Nate sings Elvis

Nate loves to sing and has in fact not put down this microphone all morning! Here he is signing "Heart Break Hotel" by Elvis!

Nate-in-a-box

This is how I found Nate when I came into his room following his frustrated bellow and sad cries for help! Being the best mom ever, I left him like that long enough to grab my camera and document it! Poor baby, how does he even think of this stuff?

Christmas time is here: It's too cold to get our tree addition

The boys worked so hard on their Ginger Bread Houses! I frosted them and they decorated and ate and decorate some more!

This is their Kids tree set up on the train table with an elaborate Christmas scene designed by the boys!

More of their magical tree display

Decorating their tree!

We made these reindeer cupcakes together !How cute are they! The boys did a great job!

In an effort to make it feel like Christmas time around here last week (with Sam out of town, no Christmas tree do to the nasty weather, and being trapped inside) the boys and I went Christmas nutty! We made reindeer cupcakes ginger bread houses, they made ornaments and decorated their special boys tree! They also staged an elaborate scene around their tree! So fun! This week we are going to make giant hanging christmas trees, decorate presents, and bake, bake bake! We made pumpkin bread yesterday and next up is gingerbread, peanut butter cup cookies and the famous Sam King fudge! We will get our tree on Wednesday when it is physically safe to go outside again!

Preschool Culminating Event

Eli signing there "food song"! Yes, he really is an entire head taller than his class!

Captain Adorable!

Double circle song! Do you see Nate's little face in the middle? Eli is holding hands with one of his best friends named Leo!

Boogey down Nate!

Do an Arts Fusion Demonstration with Miss Donna!

The boys are Miss Donna pros! They have been taking her class since Eli was 2.5 years old!

At the end of each semester at University Primary School (the boys preschool) the teachers organize a culminating event that documents the work they have done on their semester project! This semester the theme was: Where does our food come from? Eli was part of the Farm animal group and Nate was part of the farm Machine group! Each group investigated their topics through prior knowledge, research, art, field trips, etc... Yeah, this really is the best preschool ever! It was so fun to go the big event and learn more about their projects!

Eli's Christmas Play

Eli, getting ready for the play to start, peeking through his "bedroom" window!

Hamming it up before the play began!

Joker!

Thinking hard about what mischief he can think of getting in to!

Eli had such a fun experience on the day of his b-day party! He was invited (because he is serious ham) to take part in a children's play that was being staged at our favorite Children's musem in Champaign. The play is based on a story called "Within the Cloak of Christmas" and is about a little boy who discovers santa sleeping in his favorite chair on Christmas eve, and the adventures that follow! Eli only had one line "wake up Santa" and had to follow the story and act out what he heard! He was terrific! The play was starred just Eli and Santa so he was a star and he loved that!

The best parts of the whole night where 1) right before the play began, Eli snuck down the back side of the Castle (where the play was staged) and popped up in the crowd! 2) during one scene in the play, Eli is supposed to "gently nudge santa awake with his foot", well the boy flat out kicked Santa! It was hilarious!

Eli was not ever nervous or worried about being in front of a crowd! In fact when the play was over and the crowd cheered for him, he went crazy and cheered back for them! What a fun adventure for our scene-stealing boy!

Pirate Costume Party Extravaganza

Treasure hunt with Miss Natalie! Nate found the treasure first!

Singing "Happy Birthday" to the Pirate Birthday boy

Crew mates!

Listening to Miss Natalie read " How I became a Pirate" right before they acted it out!

The pirate Crew!

Making Pirate Picture frames

Getting ready to go on a treasure hunt!

Walking the plank to get the pirate eye patch and hat!

Eli had such a fun 5th birthday party! He had a Pirate Costume Extravaganza party and all of his friends wore pirate costumes or hats. We had the party at Class Act where the boys take improv classes with Miss Natalie! When guests arrived they had to walk the plank and jump off into the "ocean" (blue fabric) to become part of the crew. They then got a pirate hat and an eye patch. Next up, the crew mates all made personalized pirate picture frames and then Miss Natalie took a group picture of all the kids in their costumes to go in the frames! So fun! Then Miss Natalie read the group Eli's favorite book, " How I Became a Pirate" and then the kids put on an improv sketch based on the book (under Miss Natalie's Direction). We then had pirate cupcakes and sang to my birthday boy! The party finished up for a treasure hunt complete with clues to find the treasure chest whcih was filled with their pirate treasure bags! Eli was ecstatic and Miss Natalie is seriously the coolest of all cool with kids!

My Eli turned 5!!!

We woke Eli up right about the time of his birth (7:30ish) and he walked out his bedroom door and saw his enormous pirate ship!
Sleepy but totally stoked about the size of his pirate ship!
Boy + Pirate Ship=Happiness
The Pirate Ship Cake Masterpiece! Seriously, my boy loves Pirates!
Loving on Eli after he made a wish!
Birthday song at Chevy's never gets old!
This boy is 5!
Remember this little sweetie-pie!

Oh, my Eli! I can hardly believe that you are already 5 years old. I still remember so clearly what it was like to want you so much and have to wait, and wait, and wait and wait for you to make up your mind to come out already! You were strong-willed at birth and you still are today! I am not sure there could ever be words to capture that instant love I felt when I held you for the first time! I knew that you were going to be special but you are beyond anything this mommy could have hoped for. You are loving, kind, imaginative, sweet, inventive, passionate, obstinate, and clearly destined for greatness! I love your gigantic heart and infectious sense of humor. I love how dearly you love your family and friends. I love your fascinating mind and your endless curiosity. I love you to the moon and back times infinity!

A Day of Thanks

Nate's full! And yes, I am holding his head in place for this picture!
Look at my almost 5 year old boy! This time, 5 years ago, we were waiting, and waiting, and waiting...
I have the most handsome men in my family!
Brother picture was a bust!
This is my Thanksgiving hunter-gatherer. He spent every minute of the day in the kitchen with me! He is a well-fed dog!

Happy Thanksgiving! We have so much to be thankful for this year and we really enjoyed our lazy-day as a family! We had a fantastic meal (I am bragging!) of brown-sugar and salt brined Turkey, pan-gravy, mashed potatoes, my homemade cranberry-apple-orange sauce, rolls, vegi, and of course, homemade apple pie! My boys are big eaters and I love to watch them grub this meal! We miss all of our family and friends and send you all our love!

Mommy and Son Super Hero Breakfast

Power Puppy, Superman and our friend Sean waiting in line for the bounce house!
Eli and Nate with their hero Buzz Lightyear!
Superman, Power Puppy and Batman!
Superman, Superman, and Power Puppy!

We have had superheroes on our brains this week! This weekend is Junior League's Festival of Trees and that means it is time for the Mommy and Son breakfast!!! This year the theme was superheroes and oh boy was that a huge hit! Eli wore his Awesome Halloween costume (Power Puppy) and Nate dug into the costume box for Superman and could he be any cuter, rounder, or adorable? I wore a superhero cape that matched Eli's and went as Super Mom! They ate yummy french toast and sausage for breakfast (with 6 cups of juice) they jumped in the bounce house and hung out with the superheroes! We also put raffle tickets into some raffle prize boxes and actually WON a prize! Amazing! We never win. We won a birthday party ($110 value) at IPower gym which is this awesome kids gymnastic pit with a foam pit, giant trampoline, obstacle course, and rock climbing wall! Guess where Nate's 4th birthday party is going to be?

Sesame Street Live: Elmo's Healthy Heroes!!!

Eli pretending to be Captain Fuzzy (Elmo's Super Hero Alter Ego)
Cookie Monster Rocking out!
Elmo, Abby, and Sully Monster
The looks of joy and surprise when the monsters first came on stage!

We had a very special Wednesday night! The boys and I went to the Sesame Street Live: Elmo's Healthy Heroes show at Assembly Hall (where UIUC play basketball)! The show was darling, the boys were totally into it and I now have a new love of Cookie Monster who brought the funk with his hip hop dance moves! The boys wore their super hero capes and they each got to hug one of the characters! What a special night!

Ropp Jersey Cow Cheese Farm: The Hand Sanitizer Addition

Eli and Sophia on the hay ride! Nate helped me take this picture as he was on my lap!
Eli feeding one of the calves!
Eli and his besties Max and Leo checking out one of the baby calves named Lilly
Nate making friends with another little animal
The boy is a natural! He loved milking this cow!
Eli jumped right in and did a great job milking the cow!
Leo, Max and Eli drawing representations of what they saw on the farm
Nate and Dirt! Enough said! He is a walking advertisement for hand sanitizer.
Eli interviewed Farmer Ropp about the animals and the farm equipment as part of his study group!
Nate holding hands with Leo, Max, Eli, and Sophia (you only see Nate, Leo and Max)
The five best friends: Nate, Leo, Max, Eli and Sophia
Look at Eli's face! How can you not be crazy about that kid!

We had an amazing Veteran's day! Eli and Nate's school scheduled a field trip to a Jersey cow cheese farm in Normal, IL! The boys and I left early and went and had a delicious and fun snack time with Aunt Valmere and Uncle Wyn! Homemade biscuits and hot chocolate...delightful! The boys love Aunt Valmere because she will never say no to third or fourth cups of hot chocolate!

We then drove 15 minutes to the farm and met up with Eli's classmates! The real purpose of the field trip was for Eli's "Farm Animal" study group to go on their field trip and investigate their prior knowledge on their topic! The boys school has a theme each semester and this semester it is Food and Farms. Nate's group is the farm machine group (his field trip was awesome and of course I forgot my camera) and Eli chose the animal study group.

The boys got to milk a cow, feed a calve, watch the cheese get made, go on a hayride, climb endless piles of hay, eat a picnic lunch, and go nutty! It was absolutely warm and the sun was shining! What a fun way to spend the day!