Steak 'n Shake Hats

I took the boys to Steak 'n Shake for dinner tonight, and they had fun with their new hats. Too cute!

Hilarious and Happy Hat Day

Today was "Hilarious and Happy Hat Day" at Caleb's school. He chose the silly jester hat that Uncle Jeremy and Aunt Nikki gave him a few years ago. He looked so cute that I had to take his picture before he went into Ms. Tammy's house. Eli did not want to be left out, so I took some pictures of him, too.

Sprout Scarves

I completed these sprout scarves yesterday. I made three sprout scarves to wear together. Each scarf is crocheted with two strands of yarn. One is pinata (rainbow) and turqua (blue). One is pinata and spring green. One is pinata and medium purple. I made 20 sprouts for each scarf.

These were made for another Lisa Gentry group contest on Ravelry. The contest ends September 30th, and I am anxious to see if I win.

The Mess Continues

Eli is on a roll in terms of making messes. Tonight he decided to put his bowl of noodles on his head like a hat. This was a follow up to the blackberry jam bagel yesterday. Now, he had eaten the majority of the noodles prior to this, which was good, but he still ended up with quite a few on his head. He was having a good time and looked so cute that we couldn't possibly get mad. Plus, there was no tomato sauce involved which would have been much worse.

Messy Face

This is Eli after eating a bagel with blackberry jam on it. What a mess!

Help! I Have Fallen and Cannot Get Back Up!

Eli decided to use the Little People bin as a chair today and soon discovered that was not a great idea. I couldn't help but laugh at him with his tuckus stuck in the bin and no way to get out. I had to take a few pictures of him in this silly predicament even though he obviously was not as amused as Mommy was. I did rescue him once I took these few shots.

Wesley's 2nd Birthday

Today we celebrated Wesley's 2nd birthday. The boys and I drove down to Palm Bay for the party. Caleb was sad when he heard that Lily was not going to make it because she was sick and was convinced the party was not going to be any fun. He ended up having a blast and said it was the best party ever. I sure hope his Star Wars birthday next month can top that! The cousins had a lot of fun playing together and listening to Gran and Pop Pop read them stories.

There are a bunch more photos of the party here.

Wavelength Scarf

One pattern I found online at Ravelry is a wavelength scarf. I thought it looked really neat and wanted to try it. The scarf turned out well, but it was a fussy project. I worked on it off and on for almost a month. I finished it yesterday and blocked it today. I am looking forward to wearing it out.

Before blocking

Blocking

After blocking

The finished scarf

Brother Love

Caleb and Eli love each other and love being brothers. It is amazing how much fun they have together. And they can make each other laugh like no one else. I am grateful for the bond they already share and hope it continues long after Allen and I are gone.

Buzz Buzz

Today we buzzed Eli's hair. He has had a weird habit of pulling his hair out with his right hand while sucking his left thumb. He does it most when he is trying to soothe himself or put himself to sleep. If he finds hair on the floor, he will play with it while he sucks his thumb. We aren't sure why he does it but have done everything we could think of to get him to stop. He has a blanket and several stuffed friends he loves that we put in his bed with him. We tried cutting his hair short to see if that would help. Unfortunately, he has continued to pull his hair out. Allen went in to get him after a nap the other day, and Eli was covered in hair he had pulled out. It had gotten to the point that he looked absolutely ridiculous with no hair on top and lots of hair in the back and on the sides. He looked like a strange old man.

We felt like the only option was to buzz his hair. I did not want to do it because he has beautful, soft blonde hair that I adore. I love playing with and snuggling his hair. I was also afraid that the baby hair would be replaced with big boy hair once it grew in that wasn't as soft or as nice as it has been.

Before

He sat still at the beginning of the hair cut, but after a few minutes, he started crying. We tried explaining why we were doing it, but who knows how much he understood of what we were saying. It seemed like he was sad that his hair was not going to be there to pull any more, but I may have just been reading more into it than was actually there.

After

The buzz cut looked very strange at first, but we have gotten used to it. He still looks adorable, and I like the feel of his fuzzy head more than I thought I would. Hopefully, this will be a short-lived solution and that he will soon have a full head of hair again.

Yarn Bags

I have been on a major crocheting kick lately. I must attribute it to joining Ravelry, an online community for knitters and crocheters. Amos told me about it, and I love it! I can keep track of my projects, yarns, and hooks. I can search for all sorts of patterns and have found some amazing ones that I can't wait to make. I have even joined a few groups and am having fun talking with other yarn enthusiasts from all over the world. One group I joined recently is the Lisa Gentry group. She is a designer with some great patterns. One of her fans started the group, and now Lisa is also a moderator. Each month, Lisa is offering one of her patterns free to us. There is then a contest for the end product. The first pattern was for a yarn bag. I made two. One was made from green wool yarn that I felted. The other was made with blue chenille and is super soft. Both came out great, and I am very proud of them! I didn't win the contest but am hopeful that I can win one in the future. The prize the winner got was full of some great yarn, autographed patterns from Lisa, and some other odds and ends.

Before felting.

After felting.

The finished bag.

Chenille bag.

I have lots of plans for Christmas gifts, so hopefully, I will be able to get them all done in time. I am fighting to make time to crochet regularly as it has been wonderful stress relief for me with the crazy school schedule I currently have.

Orlando Science Center

The Orlando Science Center is one of Caleb's favorite places to go. We were so busy this summer with swim lessons and life that we didn't get to go as often as we would have liked. We went today and had a great time. Eli is finally big enough to enjoy the science center, too. I really like seeing both boys having fun while also learning new things.

My Sweet Angel Baby

Have I told you lately that I absolutely love and adore this boy? Isn't he the cutest?