Full Tilt

It has been full tilt around here for awhile. Documentary photos have been hard to come by! Here are a few from the past three weeks.

 Christmas Card photo shoot out-take...silly boys

Wonders! An unexplored trail off the Huckleberry. This used to be a bustling coal mining village, the boys found lots of coal bits and Ezra found a pottery shard.

Our Thanksgiving began in a pre-holiday snow. Check out Eli's gap teeth now! The two bottom ones are coming in pretty well, but we think he'll definitely be asking for his front two teeth for Christmas.

 And now...head first and full tilt towards Christmas!

Happy Halloween

Our little aviator and firefighter had a great Halloween. Eli loved his outfit with Grandpa's circa 1949 bomber jacket. It doesn't show in the photo, but Ezra's costume was complete with an air pack made out of two big plastic nut mix jars.

It's Apple Pickin' Time

Eli and Ezra thought this was the best time they'd had lately! It may be as much fun as actually eating the apples and that is pretty high on their lists. My favorite apples are from the 'Virginia Beauty' tree. Ezra had never had one before so Chris encouraged him to try one while they were picking. He took one nibble then promptly abandoned picking for sitting and devouring.

Too Cool For School

Ezra is a little sad that he doesn't get out of the car and go into kindergarten with Eli. Fortunately, Ezra is too cool, to be too sad.

Party Like You're 6 Years Old!

The playground was a mud pit, the weather was dark, cool and drizzly, there was football traffic to deal with....When it was over, Eli said it was the best birthday party ever!

I think that is because almost all of his very best friends were there to help him celebrate. They ran a-muck (literally), ate nearly a whole cake, and whacked the heck out of the piñata. What fun!

Drat that wind!

Ah, good friends (and your brother)!

 Don't you love the intense concentration on Maryn's face!

Good Swing, Kevin!

Owen tries the jousting method.

Whacking things with sticks is right up Ezra's alley.

Eli Turns 6

Eli turned 6 yesterday. He is still really loving kindergarten, I think mostly because he simply loves to learn. If he is interested in something he will absolutely not rest until he understands it thoroughly. How many other 6-year olds do you know that know Otto Lilienthal was killed when his glider crashed? Didn't catch that on the news? Might be because it happened in 1896! How did Eli know? He made Chris read him a book from the library on the history of the Wright brothers flight every night for a week. His birthday cake last night was adorned with a little model plane that Eli recognized immediately as that of the Wright Brothers.

Time Flies....pun intended.

Here Are A Couple of Brothers...

Will they ever be able to work together to create important inventions? 

I doubt it, unless they both have their own hammer.

Eli, 3 Days Old

Eli, 6 Years 

(The Crown was from school - they announced his birthday over the intercom. Exciting!)

My days of holding Eli are over! Do you see how tall he is?!

Into the Wilds

It wasn't very wild unless you count Eli and Ezra, but we finally after about 4 years of trying managed to take the boys camping. Yes, ladies and gentlemen outdoor sleep was actually had (at least by the little people

Eli Goes to Kindergarten

It was Eli's first day of kindergarten today. He was nervous, but really pretty excited. The idea that this is where they will teach him to read (so that he can find out all the multitude of things that he wants to find out about) was enough to make him very ready to go. He asked me three times if it was time to leave for school, he didn't want to be late.

So basically, Eli was ready for primary school, 

but was the primary school ready for him….that remains to be seen.

And what did Eli report as being the best things about kindergarten? 

The short nap time and the strawberry milk. 

In other news, snaggletooth has now progressed to being full-blown gap-tooth!

Snaggletooth!

Little Boys + W VA = Good Time

West Virginia may possibly be the little boy promised land.

They have creeks with big rocks…fun to climb and fall into if you are Ezra.

 You can pan for "gold" under the bridge near the mill

 They have cabins in the woods,

perched on steep cliffsides
                                     
over rushing streams.

And they have real coal mines you can ride a little man-trip train and go inside!

That's hard to beat.

A Graduate in the Family

Eli graduated from preschool tonight. He was so proud of himself and we were pretty proud of him too!

He did an awesome job singing and dancing to "Banana Phone."

Then he was awarded the well-deserved "Most Inventive" superlative.

And here he is with his mortarboard and diploma ready to enjoy a celebratory Chick-fil-a dinner and play session.

                                                       

While it doesn't exactly feel like the blink of an eye, it is still astounding that kindergarten is just around the corner for him. What changes!

Sand in Your Pants. It's a good thing.

A Creature from the Lost Lagoon? No, just Eli in his new scuba gear.

Good thing they don't charge you when you bring home sand in your pants says Ezra.

Dolphin Tours are Awesome!

And tiring.

It was a great trip to Tybee Island!

Random thoughts...

A boy's box is his castle

 Get back in your own castle!

First trip to the river for the season. Yes, Ezra did manage to sit down in the freezing cold water. No, we did not have our usual bag of emergency clothes in the car.

Just Hoppin' Along

Eli and Ezra had a great Easter. Chris and I had a good Easter too, but it was exhausting.

We went to visit Grandma and Grandpa because there was some work that needed to be done at the farm. The boys didn't find a bit of work at the farm, just a lot of fun cows and a great rock.

 Then on Easter morning they found Easter baskets, at least Eli found his and we eventually took pity of Ezra and helped him find his as well. (Pssst! Behind you!)

Where are those eggs? 

Here!

And here! (By the way, the ball cap is a new thing with Ezra who does not feel properly attired to be "a worker" without the ball cap and either his firefighter boots or his worker boots)

Happy Easter! Happy Spring!