The Boys...Right Now - Summer 2017

These boys.  Lord have mercy on my soul.  I love Luke and Eli SO much.  They both have so many great, amazing qualities right now that I want to remember.  They are such precious souls, smart, loving, engaging, silly and fun to be around.  Additionally, they have the energy and damage potential of a large, violent tornado.  Most days I feel like I need 10 arms to keep the two of them in check.  They love to run, jump, kick, play, wrestle, explore, somersault, dribble, pass, learn, read and debate, and debate, and challenge and argue :)

They love to listen to daddy's rock music and jam, love Trolls and Moana and the accompanying soundtracks, love their cousins Bowen and Noah, and driving their new power wheel.  They both love to color and draw and "help" Dave in the basement.  They are currently loving Blaze and the Monster Machines, Rusty Rivets and Beat Bugs on TV/Netflix.

Eli is 2 and a half, and likes to tell that to everyone.  He loves to organize and sort things by size, and shape and color.  He loves books, snuggling, screaming to get his brother in trouble and Starbuck's dates with Mommy.  He loves going to Crew car wash and pointing out Shrek and Batman on the walls and using the air blowing tool to "clean" the dash while I vacuum the van.  He loves his blanks/softies/blankies and doggie flash to help him sleep.  He has just started really potty training and is rocking it.  We are doing undies during the day and pull ups at night and he gets a chocolate treat every time he goes to the bathroom on the potty.  He loves to eat, like loves it.  He eats all the time. ALL THE TIME.  You can generally find him with some sort of fruit in his hand/mouth.  He also just today told us his favorite food is peanut butter sandwiches.  He always takes his shoes off in the car, and currently has a killer eye roll to accompany his silly stories.  He is such a ham, and for sure has his father's sense of humor.  He is going to be an unbelievable charmer, and Dave and I are in big trouble.  He says Paw Patrol "Paw tchaprol" and its the cutest.  He is excited to start 2's at Trader's Point in the fall and has requested a paw tchaprol back pack for the occasion.

Luke just turned 5 and is our little sidekick and confidant - curious and interested in everything.  He is starting to ask deeper questions about God, the world around him, his family and how things work.  He loves to figure things out and can put models/knex/robots/etc together much better than I can.  He has a quick engineer/builder brain and uses the pictures in the directions to assemble those type of things on his own.  He also loves loves loves driving his power wheel, shooting his new bow and arrow and being confrontational with his loving mother.  Some parts of his personality are so similar to mine, it's scary.  He sleeps in the top bunk of his bed and has to have his closet open just so for the right amount of light.  He has already started a detailed Christmas list and is really excited to go back to school.  He is in a high back booster seat in the van and growing like a weed.  He loves to do mazes, word puzzles, and play math games on his Leap Frog.  He is the serious and thoughtful to his brother's silly.  He recently started riding his bike with no training wheels and loves going to Mexican and having chips and queso for dinner.  He played his first team sport (soccer) this spring, and after a rough first practice, LOVED it.  About half of the season was rained out, but we LOVED watching him play in the games they had.

Together, they love wrestling with Dave and each other, snuggling on the couch watching shows, playing hot lava/pool which entails diving off of the big green chair in our living room.  They eat next to each other at our kitchen island for all meals and generally have the best time together.  Luke looks out for Eli and is his biggest fan, and Eli loves his big brother and will pretty much do anything he asks.  We can't wait to watch them grow up together!