Christmas at Zue-Zue's House

The Saturday before Christmas we went over to Josh's mom's house to have our Christmas with her. Eli was so excited to open more presents (what kid isn't?). Sue cooked a yummy supper of shrimp and grits and then we had soapilla cheesecake for dessert. Yummy! Eli couldn't eat the shrimp and grits because they were too spicy, so he had his very own personal pizza...one of his favorite things to eat! He knew he couldn't open any gifts until he had eaten all his food, so he made sure to eat every single bite! (That's how you bribe convince a non-eater to eat!)

After we ate, it was time to open gifts. Eli played Santa's little helper and passed out the gifts to each of us. He's getting better about recognizing our names and was able to hand the presents to the right people and only needed a little bit of help from me.

His first present to open was from Mr. Art and Mrs. Vera. She always gives Eli really neat presents and this year was no different. He got a balloon animal kit and immediately wanted to make some balloon animals! 

I ended up doing most of the work and to start my balloon animal making career I made...a fish. Don't be jealous of my skills :) By the end of the night though, I was able to make a dog though and it actually looked the way it was supposed to. Maybe I'll have another hobby soon!

Mrs. Vera also gave him some really cool holiday glasses that made all the lights on a Christmas tree look like snowmen. Eli really got a kick out of that! 

Daddy tested them out, too!

Then it was time for presents from Zue-Zue! Can you tell my child has been trained when it comes to taking pictures? HAHA!

He opened the LeapPad case first and then made it his mission to find the LeapPad that went with it. 

BINGO!

Daddy used his new headlamp from Zue-Zue to help Eli open it so he could start playing it right away.

I got some new coffee mugs, which I LOVE!

Sue got some, too!

Eli got the game Operation. It was one of the games he asked for, but Josh and I have discovered that it's a lot harder than the one we played when we were kids. The buzzer is extra sensitive and the pieces are almost impossible to get out, so we usually just play it with the buzzer off. It's still great for Eli's fine motor skills though.

Eli also got Pop the Pig. He loved it and we've played it a lot already!

I got a brand new crock pot. My old one lasted me 11 years and it finally bit the dust. I desperately needed a new one. I was very excited!

Josh asked for me to not take pictures of every gift he got so that's why there aren't very many of him, but he loved all his gifts from his mom, especially the Apple TV she gave him. That's probably one of his favorite gifts this year.

One of Sue's favorites gifts is probably this calendar Eli gave her. Now she can look at her little boo-boo everyday at work :)

It was a great Christmas with Josh's mom! Sue, thank you for all our presents, but more importantly thanks for all you do for our little family. We love you so much!

PreK-3 Update-September

Eli's year at school is going GREAT! He loves his friends and he truly enjoys school every single day. I love going to pick him up and seeing all his artwork displayed in the hall. His teacher is super creative and I love seeing the crafts she's had them do to reinforce whatever skill they're working on that week.

Here is some of the stuff he did in September:

-He now knows all his letters and sounds. He knew a lot of them before school, but now he knows them all. He LOVES practicing his letters at home and finding his letters on signs whenever we're around town. WOO HOO! Each week at school they study a letter and do arts and crafts about that letter. So far in school, he's covered the letters A, M, and S.
-He is learning his numbers from 1-10 and is starting to recognize them. He can count pretty fluently to 13 on his own and to 20 with help, but he doesn't recognize all those numbers. He now recognizes the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and 8.
-He has made friends :) He talks about his friends Logan and John Mathieu all the time and I think it's so precious! When we were looking at all their artwork in the hall, he made sure to show me their work, too. At home, when we're practicing his letters with his Fridge Phonics, he always says "L is for Logan and J is for John Mathieu."
-He is eating! My non-eater at home makes a happy plate at school every single day and sometimes gets multiple portions of fruit. He still can't manage to drink out of the chocolate milk carton without getting it on him, but it's gotten a lot better.

That's all for now, but the list is growing and growing every day. I'm so proud of him :) Here are some pictures of his art from the past few weeks. He brings home so much that I've decided I'm going to make a photo book of all his artwork, so I don't have to keep everything. Of course, I'll keep all the really really cute stuff, which is going to be very hard because it's all SO CUTE!

Nicki, Jonah, and Micah Come to Visit

The week school started we got an unexpected surprise when Nicki and her boys traveled to see us...Well, not just us, but it's my blog, so I can pretend :) Sunday night after they got in we all gathered at the Welch's house for some yummy fried fish, french fries, and more desserts than you can imagine. It was so much fun getting to see Nicki and the boys again. Jonah loved getting to catch up with everyone, especially his buddy, Cliff. Would you believe this is the ONLY picture I took that night. I was busy chasing Eli around the house, talking to friends, and stuffing my face! Nicki might have taken more, but her computer is on the fritz right now :(  I still LOVE this picture I took of Cliff and Jonah though. They're BIG BUDS!

Nicki and the boys weren't in town for very long so we made the most of the short time we had with them. Monday after school we went swimming at Art and Vera's house with Diane and her girls, Marlie and Hannah. The kids had SO MUCH FUN splashing, swimming, diving, and playing in the pool. It felt just like old times!

Eli and his future wife, Hannah :)

Diane and Micah

Two of the sweetest boys I know!

After the kids got tired of swimming, they played in the yard for a little bit with a big beach ball.

Mrs. Vera got home from work early (A VERY RARE OCCURRENCE!) and she couldn't wait to get her hands on Mr. Micah. Diane and Hannah had fun squeezing those chubby baby legs, too. Micah just ate it all up!

We left Art and Vera's house and met Daddy at Zue-Zue's house for supper. She'd cooked Nicki's favorite (OURS TOO!)-fried chicken, Cane's sauce, and mashed potatoes. YUM-O! While the adults were finishing up our meal, Jonah and Eli were playing their little hearts out. Nicki got up at one point and found this...it was too sweet to not take a picture of it. I love that these little boys play so well together! I just hate that there are SO MANY MILES separating them from each other :( 

It was SO GOOD being able to see my sweet friend again! I can't wait until we can see them again! Hopefully, it won't be too long before we can see each other again :)

Summer Projects: Edible Finger Paint

While I was on Pinterest one day (it's SO addicting!!! Let me know if you want to join and I'll send you an invite!) I found a "pin" someone had posted showing how to make edible finger paint from the website ourbestbites.com. After looking at the ingredients needed-corn starch (that miracle ingredient!), water, and food coloring-Eli and I began the process of making it.

It didn't take long at all and before we knew it we had our very own finger paint. Now this is the point where I'd LOVE to tell you how much fun we had, how we painted for hours and hours, and how my child cried because he didn't want to stop painting. That wasn't exactly how things went however...

Eli dipped his finger in the paint and immediately made a grossed out face and could not wait to get that stuff off his fingers. The kid hates getting anything on his hands or feet. I guess the texture felt funny to him. He wasn't tired of painting, but he definitely wanted to switch from using his hands to using a brush.

I, however, had no problem getting icky and enjoyed painting using our new finger paints.

Eli tried using a brush, but the finger paint was really too think for it to spread easily. He went and found his other paint and used that instead.

Meanwhile, the artsy fartsy momma in me came out and I kept creating lots of pictures.

I quickly realized I had a teachable moment on my hands, so I convinced Eli to try painting again encouraging him to get just a little glob on his fingers so it wouldn't be so bad.

I had Eli paint a circle of each of the primary colors-red, blue, and yellow. Then I put a small glob of red and blue next to each other, a small glob of red and yellow next to each other, and a small glob of blue and yellow next to each other. Eli and I mixed them together and we "discovered" the secondary colors-purple, orange, and green.

We posted our poster on the refrigerator and labeled it. This would be a great activity to do with my students at school. They all know their colors, but I think it would fun for them to see how two colors can make another color. 

Another fun summer project completed! I love finding new ideas and trying them out with my little boy. Summer is so much fun!

Eli Hits the Pool

Some dear friends of ours from the church, Art and Vera, have a pool at their house that they let us use during the summer. Every summer since I've lived here, I have gone to their pool to relax, read books, catch some rays, and exercise (okay, mostly the first three, but I thought I'd throw the exercise in there just in case I sounded like a bum!).

Today Eli and I went to the pool for the first time. I knew that we wouldn't be able to stay very long, but I wanted to see how he would do in the water. I went by Wal-Mart this afternoon and picked up a baby float for him, sunscreen, and a beach towel and then we went home to get ready to head to the pool.

We got there and I put him in his float. It took him just a few minutes to get acclimated to the water, but once he did, he started having a great time! Josh and I are going to try to go back later on this week with him after the big crowds have left the pool (we're not the only ones that enjoy Art and Vera's pool...they are GREAT about sharing!). I can't wait to spend many more summer days with my boy at the pool :) I LOVE SUMMER!

Scoping out the pool, looking for hot chicks...

One cool dude!

My favorite wide open mouthed smile!

He seemed to enjoy his little float.
Now if I could just figure out how to get him to lay back and relax!

Whew! Long day at the pool, Mommy. Time to go home and eat!