Visit from Grammy and Pappy

My parents came out for a visit the end of Sept., beginning of Oct.  As always, it was a wonderful time together.

 

Grammy and Adam, wearing the hat she brought for the boys

 

 

 

The boys had “rediscovered” the swings and Alex had gotten over his fear of heights (the fear only existed on the swings!) and they couldn’t get enough of Pappy’s assistance!

 

 

The four of us in Michigan at the Bakosh’s cabin

 

 

 

Pappy watching and helping Alex do one of his favorite things, spell words.  I think he was spelling Grammy, then he did Pappy.

  

Leaving too soon!!!!

Alex’s 4th birthday

Alex turned 4 on Sept. 20th.  We had a small party, just the four of us, and surprised him with a decorated house.  He loves parties!

 

walking into the eating area and reacting to the decorations

 

 

 

 

At the time he was really into a classic Mickey Mouse DVD so that was our theme.

 

 

We had a really hard time finding a gift for him because there just isn’t one thing he is into.  He loves Wii and computer games - basically anything electronic with a screen!  I don’t think he cared about the clothes but he seemed happy with the gifts we picked out.

 

Wii Mario Kart car

 

 

 

 

 

Razor scooter just like Adam’s

 

 

Gotta give it a try!!

Now, time for the most important thing . . . cake!!!!

 

Mickey was invited to the party!

 

 

 

 

The best part of a party, as far as Alex is concerned!!  Happy Birthday, Munchie!!!!!

Omaha Zoo with Grandma and Papa

We were in Omaha, NE in August for the wedding of one of Travis’ best friend’s, Keith Swanson.  It was a quick trip but we couldn’t leave without a visit to the Henry Doorly Zoo.  Trav and I haven’t been in years and were so excited to go back.  It truly is one of the best zoos I have ever been to and I’ve been to San Diego and Sydney, Australia.

 

Travis and I have a picture of us sitting on these lions probably 12 or 13 years ago!  The desert dome, in the back, was not built then.

 

 

 

 

 

The cats were so active that day.  This snow leopard had been staring at the window as if she was watching us!

 

 

This gorgeous little one was born on June 22nd (Carey’s birthday).  Just adorable!!

 

 

 

When we walked by about 30 minutes later, we watched her wake up, stretch and step over mom to eat.  Of course, mom never budged! 

 

 

 

On a train that took us around the zoo – probably Alex’s favorite part!!

 

 

The rest of these are in the Leid Jungle.

 

 

Funny Adam conversations

This is the conversation I overheard one morning.  My 5 1/2 yr. old talking to his best buddy, Will (also 5 1/2) - "Hey, Will.  Do you know what your nuts are?  They are your testicles.  You know, those round things by your penis and when you squeeze them it hurts your stomach?  Those are your nuts!"  I found out later that he had asked Travis the night before what your “nuts” are.  And Adam came up with the hurting your stomach realization on his own!

We jokingly tell Adam that we don’t want him anymore and we are going to throw him in the trash can.  He’s comment to me one day when I said that to him, “Well, Mom, I’m going to throw you in the recycling bin and they are going to make something new out of you!”  I’m quite impressed at his understanding of recycling!

Adam has a lot of questions about God and Jesus (and LOTS of other things!).  He asked us once who God’s father was and I tried to explain that God didn’t have a mother or father, God was always here.  He must of not been satisfied with my answer because the next time we went to church, and he went up to the altar with the other kids to get his kids bulletin, he asked the priest the very same question!!  The priest announced this to the church and then gave him the answer – that God is the only person without a mother or father.

Always interesting with Alex

Alex seems to continually find ways to make us laugh and remind us of just how bright he is.  We often say grace, but sometimes add our own “personal” prayer (our friends, Rick and Laura, often do a personal grace and the boys have noticed).  So at times, I or Adam have said our prayer.  Now Alex likes to do it.  He’s prayer usually goes something like, “Thank you God, mumble, mumble, mumble thank you for the Wii, mumble, mumble, and outside, mumble, mumble, and the slide, mumble, mumble, Amen!!  It’s so adorable because he folds his fingers and puts his head down and everything!

Old McDonald is such a great song.  Tons of animals to sing about, right?  Alex has to take it up a notch.  We started singing this before bed and I let Alex pick the animals.  He picks 5 as I’m singing and then I go through all the sounds at the very end.  He starts with farm animals, but then decided to add a giraffe.  I asked him what sound a giraffe made and he said “mmmm”. That apparently is also what a zebra and butterfly says.  Then he said that Old Mc Donald has a humpback whale on his farm!!  The noise a humpback whale make is “ah-oooo”, which is actually from a Diego show.

So I’m preparing myself for new animals but he changes it on me.  Did you know that the farmer has lots of instruments?  Like a guitar, piano, horn, accordion, etc.!  Coming up with those sounds are pretty funny!!

Alex has been the in the state of a kiss can cure anything.  Which is adorable, especially when he bumps his head and he tells us he hurt his hair!  And he loves kissing us when something hurts, too.

This happened a few months ago but still makes me laugh.  Milt and Carol were hear for a visit and he was trying to get Milt to play Wii.  Milt said that papa doesn’t know how to play.  So Alex handed him the instruction manual!!

First day of school

We weren’t ready for summer to end but were so excited to get back to school.  Adam started kindergarten at Prairie Point Elementary (go Panthers!).  He is in the half-day program, afternoon class, with Mrs. Huddlestun.  As excited as he was to start, once we got to school, he was a little nervous and apprehensive, but he’s doing well.

 

 

Daddy was off that day so he was able to go with us.

 

 

 

Alex started a few days later.  He is back at Brokaw Early Learning Center (yeah, Bluejays!) and we are so happy to have him with Mrs. Howell again, he’s teacher last year.  Though he is so familiar with the place, he wasn’t too happy to walk in the first few days but is now back to his routine.

 

He likes carrying his back pack this year!

 

 

Waiting inside to walk down the hall way to his room.

Adam lost his first tooth!!!!

Adam first noticed his loose tooth a few months ago, right before a dentist appointment.  She informed us that we would probably have a few months before it would come out.  A eek ago, I checked it and it was really loose.  He attempted to eat corn on the cob and it hurt too much (poor guy started to cry because he loves corn on the cob!).  I laughed and said that a Jimmy John’s sandwich (Adam’s favorite) would probably do the trick.  For those of you who don’t have Jimmy John’s, it’s an awesome sandwich shop in our area.  Adam loves their white rolls and they are a bit tough.  When he gets the sandwiches, he always saves half of it for the next day.  Day two of the sandwich,  Adam is eating and says, very calmly, “Mom, my tooth just came out!”, and he proceeds to show me the tooth now in his fingers.  The best part of the story is after we quickly check out the tooth and  the empty spot in his mouth, he says his mouth hurts, so he drinks some water, swishes it around his mouth, says, “that’s better” and then finishes his sandwich!!  And then we call Daddy.

Thanks to Auntie Colleen, he has a super cute tooth pillow.  We prepared for the arrival of the tooth fairy.  I’m honestly not sure who was more excited, possibly me!  The next morning, he wakes up, wanting to watch Lilo and Stitch, saying nothing about the tooth fairy – it drove me nuts!!  So I mention, about 2 hours  later, “how does your mouth feel?”  Then he remembers the pillow.  The tooth fairy thought the first tooth deserved an extra bounty so he received 5 $1 bills.  And that’s what he told me, “Mom, she didn’t leave me money, just bills.”  So I had to explain to Adam that bills are worth more than quarters!  Goodness!!

Eloe boys at the end of May

Goodness!  The things the boys do and the words that come out of their mouths!  These are some of my favorite moments in May:

Adam:

While watching Dancing with the Stars with me (good boy!), he asks why Travis and I don’t dance like that.  I told him that maybe one day we would take lessons.  He informed me that when he gets married, he and his wife will dance together!

 

Adam before his Spring Program at school.  He really wanted to wear a tie!!! 

 

 

 

 

On school days, I often leave the house in a baseball cap and glasses to drop the boys off and with the intention to workout and then shower before I pick them up.  Adam informed me that he does not like that look!!

Adam was dawdling one morning so I picked out his clothes.  Even though I told him that the shirt I picked was one of my favorites, he didn’t want to wear it.  So he picked out his own.  Later that afternoon he tells me that he feels bad that he didn’t wear my favorite shirt so he wants to change into his t-shirt that reads “Mom Rules” to make up for it!

I bought a slip ‘n’ slide and Adam couldn’t wait to get it out.  I told him we had to wait until the temperature got into the 80’s.  We also got out our very old and small kid pool.  Adam asked me one day if it was warm enough for the slide and the “cat” pool.  I asked what a “cat” pool was and he said, “that’s what you’ve been calling our little pool, a “kitty” pool!”  I explained that I was saying “kiddie” pool!

Adam loves the music from Glee, especially their cover of Journey’s, “Don’t Stop Believing”!  Gotta love it!

Daddy doesn’t push it at all, but both boys enjoy picking up their golf clubs and trying to hit a few.  Adam has been to the range with Daddy, and asks for more.  He’s getting pretty good!

Alex:

What a memory this kid has!  He has two of his books memorized, “My Truck is Stuck” and “There was a Coyote”, which isn’t short.  When we read the books to him, he’ll say, “Mommy’s turn” when he wants me to read it and “Alex’s turn” when he wants to recite the story!

 

Alex playing peek-a-boo in a tunnel at his school playground.

 

 

 

He is now very picky about the music we listen to in the car.  So I’m official DJ again for the boys.  And he does not like it when someone else sings along!  He doesn’t sing with the song either, but will sing around the house – so cute!  He loves Laurie Berkner and the songs from The Backyardigans and Phineas and Ferb.

Besides songs, he is now a big fan of Dora and Diego.  And that’s nice because Adam never watched those shows.

He keeps surprising us with his speech.  It gets better and better every day.  One morning, I called out to the boys asking where they were.  Alex replied, with perfect pitch, “I in the basement!”.  Another time he was waking up from a nap and I asked if he was ready to go downstairs, he responded, “yes, I am!”

He has also transition his response from “yes”, to “yah”, to “yep”!  I don’t think any of us say, “yep”!

He learned the cutest song at school, “One Small Voice”.  When he sings it, it couldn’t be cuter. 

We are seeing a very stubborn side to Alex.  When he doesn’t want to do something or doesn’t like something, he exclaims, “No, I na not to do it!”  Sometimes that is ended with a “hmph” and his arms being flung across his chest or shoving his arms down to his side.  I have a very hard time keeping a straight face!!

More in a few days . . .

Eloe boys at the end of April

So many great stories and updates. I’ll try to do these more often so that we don’t have such a list! But for now, here we go!

Adam:

One of our crazy-warm days in April. He couldn’t wait to play in the sprinkler!

 

We finally broke down and bought him a booster seat. The car seat he had was good for up to 65 lbs. and I loved the 5 point harness. But poor guy, he was getting embarrassed that he was the only one of his friends not in a booster. He is so excited now!

We’ve been talking a lot about kindergarten and Adam wanted to know when he would meet his teacher and see his classroom. We told him that he would be able to check everything out during “kindergarten round-up”. He asked, “do we get to round up horses?” Ah, that would be fun!

Adam came home one day telling us all about supersonic jets and that they travel at the speed of sound. Now, he wants to fly one!

I have to tell this story because it was just too funny. Adam came up to me one day, cupped my breasts and said, “Mom, what is IN these things?” I tried to explain as best as I could!

One day, I pointed out that a robin was in our yard getting worms. We watched her poking around working at getting one from the ground but it didn’t look like she was getting it. Adam said, “I bet the worms friends are pulling him back down into the dirt so that she can’t eat him.”

Adam has one girl in his preschool class – only one – named Lily. He informed me that Lily was his girlfriend, but he was still marrying his cousin, Jessi!

Adam is very into basketball right now. He loves shooting hoops with dad and is so excited to take a class this summer. He also can’t wait for swimming lessons.

Alex:

He loves dirt and loves getting dirty! I almost wish I had an outdoor shower for him!!

He is really starting to talk. We are getting more phrases, more yes and no responses, and it is so exciting! He is asking for specific things, without being prompted.

One of the things he often says to me, especially after he has been at school, “I so missed you, Mommy!” Just melts my heart!

We got him a new bed. He was out growing the toddler bed and we decided just to buy him a full-size like Adam. Hopefully, both beds will last the boys for years!!

He loves playing hide’n’seek. It doesn’t matter if he is hiding or seeking, he just giggles and wants to play forever!

One of the phrases he uses a lot is “come back”. He’ll say, “where’s daddy?” and I’ll tell him that daddy went to work. He’ll then say, “Daddy, come back”! Very cute!

With his improving communication, we are also seeing a very stubborn streak! He is very particular about his clothes. He wants to wear jeans all the time, even after he gets out of the bath. I have noticed that he does this mostly with me! And he likes to pick out his shirt and favors green, blue or orange ones. Sometimes, the best way for me to get him dressed for bed is to just let him pick out his own t-shirt. I do draw the line in letting him wear jeans to bed!!

Often, we’ll ask him if he would like to watch a show. He usually responds with the show he’d most like to watch. But many times he’ll say, “wanna watch Wii”, which means that one of us has to play it!

Our new living room

We are so excited to almost be done with our living room.  New carpet, new lighting, new TV, new furniture – the only things missing are a new ottoman and a new table between the recliners.  I may want to add one more thing on the wall.  We are so in love with this room!!

Travis’ 40th Birthday surprise party

I couldn’t let Travis’ birthday go by without a bigger party, so I surprised him with a few close friends and co-workers.  I had planned the party for the 17th, 10 days after his birthday.  I never realized how stressful it is to plan a surprise for someone that you live with!  Since our new furniture had come in for the living room, I wanted to make sure the room was “finished” - not so easy when we had decided that we needed to hold off on spending more money on the house.  I also decided to repaint the eating area of the kitchen.  I was getting the feeling that T. was getting a little annoyed with me.  So trying to not pay attention to his reactions and trying to keep a secret, made me a little tense, and, in return, worried that he was wondering why I acting this way.  UGH – exhausting!!

The best part of the plan happened a week before the party.  I knew that Laura’s husband, Rick, was going to keep him occupied the day of the party and deliver him at 5:30.  But someone was smiling down on my plans and put Travis in MI for business the day before his party, only 20 minutes away from Rick & Laura’s lake house!!  So, conveniently, Rick invited Travis to stay in MI after his meeting and fish that night and Sat. morning.  Rick said he had to return Sat. night for his brother’s birthday party (meaning T’s party).  Genius!  And thank you to whomever made that all possible.  I was able to clean, decorate and prepare without worrying about him being around.

I even let Adam in on the secret the night before the party, which was risky, but he pulled through, even bragging that he had talked to Daddy and not mentioned the party!

It was a success, with Travis walking in not knowing what in the hell was going on!!  He was completely surprised and everyone had a really nice time.  I had t-shirts made up for us:

The boys and I had “My Daddy/Husband is 40!!!” on the front and “that’s old!!” on the back.  Travis’ said, “Vintage 1970, aged to perfection” on the front and , “my wife says I’m still hot” on the back.

The boys were so excited about having a party, of course, Alex associates that with cake!  Notice that in both pics he can’t get his eyes off the cupcakes!

And important note – do not get frosting in such a dark, strong color!  Look at their teeth:

Laura bought Travis and Rick matching fishing hats – we know they will be fishing and golfing together all summer long.

Alex modeling Daddy’s BMW hat:

Such a fun night!!!!

Easter fun 2010

We shared a lot of our Easter fun with Will so you’ll see him in many of our pictures.  We attempted to be creative and make cupcake bunnies.  Alex helped me make the cupcakes and frosting and he is looked on baking, especially licking the beaters!  Unfortunately, the bunnies look like rats!!  And putting frosting on donut holes was a lot harder than we expected.  So after making a few “bunnies” we gave the boys open reign to decorate.   Of course, all Alex wanted to do was eat the frosting!  (Smart boy!!)

   

We had a blast decorating eggs.  I only cooked 6 because I’m the only one who eats eggs, but watching them enjoy the coloring makes me think that I’ll do more next year and just live off of egg salad sandwiches for a week!!

 

 

 

The Easter bunny was very generous again, along with the grandmas!  I think the boys are getting a bit spoiled!!

 

In their Easter clothes!  The boys have been doing so well at church.  It’s motivating me to take them more often.

We had an initial hunt in the morning for what the Easter bunny had hidden.  Both boys had so much fun hunting for eggs.

After church, Rick, Laura and Will came over for Easter dinner and another egg hunt.  Unfortunately, a nice thunderstorm came through so the hunt happened in the house.  But the boys had a blast!!!  We had hid 3 colors of eggs, each boy having their own color to hunt for.  It worked really well and they were helping each other as well as finding their own eggs.  At this point of the day, Alex was done hunting so you’ll see Adam and Will in the pictures.