I Did It!!! (x3)

I did it! I didn't think I could...honestly. And in fact, I successfully made 3 tote bags this weekend. (Thanks for the tip, Darby!)

I'm definitely still a novice when it comes to sewing, so don't look too closely. I am truly proud of my pretty totes. I can now carry my books to school, book club, etc. in style! :) Look out, everybody! You now know what you'll be getting from me for Christmas . (just kidding....ok, maybe not...)

This is one of the things that kept me busy this rainy/tropical storm-filled weekend. We had no school on Friday thanks to TS Fay. That day wasn't too bad. Eli and I managed to get out that morning to buy this fabric and play at the indoor playground at Chik-Fil-A. The +/- 15 inches of rain started that night and has not yet stopped. Well, yesterday and today...it has been on and off, but not dry enough to get out and play that much.

Friday, Eli and I passed the afternoon baking delicious oatmeal raisin cookies (healthily - is that a word? - with raw sugar and part whole wheat flour). Eli loved pouring in each ingredient and then mixing in the oats and raisins. His favorite part = eating the dough. As they say, apples don't fall far from the tree...his mama and dada LOVE sampling the dough too! Eli has quickly learned the word "Cookie" and is eager to ask to sample his homemade tasty treats.

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Fort building was fun Saturday. Dada did a much better job than Mama...should have gotten a picture of Dada's. Saturday was also full of coloring, ramp building, mowing the carpet, and later, hosting Grandma and Grandpa Snyder who had lost power despite owning a generator. Crazy, right?

We survived....and just when we thought it was all over....more rain today, and still flooded/closed roads. It took us 1 1/2 hours to get to school today due to my impatience. I'll go ahead and take the blame there. I tried to take an alternate route to avoid traffic only to have to turn around and get at the END of the line going BACK into the traffic that I tried to get out of in the first place. Frustration was at an all time high! Not a great start to the day, but I'm feeling better after stopping on the way home from school for a LARGE iced coffee.

And as for school starting last week...Eli loves it! I'm still warming up to it. I don't love it yet, but hoping (and praying...) it gets better.

Daddy's Little Helper

This time Eli pitched in and helped Dada with his "chores."

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He wasn't that great at actually getting dirt off the car. After scrubbing a few times, he realized that playing in the sudsy soap bucket was WAY more fun!

He even wanted to help with the weeding and trimming.

Don't worry, the safety latch was on the clippers...

And on a side note, Eli has two new obsessions this week: buses and tractors. One of the book's we checked out from the library this month is, Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus. Since then, he is so excited to find buses all around town. And at school last week, Eli got to ride on a "tractor" (a.k.a. a Gator) He has talked about little else. Fortunately, he has come to the realization that it is "gone" now....after only a few meltdowns.
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Happy Anniversary!

Last week, Matt and I celebrated our anniversary....

...8 wonderful years, and counting!

My Sissies and Me

I finally have a moment to try and recap the events from our First Annual Sister Trip to Steamboat Springs, Colorado. All 5 Snyder sisters managed to find the time in our hectic lives to head west (or at least a little further west...) for some adventure.

I figure the easiest way to do it is go day-by-day. And here we go...

Wednesday, July 30

Matt and Eli saw Kristi and I off from the Tallahassee Airport about the same time Lindsey took off from Atlanta to meet Theresa and Susanna in Denver. We got in late (for us EST folks...) so it was a quick sisterly visit before heading to bed.

Thursday, July 31

After a slow-moving morning, a trip to see Susanna's new place, & a yummy lunch, we headed to Steamboat Springs. On the drive, we sang our hearts out...harmonizing all the way to the Indigo Girls. We got to our AMAZING condo that overlooked the ski mountain. Way to go T & Z for picking such a great place! We had a low-key evening, grilling on our balcony and watching a flick...resting up for the first of our adventures....

________________Friday, August 1

Kayaking the Yampa River! We loved our guide who challenged us and was impressed with our skills. He wished he had his video camera so he could film us for their next promotional video! We had SO MUCH FUN refreshing our skills, bouncing off rocks in the shallow rapids, ferrying, catching eddys, and even surfing a bit.

An "easy" afternoon hike to Upper Fish Creek Falls that turned out to not be so easy after all! Quite intense gain of 2,400 feet to about 9,800 ft, but it was worth it!

Cleaned up for a nice dinner with a yummy bottle of wine. (Thanks, Matt!)

Then off to bed to ready ourselves for another full day of fun!

_________________Saturday, August 2

Rock climbing with another great leader. We felt lucky to get such great guides each day! She encouraged us and had us climbing 5 different climbs. I, unfortunately, struggled a lot with the 3rd climb...psyching me out for the rest. I still had a great time.

Headed "home" to clean up for the Wine Festival. We kinda lucked into a wine festival happening during our visit and decided to take advantage of it. 300 wines to try...didn't try them all, but we tasted a LOT of great ones.

Then back to the condo for a relaxing evening full of bonding sister talks and reading.

Sunday, August 3

Got geared up for another hike. This time, we tackled Rabbit Ears Peak. It was very enjoyable as we spent most of the hike in a spectacular flowerland, gradually climbing to 10,654 feet. It got steep and rocky as we neared the top. We ended up running down due to an approaching storm with lightning. Being in an open field, we felt vulnerable...so we made our descent quickly.

To rest our weary bones, we went to Strawberry Park Hot Springs. A natural hot spring nestled in the mountains. You really had to "warm" up and work your way up the the hottest pool. It did our muscles good!
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Our last evening was spent at a happy hour with $1 tapas and amazing dinners to celebrate Susanna's birthday a little early. It was much better than our mega expensive dinner the other night!

Monday, August 4

After checking out of our condo, we headed to downtown Steamboat to wander the shops and grab some souvenirs. Drove back to Denver after stopping briefly at the outlets. We grilled some 'kabobs at Theresa and Ricky's for our final dinner together before heading in different directions.

Tuesday, August 5

Departure day! Tropical Storm Edouard made it extremely challenging for Kristi and I to fly home...through Houston...where the storm hit! It wasn't a bad storm, but it was bad enough to delay and cancel flights. A long story short...we flew out of Denver earlier than intended only to have our connecting flight to Tally cancelled after MANY hours of waiting in Houston. Ended up flying into Jax on a split-second decision, renting a car, and getting home after 2 a.m. Whew!

What a wonderful vacation!

And Eli and Matt did great while I was gone. Eli did well each day with his wonderful babysitter. Over the weekend, they went down to see Matt's parents and had a quick visit there. It was so sweet when I got to go up and get Eli as he woke up Wednesday morning. When he saw me, he kept pointing at me and saying, "Mama!" as if to say, "She's here! Can you believe it?" So sweet!

Glad to be home despite the laundry and readjusting that followed. I'm already looking forward to the next vacation... whenever, wherever it may be!

LUB!

That's Eli-ese for "love" or "I love you!"

It is one of his newer words/phrases from the month of July...I thought I'd try to come up with a quick list of things Eli's *lubbin'* this month.

1. Waving hello to his friends, dogs, strangers, whoever will watch his frantic wave.
2. Paying for our stuff, preferably with my card (he swipes - or tries - and pushes the green button), but cash works too.
3. Carrying his own "mun" (a.k.a. money - pennies or other coins)
4. Doing the GATOR CHOMP when he hears the song or sees a Gator head...he's ready for football season!
5. Saying "me-me" (a.k.a. excuse me) while putting his hand to his mouth after he - or anyone else - burps. Or he'll even fake burp just to be able to say it.
6. Jumping - or at least trying to! (even into the pool to Grandma!!!)
7. Running around in circles
8. Playing hide-and-seek
9. BIG friends! Eli has learned that older friends (i.e. adults or college-age) are more fun to play with...they share so much better, and often give him whatever wants. He's struggling with sharing and taking turns right now. Especially if it is his most favorite baby!!!
10. CHEESE - he'll even ask for it in complete sentences. ("I want cheese." "I like cheese!")
11. N(D)OOD(TH)LES!
12. His newest toy, the "mon mower" a.k.a. lawn mower. He is the cutest thing pushing it around the house. Eventually it will be an outside toy, but for now, I never wonder where he is...I can always hear!
13. Pretending to vacuum with the tennis racket--humming along while pushing it all around, under tables, and into corners.
14. Pretending in general - being a doggie and cooking (and tasting...of course!) are other faves.
15. His bath/books/bed routine at night. I'm loving this stage where he enjoys getting ready for bed and goes to sleep easily on his own...and STAYS asleep all night! Not sure how long it will last until he starts trying to delay bedtime...but for now, I'll relish it!
16. Being silly!
17. Finding horsies around town
18. Looking for motorcycles
19. Counting...he can only do 1,2 consistently right now. He loves 5 and 10, but struggles with the numbers in between. He also knows that fun things happen on 3! You will often hear, "1, 2, whee!!" and he doesn't mean 3. :)
20. Coloring
21. Asking for "one more"
22. BOOKS! He loves to find things in the pictures that he can say, sign (still signing a bit here and there), or make the sound (for animals or vehicles).
23. Doing hand motions or signing songs while Mama (or any other willing vocalist) sings.
24. Signing (not singing...) the alphabet - Z is his favorite...all the others are not recognizable
25. Doors, (keys in) locks, and drawers (especially in the kitchen and bathroom)
    
26. Banging on his Lego tub while singing an Eli-inspired, "Mon, mon, mon maway!" (or something like that)

Whew! That list ended up longer than I thought it would. I kept going back to add more!

Eli is entering true toddler-hood...finding all kinds of mischief, but being as playful, talkative, and lovable as ever. If I'm being honest...he has his days (oy!)...I have my days (thank goodness for the CO trip/break!)...but overall, we're doing great!

We start the school year soon. Eli and I will be going to school every morning this year. (inner self: what was i thinking? oh how i will miss our mornings with nothing to do. lounging around, taking our time, and staying in jammies all morning! we'll just have to live it up on the weekends!) We have lined up some college girls to play with Eli while I work. It should (*hopefully*) work out perfectly.

July was an eventful month...the beach, NC, and Mama's trip to CO (follow-up post to come soon!) Check out July's Snapfish album if you wanna. I really do hope to write the wrap-up for our First Annual Sister Trip SOON! Stay tuned....