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!

Randoms of October

The month of October has truly flown by! The weather has been teasing us with some cooler temps and it's finally starting to feel like fall. Life has been pretty full these days, with little time/energy to blog, so here are some things we've been up to recently in an effort to catch-up.

Plenty of baking, especially recipes involving pumpkin!

Cuddling under comfy, warm throw-blankets. Poor guy had his 1st ear-infection. Boo!

Making cool crafts at pre-school. Eli was super proud of his dog head-band!

Making more fun crafts at home. Boy loves using a glue stick!

Visiting the bears at the Life and Science Museum

Fall FanFest at the Durham Bulls Ballpark

Eli went on his first field-trip last week. His class visited a local farm with school. We saw lots of animals and he got to pick-out a pumpkin to take home. He loved that!

And for a bit of a laugh, this is how I found Eli after his afternoon nap recently. This was actually the first time he had ever done something like this, so I consider myself very lucky! Love those sweet cheeks!

Apple Picking 2012

Three weeks ago Mark, Eli, Baby Boy, and I joined my family for our annual Apple Picking weekend. This year we decided to do things a little differently and relocated our festivities to LakeNear (my parent's place in the mountains of western VA.) The setting may have been different but the memories and fun made together were just as priceless as years past. Here are a few of the highlights from our weekend:

Each morning began with a little cousin breakfast bonding

There were also some "tractor" rides with Grandaddy (Erin and I may have joined in on the fun too!)

We enjoyed a yummy pre-apple-picking picnic lunch...albeit some VERY chilly and WINDY conditions. Not really any pics of the meal but the kiddos had a blast playing at a nearby creek.

Our family hill-rolling tradition continued...I did NOT roll this year.

There was a bit of posing with some pumpkins

A Blacksmith Lesson

And some Apple-Picking of course!

There may have been a stop for some ice-cream on our way back afterwards. Picking apples is hard work!

The guys treated us to a Mega-Pancake, bacon, and egg breakfast on Sunday morning. It was delicious and a wonderful treat to us ladies, especially!

And most of all, there was plenty of quality-time with everyone together. We are blessed!