, Jackson learns things all the time that i have absolutely NO IDEA he knows. In the car 2 days ago, he busted out in a song that i had heard before, but never from him. When he finished up, i said, "Jackson, that was great! Where did you learn that?" He told me at school- that they sing it everyday. Who knew?! I literally ask this child every day that i pick him up, "What did you do today?" And he most always says, "I don't remember" or "went on the playground." So the song was an exciting look into his days there. So, of course, i video-ed him singing it for you all to hear!!! (did you expect any less?)


Cute, huh?!

And, Aunt Becca told me after bible class tonight that Eli is now doing all the motions to "The wise man built his house upon the rock" (she is teaching his class). It took bribery (aka food) to get him to do it for me before bed tonight, but my camera battery is dead, so no go on the video. BUT, stay tuned..... i will try again of course! I am going to try to get Jackson singing "Little Me" on video too if he will. He learned this last year at school & it is one of his favorites to sing (other than "Blue Skies & Rainbows!") It is so sweet to listen to him sing... he always seems to have a song in his heart!

Backyardigan's Party

Friday night we had Eli's birthday party... kind of spur of the moment due to "hurricane" hanna. Even though the hurricane turned out to be a joke of sorts, they were forecasting it to do some damage, so i didn't want to take that lightly & moved the party from Saturday afternoon at the park (which ended up being beautiful) to Friday night at Mema's (when it was nice & rainy!) Eli was thrilled with his birthday cake - which was the most impressive Pablo (from the Backyardigans) in a star. I loved it so much i had a hard time cutting it! Many thanks to our friend Andrea, from church, for making it. She is so talented! (it kind of makes me want to take a cake decorating class, but really... where would i fit that in??)

Eli's first look at his special cake...To say that he wasn't too sure why we were all singing to him... was an understatement!

Blowing out the candles... Eli not only enjoyed looking at the cake, but he enjoyed EATING it too! He took his sweet time & even after everyone else was up from the table, he was still sitting there working on his!

When it came time to open presents, he was excited & engaged with each one. In fact we had to nudge him along to open a new one, because he would want to sit & hold/inspect the current one. And speaking of presents, we now officially own anything & everything that has a backyardigan on it! Seriously! He got 2 backyardigan balls, 3 DVDs, 2 books, a watch, a stuffed pablo character, a lunchbox, a color wonder tablet & a mini doodle pro! He also recieved some new clothes & sidewalk chalk, tadoodles markers, a fun snappy sounds book, bristle blocks (a real hit with Jackson too!) & some money that we already used yesterday at stride rite to get new tennis shoes (thanks Gma & Papa Evans!)When we got home from the party, Nanny was waiting for us. She wasn't able to make it in time for the party since it was moved to Friday evening, but decided to spend the weekend with us as originally planned anyway. (Hurricane Hanna didn't scare her! Ha!) Eli was thrilled to show her each & every gift he got & then he got to open one more, Nanny's gift!

Thanks to everone who made his day special & for being patient with the changing of the party last minute! We had a great time!

They say it's my birthday....

Our baby boy is not a baby anymore! Oh, no! I can't believe Eli is two years old today. When i had to wake him up this morning (to get Jackson off to speech before the first day of preschool), i was giving him kisses all over & I told him, "This time 2 years ago, mommy was giving you your first sugars ever!" He just snuggled into my neck & giggled. I actually teared up! It is still amazing to me that time goes so fast with these little ones & that in the blink of an eye, they are a year older. When Jackson was this age, I was already preggers with Eli which BLOWS my mind! That seems like a lifetime ago in some ways, but then again, it seems like yesterday. I hope time will slow down & that we will be able to savor every moment we get with our precious boys. Here is the birthday boy today..... Can't you just hear him saying "cheese" with his little tongue out?!

If i get more pics today & have a chance to post them, then there is a slight chance that i will! But considering i am starting a new bible class tonight at 7pm, i can't be held to that! We are having celebratory pizza night & are making homemade pizzas (the kids favorite) in Eli's honor tonight & he already got one present today! Aunt Becca bought him (& gave it to him in the store) a Backyardigan's ball. It is both his favorite things rolled into one (the backyard gang & balls!) He was so excited, he TRIED to take it to bed for his nap, but i had to convince him to leave it next to the bed! And since he has been napping, the mailman delivered a box with his name on it from Aunt Debbie.... Hmmmm.... What could be in there? We will have to open it tonight!

First Day of Preschool

This morning, Jackson started a new class at Preschool. I can already tell that i am going to love his new teacher, Mrs. White. She is so cute & so sweet! (And it helped that the first thing she said to me when i picked him up today was, "You have a sweet boy!") I can already tell a big difference in the classroom this year vs last year. There are 15 kids in his class (vs 8 last year) & 2 teachers (an assistant, Mrs. Hensley) vs. 1 teacher last year. The classroom is set up with centers & just seems more like Kindergarten to be honest. When we went to open house last week, i teared up when i walked in because it was just a flash of what is to come next year. Mrs. White used to teach 2nd grade before she became a mommy & now she teaches pre-k so she can be home when her kids are home in the afternoons. So i feel like Jackson is in excellent hands & that she knows what he needs to learn before REALLY starting school next fall. Here are some pics from this morning.....

Eli really wanted to help carry something, so we let him carry the lunchbox.
Jackson & Mrs. White after the day was over....
Apparently, they talked about the story, The Kissing Hand. If you have never read it.... it is a tear jerker if you are sending your kid off to school! But it is a sweet story! Here is his raccoon mask from the story.....

More Camping!

We went camping again with Jeremy & Marie (& Kaleb) for the labor day holiday weekend. Boy are we worn out! We left EARLY friday morning (in fact, Randy said, "7:30?!" when we said we were leaving that early!) & came home monday afternoon. If you can believe it, i only took a handful of pictures because we were basically spending our time between the camper to snack & the pool to swim & then back to the camper to potty! The kids seriously wanted to eat all weekend but i guess swimming does that to you! We met new friends while we were there all the way from Ohio! They had kids very close to our kids ages (a 5 year old, nathan & a 21 month old, hayden). Jackson & Nathan played together a lot at the pool. Kristen (their mommy) & I found out how much we had in common - which was astounding! And their daddy even plays the mandolin! Seriously, how many people do YOU know that play the mandolin? Or can even really appreciate the ability to play one? But seriously, i was pretty bummed that they live in Ohio, because if this family lived in our neighborhood, they would be such close friends- i just know it! But onto the (few) camping photos....

The big boys got to ride Kaleb's new double seater power wheels (truck) a little- but i have to be honest, it was a source of stress (on many levels) so they did more packing & unpacking the bed of the truck than anything (after they about ran into the neighbor's REALLY nice "big rig.")

We also tend to break a lot of rules/routines when we camp (which to those of you who really know me, know this isn't easy for me). Eli slept with daddy for naps instead of his pack & play a few afternoons.... { on a tanget here, this was mainly because last weekend we took Eli's pacifier for the second time. Do you remember how the first time went? Well, it was bad enough that he got it back! So, this time, we didn't give in, which meant that we have been doing all we can to survive. Since we were also inflicting this horror onto others during this trip, one of us either laid beside him while he fell asleep in the pack & play, or we held him to get him to sleep for EACH nap & at bedtime! I feared coming back home after all that, but i am thinking maybe it helped because when i came into the hallway tonight, i said "RANDY!? Is Eli in the bed?!" because he wasn't crying (aka: screaming to the point of dry heaving) like he had EVERY night since last weekend! Soooooo...... maybe we are on the upside of this whole pacifier thing!}

Other breaks in routine included:

Jackson & Kaleb only took ONE nap the entire trip (this was a biggie for me! i know you are all proud of my flexibility here!) & so this meant they were EXHAUSTED at bedtime..... but even so, we didn't just throw them in their beds, we let them cuddle up together on the converted bed to "watch" a movie (which of course means the were snoring before the opening credits were over).

And Eli got to ride bikes with Daddy (with no helmet- thus the broken rule! GASP!) BUt he had a blast & Daddy held on REALLY tight!

Eli also got to see plenty of dogs over the weekend which was thrilling for him. He still calls them a "horth" (horse) though even though he KNOWS it is a dog - but that isn't in his vocab yet. He would, however say "uff uff" when i said, "what does a dog say?" Our next door camper had a dog, tyler, that was huge (really a understatement) so it didn't really bother me that Eli kept calling him a horse, because he practically was!
While we were at the pool, Eli's mission was to keep up with the large torpedo. He would throw it & expect EVERYONE to fetch it for him. (Because he refuses to get his head or face wet).

On our last day there, Jackson really got courageous & decided he could in fact swim! He has been swimming underwater all summer, but never in water that he couldn't touch bottom in. And he wasn't willing to let go in order to swim above water at all, even in shallow water. After MUCH jumping in to an adult (mainly aunt marie!) in the deep end we realized that he was practically swimming over to the ladder on his own.
And so, after only a few practices, he did this:

I can't believe it! This water was 3 ft, which was over his head & he was so proud! (Which of course, WE were so proud too!) I just hate that he did this on the LAST day of the LAST pool trip of the summer! Next year we will be starting from scratch! I guess we will have to show him the video to prove he did it!

We had a nice time camping but we have lots to look forward to this week, also. Jackson starts his 4 year old preschool class tomorrow morning & it is also Eli's birthday! Saturday we will have a party for him at the park, so he & i have lots of errands to run this week while Jackson is off learning things!