A bunny, a roo, and two little beans too.

This just makes me smile. :)

Here’s Matea our little goofball with Eli’s Cars hat on. She couldn’t see but insisted on wearing it and walking around, bumping into everything and laughing. :)

Pretty much anything that Eli is doing Matea needs to be right there doing along with him. Sometimes that annoys Eli, but most of the time he’s alright with that and even has fun with Matea. Eli got on a kick last week about wearing his Lightning McQueen backpack, so of course Matea NEEDED his backpack too. I tried substituting one of her little purses (I’ll post about that another time), but she knew that they were different and wanted no part of it. Then I remembered a little Lightning McQueen backpack that I had gotten on clearance at Target last year and Eli had used to carry cars for a while. I found it (a miracle!) and dug it out of the closet for Matea. At first she still wanted Eli’s, but after Eli helped her find things to put in her pack (including pacifiers, cars, and pretzels) she was happy with hers. I think the pacifiers sealed the deal. :) It was adorable to see them playing together with their matching packs!

Get this thing off of me!

Eli helps put pacifiers and other goodies in Mata’s backpack.

Now I like my backpack! It’s my own pacifier transportation!

Eli needs things in his pack too!

Following Eli up the stairs to search for more things for our packs. We’re having fun adventures together!

An engineer’s mind?

It wouldn’t surprise me if Eli has an engineer’s mind, just like his two Grandpa’s. Last Sunday after church, Eli decided that he wanted to figure out a way to get both of the “power” tools on his workbench (the drill press and the saw) going at the same time on their own. After lots of trial and error he came up with a design that worked! He was so proud of himself, and we were too! He figured out how to make it work. And I thought his designs were pretty clever as well!

I DID IT!! They’re both on (and making LOTS of noise!).

For the drill press, Eli went with a double tower design, then a piece of “wood” for a bridge and more blocks to weigh down the lever on the drill and keep it going. He needed two towers for “stability.” And yes, that is the word he used when I asked him about it.

Eli went through several complicated designs to push down the saw, but then stuck with this one because, “it’s simple and easy.” Again, his words! The wood blocks are between the workbench and the saw and are holding the saw down just enough that the motor sound goes.

The markers strike again . . .

but this time she did it to herself! Anytime Matea gets a marker in her hot little hands she wants to draw all over herself and her face. She keeps me hoppin’ this one does!

I just wanted to put some makeup on like you do, Mommy!

Eli’s Bus!

Eli needed a cardboard box vehicle for drive-in movie day at school. After discussing and discarding many options (him, not me) he finally decided that he wanted a bus. I thought that it would be a good idea – less cutting for me I thought. That didn’t quite pan out like I hoped, as this bus has taken over my life for the last two weeks. However, it was really fun (and really time consuming to make). Eli helped with the design but couldn’t do any of the construction or spray painting of course. He gave lots of input on what he wanted on the bus though, and did help with putting the reflectors and wheels on. After so much time and effort it was fun to hear him tell me last night, after it was finally completely completely finished, that it was “totally sweet dude!”

I’d contemplate hiding the bus away to use for Matea in a few years, but I already know that she’d having nothing to do with that idea, so the kids are going to have lots of fun with it and play until the bus gives out!

Playing in the finished product!

Back of the bus! Eli did all the reflectors, and insisted that it say “Eli’s Bus” on the back! And it’s number “45” because Eli is 4 but is going to be 5.