Autumn Afternoon with the Boys

Last week, while Eliyah napped, Eric and I played outside with the boys. The afternoon was warm and sunny and the leaves perfectly crunchy. Justice loved exploring the yard on all fours while Aedyn jumped in leaves and smacked the stone path with a stick. Looking at these pictures puts my difficult weeks in perspective. I have a truly blessed life.

Shake It

A few moments ago Aedyn was watching Backyardagins, a cartoon that usually has interesting music. I told him that the music made me want to dance. Aedyn replied, matter-of-factly, "Mama wanna shake her bah'um." (That's 'bottom,' for those of you not versed in Toddler.

Poop

The poop situation is out of control around here. Perhaps we should stop feeding the children.

Where is Jesus Christ?

Aedyn: Where is Jesus Christ? (we were listening to worship songs)
Me: He's in Heaven, waiting to be with us.
A: Ae'yn want to play with him!
Me: Jesus loves you! He wants to play with you, too.
A: Ae'yn is Jesus' friend!

I love my job!

Happy Hemi-Birthday, Eliyah Grace Tuleen

She's scooting a bit and vocalizing loud squeaks. She LOVES watching and reaching for her brothers. Her first two teeth came in this week. Our Eliyah is such a Sunshine Baby, always grinning and constantly interacting. She prefers looking into peoples eyes over playing with any toy or even eating. Every day we are delighted to be her parents!

The Night She Slept

Friday evening I drove to the bigger city around here and stayed in a lovely B&B for a night of REST! I arrived around 7:00 and enjoyed a glass of wine and headed upstairs to soak for an hour in a big tub surrounded by Italian marble. A cup of chocolate hazelnut tea and magazine made for one great bubble bath. No crying baby or barging-in 2 year-old! I was in bed by 9:15 and slept for 8 beautifully uninterrupted hours then stayed in bed dozing off and reading for a few hours. At 8:30 I joined 8 other guests for cinnamon swirl french toast, sausage, and fruit salad in the dinning room. Good coffee, too. mmmmm. I took a walk around the pretty neighborhood before a drive to the big mall to pick-up Greek food for lunch. I was back home by 1:30, the kids were napping and Eric and I watched The Daily Show. A long family walk in the Autumn sunshine and dinner at our fave Mexican restaurant topped off the day. What a great early birthday present from my fantastic husband! AND there's more to come--Dinner out at the new (& only) Thai restaurant in town (THANK YOU, Sara for the gift certificates and for babysitting!) and a weekend with our lovely friends in Columbus, OH. Happy Birthday, indeed. (mm-hmm, on Friday my age will be divisible by 5 & 7 but not 6 & 8.)

9 to 5 (and 31)

Eliyah Grace Tuleen is now 5 months old, Justice River is 9 months, and Aedyn Shepherd is a ripe old 31.