Happy Birthday Jesus

Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday Jesus. It has been a great and fun holiday season for Eli and Tatum. We got to visit Santa three times. Two times Eli asked for some airplanes and a puppy and Tatum cried. The third time both kids did great. Maybe because Santa seemed a little familiar, thanks Uncle Michael.

With all the Christmas and Santa excitement we tried to sprinkle in the true meaning of Christmas for Eli. The twelve nights before Christmas we did family devotions that taught us 12 different names for Jesus. Like; Savior, Light of the World, and Living Water to name a few. The devotions were well received and Eli asked to do them each night. On Christmas Eve day Mommy and Eli baked a birthday cake for Jesus and on Christmas night we had a party for Him. It's hard to tell if any of the lessons hit home, but my hope is it planted a seed in his heart. To be fair, Eli didn't really get the whole Santa thing either. On Christmas morning he walked right past the tree with presents, some unwrapped. We had to ask him if Santa came last night. I'm sure next year will be a different story.



Tatum didn't get into the presents, unless you count banging on all the boxes like they were drums. She thought that was fun. She got a new Christmas dress and looked very pretty all dressed up in her tights and shoes. The green dress really showed off her red hair (while she had her helmet off).




Santa came to visit all the cousins Christmas morning at Aunt Dee Dee's house. They were all excited to see him and thank him for the presents he left the night before. When it was time for Santa to leave the cousins looked out the back window into the woods because someone saw Santa's sleigh and reindeer outside (clever distraction for them so they didn't watch Santa come back in to change clothes). It was really sweet to see them excited and looking for the reindeer.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Mmm... Donuts

Tatum has a new fascination...food. It doesn't matter what kind of food, if you have some she will try everything to get some. We discovered how far she will go one Saturday morning. Eli was sitting in his chair eating donuts and drinking his milk. When Tatum got up she sat next to him and was very interested in his milk and donuts.

At first Eli was nice and kept moving his donut bowl farther away. That didn't stop Tatum she was literally climbing over him to get the milk and donuts. I was amazed at how aggressive this little girl can be. Eli finally said in a loud voice, "Tatum get your own donuts."



So Tatum got her own donut. She watched Eli carefully to learn how to eat it properly.



Okay I can handle this...Donut to mouth...



Savor the bite. Wow these are pretty good. I've been missing out, sure beats the baby cereal I get for breakfast.




Oh, donut coma. Maybe I should stick to the oatmeal.

It's Pumpkin Time!

To celebrate the arrival of fall Eli, Grace, Tatum, Grandma Billie and Mommy went to a local pumpkin farm. We had great weather and enjoyed all the fun things the farm had for us to experience.




Eli tried his hand at milking a cow. It didn't take him long to get the hang of it. While Eli was milking he was singing "The cows give us milk, the cows give us milk, hi ho the dairy oh, the cows give us milk." We tried to get Grace to join in the fun, but she wasn't that interested in the cow.



Eli and Grace got their 8 seconds in on the cow? I kept calling it the bull since you usually ride bulls and not cows, but Eli corrected me, "No Mommy it's a cow."




They played on the horse swings. I couldn't get them to look at the camera. They were too busy looking at the moon walk and the kids playing in it on the other side of the swings.




After we saw and played on all the fun things at the farm we got a big pumpkin to carve. It turned out to be a fun outing and a memorable time.

S*M*O*R*E*S

For a couple of months now we have been talking about making smores. One night we finally got around to making them. Eli enjoyed every part of the experience. The only thing that would have made it better was Daddy being with us.

Eli and PaPa getting the fire just right.



Eli and Grandma Billie putting the marshmallows on the fork.



The fire looks perfect, time to start toasting. It took a few tries to get the perfect one, although Eli did enjoy blowing out the marshmallows that caught on fire. I actually prefer mine a little burnt and black (crisp on the outside and gooey on the inside). After years of bonfires on the farm I have perfected the art. Will he follow in my footsteps......




After taking all that time getting the marshmallows perfect, Eli decided he liked to eat the marshmallows untoasted. Knowing Eli's personality, that sounds about right. I will keep working on him preferring the burnt ones.




Even though Tatum was too young to help out she was there and even got to "taste" one of the finished smores.

Here Little Fella

When Eli was younger his favorite book was the Very Hungry Caterpillar. Since that time he has been fascinated by caterpillars and butterflies. There are several plants in the yard that attract butterflies and Eli loves to catch him. At first I never thought he would be able to catch one, but to my surprise he is very gentle with them and has caught several. I think he might be a miniature Dr. Doolittle. He talks to them and they seem to respond.

In this picture he is searching for the perfect one to catch.



This is a picture of him putting out his finger for the butterfly (there is a butterfly on the plant, it's hard to see). During this time he is talking to the butterfly. "Here little fella. I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to hold you. You are very beautiful. Mommy don't you think the butterfly is beautiful?"



This last picture is of him posing in the flower garden after his butterfly hunt.

Can You Hear Me Now?

The following is a conversation that took place between Eli and Grandma Cindy (who really wasn't on either phone). Yes, Eli was using two phones at once. I don't know what was funnier, him using two phones or what he was "talking" about with his Grandma.

"Hello Grandma Cindy, are you there? After my nap I am going to come and see you and Skittles and Holly and Sunny and PaPa Bear. But not, Sammy I don't like him he is really really loud. Okay, huh, okay I will see you later. Bye Grandma Cindy."

He was so serious during his conversation and just mater of fact about it. It was great.

It's amazing how he picks up on the little things we do, for example his Daddy. During the day if I haven't seen him for a few minutes I usually know where to find him. He will be in Brian's office back in the storage section typing on an old keyboard with a phone up to his ear. If I ask him what he is doing he says, "Just, just, just a minute I'm working. I'm almost finished. Okay? Come back in a minute." The ways he says it and his facial expressions are priceless!

Ready or Not Here I Come!

"One, Two, Three, Uno, Dos, Tres, Ten, Nine, Eight. Ready or not here I come." This is how Eli counts when playing Hide and Go Seek. He can count in English and Spanish and we are working on counting backwards. However, true to his personality Eli likes to use all three when counting for Hide and Go Seek.

Eli has just recently grown fond of Hide and Go Seek. If he had his way we would play it all day. It is so fun to see all the "hiding" places he picks. He has that out of sight out of mind mentality right now. If he can't see you, because his eyes are closed REAL tight, he thinks you can't see him. This makes for some not so secret hiding spots. We do play outside some, which probably isn't fair since good hiding spots are hard to find. He usually gives himself away by saying "Here I am" when we act like we can't find him or he will giggle and giggle while hiding. We remind him that he should stay quite so we won't see or hear him. He says, "Oh no I forgot to do that." Even with the innocence of his 2 year old mind he is getting better at the game each time we play. Here are a few of his hiding spots.

This is a pretty good spot, the grass is tall enough that he can hide behind it. He is looking at Daddy who is looking for Eli.




Another hiding spot behind the bush.



Last but not least his most favorite spot, which falls into the out of sight out of mind category. He likes to hide behind this tree. He closes his eyes and puts his head against the tree so we won't be able to see him. It's great!

Hey Mikey She Likes It!

I know that I am biased, but I think we (Daddy Skurd and I) have one cute little girl. I love Tatum's eyes, which is funny since I think she has my big eyes and my eyes are one of the things I'm not crazy about on myself. Her eyes and expressions are so genuine and endearing. If you were to cover up her face from her nose down and just look at her eyes they would tell you everything you need to know. So she probably won't be a good poker player, I think she will be okay dispite this. It's amazing how our kids can teach us so much, maybe she will teach me to love my eyes? Guess that is a blog for another time.



Anyway...we started Tatum on cereal today! She liked it and ate several bites. I was very impressed.. (FYI if you want to see a picture better click on it)




We did the whole "airplane" thing with the spoon, which of course made her laugh.




She even held the spoon and tried to feed herself. Okay, feeding herself is a stretch. It was more like my gums are killing me give me something to chew on! Yes she is teething...fun fun.



Grandma Cindy and PaPa would be proud I am using my left hand. Will I be a southpaw? Probably too soon to tell.

Tater Tot

It's hard to believe it has been 6 months since Tatum joined our family. Where has the time gone? In some ways she has changed so much, in other ways she is still the same. Her gentle spirit and disposition haven't changed at all. She is always happy and content with whatever comes her way. She is still very much in awe of her big brother Eli. It's amazing how he can make her laugh. I hope that never changes.

She is very close to sitting up without support, which helps her with some of her favorite things...



Tatum loves to swing outside and we do it as often as we can.



One of Tatum's favorite things to do is play with her doll house. She is getting good at putting the furniture in and taking it back out.



Swinging and playing with her doll house keep her busy, but the one thing Tatum likes the most is being with Eli.



Watching Baby Einstein together,



or just hanging out and playing, it doesn't matter what they do.



The only time Tatum gets upset with Eli is when he wakes her up. It happens every now and then. It's usually Mommy's fault. I tell Eli that as soon as Tatum wakes up we are going to do something. Eli being excited thinks he has waited long enough. He has a few techniques. He will go into their room and yell, "WAKE UP TATUM." That scares her and she precedes to cry. Of course he has another technique in his arsenal. If he doesn't feel like yelling he starts taking his clothes out of his dresser and throwing them on Tatum. This works most of the time. The last trick is to simply climb into the crib with her and wake her up. Which is never pleasant for her, poor thing. When I ask Eli what he is doing he simply says, "Tatum's awake now we can go...Come on Mama let's go!"

This picture of them together was taken one time after Eli decided to wake up Tatum. If she could say something it would probably be, "Are you kidding me? Mom can you help me out here?"

Spin Art

Eli likes to help with the salad spinner while we cook dinner. We came up with a way to play with the salad spinner and make some art at the same time.

First you pick the colors (food color) you want to use.



A few drops here and there.



Spin the colors in the spinner.



Finally the masterpiece is complete. This masterpiece is on it's way to the art gallery. The gallery is clearing a spot next to Van Gogh's Starry Night.

Now George, Don't Get into Trouble

Curious George didn't get into trouble today, he was playing a game with Eli. Eli and Curious George are playing one of Eli's favorite games. For some reason Eli thought George needed to play. Eli said, "Hey I've got a good idea," he ran to his room got George, "Curious George can play with me." George helped Eli roll the cube.



Once the cube has been rolled you pick a card with the corresponding color and act out what is on the card.



Eli always made sure that George had a card and Eli even told George what his card said. George is pretty much out of the picture, but you can see him holding his card on the right side of the picture. It was so fun watching Eli "play" with George.

Play that funky music white boy!

With the weather being so hot lately, I know it is summer, I am constantly searching for things to do inside. Since Eli LOVES music so much we decided to have our own Blues music concert. We get out all of Eli's instruments turn on some Blues music and make noise. Eli usually plays the drums, in between dancing for Tatum, which always makes her laugh. I usually play the guitar or the harmonica.



Tatum is a member of our band. Sometimes she plays the tambourine. Most of the time, I don't have a picture of it, she is playing with her toy phone. So we decided she could be our manager.

We will keep you posted on our first gig.

Lions and Tigers and Bears...Oh My!

Today (June 13) Eli, Tatum, Morgan, Grandma Billie, Grandma Cindy and Mommy went to the zoo. We had a great time. We rode the tram to Africa were we saw the lions among other things. We tried to ride the train, but the line was really long and it was hot and we were ready to go home. The only thing Eli wanted to see were the snakes. He got his wish and was happy. The only thing Eli didn't want to see were the lions. I guess that's what makes this picture funny, I don't think he realized he was having his picture taken with one. As Eli would say, "Silly Eli."