Easter and Renovations

I know, it's been a while! Life has been busy, I don't always remember to take pictures, and when I do... well, let's just say, my subject isn't always cooperative (I get a lot of 'Mom, get out of my way' looks). I'm sure Rachel can sympathize with this, but it seems like for every picture that makes it on the blog, I have 10 to 15 that I delete. Give or take. 

That being said, enjoy these pictures!

This is one of my favorites lately! He is looking
right at me, and his expression is perfect. 

 Just playing outside... we've been doing so much of that lately. The weather is mostly good, a few cool days, a few windy days, but we get outside almost every day regardless. He begs for it most days; "sshooe" and "jacket" he knows and repeats until I put them on and we go "ouside" (the 'T' is silent). :)

Easter

My family came the day before Easter to celebrate birthdays and Easter and just be together. 
Aunt Abby took this fun collage of pictures while Eli made faces to her iPhone camera (he can see himself in the screen while he makes faces),

Playing outside, hunting for eggs. Eli couldn't care less about finding silly eggs in the grass, that is, until he figured out there were things to eat inside! 

Easter Sunday

This is his face when he sees a pretty girl he likes
at church. She's blond and has a beautiful smile,
and is way too old for him (I think she's 14)!

Sitting outside with Dad,
greeting people coming into church.

Laundry Room Project 

Last week and weekend we (and by 'we' I mean mostly Josh) replaced all the plumbing under the house, tore out the carpet and replaced the floor in the laundry room, painted the laundry room, changed out all the electrical outlets and covers in the laundry room, and moved the washer and dryer to a different wall (meaning, moving the plumbing, electric, and vent for both). And the majority of this was done in 2 days. My husband is an amazingly hard worker. Joseph (our friendly 18 year old neighbor who has worked with Josh on numerous occasions) helped on the plumbing day, staying for dinner and helping until after 9:00 that night. I think they made somewhere around 46 trips to the hardware/plumbing store. Or 6. Something like that. 

This is the manifold system... thing... that my genius
husband made. Apparently they can be $200 to buy.
 Also, he put in a whole-house water filter.

Eli wanted to help so badly, but mostly ended up
getting into things he shouldn't. Like paint.

"I'm sorry, I can't hear you with my eyes closed."

This is the 'finished' pantry/laundry room (we still have some minor things to do, shelves above the washer and dryer, etc). I love the blue! It's vibrant and perfect, I think the color actually makes the room feel bigger. It's bold, but not overwhelming because there are quite a few things on the walls to give balance and cover some of the brightness. 

My pantry shelve are on the right, and
the extra fridge/freezer is on the left.

I think it's hard to get good pictures of rooms, unless they are huge, and this room is not. :) I am so happy with the way it turned out!

More playing outside! Today I just followed him around the yard, exploring, picking through the dirt, and occasionally trying to get him to look at me.

What a cute face!

Helping Dad

With the warmer weather last week, we worked outside as much as we could. Josh finished up the greenhouse he has been working on for me, and now he is moving on to some fence and landscape projects. Eli loves to be outside, but he especially loves to help Daddy!

This is his favorite drill, mostly because it's the
 smallest (lightest) one and easier for him to
carry around.

"Lift with the legs"

"We got this."

Daddy needs to trade.

"I'll help him out. I got this one, you can
 do the other one."

"Right here?"

 "Done! What else needs drilled?"

 "I'm not sure these rocks look stable... they might need some work."

"Mom! I'm working!"

"Ummm, I was using that..."

"Oh, this is a good one..."

More pictures to come of our outside improvements!

In the Kitchen

We're cooking today! Eli loves to see everything, get into everything and taste everything when I'm working in the kitchen. Not always the best thing when working with sharp, hot and raw tools and ingredients. But I love to have him help with things when feasible. And he loves it too! When I'm cooking, he will say 'bubble?' It always sounds like a question when he says it!

Today, we are making a spicy Mexican marinade for chicken.

He is very passionate about cooking.

I taught him how to smash the garlic so we can peel it.
Then he tried to smash his raisins later. 

WHAM! 

Family Birthdays

In my side of the family we have multiple birthdays every month January through April, so we try to get together and celebrate at least once in the middle. We all came together on the 1st of March at a rehab/nursing home my grandparents are at right now (my grandma broke her leg... long story!). These two groups of pictures are thanks to Aunt Abby! She took way more pictures than I did, and nicely put them together. Aunt Abby let Eli borrow a mini flashlight, so he went off to 'explore' the room. And the floor. And Great-Grandpa's walker.

 Playing in the car on the way to the birthday party (when we stopped in Emporia to pick up Uncle Ben, not while we were driving!). He thought he was soooo cool in my sunglasses when he saw himself in the camera!

Morning yogurt... he's a little messy with a spoon still, but refuses to let anyone feed him. He can do it himself, thank you very much. I don't know where he gets this from...

Playing outside... sometimes he just wants to go. Outside. Bye, bye. Something! So we walk around, visit the neighbor dogs, explore. Until Mama gets too cold or tired. Eli never gets cold or tired!