Gingerbread

Elliott and I made a gingerbread house this morning. I asked him what his favorite part was and he replied, "Eating the candy...cause I really like eating candy." He seemed to also enjoy licking the icing from the beaters. He was very patient waiting for the sides and then the roof to dry so that we could start decorating. I think we have started a new Christmas-time tradition - what fun!

Welcome Fall

We've been pretty busy lately enjoying the fall weather and playing with friends. The leaves this fall have been the most amazing colors. I imagine God painting the trees so many shades of yellow, orange and red with His giant paintbrush.

We took a long weekend in October to drive to Kansas City and visit with Matt's sister and brother-in-law. We enjoyed being with them, though we hate the circumstances of our trip. We stopped and spent a couple hours at The Magic House in Saint Louis on the way home. I would definitely recommend a trip there if you're ever in Saint Louis with young kids. Our boys had a blast.





We also went camping in October with my family. It's a lot of work to camp with 2 little ones, but it is worth it. Elliott loves to be outdoors and asked repeatedly during the summer when we could go camping again. It rained most of Friday so we loaded up the boys and headed to Opry Mills. Saturday brought fair skies and warmer temperatures so we tried out the new playground equipment and freshly dumped sand for the beach. Elliott and his cousin Savannah had great fun climbing the sand mountains. The highlight of the day for Aaron was meeting a little dog named Chloe. He is quite the animal lover. And of course we made s'mores around the campfire. What fun!



Elliott had 2 cavities filled last week with nothing but "laughing gas". What a brave boy! Now we must detox from gummy bears and the like. Aaron is still crawling everywhere. He leads with his head and frequently has bruises on his forehead from running into furniture. He really should look where he's going but this is a hard skill to teach a 13 month-old.

I really should post to my blog more often, but have recently become addicted to Facebook. I'll work on that. In the meantime, enjoy the pictures from our adventures in October!



The Pumpkin and the Handyman

Fun at the Pumpkin Patch

Last weekend we visited the Pumpkin Patch and had a lovely time. It's hard to believe that when we went last year Aaron was only 2 or 3 weeks old! Here are some pictures from our fun day...

We look much happier than the kids here...they really did have a good time!

Birthday Fun

Here are some pictures from Aaron's first birthday party. He dove right into the cake but didn't put it in his mouth, he just wanted to play with it. I thought I was going to have to repaint the wall behind him. He had lots of fun until Daddy tried to help him eat the cake, and this is the child who will eat almost anything! I love the progression of emotions in these pictures...

Happy Birthday, Aaron!

My sweet baby is one-year-old today. It doesn't seem possible that it's been a whole year since we were at the hospital meeting our little guy for the first time. Aaron is such a joy. He's a good boy, crawling all over the place, laughing at his big brother, and smiling whenever he sees a camera. He has learned a new loud scream (much like his brother's at his age), and will eat just about anything in front of him, except peaches. Yesterday he even tried to bite a friends' dog and ended up with furry lips. He loves baths and ice cream and music. He's very loving but also independent.

We celebrated his birthday today by singing "Happy Birthday" to him at breakfast. And Elliott helped me bake and decorate a "cake." He also got his first haircut today - no more mullet. I think he had a pretty good birthday. I can't wait to see what he does with real cake!

Birthday Boy!

Elliott with the birthday cake he decorated for Aaron

Aaron enjoying his birthday cake!

Smooth Moves

Elliott had a big job this weekend (just like his favorite TV character Handy Manny). He was a ringbearer in a wedding, and thankfully made it successfully down the aisle in his little tuxedo and fancy shoes. At the reception, he revealed a new side of himself and is quite a little dancer! Below is a video of his smooth moves on the dance floor.

Okay, I have to add to this post. Elliott watched his video and said, "Mommy, I'm a rock star in that tuxedo doing my smooth moves." I hope you also burst out laughing as I did!

Funny sayings

The other day Elliott told me, "You're so smart." I wonder how long this will last before I become the complete opposite...hopefully I have another 10 years or so. He also told me, "You're so nice." He is such an encouraging child!

We heard some thunder this evening, and as I was putting Elliott to bed to he asked where the thunder had gone. Without missing a beat, he answered his own question with "maybe God ate it!" I guess it's perfectly reasonable for God to snack on the thunder.

Some of his other funny sayings (at least to his parents):
ponytail holder = hair pony
to shave = raze (as in "Daddy forgot to raze today")
Snot Rod from the movie Cars = Hot Sneezer

And not to leave Aaron out, he has been cracking us up lately by throwing his pacifiers out of his bed when he wakes up. I know he's awake when I start hearing one after another hitting the hardwood floor. But when I go in to get him up, he has always reserved one to keep for himself.

September

Here are some recent pictures...

It's not a good day till you're good and dirty.

Mom, can I please go mow the yard in my fancy clothes now?

Aaron, 11 months

Our family

Laughter

The sound of a child laughing is so incredibly sweet. My boys both have great laughs, and the other day I had occasion to witness them laughing hysterically at each other. I couldn't help but laugh too, and had to get the camera to share and remember this sweet, sweet sound.

After this video, Aaron did in fact spill Elliott's drink all over the bed, so I put E in our bed to take his nap. I was leaving to put Aaron down in his crib, and Elliott asked me if Aaron could take a nap with him. I told him that Aaron could fall off the bed so he had to sleep in his crib, and Elliott said, "I'll can hold him real tight." It was such a sweet moment, especially since most of the time Elliott doesn't even acknowledge Aaron. I guess he really does love him after all...or maybe he was just seeking retaliation for the spilled drink.

Little Golfer

Elliott is our little 3-year-old- golfer. He showed such an interest in golf that he got his first club (a left-handed 6 iron) before he was 2 1/2. The obsession continued and he received a golf bag with his own driver, putter, and 7 iron for his 3rd birthday. His daddy's obsession with golf has not waned either. So this August, Matt took Elliott to the driving range for the first time. Since I couldn't go, Matt took the camera to get pictures of his first time on the "real golf course". Elliott loves going to Dick's Sporting Goods and hitting the golf clubs on the little putting green in the golf section. And we have taken him to play putt-putt, but he was terribly excited about this special outing.

Matt recounts a favorite story from their day. When Matt would take a swing and hit a bad shot, he would say, "Oh, come on, Matt!" It didn't take long for E to pick up on that and say, "Oh, come on, Elliott!" when hitting his own less than stellar shot. The boys had a wonderful time bonding on the golf course - the first of many times I'm sure.

Pappy

My Dad does not understand the word "small." He decided to start a vegetable garden this year, and proceeded to till up 2 quite large portions of his two acre lawn. He has planted tomatoes, squash, corn, okra, black beans, sweet peas, peppers, basil and various other herbs and vegetables. He is now planning his winter garden and tilled up even more land. Bless his tremendously patient wife, Libby (or Bibby as she is more commonly known by their 7 grandkids). I am reaping the benefits of all this organically-grown bounty, and have frozen corn, squash, tomatoes, and basil pesto. Aaron is also enjoying some homemade baby food with plenty of vitamins, as the transport time is about 10 minutes from Pappy's house to mine.

Dad does not do anything small. When he decides to take on a new hobby, he learns all he can and dives right in. He gardens big and he loves big. Elliott's Bible verse this week is taken from Galatians 5:13, "Serve one another in love." We have been discussing how we can serve others, and Pappy sharing the bounty from his garden is definitely on the list. Thank you, Pappy, for sharing everything you have with us and loving us big. Thank you, Lord, for blessing my family with a great Pappy.

The mountain of basil I received for making my favorite pesto.
This is only half of what he harvested! And there is still plenty more growing.

Elliott to the Rescue

Elliott loves tools. This is how he emerged from his room after naptime today, complete with taped together goggles.

Aaron jams with Elmo, the most annoying toy guitar ever created.

Chaos is sleeping

I thought it might be worthwhile to share where the title of my blog originated. In an instant message to my adorable hubby after a particularly challenging morning, I told him that “chaos is sleeping.” He thought that was so funny that he chose that title when creating my blog. I saved the IM conversation that occurred over a 5 hour period beginning with Elliott kicking his brother in the head. Over the course of the next few hours, I cut Elliott’s hair after which he ran around the house naked for at least 30 minutes while I talked to my Grama on the phone and she gave me pointers on how to correctly cut his hair. I told her that it was kind of like hitting a moving target, but the lesson continued. During this time, Elliott dressed up in a purple lei, a daisy tote bag, and a little green suitcase…all while still completely unclothed. Here is an excerpt from the IM conversation, “I had 2 naked boys, 1 crying, 1 naked, phones ringing all over the place cause dad was beeping in, being criticized for my haircutting… so in my infinite wisdom and masochistic tendencies, I told her [Grama] they were welcome to by here on their way home from the bank.” After all this, Elliott strapped me to my desk chair with the cord of his radio-controlled bulldozer while I sent an email for Matt’s mom who forgot to do so before departing on a blissful vacation to Hawaii. And then to top it off, Elliott recounts (hopefully not a true story) that his teacher at Mother’s Day Out spanks lots of kids at school and spanked him because he peed on the floor. At some point, you just have to laugh…possibly a hysterical, I’m-about-to-have-a-nervous-breakdown kind of laugh. So that explains why I have never been more grateful for naptime than on that particular day when finally “chaos was sleeping.”

A few more pictures...

I kept my niece Savannah the week before kindergarten started. The kids had great fun making tents in our living room. Here is my sister with all of the kids hanging out in their fort.

Aaron starts crawling...and not an army crawl like Elliott, he actually gets up on his knees.

Sleeping Pretzel

Father and son at the last softball game. Elliott loved running the bases after the games this year. For a 3 year old boy, it's not a good day until your shoes are dirty!

Fun at the Beach

This year for our family vacation, we went to Fort Morgan, AL. There were 9 adults and 7 kids in our house, and more family right next door. Elliott enjoyed the water and digging in the sand. He and his cousin Savannah found some little-bitty shells one day and Elliott said they were seeds that he had to push down in the sand so they would grow. We have been learning about how things grow this summer, so I guess he's been paying attention. Aaron loved the water and splashed around in the little pools on the beach. Here are some pictures of our trip. Aunt Mandy has some more, but she has to take care of her paying clients first. She really needs to get her priorities straight! Hopefully I'll have them up soon!

Matt and Aaron chill in the shade

Pirates left some treasure for kids

I wonder what he's so excited about??

Beach bums

Aaron loves to get his picture taken

with my boys

Cutie Aaron

Aaron with his great-grampa (who celebrated his 82nd birthday at the beach)

Summer Fun

Friday night trip to Sonic after Matt's softball game

Happy baby

The boys with their sweet great-grandmother, MaMa

Aaron - 9 months

Elliott (not to be outdone by Aaron) - 38 months