Sunday, December 10, 2017

Turkey Month

The lawn mowing crew was out in force for the last day of mowing.

We visited Belle Isle for my first time this month. We went to the aquarium that was very beautiful.

And went to the conservatory next door. 

The boys were hard to keep track of in this building. The plants hid them really well. 

The tree towering above Alex and Evan will be cut down soon. It is almost touching the top of the window ceiling. 

We visited with my grandparents and the boys gave Grandpa some entertainment. 

At the Ernst Thanksgiving we got all the babies together for a photo. Eliza, Eli and Edward.

The big kids got in on the photo op as well. Everette, Evan, Alex and Norah. (Yes, we are aware there have been a lot of E names in the family in the last 3 years.)

Always enjoy my little helpers on waffle day.

Alex and Evan enjoying their Charlie Brown Thanksgiving meal at preschool. Mrs. Pam Alex's preschool teacher joined them.

The boys and Eliza enjoying a few more times jumping into the leaves.

Eliza is ready to jump in.

Thanksgiving at our house. Might need another table next year.


The day after Thanksgiving we stayed home and set up the tree. Eliza couldn't take it anymore, she had to have a nap.

After the tree was up we popped some popcorn and watched a movie.

The boys love their play dough.

Eliza had some baby competition this month when Baby Alex came to visit. 

Ain't she cute. :)

The boys got a special treat with having glow sticks in their bathtub. It was super fun until Evan decided to chew on the sticks.... no more glow sticks for a while.

Nice clean happy baby.

She loves to smile, and she's ready for Red Robin Fries.

The boys enjoying church. These great coloring pads just need water to work. Great for church!

Look who destroyed the shower curtain. Boys. 

My beautiful baby girl

Evan napping... always has to have that thumb.

Daddy and Eliza enjoying church, and both happen to be wearing yellow that day.

We finally got to see Santa this past weekend. He was such a friendly Santa. Spent extra time talking with the boys and asking them what they want for Christmas. Eliza doesn't really like strangers, or people that aren't her mommy and daddy.

The boys were so ready to go out yesterday after we got snow. So we got all their gear on and off they went. Evan was back in 10 min later.

A little wrestle fest before naps.

Then back outside after naps. This was Eliza's first time in the snow. She didn't hate it.  

See you next month.


Wednesday, November 8, 2017

Big Adventures


I was cleaning up in the playroom and a centipede some how got on my arm, so I put it in a jar and let the boys look at it. 

We went to airtime with the boys... but we got there at 10am and they didn't open until 3pm... so we went back after dinner and the boys had a blast. They took it pretty well at 10 that we had to leave, didn't give any grief. The boys did a great job at stacking all the little pieces in the little kid area. And Evan learned to take turns with other people in other areas. 

Evan would toss the ball up and then fall on his back and his feet would fall behind his head, as pictured here. 

They get really thirsty from all the jumping.

We decided to get the boys haircuts. They look very cute and styled.

The boys cleaning up the deck and Eliza wishing she could join in the fun.

Babies are so cute in those little towels.

Mike and Alex left for London, England to visit my sister and her family for 9 days. Alex was so excited to go on a plane... for 9 hours. 

Evan missed Alex a lot while he was gone so he decided to sleep in his bed while he was gone.

Oma came for a visit while the boys were gone. Evan snuggled up. He's a great snuggler. 

So I think I've figured out why Evan's favorite color is orange.... all his favorite foods seem to be orange. Oranges, cantaloupe, cheese, goldfish....nuts.

We ventured out to the farm to pick apples, but there weren't really any left on the trees so we wandered to the back while my dad picked up apples from the floor of the orchard. It was a lovely day for a walk.
This is a 'side by side' comparison of me making applesauce with the kids. Top is Eliza and Evan, and bottom is Evan and Alex. I ended up with 5 quarts more of applesauce and a crock pot of apple butter. Yum!

I decided to clean the lower gutters before the weather turned bad and rained for 5 days. Eliza and Evan enjoyed their time outside. 

I even made a pile of leaves for Evan to jump into, he loved it.

As all 7/8 month olds Eliza was not thrilled at the leaf pile. 

Evan heard sirens and he said "I see an emergency!"

Eliza's first bath in the big tub. I couldn't give them baths in two different rooms so I combined them... it was a short bath due to all the splashing. Eliza is quite a kicker. 

Eliza is really good at getting into different spaces in the kitchen. I can't leave the pantry open or she'll get in there and find a snack. 

After a really long day (Monday) the upstairs bathroom flooded because the toilet shut off wasn't working, and then the emergency shut off under the toilet was frozen open. So I got my neighbor to come over and help me turn off the water. I got the bathroom cleaned up and the kids to bed and noticed to bulges on the living room ceiling when I got down stairs. I drained the ceiling and got almost 5 gallons of water out... then I found out that a water main break happened about a mile away so we were under a boil water emergency for at least 5 days.

So the next morning I packed up me and the kids and went to my sisters house in Plymouth. I brought a friend that also lived in the area and has small children. You might recognize the little guy in the red shirt as Alex's best friend from preschool, Jason. 

Eliza got a bath in the sink

One awesome feature about Aunt Shawn's house is she has LOTS of toys!! The kids had so much fun playing.

Evan found these great glasses and tried to eat lunch with them... he wasn't very successful.  They kept falling off his nose. 

Evan adopted some new animals while he was staying at the Wades. He found a black and white cat that he calls Scaredy Cat.

I walked into Evan sleeping like this one night. He's a funny kid at times. 

When Mike and Alex got home on Friday we stayed at my sisters because the water still wasn't ok to drink until Sunday. The kids enjoyed running laps in her house.

Here's a picture of all the kids enjoying themselves one morning.

The boys found the cool glasses stash. 

While in London Alex and Mike saw many great things, but here are a few of the pictures from their trip. Mike will have to do his own blog I think for the trip. Over all it was a great trip and Alex loved all the time with his cousins and Aunt and Uncle. This is the Tower Bridge. 

Dover Castle


Bodiam Castle (one of few with a moat)

Alex brought back this book that has a train track in it with a wind up train. 

Alex was a SWAT guy for Halloween. He had a great time at his preschool party.

Evan was an Astronaut and he also had a great time. 

On Monday night I finally got time to carve the pumpkins. 

Tada! The little pumpkins with faces were from our church trunk or treat, and the mini pumpkins on the side were from Nana.

Eliza got her head caught in this basket, she didn't seem to mind too much, but it made for a cute picture. 

Trick or Treating time. Eliza got an outfit change because it was so cold out. She ended up in a bear suit and Jason joined us to get candy. The kids had a great time. Evan kept saying "Thank you for Trick or treating!" when he'd walk away. 

The boys' haul. Not bad for one block.

Breakfast with Uncle Geoff. Always a good time. He's looking at all the pictures Mike has on his phone from his trip. Alex is adding commentary. 

After breakfast we went to Costco to find glasses (for Mike and Amber). What is it about kids in glasses? They are so cute.

Family photo at Davey's birthday party.

Uncle Dave holding Eliza up so she can do her dancing.

Evan was very tired after the party. He fell asleep like this. No idea how he stayed up right.

Picture day was this past week. Here is some of Evan's preschool class.

And Alex's Pre-K class

Daddy took some time to read the kids their latest Zootles book. 

We went to the park yesterday before Eliza's flu shot and she loved the swing. Every time I'd push her she would giggle with glee.  This little girl has started feeding herself and eats like a pig at meals. She's saying Mama when she is hungry and I'm not paying her any attention, and Daddy just because she can. She's a poop machine, but oh so cute. She loves her brother Alex and watches him all the time.

Bye, see you next month when I'm 8 months old! :) :)


Keeping Busy is our middle name

We joined some friends for bowling, turns out the boys really enjoy it. Evan is already perfecting his form. Eliza tries really hard to get ...