A Party and Snow

Be forewarned: There are a lot of pictures

Eli's birthday party was on Saturday, and of course being the proud Momma that I am, I took lots of pictures. Some of them however, are from today. We got Nana's package in the mail and got some cute pictures of our two-year-old!

Borrowing toys is a great idea!

He looks so old in this picture. What a handsome little boy too!

Things have gotten very white around here. It all started about a week ago when the snow started coming down. Since then we've gotten a lot, to say the least. A LOT!! in the past 24 hours I think we've accumulated at least a foot. That doesn't count what has melted or what we had trampled on a previous day playing in the snow. Our backyard is hidden under this thick blanket. Eli's sandbox is almost completely covered as well - and it stands pretty high. Here are a few pictures from our last venture out in the snow (a couple days ago even, we haven't gone out yet today)



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His best attempt at running

Rosy cheeks after playing outside

The aforementioned backyard

Some pretty trees from our yard

How is it possible?

Today is Elijah's second birthday!
Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday dear Eli,
Happy Birthday to you!

Two years ago today this is what we saw (shortly after 3:33 pm)

Last year, we had a one-year-old:

Our silly two-year-old (I haven't gotten pictures of him yet today, however, this is from last night):


A huge congratulations to our good friends, who welcomed their second child, Brayton, this morning!
Congrats B, KC, and Mac!!! We love all four of you and can't wait to see pictures!!!

Santa Pics

We went and visited Santa last weekend. It was pretty novel until it was time to leave Mom and have a seat with Santa. The tears were flowing freely so we switched to Scaredy-Bear. We waved bye-bye to Santa and sat down next to the bear. Once he was settled down a bit, Santa snuck back in behind us. Eli still wasn't in the mood to sit by himself, however we were able to get a picture of him alone. If you look closely, you can see a tear on his right cheek.

Because he really wasn't all that excited about the whole ordeal, I sat with him for one. The photographer ended up giving us the picture of me and Eli. He wasn't in a very chipper mood until we were safely out of the building and moving on with our day.


And yes, the Seahawks jersey is a little odd. I didn't even think about changing his clothes before we left. I had a million things on my mind at the time and clothes were the least of my worries. I am a little bummed about it now, but what can ya do? Oh well. Life goes on!

It's Snow Time

With the freshly fallen snow, we ventured outside and weathered (note the pun) the chill in the air to let Eli play in his first "real" snow. I couldn't believe how cold it was, it was 28 degrees this afternoon! Brrrr Yes, I am aware of the negative wind chill in Eastern WA, thank goodness we aren't there, but with the humidity in the air, it was downright cold over here! I am not sure what the "feel like" temperature was, but lets just say my nose and cheeks were awfully cold when we came in.

We had a great time playing in the snow.

I know this is a funny angle. I was actually on one side of the rhodie, Eli on the other. I poked my head around the edge to see him, since he was smiling, I clicked!

Over there Mom!
Contemplating the next move
"Why do you feel it necessary to always aim that thing at me?"

After spending time outside, Uncle Gordon, Aunt Dusti, and Liam came over for some warm play time and a hot bowl of homemade Turkey Noodle Soup.

Eli enjoys putting his hands in his pockets now like a big boy.

A funny little close up of my nearly two-year-old. Don't mind the crumbs.


Eli and Liam were playing on the bikes.
Liam did a really good job considering he's never ridden one before.
A few shots of Eli's Go-Bro Liam - 14 months old already!

Take Two

Since my post this morning didn't quite seem to work, I will give it another go. :)

Yesterday, Eli got his first birthday present of the season. It was from his good friend Mac who lives so very far away in Delaware. Eli was very excited to open his present and to have Daddy work to actually get it out of the box. Do toy makers honesty think some kid is going to steal this? It's enormous. I can just picture someone walking through Toy.s r Us with this under his shirt. Upon questioning, "no, sir, there's nothing up my shirt. I'm just lumpy." Seriously.

At any rate, Eli loves it! Thanks again to our dear friends!
(And Brian, he called you Rynom, like he does Uncle Ryan, so cute! He's a little distracted, but it's still cute)

It Can't Be True...How Many Days?!?!

I am really enjoying every part of being in a different building with a new set of students, teachers, curriculum, and everything that encompasses. The only problem is that I have come to realize that I am often overzealous when it comes to things that I take on. The other teachers at my grade level have had a few years to "work into" the balancing act of juggling everything that we have at our grasp. Then there's me. Each day is another "first day." (I don't have any background on specific lessons - new content).

Right now, part of me is ready for the 19th. After all, my brother will be in town, Eli will have just turned two, his birthday party the following day, and Winter Break will be upon us. That means I only have 6 1/2 days of school. SIX AND A HALF!!!! Technically, that should read 6 days because this Friday is an early release. What's the problem you ask? Holy cow!!! I have too much to do! Yikes! When it is all going to play out?

As fourth graders, we study Washington State History/Geography/Cultures/Forests. The culminating project of the geography portion is creating releif maps. They are a lot of fun, but they are way more work than I thought they'd be! Today we finished painting the regions of the state, tomorrow we must add the Pacific Ocean and Idaho (paint). I won't get in too much detail, however I'll leave it at this: there's a lot remaining.

In addition to our relief maps, we're going to be making gingerbread houses. We're putting them together on Friday, THIS Friday, then decorating them on Monday. The nice thing is that here, parents are eager to help and have sent in heaps of candy for decorating and are making the royal icing (dries extremely hard, almost cement-like) and are sending bags of it in. The only problem, I've had more parents volunteer to send in candy than icing. What does that mean? I will have to make icing tomorrow night to take in. I don't mind making it at all, however 1 batch takes about 20 minutes of mixing time for it to set properly. Bummer.

Today it dawned on me that I hadn't even thought about parent gifts this year! (Yeah, how can that be?!?! OOPS!) Thankfully, I work with fabulous people and have an idea of what to do. I would give more details, however one of my student's parents reads my blog (hi Angela!) occasionally so I don't want to give away the juicy details. It's good though. It's also very different when the materials to use for gifts isn't just construction paper and tempera paint. Crazy thought!

Anyway, it is past my bedtime and I need to go hunt for clothes for tomorrow. Tomorrow afternoon we are going to Jess's boss's funeral and I am not prepared at all. I better get my hiney moving or I'll really be in trouble!