1st Pre-School Thanksgiving

Yesterday, Eli and I got to experience his very 1st pre-school Thanksgiving celebration. (Daddy had to work. Boo!) His class dressed-up as Native Americans/Indians/First Americans (whatever they are being called these days) and joined the other classes in performing a few quick songs in the gym. My son was one of the only ones to refuse to wear his feather headdress (not too much of a surprise there) and I think he was turned towards the back of the risers they were on, to watch the bigger kids, for most of the time they performed. It was still fun to watch, though.

After the short performance, we "feasted" on various Thanksgiving dishes together. In true Eli fashion, he was most excited about the dessert table and kept trying to convince me he needed just one more cookie or sliver of pumpkin pie. He's such a mess!

We were sent home with a couple special pieces of artwork they had been working on in class that totally melted my heart. I mean, how long will he tell his teachers that he is thankful for his mommy. So sweet! It still feels surreal to be in this new season of school and holiday performances, but I'm loving every minute of it!


"What? There are cookies on yonder table?"

Car Wash

My car has been in pretty desperate need of a good wash-down for quite some time. These days Eli absolutely LOVES to "help" his daddy do anything and everything, so this was so much fun for him. A few soaked outfits, sponges, and rags later, my car was clean and sparkling again. Very thankful for my boys who take care of me so well!

Pictures and Such

The reality that we probably have a little under 2 months before baby boy's arrival is quickly setting in. So, over the past week Mark and I kicked ourselves into high-gear to get things moving on Eli's new "big-boy room." After 5 years in our current home, my husband had to say good-bye to his dorm-room/office. He is mourning the loss of his massive desk space but has been so wonderful in helping re-organize and set-up Eli's new space. I've promised him that someday he will have an office again, it just may be some time down the road. Probably when all our kids are out of the house!

Despite all the hard-work going on around here, we made sure to have some fun this week. Gotta keep things balanced!

First, Eli helped me change-out our Halloween decor to Thanksgiving. The highlight for him being the placement of the window-clings on our back-door. Please note the careful sorting job with the apples and pumpkins. He was very proud of this.

Eli felt like accessorizing a bit this evening. These sunglasses didn't last much longer after the picture was taken. So sad.

Aunt Erin graced us with a very quick visit while she was in the area for a seminary class. Always a good time to be had when she is here!

We made a "T" Turkey to make our kitchen a bit more festive

Checked-out a sweet firetruck during our trip to Lowes (I seriously think we saw about 5 firetrucks while we were out and about that morning!)

Eli finally got a replacement Grem (the orange lemon car from Cars 2). We're not quite sure what happened to his first one but are pretty confident he will come out of hiding now that he's been replaced. All I know is that we have one happy boy now that Grem and Acer are back together. It's the simple things in life!

Halloween 2012

Eli spent most of the month of October eagerly anticipating the arrival of Halloween. We don't do too much around here to celebrate, just decorate with some pumpkins and go trick-or-treating, but he loved it none-the-less. It's amazing how much more excited he was about everything this year! It made everything that more fun!

On Tuesday evening, we carved our pumpkins. Eli pretty much supervised us while we carved, but he did enjoy looking inside to see all of the guts and seeds when I opened our pumpkins up. I offered for him to help me clean-out the seeds but he adamantly refused, saying it was too gross and slimy. I must admit, I was the exact same way growing up. Maybe next year he'll be more willing to help-out.

Last night we waited for Daddy to get home to go trick-or-treating. Eli was so excited to go this year, I didn't even have to bribe him to put on his monkey costume! It was so much easier than last year! Our friend Ashley and her sweet dog Maddie joined us too. We went to houses for about an hour and then our little guy was DONE. Boy got quite the haul, though. I think his Daddy was most excited about that! We ate a few pieces of candy when we got back home and Eli went right to bed. Trick-or-treating is hard work but he's already looking forward to next year. Guess he'll have to show little brother how it's done!

Oh, and don't worry, Mark came up with this last-minute costume for baby brother. He didn't want him to feel left out. It was quite the hit!

Pumpkin Patch

Eli and I had the opportunity to join my parents on a visit to a pumpkin patch recently. The weather was absolutely perfect and our little guy took his job to find Mommy and Daddy the perfect pumpkins very seriously!