Learning

I thought it might be fun to try and teach Eli how to eat with a spoon. I have no idea when they are ready to start doing this. Pretty sure he's not ready yet...

Big shoes...

to fill :)

Picking out a tree

This past Sunday we went out to pick out our Christmas tree. I'm not sure why having a real tree is so important to me. For some reason, every year that's what I want. I don't know if it's the amazing smell that hits me as I walk through the door, or the fact that it's not 'perfect'...because it's REAL. I hate pulling a tree out of a box. It feels so...un-Christmas to me :) I was appalled when my mother bought a FAKE tree. We had ALWAYS gotten real trees! I've gotten over it, though-especially since her tree is always amazingly beautiful (and she always seems to have a candle burning that smells like Christmas). I know that at some point we will join the masses (and the Maass'....HA! That's for you, Christine) and buy a pre-lit, store-in-the-box tree, but until that day comes, I will thoroughly enjoy picking out my tree, and smelling that wonderful scent. I don't even mind sweeping up the needles...every day until the tree comes down...and for a few weeks after that.

ALL THAT SAID, this was our trip to find our tree. We stopped at one place, and while the trees were GORGEOUS, they were also quite expensive. SO, we opted to try out a Home Depot tree...I'll let you know if it was worth it to buy a tree at half the price of the expensive ones :) Eli enjoyed looking-and feeling-the trees. This picture makes me laugh, because Edgar had rolled up Eli's sleeves. Edgar ALWAYS rolls up his sleeves, and it struck me as funny that he did the same for his son :)

Our tree!

Edgar loading it up

I KNEW we saved that obnoxiously ugly curtain for something.

This picture is for Jennifer...and her sister Tracy. When we were leaving Home Depot we noticed this newly married couple :)

We had fun picking out the tree. Edgar did most of the work-which is pretty typical. He's off the hook when it comes to decorating, though :)

A Party!

I know you have all been waiting on the edge of your seat for me to finally post pictures of Carly's party :) Actually, if you read my blog, then you probably read Jennifer's, so you already know the gritty details.

We met up at The Olive Garden (YUM!) for a fun evening of overeating (again) and celebrating Caroline's big day. Eli came along. He enjoyed his bread stick. It was cute-he kept looking around me trying to get a look at Carly. He loves his cousin!

Mommy forgot Eli's sippy cup, so we ordered Eli a drink from a restaurant for the first time. He actually did really good with it! He held right onto it and drank from the straw with no problem. The only problem came when he threw the cup on the floor. Fortunately, that lid stayed on tight!

Carly's cake. I make no claims to decorating cakes well. That's Krista's specialty :) I DO like to bake 'em, though!

The birthday girl gets to put her own candles on-FUN!

Grinnin' while we're singin'

A kiss from mommy

Blow 'em out!

And then enjoy your cake :)

I thought this cake looked SO COOL on the inside!

It was pretty fun to make. And yes, Ben had red dye free cupcakes to enjoy :) I didn't snap any pictures of those...I tried to do the 'layer thing' with those too...(yellow, green & blue) but they looked...well...not so good...but they tasted good!

Carly got sung to by the staff as well. Ben was laughing pretty hard the whole time. Carly was thrilled, I'm sure.

Eli enjoyed his Chicken Parmesan. He would scream if we stopped feeding him. Apparently he was hungry.

We had a super fun night celebrating with Caroline. She's getting to be quite the little lady! Can you believe she's already 8?!

Peek-a-boo!

I know, I KNOW, I said I would post about Carly's birthday (and her cake :) ) next, but tonight at dinner, out of nowhere, Eli started playing peek-a-boo with us. It was super cute-he's never done peek-a-boo like that (he's only ever put a blanket over his head and then pulled it off). In fact...I don't really ever do peek-a-boo with my hands like that very often, so I'm not sure where he picked it up, but he's good at it :) It was so cute I thought I'd load both videos I took. One is longer than the other. Watch one, or both. They're pretty cute, if I do say so myself.

I'll work on the other post tomorrow...I have to teach Sunday School tomorrow, and I need to finish getting ready.

Our very happy Thanksgiving

Our Thanksgiving this year was wonderful. We got up early (well...Edgar did. I didn't get up until 7:30...) and Edgar started working on the office. (There is a LOT of work to do in there! There are several very large holes in the wall that need to be filled, and the textured ceiling is dirty...not easy to clean. I think he's just about ready to paint today...) I spent the morning cleaning (it never seems to get done...) and playing with Eli. We didn't watch the parade, but we did watch this: Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving video...actually, the video on the screen is the 'Bonus feature' on the DVD...something about the Mayflower...actually quite educational. Eli watched some of it, but it's not Baby Beethoven, so he wasn't quite as captivated, but he did enjoy the music :)

I started working on Carly's birthday cake...and some cupcakes to go along with it :)

This is the cake before it's iced...the final product is coming in the next post.
Then Eli and I went for a 45-min. walk around our neighborhood. Eli could ride in his wagon all day! (I think I've mentioned that before...)

We went to the park, and Eli rode the worm...
...and went in the swing. I think he just wanted to get back in his wagon, though.
When we got back Eli took a nap (trying to move him to just one nap a day...it's going...okay...) and I got ready to go. We headed over to Eliott & Krista's at 4 (Okay...let's be honest...it was 4:30. We were a little later than we wanted to be)
We got the rest of the food ready, and went outside to take a few pictures. Most of the pictures are on Krista's camera...I need to get those from her! I'm hoping she'll post some on her blog soon!
We did get a couple cute ones of the kids with their Abuela :)

It really wasn't this dark out...blasted flash...

Krista had the table set up beautifully-she used her china. It was really nice.

At each place setting was a turkey made out of cut-outs of Katie's hand. On the back they each had verses that we read after dinner, about being thankful. It was a super cute idea!

Edgar cut the Turkey (and mom stirred the rice...and Eliott looked for the Crystal Light...)

Abuelo played with Eli

And then we ate! Eli enjoyed his Thanksgiving meal. He loved the stuffing, and dark meat...but I still think the Cranberry sauce (made from scratch by mom!) was his favorite :)

Edgar & his mom

The whole family! Isaac is trying to get out to show himself...but I think he's staying put for a couple more days!

We spent some time as a family talking about how richly God has blessed us. We really are so thankful that God continues to pour His blessings on us. Sometimes I wonder why God has chosen us to give such amazing gifts to. I have TWO amazing, wonderful families that love the Lord. I know I am truly blessed. We sang a few songs together-which was really neat. For as musical as both sides of my family is, we rarely sing together. It was beautiful.

After dinner the boys played the Wii and talked about time travel. The girls talked about babies, and timed Leilani's contractions :)

We went home around 1:00 am-we hardly ever stay out that late any more! It was such a fun day, though, and we didn't want it to end. The next morning getting up wasn't nearly as fun...

I hope your Thanksgiving was as wonderful as ours was!

Awwww...how cute!

I have a couple of posts to do...that will have to wait until tomorrow (Including our wonderful Thanksgiving), but I couldn't resist showing these pictures. Mom came over today and hung out for a while. She took Katie to the park while Eli took a nap, and when he got up she took both kids for a ride. This is what I saw as they were heading out the door: Katie was helping Eli! It was super cute! I didn't catch any pictures that weren't blurry, but you get the idea :)

I think Eli likes holding his cousin's hand!

Getting strapped into the wagon!

And off they go!

It was so nice to have a little break today while they were gone-thanks mom!