Wanted: Lego Expertise

One of the duties of being a father (at least for Eric) is building awesome lego creations. I never knew he had this skill until he started making cars, spiders, and such for Eli. Here are some of the cool ones he's built.

Water Baby

Last year Eric and I decided to enroll Elijah in swim lessons at the local rec center. He loved it so much that we decided to do it again this summer. So every day for two weeks we went to the pool for 30 minutes. He still loves it- especially jumping into the pool! I'm looking forward to seeing him progress every summer from now on.

Playing Piano

Earlier this month Eli and I went to visit Uncle Jared, Aunt Sarah, and Timothy in Gregory. It was Jared and Sarah's anniversary so I stayed with the boys while they went out for a child-less dinner. The cousins played remarkably well together and both LOVED the piano. I managed to get a cute video while holding Timothy on the bench.

And yes, that is the VeggieTales theme song Eli starts singing at the end of the video.

Summertime

We've been having a wonderful summer full of playing and visits with friends and family. Here's some pictures of what we've been doing.

 Helping Daddy planting a new cottonwood tree

 Learning to ride his strider 

 Playing with cousin Timothy at his house

 The boys checking out a 4 wheeler

 Building with legos

 Playing nicely with friends

Enjoying airplane at Festival in the Park

Twoooo

On April 27th my baby boy turned 2. Or as he says, twoooooo. The following day we had a birthday party for him. It was pretty relaxed with lots of family, some friends, snacks, present opening, and of course CAKE. We are blessed to have such an amazing little boy and I'm excited to see what the next few years bring.

 The ladies hanging out in the living room

 Playing in Eli's room with cousin Cole

 Our family loves to congregate in the kitchen

 Opening one of many birthday gifts

 Cousin Timothy came to visit us from Gregory (with his mom Aunt Sarah)

 Our first time meeting newest cousin Scott (with Mommy Maddie)

 Getting down to business on his piece of cake

 Mmm... Gotta love chocolate cake with chocolate frosting

Cake monster!

Feelin' Crafty

Now that Elijah is at the age where he spends lots of time entertaining himself, I needed to find hobbies for me. After the busy book I made I decided some sort of sewing would be a good hobby. I could keep myself occupied and make useful projects. Somehow (I don't quite remember how) I ended up crocheting. I've done several projects (scarfs, toys, dishcloths) and have many more in the lineup. I've also expanded my crafting to more sewing. Below are completed, current, and upcoming projects.

Completed:

1. Sewn ABCs for on the plane (Eli wasn't much interested this time)

2. Sewn clutch for passports & money when I didn't have a purse

 3. Crocheted elephant with bow tie for my cousin's baby due in July

Current (no pictures until completed):

1. crocheting my first granny blanket - it's turning out great but way more time consuming than I expected

2. project for busy bag exchange - velcroed craft sticks (more on that later)

3. snack train for Eli's birthday party next week - I'm so glad I saved all those saltine boxes

Upcoming (pictures of inspiration projects):

1. pocket purse - I like my current purse but I really enjoyed making that clutch and want to try my hand at a full bag

2. car seat organizer - we're looking to take at least two car trips this summer and I think this would be better than Eli's toys just rolling around in the backseat

3. busy book - also for the car trips; the first was was much bigger than I wanted

I also have at least 5 crochet projects I want to do. I think it's going to be a busy summer!

Requisite Eli picture

Egg Hunt Video

Happy Easter

We had a very full and happy Easter weekend here at the Nies house (aside from 4 days straight with no quality naps). Saturday we attended the city egg hung and it was chaos. Eric was walking back from parking the car and heard a huge yell go up when they let the kids go for the eggs. It only lasted about 30 seconds and then we lined up for a picture with the Easter bunny. Eli wasn't too sure about it when we took the picture, but wouldn't stop watching the bunny afterwards. It was very cute.

  Dying Easter eggs the Wednesday before with Nana and Papa

 Wondering whether he should get upset or not

Sunday we had breakfast with my in-laws and an egg hunt for Eli in our living room. He had a great time. I'll post the video soon of the search and celebratory dance. Then we had breakfast and attended the lovely Easter service at church. That was followed by lunch at Aunt Kim and Uncle Thom's. Eli had such a great time there he fell asleep on the drive home.

March Trip to Switzerland

Elijah and I (along with my mom) went to Switzerland for two weeks in March for my grandpa's 80th birthday party. We had a great time relaxing with family. The only outings we had were to the kids' zoo in Rapperswil and the Zurich zoo. I'm so glad we went; I want my family there to see Eli as much as possible. Here are some pictures:

Aunt Trudi, Eli, and V enjoying some Gummi Bears on Grandma V's laptop 

 Didn't take Eli long to take over Aunt Trudi's living room floor

 Feeding ponies at Knies Kinderzoo

 Petting goats at Kinderzoo

 Feeding Aunt Trudi's rabbits

 Enjoying a bath at Great-Grandma's

 Had to visit the cows at least once a day at Great-Grandma's

 Lovin' on the cats

 Eating paprika shells for his daddy

 Admiring a peacock (who later tried to snatch a candy bar from him - while he was eating it)

 Saying hi to the chickens

 Walking with Great-Grandma

 Planting flowers with Grandma V

 Four generation picture

 Eli, cousin Anna Laura, and Lanos playing

Final breakfast in Switzerland