her spunkyness

lyla just learned "don't!" it's one of those funny/bummer moments that seem to flow freely with parenthood. on one hand, it is really funny to her her little voice say, "don't!" on the other hand, it's not the most pleasant of words. but along with her spunkyness comes such a fun and sweet side. she is such a gift.

corny fun

our church went to the corn maze in meridian yesterday. it was so much fun! these are some of the kiddos that were there...julia, luke, mary and eli

the moo train...

moo.

lyla and me. she really got into it and walked most of the way.

i've never seen on of these, but it is my new favorite bouncing contraption.

eli LOVED it. this is his, "i'm having tons of fun" face

i can't believe we got both kids to put their heads in those holes...it's really something of a miracle.

family slide...choo choooooo

these two are so cute together

they had a "corn box," which was another huge hit...and a lot less messy than sand.

luke and eli on the peddle cars. they have good fun together.

where does it come from!?!

with still half the stick in the wrapper, lyla was finished with her string cheese. i asked eli if he wanted it, he asked, "did you bite off lyla's bite?" what? seriously? he didn't say "cooties," but he didn't have to. that's exactly what he meant.

apple picking

we went apple picking a few days ago. the kids had a good time, but i'm beginning to think i'm apple picking cursed. last year was a blowout. this year lyla was battling a cold, the kids woke up really early that morning and had been crabby...which makes me crabby. but it ended up going well.

lyla loved what she called an "ap," but it soon became, "ap-ple." i can't believe how much she's talking these days. this evening she handed me a toy hippopotamus and said, "hip-po." i love this age!

lyla saw the boys in action and ran to participate.

papa and eli getting the good ones

my sweet boy

big impressions

my mom and i had a cup of coffee after lunch today. we were at this really fancy restaurant, and when i say "fancy," i mean it had nice play equipment for the kids. anyway, they had those little cups of creamer that have the foil/paper lid that you peel off. eli wanted to drink one so bad, so i let him finish off one that i half used.

he said, "this is my spirit"

i'm thinking, "what? has he been watching some crazy halloween program on tv that i somehow missed?...some witch potion show or something?"

seeing my confusion, my mom mouths to me, "communion!"

the guy was taking communion with a coffee creamer at burger king. how sweet is that?

communion has made a huge impression. he acts it out and talks about it all the time. he believes in Jesus and His death on the cross, as much as a three year old can, so we've decided that we are going to let him partake next time we have it. i really can't wait.

birthday dinner

yesterday was my mom's birthday, so we celebrated with a dinner party at our house. we had a good dinner and apple crumb pie for dessert. i honestly think eli had more fun than my mom...not that she didn't have a good time, but eli just likes birthdays that much.

after we sang "happy birthday," lyla was singing, "happy...happy...happy," it was so cute.
and she had reason to sing, she has a really fantastic grandma. we are blessed to have her in our lives. happy birthday, mom! we love you lots.

and today is my brothers birthday, happy birthday jesse! hope you had a great day...wish we could have celebrated with you:(

give up?

while adam and eli were play fighting...

eli - forgive up!

adam - what???

eli - forgive up or i'll get you!