Hide-n-Seek

Eli has found a new favorite game. We've played a few times at home, but not until this week has Eli really understood and enjoyed the game. (That is actually stretching it too, because some of the finesse of the game is still lost on him.) Hanging out with his cousins, Cole and Treis, creates a very excited Eli. Add hide-n-seek to that, and he's in heaven. Eli absolutely loves counting to ten and then looking around the house for the hider. Most of all, he loves to be scared. I don't remember hearing it happen too much when he played with the boys, but one night he and I played a few rounds and I was the hider. It took Eli several minutes to find me standing in a dark room. He saw me before I said 'HEY!', but he still jumped. He laughed/screamed and it was a blast. Then he told me, "Now I'm going to hide and you find me. I'm hiding under the bed, Mommy, but don't look there first." Cracked me up! I think we'll have a lot of fun with this game when we return home.

Scared To Death

Maddux is really testing our limits as parents. Or our sanity. Or both. Tonight she gave yet us another gut check to add to our already long-enough list.

Lehr and I brought the kids home from the wedding rehearsal as soon as we were done so they could get to bed at a decent time. They were exhausted, so they both went down without a fight. Lehr and I stayed upstairs and chatted with Grandma Pat and Skip for over an hour before Grandma Cathie and Grandpa Jim came home. Then we stayed up for another hour. Sometime in that last hour, Maddux woke up. She climbed out of her pack-n-play (something I knew she could physically do, but she hadn't ever done) and left her bedroom. She went into Eli's room, but was unsuccessful in rousing him. So she went into the main TV room and entertained herself. We didn't know until Lehr walked downstairs for bed and found her on the floor, stacking DVDs, out of the cases. We later found pieces of our gum, unwrapped but unchewed, clothes, books, and some coasters in random places. The scary part (outside of her potentially burning herself on the space heater or fireplace or choking on the gum) was that there was an exterior door downstairs. She knows how to open it as long as the latch is open. And it was open. Needless to say, that latch will be in place every moment of the rest of our trip.

Plane Ride Fun

We flew out west with both kids today. Yikes. Normally traveling that far with the kids (especially Mad Dog) would freak me to my core. This time we were lucky enough to have Treis (their older cousin) flying with us. From the second we picked him up at his gate, Eli and Maddux were glued to his side. They had to hold his hand, sit next to him, hang on his every word....luckily he is a VERY good sport.

Our first flight was to Salt Lake: four hours of fun. We started with Maddux next to me and Eli between Lehr and Treis. Once we started the DVD though, Maddie wanted to sit with them also, so I was solo for about an hour of the flight. There were a few somewhat trying moments, but for the most part it was an easy flight. The layover in SLC was a long one though, and we had a few meltdowns. It was all too much for Eli to handle at lunchtime, and that coupled with no nap led to a very unhappy heart. Once we boarded the next plane, however, it was smooth sailing. Maddux fell asleep for most of the flight and Eli was glued to a Veggie Tales DVD for the hour.

Book Worm

Eli loves books. So does Maddux, actually. I guess that's one thing we've done right as parents: reading to the kids every day at least once a day. I remember when Eli was about seven months old and he was still napping 2-3 times each day. I read one book to him before every nap. One especially trying day I skipping reading for the last nap and he was NOT happy. Which made two of us. Of course I felt guilty during most of that nap and vowed to never miss a book reading again, even though it felt exhausting to me at that point and I wondered if it really mattered at that point. Fast forward a few months later when Eli was crawling around and he would park himself in front of the book shelf and 'read' four or five books in a sitting. If there was any doubt left, it disappeared at that point.

Today was another one of those moments. During blanket time (which I rarely do with Eli anymore), Eli and Maddux were sitting on the blanket reading books. Maddux had open "Go, Dog, Go!". She was kind of reciting some of the words, but Eli was over her shoulder spitting them out perfectly. Then he opened up "Ten Apples Up On Top" and 'read' almost every page. Of course it was all by memory, but he saw the pictures and knew what words went with them. And then on a few pages, he knew the words, but couldn't remember the number of apples, so he would stop (mid-sentence) and count the apples before continuing. My favorite part was when he used animated voices to read the story. "THEY WANT TO GET THEM! WE CANNOT LET THEM GET THEM!!"

Be Still My Heart!

I am in the midst of edits for a few families tonight, so I've been in and out of several photo albums. Somehow I ended up in the roll that was taken on the day Maddux came into our lives. I came across this picture taken of Eli when he came to visit me a few hours after Maddie was born.
Pause. Gasp.

I can barely remember him that small and baby-like. Eli is SO grown up right now. Tonight he was a perfectly behaved little (er...big!) boy. He helped me with the laundry, learned how to turn his underwear right-side out, and put away EVERY piece of clothing I folded or hung up. All on his own. Without me having to ask.

(I am not posting a picture of Maddux from that day because it struck me as I was looking at them that she didn't resemble her current self in ANY way. Crazy!)

Take A Bow

I have cried more today than I have in a long time. Thankfully every tear was due to uncontrollable laughter.

This morning the kids participated in a short musical presentation at church. As soon as the service started, all kids from ages 2-4 were cattled onto the stage steps to perform their creation week song, complete with hand motions. This meant we had to get to church thirty minutes early to rehearse, which was great because the kids got to practice it three or four times before the 'real' thing. A friend shot a little video which happened to include some of Eli and Maddux; the church also recorded the performance (and practices), so there maybe more to come. But in case you have trouble seeing what happens, let me walk you through, step by step.

Eli did great. He hit his marks, sang his lines, and performed as well as we would have hoped. Maddux played her part too. We were just not privy to the knowledge that her part was clown and scene-stealer.

During at least two of the run-throughs, Maddux fell down the steps. Most of the kids danced and jumped around during at least one part of the song. This resulted in a few tumbles, but since Maddux was front-and-center (surprise), she almost took the microphone out. She had a small tumble during the performance, but it was one of those not-if-but-when-moments, so no one was caught off-guard. (However, one of her falls did result in her foot getting 'stuck' on her dress, so she had a hard time standing back up....that may have been 'live'.) The 'clown' part came at the end of the live performance. Keep in mind that what happened was not something Maddie did during any of the rehearsals, nor did she do it at all before we left the house this morning. During the part of the song when the kids sing, "God made me.", Maddux showed everyone that he made ALL of her, including her belly button. She lifted her dress up to show her stomach to the crowd. Of course there were chuckles (see first sentence about my tears), but the best part was how persistent she was. No matter how much our friend tried to get her to keep her dress down, Maddux was set on performing. I'm starting to cry again as I'm typing this.... Enjoy; the real fun starts at 2:10. (Eli is in the back row with a green shirt on; Maddux is front row, white/black dress on.)

2009 11 CCC Kids Sing from Nicole Eliason on Vimeo.

Donation Corner: Operation Christmas Child

Same as last year!! It's such a great charity...check it out!!

I spotlighted Operation Christmas Child last year, but it's such a neat charity that I had to include it again. Every year, Samaritan's Purse collects thousands of shoe boxes (or plastic storage boxes of similar size) filled with gifts for children living in poverty. I personally love this opportunity to donate because it is a great way to involve the kids. Eli and Maddux get to pick out some toys, socks, toothbrushes, and other little goodies for 'udder kids' (as Maddie calls them). Then they can easily sort them into boxes based on gender or age. Even though we don't know what country our specific boxes will go to, we talk about a few of the places they might go, and I try my best to explain to the kids why some people need us to send them hats and books. Some great conversations have come out of this donation of time and materials in the last three years, and I can only hope it's helping Eli and Maddux to be more aware and giving little people. The collection week is fast approaching (November 16-23), so you don't have much time left to donate this year. If you miss the cutoff, you can donate year round by mailing your boxes to OCC's headquarters. If you finish your box by the 23th, you can drop it off at any number of collection sites.

Date Night(s)

I had planned for a few weeks to take Eli on a date. Our monthly date nights have fallen by the wayside in the last few months: life has been too busy. Lehr decided to take advantage of the night and have a date with Maddux as well. (Going forward this will be our plan - easier to schedule one night each month rather than two.)

I took Eli to a Mongolian BBQ style restaurant where he could pick what he wanted to eat and then watch the chefs cook it near a big fire. Of course he was a BIG fan of the fire. He enjoyed the chicken won tons I ordered for an appetizer also. He kept asking me, "What-er these called again, Mommy?"

Since I had no activity planned for our date, we also stopped for dessert. Before we left the restaurant I told Eli that we would stop by our local ice cream shop for a cone. He was VERY excited about that. In the last five minutes of dinner, I told him to save room for ice cream.

He responded: "I have a lot of room in my belly for stuff. Actually I have room in my leg for some stuff. My dinner can go in there."

Good to know.

The whole drive to the ice cream shop, Eli vacillated over which flavor to choose. He went back and forth between vanilla ('banilla'), turtle (I think from when Grandma Cathie was here), and cherry (just cuz). When we finally go there, he chose vanilla. We sat in the front seat of the car and ate it, since it was pretty chilly outside. Of course Eli wanted to try some of mine also (cookies-n-cream.) He told me, "I love banilla. But your ice cream is warmer than mine. Yum."

One of the funniest conversations came from something pretty serious. We were almost to the ice cream shop when I mistakenly went through a red light. We were on a smaller road and the arrow turned green. My foot reacted before my brain and we were half-way through the intersection before I realized my mistake. Eli asked me what was wrong and I explained that I wasn't paying close enough attention and I disobeyed the light, so on and so on. (I also reiterated how dangerous it was to not pay attention. When we approached the next light, Eli used a very kind, almost motherly voice as he told me, "Pay attention this time mommy! Be careful." We stopped at the red light and then the arrow (which we were not using) turned green. Then he said, "OK, that is a green arrow, but a red light....don't go." What would I ever do without him!??!

Glimpse of the Future

STOP!!! Seriously, can time stop for just a little while!?!?!?

Today I was hit in the face with the fact that my babies are SO not babies anymore. And we are closer than ever to the school years. I know, 'don't get ahead of yourself, Nicole. They are only 2 and 4!' But just yesterday they were infants. So I know how this time thing works....

This morning I dropped both kids off for their short day of pre-school. Maddie sits behind me in the car, so when I pull up to the carpool, I have to get out of my seat belt to unlatch her seat belt. (That is one thing she hasn't figure out YET, thank goodness!) I got back in my seat and then pulled forward. When the teacher came to the car, she opened Eli's side and let him out. I didn't see Maddux move over and exit also, so I said, "Have a great day, Maddie...love you!", as I turned around to make eye contact with her. She was standing right behind my seat, holding the head rest. When I turned she moved her face to the side so she could give me a silent, but wet kiss good-bye. Then she went right out with the teacher. It was like she was waiting for her 'good-bye kiss', like elementary kids do when their parents drop them off. TOTALLY made my day, but also made me think too much about what is to come...

Tiger

At school, Eli has a class pet. The stuffed dog, "Tiger", travels from house to house for a few days each week, spending one-on-one time with the students. Along with the dog comes a photo album book where there are pictures of Tiger and his hosts and little stories about what Tiger did while visiting each home. Eli was SOO excited to be only the second student to be able to take Tiger home. As soon as he got home from school yesterday, Eli got all of his other dogs (Clifford, Sam, Memphis, and Snoopy) and lined them up with Tiger, so they could meet. And he was sure to tuck him in when he left his room, so he wouldn't get cold. As much as we are trying to fight it, I think Eli is going to put the hard sell on us in future years for a REAL dog.

First Test

Eli had a diagnostic 'test' at school first thing this week, to determine where he was in letter recognition. This was supposed to test his visual recognition as well as audio. During the test, he teacher read a word and Eli had to circle the letter that the word started with (out of four letter choices). The words were: leaf, moon, astronaut, elephant, duck, penguin, boy, jack-o-lantern, and flower. He got all of them correct. It was so cute to see his little circles around the letters. It's so funny to me to see him do so well on a test like that when he can barely make the circle, which was not at all the skill set being tested.

Baseball Fever Finally Broke

What a crazy two weeks. For that matter, what a crazy season! Eli and the Knights have played 1-2 games each week for the last several months and had more rain delays than the Cubs. This really took its toll on us in the last ten days. The Knights won their first few games in the playoffs and then lost one sometime last week. The tournament was double-elimination, so they still had a shot. But each day a game was planned, it would be cancelled at the last minute due to rain and/or wet fields. They were finally able to play Sunday night (after 4 cancellations in three days). They won! This put them in the position to play for a spot in the final game. Monday night Lehr came home a little early so he could take Eli to the game. The boys played great, but once Maddux and I showed up in the third inning, things went downhill for the Knights. They were playing the best they could, but it wasn't enough. The other team won, putting us in third place. No worries since that is way better than anyone expected our team to finish. I can't begin to tell you how far the team as a whole (and Eli as a team-player) came this season. As much as I want to sign him up for the spring session, I know he wants to play soccer also, so it will probably be next fall before he plays baseball again.

Love My Boy

Wow. Out of the mouths of babes, for sure. Eli and I were in the kitchen this morning....I think I was helping him tie his shoes.

Eli - "Mommy, you and I are BOTH wearing jeans today."
Me - "Yes, we are."
Eli - "Mommy, mine are looser and yours are tight."
Me - "You are right, Eli."
Eli (with the cutest head cock-to-the-side and grin EVER) - "Mommy, you're getting so big."

I love that he is picking up on the positive stuff we pour into him and his sister. I love that he was trying to be sweet. I apologize to any future girlfriends. I will work on social graces.

Happy Halloween!

Halloween seems so routine now...it's hard to believe that we ONLY have five fall celebrations under our belts. This year, despite my efforts to get them to think beyond what we already had in our closets, both kids opted for costumes they've worn for quite some time now: Eli was a dragon and Maddux was a monkey.

Rain threatened to shut down our neighborhood block party, but the skies were clear enough for us to have our parade and costume contest before the first drops fell. Even then, it was short-lived, so the kids were able to trick-or-treat as long as they wanted. Eli woke up from his nap (he actually took one today) in a SOUR mood, so the first hour or so he was pretty quiet and uninvolved. Maddie was Mad Dog. Their friends, Cooper and Finley, joined us for the fun. After the parade, pizza, and the costume contest, we trick-or-treated the mile route back to our house. Maddux got brave towards the end, going up to a few houses on her own (without me OR Eli). One house in particular found her completely independent, making friends as she often does. She walked up the big hill to the couple standing with candy and started up some conversation with them. I wasn't wearing my glasses, but I could still see that the couple was quite amused with Maddie and her audacious self.

When we finally arrived back at the house, we made some popcorn and let the kids watch "The Great Pumpkin". I think it's safe to say they had a good time.

Little Mommy

Mad Dog. As rough and tough as she is, she is a such a caring little girl. Even though she strikes Eli (and maybe others??) at times, she is quick to apologize and give BIG hugs. And she gets very concerned when she thinks someone is hurt or sick. Several times in the last month this has presented itself in very cute ways.

Whenever I cough or sneeze, Maddux asks, "You OK, Mommy? Bess you." Or if I bump my head or arm or foot on something, she asks if I'm OK and then offers to get ice. Too sweet.

Early last week we were outside in the driveway and Eli took a big tumble. He was fine, but it was at the end of a long day, so the impression he gave was that a serious injury had occurred. Maddux ran over to him right away and got very serious. "You OK, Eli? E-i...are you OK? Did you hu-hrt?" He continued to cry a little and she said, " I get you ice...be right back." She ran inside and got the ice pack for him immediately. Adorable.

The other night we were at Eli's baseball game. Maddie and I were on the third base side, standing next to the fence. The top of the chain-link went well above our heads; ten feet tall or so. At one point Maddux asked me to lift her up to see over the fence. I told her that it was too tall and Mommy could not reach. She looked at me and said, "Mommy not big enough? Mommy not see?" Then she grabbed my leg above my knee and made an 'uhhhhh!!!' noise as she tried her hardest to lift me. Precious.

Smile Maker

I put Maddux to bed tonight. A few minutes later, Lehr went in to give her a kiss. She and he exchanged kisses and then he gave her one last 'special kiss' in her hand. He told her to put it in her pocket to keep it safe. When Lehr got to the door, Maddie shouted out, "I NOT HAVE A POCKET!!!" That girl doesn't miss a thing....

Scarecrows

Each year I go to the Botanical Gardens during October to see the scarecrows. (2008, 2007, 2006, 2005) The kids and I almost missed it this year due to our crazy schedules though! Last week I made an executive decision to keep Eli out of school sometime this week so that we could all go and get in the spirit of Halloween. Eli was sad to miss school, but excited to see the 'care-crows' or 'sare-crows'. (He never seems to say both the 's' and the 'c'.)

We met Cooper and Finley just after the gardens opened and from then on out it was a sprint :) The kids were excited and hopped up on sunshine (we've had a LOT of rain recently and it was nice just to be outside). We traveled through several scarecrow sections before arriving at the Children's Gardens, at which time the kids really took off. We spent a little time at a few playgrounds, but it was like they had a busy schedule ahead of them and they needed to just check this off of their list. (On top of that, Eli was doing some things that were so out of character, and so annoying, that Mommy was beyond frustrated. No huge disobedience, but lots and lots of little things that we normally don't see with him.)

Our trip ended on a nice green area (with a mud pit created by rain - of course the kids found that) where we set up for lunch. We stopped by to see Daddy at his office, and then we were home to nap. Mommy included!

Weekend With Daddy

I participated in the Breast Cancer 3-Day Walk this past weekend, so Lehr was on full-time Daddy Duty. The kids had great time, of course. Friday he had to work, but Miss Marina kept them entertained, despite the rain. Saturday morning found them at their preschool's Fall Festival. The kids got to jump in the jumpy castle, play some games, and hang out with friends from school. That night they had dinner with neighbors and afterwards Lehr gave them an extra special treat. He took them to their first theater movie! I was hoping to take Eli to the 'cinema' sometime soon for a date night, but Lehr beat me to the punch :) Apparently Maddux was done as soon as the previews were over. No big shocker there! They ended up staying for about 3o minutes of Ice Age before heading home to bed.

The next morning (Sunday), the three of them met me at cheering station for the walk. My three cuties showed up with "Go, Mommy, GO!" signs and bagels. Just the thing I needed for the last morning! From there, they went to church and lunch. After naps, they met me down at Turner field to pick me up at closing ceremonies. We tried to coordinate dinner with friends, but ended up at a pizza place on our own. Eli wanted to sit next to me because he 'missed me':)

Today, Eli was SO well behaved. Offering to help all of the time, obeying the FIRST time, every time. He also told me, "Mommy, I missed you when you were gone. I love you." Maddie's response to my absence has been different. LOTS of disobedience and ignoring directions. She has been snuggly with me though. Regardless of their behavior, I'm glad to be back. Two close-together trips away from my kids proved to be too much for me.

The kids were really sweet to each other today also. We were playing baseball in the driveway and Maddux fell on her knees. She cried for a second, to make sure I noticed. Eli then said, "I'm going to see if she's OK and kiss her." He walked over to her and kissed her knee (where she fell). She happily thanked him and we all returned to playing. This was BY FAR the best moment of today.

Zion Trip Video

2009 Zion Trip from Nicole Eliason on Vimeo.