Pictures and Train Rides

We had a lovely weekend with Ben's parents visiting. While they were here, we went out to take "nice" pictures of the kids (something we have never done!).

We got a lot of "cheesy" smiles from this girl...

And a lot of blank stares from this drooling boy...

But despite them being the most difficult clients to date, we ended up with some good ones and a great family picture that Ben's dad took (Hooray!).

After pictures we headed over to ride the train. Ahhh... how we love the train.

Hmmm, this seems to be the only picture from the weekend of the grandparents... uh... sorry!

Painting Pumpkins

Our small group got together for a BBQ and during one part of the evening the kids painted pumpkins!

Elena was really in to it. She gave her pumpkin a good coat of paint, using many different colors, and was extremely proud of the shade of brown that emerged.

Evan tapped his pumpkin a few times, but then was very distracted by the "mess" on his hands. He's not a fan of having dirty hands.

What a cute bunch!

Evan's is on the far left and Elena's is second from the right.

Thanks Kate for supplying everything and Meg for making sure we got these pictures!

O What a Beautiful Day!!!

Today was such an amazing (amazingly cool) day and we thoroughly enjoyed it! Beginning with all the rain and now the cooler temperature, we are very grateful. This is one of the kids favorite outdoor pastimes; lying in the grass and watching for birds or airplanes. (Actually, I don't think Evan is quite sure what he's supposed to be doing, he just plops down when Elena does.)

Having to Make Do

Evan has been letting me know that there is a terrible lack of riding toys around the house these days!

(They've all been packed up and are awaiting the move in a storage unit.)

I Dressed Myself Today

It's a Small World After All

Here's a story for ya!

I've been prowling Craigslist a lot these days looking for some things I want for the new home. Most of the objects of my search are things to put in Elena's new "girly-girl" room. I'm so excited about how I'm going to do it, but that's another post for another time.

One thing that I came across in my search was a white shelf that matches another white shelf, already in her room. I e-mailed the lady that had posted the ad a few days ago and she called me back shortly. During the course of the conversation I found out that she lives in our new neighborhood, Rogers Ranch! I told her that we were going to be moving there soon, and we laughed together about it being a small world.

Well, today we talked again for me to get her exact address so I could come by, and she tells me that her street name is, "Rogers Isle"... WOAH! I told her, "That's my new street!" She says, "Well, you must be moving into the house next door!" Sure enough, we will be next door neighbors. We talked some more and she told me about the many young families on that little cul-de-sac and how much they enjoy being there.

The whole thing was just wonderful and bizarre!

He's a Growin' Boy!

I'm not sure when it happened but, Evan's gotten big! I mean, relative to what he was. I was pretty sure his size 6 shoes were small on him so I went shoe shopping and bought a couple of pairs of size 7's.  When we got home and he tried them on, I realized that if his feet were going to have any room to grow we needed the next size up from there! 

Then, due to him outgrowing some of his summer clothes and it still being a 100 degrees in these parts (grrrrr), I broke out next summer's pre-purchased clothes, and... they fit! They're a little loose, but they definitely work, which makes me wonder if they'll still work for next summer (but since summer comes in March, maybe will be fine... grrrr). 

And lastly his hair had done some serious growing; it was out-of-control-long. So I gave him a cut.

So, here he is:

Please don't be intimidated by his ginormity - he's quite the gentle giant :)

26 Weeks - And the name is...

Asher Martin Elkins

(We loved the name Asher and Martin is my dad's name)

Wow, this pregnancy is going by extremely fast!  Just one more week and I'll be in my last trimester... Yikes!  While I might be caught off guard by the rapidly approaching due date, it can not come soon enough for Elena. She is thrilled to see my booming belly, and reminds me as she pats it gently that it's getting "bigger and BIGGER"! She loves to tell everyone that she is "going to have a BABY!"... and then she leaves it at that. :) And lastly, she's been showering Asher with gifts like this beautiful picture,

(front)

(back)

(Nothing melts my heart quite as much as preschool script!)

Other than the above there's not much to "document" about this pregnancy except for the fact that Asher is quite the kicker. Starting at 20 weeks he was kicking hard enough for Ben to feel it. And these days he is either asleep or noticeably awake. 

This is SO Elena

I'm not sure exactly how to put into words the way Elena is with objects (preferably small) in large quantities. Nothing keeps her occupied more than a bag of beads, a jumbo pack of straws, her alphabet letters, or stacks of flash cards.  She will thread, line, and stack them up for hours. It just makes me wonder what this preoccupation will turn into as she ages.

Oh wait she's not done...

And did I mention that this is nothing new?

A Peek at Our New Home

On Monday we headed over to the new house for the inspection. The buyers of our current home also did the inspection that day. Thankfully, there were no big issues with either house, whew! If all continues to go well, we'll be moving October 24th. 

I didn't feel comfortable snapping pictures on the inside since the current owners have their stuff everywhere, but I felt there was no harm in at least grabbing this one. 

The front porch is my favorite part of this house.