Self Portrait

Eli asked permission to take some pictures and went around taking pictures of things in the house. After a while I noticed that he kept taking pictures in the same place. I looked over and he was pushing the shutter button and while the red eye and auto focus did their thing he ran in front of the camera for a self portrait. I thought that they were so funny and now you can enjoy them too! Oh! The red on his nose is from the clown nose that he colored on himself.

The Horror

The FrontRunner: To be used as a torture device for mothers with small children and the people who sit around them.

Apology to some of the people who were on the 1:55 pm FrontRunner train that had to sit by me today:

I'm so sorry that you had to listen to 3 children scream and laugh and fight and play for 3 hours. I'm SO sorry that you "felt like you were in a daycare." I'm sorry that you couldn't say to my son, "your mother sure raised you right" like you could say to the little boy that sat across from us who "didn't make a sound the whole ride."

I'm also sorry that when we got to Ogden and you tried to get away from us by going to the upper level we followed you. If I could change this day I would! I would definitely NOT get on the FrontRunner Train. If I had to get on the train I would have gotten off in Woods Cross and caught the next train back to Salt Lake.

Yes, I rode the FrontRunner. For 3 hours today. It was Hell. My friend Heidi and I took her 2 girls and Eli and decided to go for a ride. Our kids get really hyper with each other and it was horrible they were so loud and crazy. We weren't' ignoring them though! We tried to get them to be quiet. We failed though. But still, we tried! The train that we were on kept getting delayed and it was just awful. And yes, some old lady really said those things above.

My review is this: The FrontRunner is so great if you live north and need to get into Salt Lake. Also, if you can go 80 whatever miles an hour then you should do that every chance you get!

Wrapped Around His Finger

You might think that this post will be about how Stewart has me wrapped around his finger. Or about how Eli has me wrapped around his finger. Or about about how Eli wraps gum around his finger and then it gets everywhere. These are all wrong. This post is about how Eli has his father wrapped so tightly around his finger it's ALMOST disgusting!

Here is the latest incident that proves my point. On Saturday, while at The Sportsman's Warehouse, Eli and Stewart were looking at backpacks which progressed to them looking at Camelbaks. So basically it ended with Eli getting a Camelbak if he promised to clean his room when we got home. Eli, of course, promised that he would and thanked us profusely for his "packpack".

As soon as we got home Eli lamented how he was tired of earning things and could we just give him the back pack! Of course we didn't give in and he didn't clean his room until Monday night.

I just think that it's so funny how Stewart and Eli have this funny little connection. They bond over Army songs, flashlights, and "packpacks." It's nice to see a father and son together and I love both the father and son that reside in my house!

Hold on to your Ladies

So, if you read this blog you KNOW how cool Eli is. Tonight we went to my parents' house to celebrate Danny's birthday. As a special present to Danny, Eli proceeded to try and steal Emi away from Danny.

You should have seen his moves! I think that Danny and Mike were taking notes for future use. So here are the steps to win the perfect girl.
1) scare her with a wood snake.
2) pretend like you are cold and turn on the fire.
3) get a blanket and convince her to stare into the fire with you.
4) there is no 4th step! She is yours by this point.

I think that Danny will be able to use these techniques to get Emi back and I'm sure that he will hold her hand just a little bit tighter next time Eli's around.

An Ancient Necklace

Eli is a huge fan of Scooby Doo: Where's my Mummy In this show they have an ankh necklace that plays a role in the show. Velma refers to this as an ancient necklace. Eli talks about "an ancient necklace" for a day or so following a screening of this cartoon. Today Eli made this:

Last night he took over a lot of the yarn that I used to tie a quilt and this morning he made this ankh. I LOVE when he does stuff like this because it makes me think that he's so smart and creative.

Eli loves string. He likes to tie up stuff to other stuff...or people. Today after the ankh picture he had me tie a piece of string to every finger and both arms so that he could be a jellyfish. I have no idea how that makes him a jelly fish but there you go. I've been working and stood up so find out that I've been tied to the chair. luckily his "knots" are usually him twisting the yarn a whole bunch of times but he gets some pretty good knots sometimes. I love having a little boy who is so creative and funny and cultured...I mean, come on, do your kids know what an ankh is?! :)

No Words

Eli peed on the bathroom counter. On purpose. That's really all I have to say about that...except thank goodness this day is almost over.