A little bit of this, a little bit of that...

Since I never post anything when it actually happens...or in chronological order for that matter, today we are going to recap a very special visit from Grandpa (my dad), which actually happened two weeks ago. Eva was here at the same time and we crammed a lot of activities into that week, none of which were properly documented on film...I've become lazy with the camera lately.


Some highlights from this trip:


*Eva and I had the bright idea to put up outside christmas lights. We didn't really think through the whole process, so thankfully dad purchased the lights and spent several hours on the roof while we stood on the ground overseeing the whole project. They turned out just lovely and it was just what I needed to add a little christmas cheer around here. We even had a lighting ceremony later that night after our dinner party (dinner was just the four of us...I just like to turn everything into a party). The ceremony consisted of everyone going outside and dad plugging in the lights. It was really long and involved.

*Dad brought a whole truck load of tools for Dustin. Dustin has been looking for excuses to use all his new tools ever since. He is seriously like a little kid with toys when it comes to tools. Speaking of tools...I also got my very own pink tool set and I could not be more excited about it. I am always digging through Dustin's tool shed trying to find a hammer or screwdriver and never can locate what I need, but now I'm set for any decorating or toy battery replacement challenge that may present itself.

* Eva and I did a LOT of cooking and baking. We made the best banana crumb muffins I have ever had in my life and we made Pioneer Woman's cinnamon rolls for some of the boys' Bible class teachers and special people at church. I love to bake, but I really love to bake with Eva (mostly because she always rolls the dough for me...thanks, Eve.)

*Dad had to work one day and was gone most of the day, so Eva and I had a photo shoot with Eli and Landon trying to get the perfect pictures for a Christmas card. Thanks to Eva's nice camera, her patience, and her willingness to freeze outside in the cold, we got a few good ones.

Eli

 

 Landon

 

* Eva and I managed to watch several movies: Julia & Julia (or Julie & Julia or Julia & Julie...whatever that movie is), My Sister's Keeper (disappointing after reading the book), Four Christmases (I could take it or leave it), and it seems like we watched another one, but I can't remember. 

* And last, but certainly not least...dad got us a new toilet. I won't go into the details of the old one and how disgusting it was...just take my word for it. We have a brand new, shiny, white toilet.  It's wonderful and it even came with free installation (by dad)!

We had a great time hanging out, eating, shopping, watching movies, and just spending time together. Thanks, Dad for coming all the way out here to see us! We love you.

Merry Christmas To Me.

Santa brought my gift early: Eli and Landon are now pushing furniture around to expand their climbing possibilities. 

Awesome.

I must have been really good this year.

Happy Holidays!

Catching Up

Neva was so sweet to mail me my camera, so here are a few pictures from several weeks ago:

Eli and Landon love their rocking horses. They actually have three horses and they will spend a significant amount of time rotating around getting on and off each horse. It's quite comical. 

Eli likes to throw his head back when he rides.

Bath time

Playing in the dirt.

Watching the Iraan Braves in the playoffs

The rest of the pictures are from Thanksgiving:

Eli sitting on Amy (well...more like sitting on Brynna). Brynna was born today and we are so excited for Cameron and Amy!

Well...that catches us up. I'm going to get busy taking new pictures now.

14 Months

Eli and Landon are 14 months old today. I just love this age! They are so much fun to play with and they learn something new everyday. They are starting to enjoy simple games like build a wall of blocks and knock it down, throwing balls back and forth, hide and go seek (sort of...I'm always the one hiding and I have to make noises so they can "find" me even though I'm almost in plain sight), and just last night we played ring around the rosie which was a huge hit. They now laugh at things that could actually be funny. They are such a joy.

But they have also formed other, not so attractive habits like throwing fits when something goes even slightly not their way, biting each other to get toys, and hitting each other with blunt objects. Just this past week Eli bit Landon on the cheek so hard that it bled. He still has a bruise and teeth marks on his face 5 days later. Eli is so quick and I very rarely am able to catch him in the act, making it hard to discipline him. Discipline is another thing I struggle with. I try hard to be consistent with rules and consequences, but some days I feel like that is all I do. Sigh...

Here are a few notes about each of the boys:

Landon -

The biggest difference between last month and this month with Landon is his new-found love of climbing. This boy will climb on anything and everything. I have to make sure the dining room table chairs are always pushed in, or I'll find him standing on top of the table. He constantly crawls up on top of the coffee table in the living room and on the couches. Just yesterday, I was hanging up clothes, took my eyes off of him for about 30 seconds, and he had climbed up onto a stool and then climbed onto Dustin's bedside table. By the time I saw him, he was standing right on the edge of that little table. Anyone else have climbers? How did you handle it?

Landon has finally started giving me kisses. He is not excited about it, he does not enjoy it, and he is very picky about when he does it, but when he does...it makes me feel like the most important person in the world. He cracks me up.

I just don't know if I can adequately describe Landon's sweet nature. He's tenderhearted and a little bashful at times. He's got the most kissable cheeks and when he talks (which he does A LOT), he squints his eyes and moves his head from side to side. It's adorable.

I am totally smitten with this guy!

Eli -

I am constantly amazed at how different Eli and Landon are from each other. It's kind of hard to explain their differences, but just a little time spent with them makes it very obvious. Eli is a little more outgoing and a little more particular about everything. He knows what he wants and he'll do anything to get it. Eli has the most infectious laugh and the goofiest smile I've ever seen. I just can't help but smile when he does. He is also a fan of climbing, but he's not quite as eager about it.

Eli is quite the daredevil though. If an activity doesn't have an element of danger to it...he's altogether not interested. He loves his rocking horse, but he wants to stand up and rock, while only holding on with one hand. He likes to ride on his car standing up as well. He likes to crawl on the couch and run from one side to the other and then teeter on the edge. You would think the several falls he's taken would deter this kind of activity, but...he's either a slow learner or doesn't care.

Eli is my very enthusiastic kisser. He smiles really big, opens his mouth as wide as he can, sticks his tongue out, and licks the whole side of your face. Then he laughs. Seriously...is there anything sweeter than that? I'll be the first to admit, depending on the amount of slobber already surrounding his mouth and the length of the kiss...it can get pretty disgusting, but I still can't resist his kisses. He'll be busy playing and every now and then, come over on his own to kiss mine or Dustin's cheek. Precious.


Well...that's what the boys are up to these days.

I still don't have a camera, so here are a few old ones.

We're having a huge celebration today because both Eli and Landon slept all night in THEIR OWN BEDS last night. It has been over four months since that has happened! I'm just so excited.

This is what it's usually like:

I present to you: More Laughing Babies

These boys were supposed to be napping...




But, who wants to nap when you can laugh?

A Little Encouragement...

I came across this article a couple of weeks ago and I have thought about it many times since then, so I went searching for it again this morning to share it with you.

Just in case you might know someone who this applies to...

Five Things That Are Worse Than Being In Debt

I love what she says about children, and I love what she says about being in the home, and I love what she says about husbands. This was really just the encouragement I needed.

Happy Thursday!

Vacation Part II

I'd love to tell you about Thanksgiving and post all our pictures, but I left my camera in Iraan....so I'll continue on with our vacation and come back to Thanksgiving at a later date. It was great though!


After we left Iraan, we headed to College Station. On our way through Austin we met up with my best friend from high school, Erin and had dinner. I LOVE that girl!

In College Station, we spent a few nights with some good friends, Chris and Jenny and we got to visit a lot of people we haven't seen since before the boys were born. The congregation there was having a gospel meeting with John Hall, so that made it even better! We planned every day around meals, visited as many people as we could, saw my friend Sue in the nursing home, stayed up way too late talking and playing 42, and had an all around great time!


This is the one and only picture I took the whole three days in College Station:

After College Station, we headed to San Marcos to see Eva, Kathryn, and Andy. There are a ton of things to do around that area, but Eli and Landon are a bit young for most of it, so the one full day we spend there, we took the boys to Wonderworld Park. I guess the joke around those parts is the park is named that because you wonder why you went. But for two one year old boys, it was the perfect activity.

Here is Wonderworld Park in pictures:

(disclaimer: we don't generally dress like hobos. Our wardrobe is brought to you in part by this.is.the.last.day.of.our.vacation.and.all.our.clothes.are.dirty and I.only.packed.sweaters.because.it's.November.and.supposed.to.be.cold.)

 

Basically, the "park" consists of riding a little train into a small wildlife park on the other side of this mountain.

Feeding the deer:

They tried to get into the train car with us. They were definitely not scared of us.

Me and Eva

So I remember giving Dustin the camera, posing, and smiling for a picture with Eva, but somehow it never got taken...could have been the cameraman's fault...but either way...these are the only pictures of Eva, who graciously guided us around San Marcos and photographed the day.

We left the park and met John for lunch on the river.

We headed back to Iraan that night and then returned home to work a few days on the house. Hopefully I'll get to show you my new bathroom floor very soon.


This week may not seem at all exciting to anyone else, but I had a great time traveling with Dustin and the boys and seeing so many of our friends. It was nice to just be together the whole week. Eli and Landon did amazingly well the whole trip. They were totally flexible with their schedules and happy in the car. It makes me so excited to take family trips in the future when we can do things that they will really enjoy.


A big "thank you" to Chris and Jenny as well as Kathryn and Andy for their hospitality and general tolerance of me and my children - we can be a lot to handle at times!