Happy Halloween!

Fall and Halloween pictures updated.

Vacation!

Last month we took a long weekend vacation to Port Aransas.  On the way, we stopped in Corpus Christi at the aquarium.  The kids really enjoyed touching animals like stingrays and baby alligators.  There’s plenty more pictures in the web album.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had been wanting to take the kids to the beach, but weren’t sure how much they would like it.  We knew there was a chance they would decide they didn’t like the ocean waves or the sand in their toes or a hundred other things.  Turns out, our fears were completely unfounded.  They both loved it.  I think Ethan could have built sandcastles for a week without getting tired and Ella’s favorite was jumping in the waves.

 

 

 

 

We also got to take the kids on a dolphin watching boat tour one evening.  We only promised a boat ride since we weren’t sure how easy it was going to be to spot the dolphins.  Turns out it wasn’t much trouble as they were all around the boat, sometimes two or three together.  They also put down a net and pulled in all sorts of sea creatures for the kids to touch, like shrimp, crabs, fish, and stingrays.  In all, we had a great time and I’m sure we’ll be going back soon.

Birthday Boy

Since we'll be out of town on Ethan's birthday, the celebration has started early. On Monday, Ethan had a playdate/party with his best friends.

The Saturday before, the family went to Kiddie Acres, which is a tiny little amusement park just their size. They got to ride a pony, a miniature train, and all sorts of rides. Then we went home and opened presents. I'll have more pictures uploaded later. Several videos are below.

The growing ups both need a nap now

Mommy and Daddy were busy on Friday building the new playset, so both kids occupied themselves by starting a dirt collection in their hair, mouth, noses, etc.

We're all thrilled with the new playset. We celebrated being done with a trip to the Salt Lick, where the table of ladies across from us marveled at the amount of food both kids ate, and a man from the table next to us stopped to tell us he was deaf and our kids were really good. We enjoy getting positive feedback, although it probably never hurts to not be able to hear everything from our table!

Do child labor laws apply if you don't pay them?

I'm pretty sure God makes them funny so you'll keep them...

Ella has had several "milestones" lately that she's extremely proud about. She's been doing a really good job wearing big girl underwear, and has discovered that she can take off her own pants in order to go to the potty. She has confined this new talent to the bathroom, which may be a difference between boys and girls? She's also figured out how to climb the various ladders and climbing walls at the playgrounds (which can be pretty entertaining and exhausting to watch since her legs are really short). She also has coined a new phrase for milk--"cow juice". That makes me laugh almost every time. We recently put a picture on the wall over the stairs; it's an abstract piece with mostly rectangular shapes/colors on it. Every morning as we walk down the stairs Ella tells me what she thinks it looks like. So far her most common themes are religious-- "I think that's Jesus, Mommy."

Ethan has become preoccupied with when he's going to go to school. Today he told me that when he reaches the "final number" (which for some reason is his wording for any age that he will have to be to do something) he's going to drive a car to the bus stop and then get on the bus to go to school. He also gave me lots of kisses, followed immediately by a request to watch some tv. Some work to do on his subtlety! Last night he made me laugh when we were cooking--"Are you going to put some sneezeaning in that sauce?"

If you're wondering how to pray for me these days, patience would be high on the list. It's been challenging to model respectful communication in the face of the kids' frequent bickering with each other, whining, and flat out disobedience. I know you're not supposed to pray for patience since like most virtues it comes through the trials, but we're living the challenges and I'm hoping to use all of these opportunities with them in a way that glorifies God and shows His love. God has mighty things in store for these two little ones, and I'd like all of us to survive 2 and 3 to experience them!

Bouncy sticky fun

We went to play with friends at an indoor inflatable place today. I was amazed to see my normally cautious little guy run around like a banshee climbing, jumping, and sliding on things. Only one rescue mission needed (and it's not a bad day when I have to do a little sliding on a really tall slide, now is it?), and then he went down that same slide repeatedly for the next half hour. It may or may not have been slightly influenced by the fact that his little sister climbed all the way to the top, looked down at me, and slid down with a squeal. Ella loved laying on her stomach and letting the other kids jumping bounce her around. Unfortunately she really liked doing this near the entrances, which led to more than one time of getting stepped on. Didn't seem to phase her much.

We also discovered today that you can trade in your toy at chick-fil-a for an ice cream cone. If you can let go of that reflex to catch all the drips, it's a super sweet sight to see those two attack an ice cream cone. Ella's reactions to the cold are pretty adorable---wish I'd had a camara to catch the faces she makes.

My favorite statement of the day so far was on our drive there. Ethan looks out the window and says, "Look mom, a dinosaur!" When I replied "a dinosaur?" he nonchalantly says, "or maybe a dog." Never saw what he was talking about, and he couldn't understand why I found that so funny.

Be glad if it's only your stomach he asks about...

We had some trees installed in the back and side yard last week, so the kids are eagerly anticipating the arrival of birds. Even after explaining how it might take some time before there would be any birds interested, every time he walks by the back windows or door Ethan is greatly disappointed that there aren't any yet. He'll tell you all about how they like cherry laurels, and how they have different stomachs than us so they eat different foods. He'll usually then ask about some random person's stomach and if it's different than the birds. Apparently he's curious if there is anybody he can offer some of these off-limits berries.

Both kids have apparently decided that naps are for the birds; I think I've gotten one nap each out of them in the past week. On the positive side, they're going to sleep without a peep at night, and they both stay in their rooms for a quiet time (Ethan quietly reads and Ella sings and talks the entire time). On the negative side, NOBODY IS NAPPING!!! There is no time of silence during my day. This is probably not helped by the constant construction noise from the two lots on our street that are being prepared for houses. There is a full-size excavator with a jackhammer attachment digging through a huge mass of limestone that's at least four feet deep. Ethan has a direct view of all of this (and the basketball goal in the driveway where our neighbor's 5 year old plays when he gets home from school) from his bedroom window. Even for a kid who really likes to sleep, there's really no question of what's more appealing.

We worked in the yard again this weekend preparing some beds for a small garden and some herbs and shrubs. Spring preparation is in full force here, with a playset arriving this week and much more work to do getting the beds ready (the soil here is a challenge). We picked up some seeds for the kids to plant inside in cups on Saturday. They liked the dirt and watering, but are again disappointed that they haven't seen the results yet!

Everything's bigger in Texas....

Except the snowmen. This weekend we had warm weather---we worked in the yard for a few hours and enjoyed the 76 degree afternoon. So of course today it snowed all morning! We waited until there was a light coating and headed out for some fun.

No love for the sweet potato

This morning in an attempt to keep the kids out of mischief (they're feeling better and pretty squirrely but still coughing and noses running enough we're avoiding other kids) we made collage placemats. The theme was supposed to be foods. Ethan included a girl with a bow and arrow and Ella put a cat. We won't think too much about those, although I suppose that Italian tv chef who just got fired might be in solidarity with Ella.

At breakfast this morning I watched Ethan dip his french toast into his yogurt and gobble it up. This from a kid who gets greatly disturbed when the different foods on his plate touch each other and make the other "dirty". I tried to exploit the love for dipping things last night by serving a little ketchup with the sweet potato fries (insert disgusted shudder here). Of course this didn't work. Brent laughed at me for calling them fries (which they love) and setting them up for disappointment. I'm not sure why I'm on this quest to find a way to serve sweet potatoes that Brent and the kids will like. They eat other vegetables, and I just can't understand not liking sweet potatoes. I've tried them served with butter and caramel sauce, roasted with honey, as chips with some cayenne (which were actually really good but made Ella scrape her tongue desperately with her fingers---oops), and last night's attempt tossed in some olive oil and onions/garlic/herbs and baked/broiled. Guess I'll resort to fixing it just for myself, which at least gives the possibility that they'll want it. Stuff on my plate always looks better to them.

With a cough cough here and a drip drip there...

Pretty non-eventful around here except for the hacking coughs that have me constantly worried somebody's going to gag. Fun times!

In between the non-stop nose running and accompanying whining [most of it from the kids ; ) ] the kids have been helping me vacuum (they both love the toy vacuum Ella got from Ethan for her birthday until the real thing comes out), grocery shop, and make crafts (because another instrument that makes noise was clearly needed around here).

Ethan's bedtime prayers lately are all-encompassing and often include phrasings that I assume have come from church? We cover everybody's health, the Holy Word, angels, protection, requests to help with fear, and thanks for all of creation (usually a detailed list, although one day after that he said "and all that other stuff" just in case something had been forgotten). Ella usually gets fidgety before he's done!

Off to enjoy a bit of silence before the evening ends...

I'M TWO YEARS OLD!!!!

We hear that a lot around the house this week, except for the times she tells us she's 3 years old (which actually is pretty common). Ella had a great time on her birthday at an indoor play place with some friends. There were inflatables and several pretend play areas---Ella enjoyed the veterinarian area quite a bit. (I'm not sure why her neck has disappeared in this picture; I think she was trying to keep the stethoscope from falling off?)

It's good to have a two year audience for my cake-making skills. While extremely picky about many random details of her day, she was absolutely thrilled by her cat cake and not bothered at all by the oreo look that resulted from me trying to frost a chocolate cake with white frosting.

The kids have had lots of daddy time this long weekend since Brent took off work on Friday because I was having gum grafting surgery. They'll be sad to see him go back to work tomorrow after four days with us. My recovery has been pretty good, but now everybody else in the house is fighting a cold. Vicks on the feet for both kiddos tonight--the coughing has been pretty rough.

Happy Birthday, Ella!

Zero...

One...

Two!!!

Just to be safe, let's hide all sharp objects...

Yesterday the kids and I survived a day of errands in the rain that involved dropping my dad off for an outpatient surgery followed by SIX other stops (with everybody unloading and loading for each stop.) I'm pretty sure I was thinking crazy, but they actually all went pretty smoothly. Ethan is an excellent umbrella chaser and door opener, and Ella had all the ladies in the stores giggling about her pants which kept sagging (she was showing more pullup than usual because mommy forgot that pair of paints doesn't have an adjustable waist).

We seem to have clumsy days in cycles around here. So far today Ethan has pulled down their shower curtain on his head and fallen head first into the toilet (he did block his fall with his arm, so no injury but a serious amount of insult on his part). He would probably add to that list the tragedy of jelly on his pj's and a piece of grapefruit flying into the air and landing on the floor as he scraped the last bit of juice out. These were clearly major events based on the level of drama that followed. He likes things to be a certain way, that child.

Ella is very excited about her birthday and has been telling us repeatedly "I'm having a cat birthday!!!" I'm hoping that I am capable of pulling off the kitty cat cake. It's not at all complicated, but doesn't have much in the way of details for the less artistically inclined. Today Ethan proudly helped me make the cupcakes and a cake for her birthday--I'll try decorating without little hands helping.

The kids both enjoyed talking with cousins on Skype today and spent the rest of the morning doing Ella's birthday puzzle over and over again.

Let the birthday celebrations begin...

[This is my second try at this post. It may just be me, but trying to move pictures and text around in this format is not obvious or easy. My general solution is to just go away and (maybe) try again later...we'll give it one more go. I'll go ahead and apologize right now for the weird formatting of the pictures!]

We started off our morning with Ethan coming downstairs and climbing into our bed. This was a surprise, since he generally stays in bed when he wakes up and calls out to us that he's awake. We got about 30 seconds before he declared the bed too crowded and made a motion that we get moving.

Ethan and I made cinnamon rolls while Ella slept in late (for her at least). Then we headed to the Children's Museum for some family time celebrating Ella's birthday (since Brent will be working on Wednesday when we play with some of her friends.) The kids had a lot of fun, although it's debatable which they were more excited about--the museum or chick-fil-a afterwards! Ethan enjoyed controlling a vortex. Ella enjoyed being a superhero in the wind tunnel and trying out the different headphones. We enjoyed the fact that we got there right when it opened, because by the time we left it was crawling with kids.

I'm sure you'll all be invited...

At lunch today the kids started asking questions about my wedding ring. Ethan asked if he can have one when he is a "growing up". When I told him that he can buy a ring, but that a wedding ring would be if/when he decided to marry a girl, he immediately replied, "I'm gonna marry a girl. I'll be grown up in two months, and then I'll do it."

Cleaning day

They take this very seriously...

Until they realize there is a camara in the vicinity....

While busily cleaning their own kitchen, Ella sings "We're gonna clean all day and all night!" (which I can guarantee she has NEVER heard around here!) Ethan responds, "No Ella, not all night." And after a bit of a pause, with a look over to me "And NOT all day either...."

Those of you not interested in potty news, look away for this paragraph. We had a momentous occasion today where Ella (who is wearing underwear around the house) actually told me that she had gas and needed to go to the potty, and then actually pooped in the potty. I have no illusions of being done, but this is a welcome progression from her current status of either going in her underwear or saving it all day and going in her diaper overnight.

Ethan surprised me today with his impressive laundry folding skills. He's been my washrag folder for a while now (Ella is our sock sorter and dryer sheet disposal girl), but I will confess that it took every ounce of my self-control to not refold the rags that didn't match up (that kid gets some of his obsessive streaks honest). Today he brought them over to the couch and I was so proud to see how neatly he had folded them. It's a day full of high fives around here.

I think my feet are still cold...

The kids were good sports this morning for our scheduled activity of two different grocery stores. This was good, since 40 degrees and rainy isn't very convenient for loading and unloading those two plus groceries. Ethan wanted to hold the umbrella, Ella wanted to walk when it's easier to carry her and stand when it's easier to have her sitting, and nobody was happy that the cart only seats one in the front, but we'll take those challenges any day.

One day earlier this week as I sat in the rocker with Ethan before naptime he asked me if I had any kisses left for him. I told him that God makes sure mommy never runs out of kisses for him. He stopped and thought for a while then gave me a series of giggly kisses, and then said, "I took all your kisses. You need to pray to God and ask him to send you more, and tell him he can send some for daddy too."

Ella carried her Hello Kitty purse around all morning, and kept digging in it while mumbling, "Where's my kleenex go?"

If I ever wondered what I must look/sound like to God, I get some pretty good glimpses of it in my life these days. What a blessing to have a Heavenly Father who is patient and gracious! Today we had a fun morning playing with Ethan and Ella's friend Jacob here at the house. At one point Ethan had a major meltdown because his playdoh snake got "broken". It took an unfortunate amount of time to get him calmed down enough to comprehend that the whole point of playdoh is the fact that it can be fixed over and over again. Once he realized/remembered this, he really got into the idea of seeing how many snakes he could transplant together.

The three kids got into a discussion about who was a big kid. Ella was sure that Jacob was, but Ethan wasn't so sure about it (Jacob is in between our kids' ages). Ethan's big sticking point? "His head isn't as big as this one" while pointing to his own noggin. Not many are, my son. Later in the day Ethan (apparently still thinking about the finer points of this) let me know that big kids can chew gum, and he's pretty excited about when that day comes. It's good to have goals, right? I'll be more inclined to consider that possibility when he makes it through more than a couple days without a crying fit because he bit his finger or tongue while eating.

Nobody wanted to nap today (at least nobody shorter than 3 feet tall), so quiet time was short and not very quiet. Hopefully they'll be tired early tonight?

And we're back...

And somehow it's been over 3 months with no post. Oops! There are December pictures in the album on the sidebar.

Life has been a bit bumpy for our extended family lately. In the midst of it have been frequent reminders that God is good and we are blessed beyond measure. Ethan and Ella really enjoy each other now, and will often go off together into the playroom and play together happily for a while. This is a welcome respite for me, but doesn't always come without a cost. Somehow even with me staying within hearing distance they have managed some creative messes; our recent bouts into potty training with Ella have added extra challenges to this mix. The potty training is entirely at her request; she becomes indignant these days about putting on a diaper. She is relatively good about using the toilet, but again I am reminded that buying stock in the manufacters of oxiclean might have been a good investment. It works for all kinds of unimaginable (at least in my pre-children life) stains.

Ethan is still my constant sous-chef, and while Ella enjoys stirring things with us, she's more of a laundry fan. When our old vacuum died and we got a smaller, quieter model they both decided vacuuming was great as well. I see the humor in the fact that by the time they are actually helpful in these processes they will have absolutely no interest in helping me with them!

Ethan learned to hop correctly during our Christmas travels, and proudly does this all over the house. He loves to build elaborate structures with his blocks (frequently they're foundation heavy, and he will give you a long explanation of why you need a strong base for your towers). My brother in law Bruce might have said it best when he remarked at Christmas that Ethan often takes 5 sentences to tell you something a lot of kids would tell you in a few words. This was really validating to hear, as it frequently feels like I've heard far more than my quota of words in a day! He's really taken on the role of big brother, and loves to teach Ella things (and boss her around about them....)

Ella loves taking her of her baby dolls (and a dinosaur of Ethan's that she loves to bottle feed). Her vocabulary and verbal expression are just funny---you don't expect to hear such complex sentences consistently from a not yet two year old. Last week in the car she and Ethan were debating about whether we had gone through the gate at the park (which we had). Ella kept insisting, "We didn't go through the gate!" with Ethan getting increasingly frustrated as he told her that we did. I finally told Ethan to stop worrying about it and just let Ella talk. She repeats it again and Ethan protests...she then wails, "Ethan's not letting me say what I want!!!!" I think we're in for our share of challenges ahead.

Both kids are currently obsessed with listening to Peter and the Wolf, and will narrate the entire story to you as it plays. This leads to some funny questions that they repeat multiple times. You get some funny looks in the store when your kids keep asking, "What does greedy eyes mean?"

Hopefully I can get back in the habit of documenting our life on a more regular basis. So many funny little things happen that get almost immediately forgotten.

Off to make dinner before kids are up from their nap.