Leaves

Birthdays!

Well, we've done it. We are now the parents of a one and two-year-old. This past weekend was our big birthday bash. Here are some of the highlights:
Balloons! Luke and Eli loved having these balloons downstairs when they woke up from their nap. Thanks, Aunt Bekah, for picking them out!

Our big entertainment for the evening (other than watching two little boys) was a higly competitive game of Pin the Tail on the Donkey.

You'd think we could have gotten the birthday boy a stool or something to give him a chance.

Even Papo got in on the action.

The final results. You can't see it in this picture, but there was a tail pinned on the curtain (Dave) and one on the blue balloon (Grampa Deal).

Eli loved all his presents. It was a little scary how good he was at opening them. I love these three; he couldn't even keep his mouth shut he was so excited to have his very own shopping cart.

The birthday cake was nothing fancy, but the boys seemed to enjoy it. (Although, they look a little concerned in this picture. They weren't sure why we were lighting the food on fire.)

A Few More...

Just wanted to share some images from the past couple of weeks: Luke helping Mom hang the sheets out on the line. Both boys have loved the clothesline this summer. Eli will run through the towels hanging down with his hands up in the air, and Luke is fascinated by the clothespins. Next summer I'll have to string a small line at their height so they can be big helpers.

Have I mentioned that Eli has loved the garden? Here our "tough guy" chows down on a green pepper like it's an apple.

We drove to the southwest part of the state on a very blustery day a couple of weekends ago. We went to check out Uncle Brian's new digs (cool house Brian... I think the boys especially liked the music room) and meet baby Oliver (Tim and Michelle's sweet new bundle). We stopped for a very windy picnic on the way. Luke tried to climb a fence, and Eli...

picked a flower for his mom. Unprompted. He picked it up, sniffed it, and handed it over to me. He probably just thought it was a dud and was getting ride of it because it didn't smell like much, but I smiled about that little clover for the rest of the ride.

And this is baby Oliver. I realize that Dave is the only one that looks halfway decent in this picture, but really, it's the way life is, ya know?

Eli got to roast his first marshmallow the other night. He's so careful about anything hot, I wasn't at all concerned about him getting too close. Rather, I was a little afraid that marshmallow would never turn brown.

A bit better perspective.

Fortunately Dad stepped in to help him get that perfect toasting.

Luke was happy with a graham cracker--his absolute favorite snack.

Reading library books on the couch with Grandpa.

Look at those chompers! The tooth count is still at four, but Luke's working on a couple more. Perhaps by his birthday he'll be boasting a few more teeth.

At Aunt Bekah's park in Plainfield. The boys and I drove down to visit R.J. for a weekend. She was a great host and we had a fun time. Eli's favorite part was probably his pancake breakfast at Flapjacks. The boys were great travelers and I loved spending some time with my sis.

Pumpkin Picking

Well, I'm not really sure it's pumpkin picking per say, but we did get a few pumpkins last night. We took a family walk to the "pumkin tent" a few blocks away and picked out some good ones. Eli enjoyed helping his dad get our bounty home safely.

There wasn't much room left for Eli by the time we had loaded up our four small pumpkins, so...

He decided to help pull the wagon.

Then, after that got kind of heavy, Eli let Dad do the pulling while he helped push from behind.

Thunderstorm

Back when I was teaching I had a couple of students who were terrified of thunderstorms. If the sky started to get dark during the school day you could almost watch them melt down into their seats. I remember one boy in particular who--when the rumbles started--would almost always have teardrops accompany the raindrops falling from the sky.

So, since Eli has been young, I've always tried to be quite enthusiastic about approaching thunderstorms. We'll cheer on the lightning and "Wow-ee!" at the thunder. I'll jump up in mock surprise whenever we hear a crash and he'll grin and follow suit. He likes to watch the rain race down the windowpane with his nose pressed up against the glass. It's all very exciting.

I think we may have overdone it.

Last night we had a doozy of a storm. It really rolled in a little after 10:00 when Dave and I were heading to bed. Somehow, Luke was able to sleep through the cacophony, but Eli didn't want to miss the show. After being slightly rattled by the first few big crashes, he and I watched for a while at the window and then he crawled into our bed to listen. Finally, with thunder still rumbling in the distance, he was back in his crib and down for the night.

Or so I thought.

About forty-five minutes later, with the lightning and rain stopped, I woke up to Eli's very loud "Uh-oh!" I rushed into the boys' room, not wanting Luke to wake up. Eli's big eyes were staring up at the window and his finger was pointing. "Morn," (more) he pleaded at me. "Morn. Wanning. (raining) Morn. Pees." The boy clearly wanted another light show.

We sat in the rocker for awhile and as Eli stared wistfully at the window I quietly tried to explain to him about weather. My basic point: God's in charge of it, not mommies. I was as powerless to make the storm start again as I would have been to have made it stop. There's a lot I can do to try to get my kids ready for the storms, but I've really got no control over when they come. God's in charge of it, not mommies.

Eli woke up this morning looking forward to the next storm. He went right to the window and hoped to see more rain. I'm not sure I'm quite so enthusiastic about all the inclement weather ahead, but I'm sure glad that God's in charge of it, not mommies.

Hot Air Balloons

It's the hot air balloon festival in Midland. We went to the fairgrounds tonight to watch more than sixty balloons fill the sky. All three boys thought it was "very, very neat." My favorite part may have been that they handed out free glow-in-the-dark necklaces to all the kids. Eli and Luke both got one which means that I have two around my own neck right now. I've always loved these things. Watching the landing. (Eli was sure to turn around and warn me, "Hot!" whenever they flared the burner to put more hot air into the balloon.)

Luke was most interested in the skydivers as they zoomed in for a landing. Oh boy. He has to wait until he turns 21... like his Uncle Bobby.

And just because these two boys are so darn cute...

First time finger-painter. Eli's impression: "Dirty."

Luke in the rainy-day-tunnel. We only open this puppy up when it's raining outside so it's always exciting. You should see both of them pass through at the same time... on top of Dave. It's quite a squeeze!

Talking

Eli is becoming quite the little talker. He still mostly parrots the words Dave and I say to him, but he's beginning to initiate more and more of his "own" vocabulary. He is constantly pointing out clocks, chalk, and socks. (I think he must be especially fond of the "ock" sound.) Many times a day he reminds me where his nose, cheek, and belly are located. He seems to be quite concerned that one of us will touch something hot so he's sure to warn us whenever we're by the fireplace or he sees a candle. "Hot." And then he repeats it with a very serious face and a finger pointing at the offending object. "Hot." Just today he started putting together a few two word combinations: "brother water" when looking at the picture of himself and Luke in the kitchen sink and "shoe on" just before going for an afternoon walk. In the following video he's just spotted a bunny in the backyard. (I actually think it was a squirrel, but the night before it had been a rabbit. They're both furry little rodents. You can't blame the kid for mixing 'em up.)