Cabin Fever

We've had a bit of snow!

All Decked Out

We decorated our Christmas Tree with all home made ornaments this year. As we were going through what we have I realized we have something from just about everyone we know. It's fun to look at all of the different ones and reminisce. I think my Mom has contributed more than anyone else, myself included, Thanks Mom!

Too much fast food?

I have scouts on Wednesdays and don't get home until close to 5:00.
I decided to wait until Ben got home to start dinner,
but he called to say he'd be late, and I lost motivation.
Who wants to start cooking dinner at 5:15pm with no relief in sight?
So we hopped in the car and headed for Wendys!
I pull up to order and the lady tells me to "go ahead and order when you're ready".
I tell her I need a couple of minutes and am contemplating my dollar menu choices
when Eli decides he's ready to place his order.
"Chessburer"
"Frech Fries"
"Choco Milk"
"Tanks!"
Maybe we go to Wendy's too much!

Christmas Tree

We cut down our Christmas Tree on Friday at Helvetia Tree Farm.
We had a great time driving by all of the farms and taking in the beautiful scenery. We saw cows, alpacas, sheep, donkeys, and of course the St. Bernards at the tree farm.
We go to the same farm every year, but this year we added eating lunch at Helvetia Tavern to the tradition. They have great burgers and fries, Eli loves it too which is always a plus for us.

The perfect tree!
We decided on a Grand this year, we've always had Nobles before.

When it fell down Eli said "Opps! Uh Oh!". We had to explain we were trying to make it fall, I don't think he really understood what we were doing there.

"Strong Daddy"

The Nissan is still running, and brought home another Christmas tree!

We tried to explain to Eli that we were going to bring home a tree and put it in the house. He seemed confused, but liked the sound of lights and a tree in the living room. We told him when we were cutting down the tree, and when we put it on the roof that it was coming home with us. I don't think he really understood until Ben was carrying it in the house. He stared squealing with joy and running up and down the hall yelling "Tree, Tree, Baby's Tree"
(Oh yeah, he calls himself baby).
We decorated it while he was napping, so when he got up it was all decked out. He just kept staring at it and saying "Wow, Tree, Baby's Tree". He's been good so far about not taking the ornaments off, but we have to have the lights on day and night for the child in charge. Yesterday he put his blanket on the floor by the tree and said "Night Night Tree", and laid down to pretend to sleep under the tree.

Fire Truck

Eli loves trucks, it must be something boys are born with. He can identify all the different types of trucks in his Giant Truck Book: excavator, bulldozer, cement truck, steam roller....... Every car ride is focused on how many different trucks we can spot. He also loves trains, airplanes and "chop chops", but not with the same enthusiasm.

Pretending

I've been sick and so of course the housework has gone to pot. After putting Eli to bed I walked downstairs and found this. I promptly walked back upstairs and am still pretending that if I can't see it, it's not really there.

Peek a Boo

Eli doesn't usally perform on que, so I was excited to get pictures of him doing a trick. He just learned his colors and the other day I was trying to show him off, I asked him what color his shirt was and he said "Moo Moo". I swear he really can tell the difference between animals and colors!

First Ice Cream Cone

The Children's Museum

Trip to the Zoo

Pics by Papa

At the Park

Here's some more pictures my Brother took while he was here.

Too close for comfort

This squirrel had no fear, and of course Eli wanted to pet it.
Usually animals run away from a charging toddler which makes my job, keeping Eli from getting bit, easy. This squirrel was a different story, he was not just curious, but a little hostile. The squirrel finally made some angry noises and charged Eli, at which point I screamed and pulled Eli out of the way. I really think there was something wrong with this guy, needless to say we were done with the squirrel encounter.

More from Halloween

Just like Daddy

Cordless headphones are amazing, Ben can watch TV while I talk on the phone, do the dishes or vacuum and everyone can hear only what they want to hear! We seriously use them daily.

Lakeview Farms Pumpkin Patch

A special thanks to "Papa" for the beautiful pictures!

Uncle Chris

My Brother Chris came to visit last week. No mater how many times we told Eli his name is "Uncle Chris", he kept calling him "Papa". He would even repeat "Chris" after us, but then say "Papa's guitar" or "Papa's shirt". It's been a few days since Chris left, but Eli is still asking for Papa!

Trunk or Treat

Ben and I dressed up as Farmers and Eli was a Cow.
Eli didn't know what to do at the first couple of cars, but he caught on quick. He couldn't get from one car to the next fast enough, he just kept yelling "Trick a Treat".

The Smiths made home made root beer, it was delicious.

Eli and Kylie
Eli kept saying "Kyie Pumpon" which means Kylie is a Pumpkin!

Happy Halloween

The cold and wet weather has been keeping us indoors more than usual. As time goes on we'll get desperate and go out anyways, but I haven't quite gotten to that stage yet. This morning I decided to tackle Eli's closet, and of course he "helped".

He kept saying "Bee, Bee, Mama", but I didn't pay attention because he calls all bugs bees and he always thinks lint, spots, and small holes are bees. Eventually I looked down and he's holding a spider as big as his palm in one hand and attempting to pet it in the other hand. This wasn't a Daddy Longlegs either it was fat and hairy, maybe I'm just imagining, but I swear it had fangs! Of course I freaked out screamed, grabbed his arm and flung the spider on the floor.

By this time Eli is in hysterics, because of my reaction, and is clinging to my leg for dear life. The spider landed on it's back with all the legs up in the air, and didn't move. I felt some relief and thought maybe it was dead, we were calming down and I hoped it had been dead all along. It didn't seem so bad to think of Eli holding a dead spider, dead spiders don't bite.

Unfortunately we had no such luck, it turned over and started running, causing fresh hysterics for both of us. Finally I grabbed the lid to a Rubbermaid tub, scooped it up and flushed it down the toilet. Normally I don't flush live spiders for fear they'll come back up, but I couldn't squish something that big and I had to think fast. By the time we were done shaking and the nausea passed I thought it would have been good to get a picture.

Day 1 Tacoma Trip

The first day was mostly getting to Tacoma and checking into our hotel.
We did get out to the "Tot Lot" though.

Day 2 Tacoma Trip

We spent the entire day at Point Defiance Park. First we went to the zoo, they had a really cool kids zone with small exhibits and a playground. We saw the sharks being fed, we fed and brushed the goats, and Eli's favorite we watched them mow the lawn. It's a nice zoo, but a little smaller than what we're used to.

Eli loved the Beluga Whales.
We sing the song and have a book about them at home, so Eli got to finally see them live.

Eli had his first ride on the Carousel

We visited the Botanical Gardens

Eli wanted to get in the duck pond

Day 3 Tacoma Trip

We went to Odyssy 1 indoor play place in the morning. It's like a McDonald's play structure on steroids. It was only $2 for Eli to pay and we didn't have to pay to supervise (play).

We spent the evening downtown. We walked around the Museum of Glass
and had dinner.

This cone is the Museum

Ben loved all the unique bridges of Tacoma

Rock Candy glass sculptures

Part of the display on the Bridge of Glass

We didn't actually go inside the museum, a toddler and a museum full of glass doesn't sound like it would mix well.

We got a treat at Hello Cupcake!
They taste delicious, but were a little rich. We paid for it with stomachaches all night.