Sunday, November 28, 2010

a whole lot of thanking

and a whole lot of pictures - consider yourself warned!

Wednesday: Thanksgiving parties at school. I originally wasn't sure if I would make it but Eli and Cole were both so happy to see me when I did. I spent a few minutes in Eli's room, then some time in Cole's room and then took Cole to Eli's room. Cole absolutely LOVES being in there with the big kids. He sat at the table next to Eli and then, when he was finished, found his favorite shopping cart. Eli ended up shutting down the kiddie table, still eating after everyone else was finished.

Eating Thanksgiving snacks at the big kid table
Cole kept running and running around the room with the shopping cart.
Eli & Evan were stalling to not go home and were playing at the work bench center. They said they were building a house.
After the party, I braved the grocery store (actually 2 of them!) with both boys. Thank heavens for race car carts - they love it!

Thursday - Thanksgiving Day: We spent the day at home - a quiet family day. Cole took an early nap and while he napped, Tim, Eli & I raked leaves in the back yard. It made me feel like a kid again because we used to rake my Great Grandmother's leaves every year before having Thanksgiving lunch. I hated it then but now it's a great memory. Working together, it didn't take long for us to get it done. Cole woke up in time to eat lunch and then it was time for Eli to take a nap. While Eli was napping, Cole & I did our own little turkey trot - a walk with a teeny tiny bit of running in there. It was nice to be outside. Then we played until Eli woke up. Dinner was a nice family dinner at the dining room table - country style steak, mashed potatoes and green beans. The boys went to bed fairly easy, something Tim & I were very thankful for.

Picking up sticks and pine cones and anything else he could find.
Such a great raking helper.
He loved driving through the leaves with his truck. If you recall, this is also his pool truck.
Cute!
After nap, Eli got it in his head that he was going to wear the fire hat everywhere.
Cole got in on the leaf action just a little bit. He wasn't sure what to think.
Oh the cuteness!
Eli's new thing - hurling himself down the slide. He got quite a bit of air.
Makings of a tantrum. Still a cutie though!

Friday: After breakfast, Cole & I did a little shopping at Bed, Bath & Beyond and Target. Nothing extreme and more to get out of the house than anything. Once we got home, I started packing for our trip to see Grandma & Grandpa N. We were headed to their house for a big family weekend - Tim's brother and his family came up from Florida. We were excited because Eli & Cole have never met their cousins. The boys were all excited and had a blast playing with each other right off the bat. Thankfully the cousins are older and kept Eli & Cole occupied and watched after them really well.

Friday morning, Silly boys putting muffins on their heads. Monkey see, Monkey do!
On the drive down, Cole was playing peek-a-boo with me. He was so funny doing it.
Early in our visit, Cole discovered Grandma's pan / cutting board cabinet. He walked miles around the house dragging either a cookie sheet or, as seen here, a cutting board.
Bedtime stories with Daddy.
Pre-bed snuggles with Mommy.

Saturday: A big day - the whole family (aunts, uncles, Tim's cousins, etc) was coming over early afternoon for a family fun time and eating. The day started off with the boys playing outside while Tim & I ran an errand with Cole. I think Cole enjoyed the alone time and Eli enjoyed the play time with the big boys. I swear he went from 3-1/4 (that's what he'll tell you) to 5 or 6 over the weekend. Everyone started arriving about 2pm and Eli kept on playing. Both boys ran around and played until they couldn't stay awake any more. It was fun to see all of Tim's relatives and catch up a bit. Saturday night was a little rough in that Cole was very fussy (like crying and screaming for hours) - so much so that we finally resorted to Tim driving him around to get him to sleep. It worked but when Tim tried to get him out of the car seat, he started again so off Tim went again and then when it was time to get out, Tim brought the whole car seat inside with Cole in it! After that, we had a pretty decent night of sleep.

Tim and his brother enjoying a cup of coffee - notice no kids in the picture!
Cousins: Rodney, Cole, Eli and John.
Rodney & John made a go-cart like contraption out of spare pieces in Grandpa's workshop. Here Rodney and Eli are pulling John.
Eli & Cole also learned about green army men this weekend. They have had fun playing with them.
During picture time, my cuties. I think the photographer probably got better ones than this but this is what I got on my camera.
1st and 2nd cousins - notice how happy Cole was to have his picture made. Front Row: Cole, Landon, Jake, Emma. Back: Eli, John, Rodney, Morgan.
Eli fell asleep on the couch on Daddy.
He woke up for a bit and then fell asleep again on me. Wore himself out!
Rodney reading Cole a book.

Sunday: The boys spent the morning playing together, inside and outside, before we all had to pack it up and head home. Tim's brothers' family had to get to the airport and we had to drive home. It was a busy weekend but we had so much fun seeing everyone and enjoying all the chaos that a big family gathering brings.
Daddy and his boys - yummy pancake breakfast.
Cole learned about dipping this weekend. He loved dipping his biscuit in pancake syrup and ketchup.
Tim's brother, Dad and him plus all the boys.
The whole crew including Grandma (who worked so hard with everyone there. Thanks Grandma!)
Cole didn't want to oblige anyone with a smile during pictures but he sure did cheese it up at breakfast.
Tim with the boys and nephews / cousins. Neither Eli nor Cole were excited about another picture.
Me with the boys and nephews / cousins.

Monday, November 22, 2010

Celebrating Grace - a fun 3rd birthday party

Yesterday we had a blast celebrating Grace's birthday - Eli's friend (and girlfriend if you ask him!). We went to Pump It Up. I had never been there before and it was so much fun. We started in one room - had the inflatables all to ourselves and played for about 45 minutes. Then we moved to another room of inflatables for another 45 minutes. Then it was off to the party room where we had pizza and yummy cake. There were a lot of Eli's friends from school there. He had fun playing air hockey - I was completely surprised at how good the kids' eye / hand coordination is to play it pretty well. Eli had fun on the inflatables and wore himself out. I went on a few with him and they were a lot of fun! I'm usually the one who believes in / wants to have birthday parties at our house but if I were to do one somewhere, I think Pump It Up would be the place. It's like having your own bouncey playground!

Grace, the birthday girl - such a sweet 3 year old.
Eli loved hitting the puck around. He would throw his hands in the air and cheer when he scored.
Eli & Evan playing a friendly game of air hockey.
I love Eli's expressions in pictures. He was having a blast.
Coming down the BIG slide....
Head first....
and then just falling down it.
The birthday party gang - Eli's wasn't the only one who had a meltdown during the party (he had at least 5 or 10 of them!).
Boys being boys - Eli, Evan & Nicholas.
Giving the birthday girl a goodbye hug.

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Our 1st (of many) Thanksgiving Celebration - at the farm

This weekend, we made a quick trip to the farm for our 1st Thanksgiving celebration with Grandma & Grandpa C. For all of my life, I have celebrated Thanksgiving with my Grandparents (the boys' Great-Grandparents) but this year we decided to stay home Thanksgiving Day. But then, I couldn't imagine not seeing my Grandparents so we made quick trip to see them.

We left Saturday about 2pm and the boys did great driving down, sleeping over half the way. We went straight to my Great-Grandparents for early Thanksgiving dinner. All the traditional yummy dishes - turkey, dressing, potatoes, lima beans, corn, mac n cheese, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce....oh yeah, it all started with lime punch. YUM! Cole was all about the punch and didn't want to eat anything opting instead for his small cup of punch. Eli ate pretty well and enjoyed eating in the living room (sitting on the floor) with a bunch of the grown ups. After dinner and some family time, we headed to the farm. The boys loved checking out all of the toys at Grandma & Grandpa's house. Cole gave us a hard time going to bed but Eli played so hard that he easily went to sleep. Thankfully we had a good night and the boys slept until about 7am.

Sunday morning the boys (and Grandma & Grandpa) were so excited to go outside, run around and see the animals. They weren't out there long when Eli came back inside upset and crying that one of the cows "moo'd" at him. He didn't want them making noise at him. He quickly got over it and headed to help Grandpa feed the chickens and check out the other animals. Cole loved running around all over and making animal sounds when I asked about different animals. The boys played and played until lunch time. After lunch, we packed it up and started the drive home. The drive went pretty well but Eli & Cole both got antsy once we got close to home. We happily unloaded everyone and then Eli & I hopped back in the car to head to a birthday party (more on that in my next post).

All in all it was probably our best visit / trip in a long while. The boys were well behaved, sleeping went well and overall the drive wasn't too bad. Ok, so the last hour in the truck with the dvd player helped a lot! Thanks Mom (Grandma) for all the yummy food and for taking such good care of us on our visit.

Cole and his "cheese" face - taking a break from his punch.
Me and my Grandpa
Eli in the floor ready for dinner.
At the dinner table, all Cole cared about was his punch cup.
My Mom and Grandparents - so thankful for them.
Eli had fun riding the tricycle around Grandma's house.
This little duck toy was a trip - both boys had fun with it. You pushed it and the legs were rubber and they flopped as it went along the floor.
Cole loved climbing in this rocking chair. So cute - it was my Mom's little rocking chair!
Grandpa chasing Eli with the duck.
Cole checking out the farm grounds.
The animal menagerie.
Eli feeding the chickens.
Staredown - Eli vs. the goat.
I love my boys!!
Cole also had fun trying to ride the tricycle. We took turns pushing him around the house.
Oh my word......that face!
Eli & Cole got Toy Story Christmas ornaments from Grandma. Eli immediately starting making the ornament fly.
Cole and Uncle Billy. The boys also got great Christmas ornaments from Uncle Billy & Miss Niki.
Such a sweet picture.
Grandma & her boys - she loves them SO much.
There's just something women like about a pickup man - hanging in the back of Uncle Billy's truck.