Whew...What A Day!!!

Pizza! Games! Lights! Colors! A big giant mouse...what could be better? Yesterday Eli and I joined a few other brave playgroup mommies and entered into an alternate universe...Chuck E. Cheese. The last memory I have of that place is from a friend's 21st birthday party in college (ok, go ahead and say it...I was a dork!). To say Eli had a blast would be an understatement. He could hardly contain himself as he ran from machine to machine scoping it out. I probably could have even gotten away without buying any tokens and just let him sit in the seats, but that wouldn't be any fun. He rode the carousel several times, drove cars/trucks and then discovered the air hockey table. We even had our picture sketched by Chuck!

Eli could have stayed all day but when Mommy had had just about all she could handle, we packed up and headed for home. I naively assumed he would fall asleep in the car since he'd played hard and it was way past his nap time but no...I got to relive the day (we'd just had) as Eli told me about all the things he'd done. His favorite story went as follows:

Eli - ball and push!

Me - oh, you pushed the ball? (referring to the air hockey puck)

Eli: uh huh, and Haylie?

Me - yea, you pushed it to Haylie

Eli - and then hole...Yeah!!!!! (clapping)

Me - yes, the ball went in the hole and then you cheered!

Eli - the hole, and all done

Me - yeah, you pushed the ball in the hole and then it was all done

Eli - more?

Me - yes, and then mommy put in another token, huh?

(repeat above conversation for last 20 minutes of the drive home)

Bob & Larry

This morning Eli, an avid fan of Veggie Tales, and I were reading books and he chose the Colorful World book. The first page is red and we were naming all the pictures he knew and then he points to the tomato and says, "Bob". At first I thought he was labeling it incorrectly but then I realized he knew exactly who it was...his good friend Bob the tomato.

This afternoon, we were reading the same book before nap time (he likes repetition) and we get to the green page. Usually his favorite thing on this page is the pair of green rain boots just like his, but today he kept pointing at the picture of a slice of cucumber and saying "oh no". I was bewildered at first and kept asking, "what's oh no?" and then he finally said, "Larry" while pointing to the cucumber slice and smiling! I have no idea how he knows that A) Larry is a cucumber and B) what the inside of a cucumber looks like but we was definitely concerned for his friend Larry who was not his usual self!

Never In A Million Years

On any given day, if someone overheard my conversations they might think I'm a bit strange, or borderline crazy...until they saw who I was talking to; my almost two year old son! So here is the first list, I'm guessing of many, of things I never thought I'd hear myself say:

4. "Oh Eli, we don't jump on kitties, we pet them!"
3. "The toilet is for pee pee, not our blankies"
2. "Can you go find Daddy's bottom?" (I was using this tactic of distraction so that I could finish up in the bathroom without Eli who was determined to find my bottom!)
1. "Eli, your feet do not come off, they have to stay on" (this said while driving as Eli is furiously trying to "pull" his feet off in the back seat)

Merry "Martin Luther King" Day

Just kidding! We did not intentionally get together as a family and open presents just to celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr., but we did get to celebrate a belated Christmas up at Hume Lake with my family. We used the nice long weekend to hang out in the snow, sled, play games, watch movies (including a sing/dance-a-long to Mama Mia) and eat yummy treats...when do those New Year's resolutions start?! :)

Dad decided that (due to the amazing after Christmas sales) we all needed matching jammies for the weekend. I don't think he realized just how much they would get used. There was rarely a moment in those four days that at least one pair of red pants was not on display!

Eli got to see, feel, taste snow for the first time and had mixed emotions. He liked to eat it, but didn't really want to touch it and was very concerned if it got on him or anyone else! Crazy little monkey! We only managed to get him on one sled ride but he liked watching all of us sled...until we spun out or crashed at the end. He was very concerned by this! I tried to smile really big and convince him it was all for fun, but he wasn't buying it. Maybe next year!

First and only saucer ride

Eli walking "on the line" with Aunty Jen and Nana

Our little model...not quite sure what look he's going for!

Relax, Rejuvinate...Retreat!

We just got back from a retreat weekend with our Bible study in Bodega Bay. It was the most beautiful weather and it was so great to spend time hanging out, playing games, spending way too long on puzzles and catching up with friends. The guys got to golf and play tennis and us girls had a day out shopping and having lunch. Although the location has changed, our retreat tradition has been going now for 5 years! Crazy! I also got to practice a bit more with my new camera and get a few lessons from our resident photographers as well.

Practicing his "Cheese!"

Eli and his buddy Isaiah

Follow the leader

Yippppeeeeeeeee!

It came today!!!! My birthday and Christmas wish lists included the Cannon Rebel xsi camera and it arrived today. As fast as I could read the basic instructions and get the camera out of the box, I began taking photos. It was so exciting just to see the difference on the auto setting! Amazing! Not that I have dreams of becoming a photographer, I'll leave that to Sandy and Megan, but it is definitely going to improve our family memories, scrapbooks and blog! So while Eli was napping, I used the few subjects that I had on hand. Check out my first photos with a "grown up" camera...

I love this setting that makes the background blurry

Sleepy Raisin

My handsome hubby

...And to All a Good Night

December is one of my favorite months. Along with my birthday, I enjoy the exciting buzz of the Christmas countdown, decorating, getting our tree, unwrapping the ornaments and laughing at the stories behind each of them, hanging lights, shopping for loved ones and the anticipation of surprises. But more than any of those things I love the feeling when you are with your family on Christmas morning (jammies all around) and just hanging out! We did it with my parents on Christmas morning and we get to do it again (belated Christmas with my sister) in two weeks!

This year we also instituted a new "tradition" which was really special. On Christmas Eve we attended the service at our church with my parents and then had a "Happy Birthday Jesus" party after dinner with balloons, cake and singing of course. It was especially meaningful because not only we were able to take our eyes off ourselves and focus on the true meaning of Christmas, but Eli also understood that we were celebrating Jesus! During the day we kept telling him we were going to have a birthday party for Jesus (Eli is a huge fan of birthdays...balloons, cupcakes and singing all rate very high on his list of favorites!) and that evening on our way to church Grant asked him, "Eli, whose birthday is it?" and Eli's reply was, "Jesus!". Of course he doesn't understand that Jesus' birth was an integral part of God's plan for our salvation, but he'll get that eventually. For now I'm just happy that he enjoys singing to Jesus and blowing out his birthday candles.

Christmas Eve (before assembling all the toys!)

Christmas morning at our house

Eli with his new train at Papa and Nana's house