Almost Wedding Time!

So, we are doing more getting ready this week for Aunt Lindsey and Matt B.'s super duper wedding extravaganza this Saturday. Lots to do and check off of our lists in preparation for the big day. I breathed a HUGE sigh of relief today when my bridesmaid dress arrived, and after too many snafus, it finally fits! Yahoo!! With 4 days to spare. Don't look too closely at it....but hey....I have a dress. Won't bore you all with the details of the nasty dress debacle.

We can't wait to celebrate and party it up this weekend to celebrate the beautiful couple.

Eli is frenzied with excitement and has been counting down the days. He has even shed a few tears because the day isn't getting here fast enough. Maybe all the excitement has made him forget how to use the toilet....won't even tell you how many accidents the boy (who has been potty trained for OVER A YEAR) had yesterday. Oh, Lord, please grant me patience.

On a fun-you-know-that-fall-is-getting-nearer note: I had my first Pumpkin Spice Latte of the season this morning.

(yes, yes, I know they technically can make it year round, but I like to wait until it is back in the line up....seems earlier and earlier each year.)

Decaf, non-fat, no-whip, of course. Mmmmmm. Heavenly. And it totally made my morning.

Don't think I'll be back to blog again this week, but hopefully next week with some fabulous wedding moments and photos to share.

Ready

We are all about getting ready these days. This morning, we were getting ready for school to start back up.

Eli packed and unpacked his backpack over and over yesterday in preparation for the big day. E absolutely loves school and was eager to get out the door and on our way this morning.

I could barely get him to stand still. He was was jumping and running all over the yard. Too excited about being a "Triangle" in class this year.

Cause you know, "Triangles have 3 sides, and I'm 3!" Today was what our school calls Gradual Entry Day. Basically that means it is a shortened day and the parents stay with the students in the room to help them adjust and be ready for a successful year.

At first, Eli was excited that I would be with him today, but then quickly realized that he didn't need me. I actually watched him walk towards me, catch my eye, and then turn on his heels and go the opposite direction.

Made me smile. I know this is 1) because he loves his school...after all, with me working there, he has grown up there, and 2) he feels secure. A job well done.

Now that he is settled in, I get to start teaching tomorrow. Hoping I have as great a first day as E did...and that the exhaustion isn't too ridiculous.

And while on the subject of getting ready....we are still slowly, but surely getting ready to welcome Jellybean into our family. The final trimester is here and it is time to get cranking! The final months will fly by and November is going to be here before we know it...especially now that school has started.

Eli got his first practice at being a big brother when we were lucky enough to visit our friends, the Popes, as they just added #3 to their loving family. Baby Banks was born in the wee hours Sunday morning. Eli couldn't stop staring at Banks as he slept in his bassinet. He was in awe of how tiny he was and all of his tiny parts.

He was excited to be able to hold the baby, and couldn't help but try to find all of his tiny parts.

"Mommy, his feet are so TINY!" Eli was so sweet with the new baby; gently caressing his forehead and cheeks. He's getting ready to be a super big brother. I just know it.

The Carrot Seed

The last book that Eli and I managed to do together this summer was The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss. It is a classic, simple story that led itself to many fun activities.

We did all kinds of activities and extensions with this book. It was easy to find ways to tie into the story. We started the week with the letter "c" by talking about fruits and vegetables that start with a "c"...like the carrot! We talked a lot about the differences between fruits and vegetables. From there, we focused on those that grow above the ground and those that grow below the ground. I immediately thought of the book Tops and Bottoms by Janet Stevens. We hurried out to the library to read it too.

Mid-week, we made our way to the local Farmer's Market to check out all of the different fruits and vegetables in season now. Eli had fun naming all the foods, figuring out starting sounds, talking about whether it was a fruit or a veggie, and deciding if it grew above the ground or below. Of course, we had to make a few purchases too.

We were also able to work on patterning,

sorting,

and counting.

The color orange was another focus of the week. We explored how to make the color orange with red and yellow with this fun carrot craft:

It was a great book to end the summer with....so many fun things to do. Too bad our little science experiment didn't work. We tried to grow carrot leaves from the top of one of our carrots. Oh well. It was still fun to try. And as an added bonus, Eli definitely ate a lot of carrots throughout the week.

Now, we are back to the grind as school officially starts tomorrow. We had our orientation today, and Eli was just thrilled to be back with friends. He fell asleep in the car on the way home. Awesome!

Chucktown

Matt and I had a wonderful long weekend in Charleston, SC this past weekend to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary.

It was a nice drive up, and just fun to enjoy talking without interruptions from the little man in the back seat...always wanting to get in on the conversation. It was like traveling together pre-Eli, which we loved and haven't done since he was born. We made a couple of random and unplanned stops/detours....because we could. No schedule or time line = nice! One of the detours brought us to these church ruins on back roads of South Carolina.

It was cool to walk among the ruins and walk where history happened. (Those that know me well know that I'm no history buff, but had I made more trips to places like this, I may have enjoyed history a bit more.)

The not-so-great-moment of this stop included me inhaling a mosquito while trying to capture photos. I always take a breath in and hold it while I'm snapping a picture, and in went the bug. After coughing, hacking, gagging, and spitting for almost 20 minutes, I finally managed to get the stubborn bug (he refused to be swallowed and stayed lodged at the top of my windpipe) out. Whew. I was sure he had stung my throat after all of that. Blech!

Charleston is such a neat and "charming" place. We stayed smack dab in the middle of the historic district which made it easy to walk most everywhere we went. Taking in the sights.

We didn't have great weather, as it was cloudy and rainy most of the time, but at least it wasn't over 100 degrees! We met up with our friend, Shannon, and her boy, Aidan, one afternoon and "walked the Battery" in a drizzle.

Again, being where history happened was just neat in itself. Off the shore and amidst the haze you could spy Fort Sumter...where the Civil War all started.

Some random things we both found "charming" about Charleston were the firehouses (We knew Eli would have loved seeing them. They were all as cute as this...at least in the historic district.)

and the old tiled entryways to many of the shops in the historic district.

Saturday, we found ourselves walking through the summer Farmer's Market that sets up in the park across the street from our hotel every Saturday from April to October (I think that was it.)

I definitely wanted to be a local and buy some of the beautiful produce.

But most importantly, we ate our way through Charleston. Literally! We had the tastiest lunches

which were followed by cupcakes from a local bakery, Cupcake (thanks for the head's-up tip, Shannon! and my apologies for the horribly blurry photo, ew.)

You know you are in the Carolinas when you can buy this stuff.

Don't you just love the old-timey bottles?

Dinners were amazingly delicious. This was Matt's meal our second night there and was cooked by a James Beard winning chef at FIG.

Despite not usually liking steak, I could have honestly eaten half of Matt's plate of waygu. Mmmm! Just thinking about it makes my mouth water. I want more. Dessert was divine as well.

It is always hard to believe how time flies. We all say it; we all know it happens, and it is true. Who knew that after meeting Matt my freshman year of college....15 1/2 years later, we'd be celebrating 10 years of marriage. Neither of us is perfect, so to call it "wedded bliss" seems a bit extreme and over the top. But I can honestly say, that my life is better with him in it. I continually thank God for the gift of a loving and devoted husband and father. We are blessed. It was truly a great weekend to celebrate a wonderful 10 years of marriage....and hoping for many many more!

Last and First

Imagine a gigantic frowny face on me as I announce that this is our LAST official week of summer. Mommy goes back to work (pre-planning) on Monday. School starts the following week. Luckily, being a part-timer, I still get a somewhat flexible week...hopefully it will be a gradual re-entry into the school schedule. NOT looking forward to the early mornings with no couch potato time. This preggo Momma has really been enjoying the ability to have lazy mornings.

In the meantime, we are living it up this week....or as much as we can. After church on Sunday, we decided to use some of our tokens at Fun Station. The boys enjoyed zipping around the Go-Kart track a few times.

Watch the road, Little Dude!

And this week, despite having a lot to do at the house...I am determined to squeeze in as many play dates as possible. We have had an incredible time playing with all of Eli's buddies this summer and hate that it is coming to an end. Gotta make the most of it.

Today we were grateful for more time with Kent and his mommy, Jill. They were so sweet to watch Eli while I went and did my glucose screening (ew!) Eli and I were both incredibly grateful that he didn't have to sit the 1 hour+ that it takes for the test. And then they invited us to join them for a swim. YES!!

The pool has been a favorite hangout spot for us this summer. The perfect way to beat the heat, for sure.

Love these kiddos!!! Thanks again for the fun day and for playing with us.

So, yes, this is the LAST of our summer. Eli is getting into the school frame of mind with this awesome old desk that Grandpa Snyder fixed up, cleaned, and improved just for Eli.

He LOVES it! The plan is for it to go into his new bedroom (more to come on that....it is a S L O W process) when it is finished, but for now, he watches his shows in it, works in it,

and even wants to eat his meals in it. It is safe to say that Eli adores his new desk. Thanks, Grandpa!

And finally....we are wrapping up Summer 2010 with Matt and I celebrating 10....yes indeed...10 years of marriage on Thursday. In celebration of the decade we have been married, we decided to take a trip to a place neither of us has ever been before, but not too far away. We settled on Charleston, SC. I am just tickled with excitement about this trip. There is a lot to do to ready ourselves to leave by Thursday evening. Most of that deals with getting Eli ready for his FIRST time without both of his parents. We have never both left him before. His first question when I told him he'd be having a sleepover at Aunt Kristi's this weekend (something he's been asking to do for a while now) was, "Where are you going?" Smart little cookie. He is excited, and we are thankful that Aunt Kristi is willing to watch our munchkin so that we can have a romantic weekend getaway. I am looking forward to the time, but I'm sure I'll miss Eli a bit (ok...a bunch) as well. Just hope he doesn't show his "trying 3" side to Aunt Kristi too much, and that she'll offer to keep him again for us one day (i.e. when Jellybean is born). A wonderful way to wrap up a wonderful and fun-filled summer.

So Stinkin' Good

I have really been trying to stay healthy and fit this pregnancy. My main motivation is that I am going to be almost 30 weeks pregnant and a bridesmaid in my sister, Lindsey's wedding in a mere 29 days (get excited!). I even joined a gym at 4 months pregnant and have been working out pretty regularly. Despite my efforts, I am still gaining weight at the same rate I gained with Eli. Oh well....I blame my love of chocolate chip cookies. Especially when Daddy brings them home from Sharkey's, a local coffee shop downtown. They make the biggest, softest, yummiest chocolate chip cookies I've ever tasted. Honestly!

Well, to cut down on costs...and my serving size, I thought these sounded like they might be right up my alley.

_Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Bars

So stinkin' good and so stinkin' easy! Mmmmmmmm! I was right, they definitely satisfied my taste buds. I used the Pillsbury website for the recipe (omitting the coconut because I am not a fan.)

The kitchen has been busy this week as I also got around to finally making:

Homemade (*sugar-free*) Fruit Leather.

I was inspired by and had bookmarked this recipe on my friend, Darby's, blog last summer. Better late than never, right?

Eli has always been a fan of fruit leather and fruit roll-ups. When I buy them, I only buy the organic, low-sugar, or sugar free versions, but homemade sounded like a fun idea. We still have a lot of blueberries in our freezer and a yummy farmer's market for other fresh produce.

I made 2 batches: blueberry-peach and strawberry-peach.

Eli is a fan of both so far, gobbling them down without any word of complaint or any words at all. He's too busy chewing as fast as he can. His favorite way to eat them is to attempt to cram as much into his mouth as possible, chew the wad, swallow, and repeat.

Just a few notes from my experience(s) with the recipe

1. I didn't add any sugar, and Eli (nor I) seemed to mind at all. Maybe he's used to no sugar being added to his fruit treats. We even buy sugar-free apple sauce.
2. I have a gas oven, and both times it seemed to cook too long. The edges got crispy as opposed to the desired chewy. The first batch I did during the day and didn't really know when to take them out. The second, I did while we slept, and woke up early (after only 7 1/2 hours) and it was still too long. Keep an eye on it or take it out early if you have a gas oven. You don't want them to dry out as much as mine did.

Off to enjoy some of our treats and a quiet nap time....Must relish the final week of summer before I have to go back to school.

(And for those interested...I am teaching this fall. But only until Jellybean arrives. Then I plan to take the remainder of the school year off. I teach math to upper elementary classes in the mornings while Eli is in the preschool. We come to school together and leave together. Perfect! )

Adventures in Bowling

On Saturday morning, during what has been becoming a regularly scheduled "heat advisory," we decided to let Eli try bowling. Ever seen a 3 1/2 year old bowl? Well, it isn't really possible without one of these handy dandy little thingys.

We called it a ramp. Not sure if that is officially what it is or not. Anyways, at first, Eli was totally enamored by the idea bowling. Choosing his ball,

hauling it up onto the "ramp",

giving it a shove,

watching it roll....

*hoping* it would knock down some pins,

and then wait for the ball to come spitting back out of the ball return.

Too cool! They even had mini bowling shoes, just the right size for E. (Secretly, that was my favorite thing about the day. Just. Too. Cute!)

Eli did quite well for his first game and nearly doubled my score. (Yes, I am a very bad bowler, but watch out, I'm a mean Wii bowler....too bad it does not transfer to the real deal in any way shape or form.)

We paid for an hour, which meant we had time for a second game. This is officially where Eli's interest was gone, and I do mean GONE. In all honesty after about 4 frames in the first game, he was ready to try something different. Here we were, hoping to squeeze in a second game. Silly us. We hoped a little snack would keep him interested.

Instead, during his turn, he would give the ball an itty bitty little push down the ramp, walk away without watching, all the while saying, "I don't care."

Oh well, it was definitely fun while it lasted, and a great way to beat the heat.