Brotherly Love

Eli and Reed seem to have a special bond. Eli is so gentle with Reed and very protective of him. Tonight, I laid Reed on the couch after he fell asleep. Eli snuggled up next to him and went to sleep too. So sweet!!!

I love this pic....their profiles are so similar!

Ahhhh....Watermelon!

It's officially summer! We enjoyed our first watermelon. Eating watermelon outside is a MUST for these boys, but it's ok because they LOVE to be outside. Kids eating watermelon make the cutest pictures! : )

Garden Update

Having a garden has been so fun! We said from the beginning that this year was a learning year for us (although I bet we will be saying that for several years). And we have learned a lot!!! Like....

• Don't pour an entire package of seeds in each row.....really.....one seed every 2-3 inches is plenty.
• Cucumber plants are CRAZY!!! They grow and grow and grow. They wrap their little vines around things almost overnight. If your not careful, they will wrap a vine around you if you stand there for too long. ; )
• Spacing is key!
• Radishes are yummy....beans are yummy.....green onions are yummy

Eli and Chase with our first "harvest" of beans

Our first squash

Our squash plants have since died. Not sure what happened. I think they were just too crowded. I'm sad about it because I LOVE squash and was looking forward to having some yummy squash that we grew ourselves!

Eli picked a carrot to see how they are doing....looks like they are doing quite well. Can't wait to see how big they get. Not sure how to know when to pick them...I guess we'll have to figure that out. We actually ate this little carrot and it was pretty good.

Our green onion is so good....that sounds strange because it is just green onion, but these have a super strong flavor. The kids don't really care for them, but Hunter and I love them.

Last Day of Preschool

May 18th was Eli's last day of preschool. I cannot believe he will be in Kindergarten next year! We are super proud of him and all he accomplished this year. He had lots of fun, had some wonderful teachers and made lots of new friends.

It seems like yesterday, when I took this picture and wrote about his first day of preschool. The school year goes so fast!! I wonder if school teachers feel the same way?!?!
Eli had five wonderful teachers this year. Granted this is my first experience with teachers, etc., but all of Eli's teachers seemed so loving and caring. We were really blessed. And, his music teacher happened to be one of my best friends in middle school....that was an extra treat. Eli loved hearing stories about me and Mrs. Robyn. Eli wanted to give each teacher a gift.....
....so we got them some personalized note cards from Amy Adele (love, love this website/store!) and a jar of M&M's with a sweet poem to go with it. We found the idea for the M&M's on the Mommy's Kitchen website (another website I LOVE). And Eli wrote cards for all the teachers....I actually wrote them, but he told me what to write. It was so cute and funny....he told one teacher that he hoped she could go to Hawaii or Arkansas this summer. : )
Eli also wanted to give something to everyone in his class....yikes! there were 24 kids in his class....but we were able to find a few goodies at Mardel and made little gift bags. It was fun and Eli did most of the assembling. : ) I love that Eli seems to have such a giving heart. He always wants to give to others. What a blessing!

A Milestone

No pictures for this, but Chase reached a huge milestone. No Paci! Chaseman LOVED his paci, but now after 2 1/2 weeks it is just a memory. : (

I didn't set out with a goal of losing the paci, it just happened. I could not find it one day so he just did without. He didn't complain much so I decided to see what would happen at bedtime. He asked for it a couple of times, but no screaming or crying. Don't tell Chase, but if he did scream or cry, I would have found one....I was totally ok with him still using one and I wasn't going to let him get too upset over it. Anyway, first night was so easy. Then the easy just continued. He asked for it on occasion and at night he would get very close to me in bed and whisper, "Momma, I need something." : ) But he would just fall asleep. Now he doesn't even ask for it. I guess he was just ready.

I feel like we got lucky with Eli and Chase....both were SOOOO easy when giving up the paci. Next is learning to use the potty. : ) But let's let the paci thing settle in for a while and then we'll start on that! : )

Rangers

Hunter recently took Eli and Chase to their first Texas Range.r game. Eli has been to many other pro sporting events, but this was a first for Chase. They had a wonderful time and ate TONS of food. I think that's why Eli loves to go to sporting events....the food. Hunter indulges them....popcorn, soft drinks, ice cream, hot dogs, the works! Chase said he had so much fun, but when I asked him who won, he looked at me like I was crazy. Not sure he really knew that he was at a game. : ) Probably just thought he was in junk food heaven ; )

What?!

As a mom I occasionally, no often, hear myself say things and think to myself...did those words really just come out of my mouth. Here is an example....."Chase, stop trying to squeeze yourself into a plastic storage box." : )