Logan Learns to Skate!

Last week was a blur.  Both kids were sick and we were dealing with all kinds of crazy stuff around here.  Logan got a cold and started to have his croupy cough at night, but luckily he kicked it pretty quick.  Bennett doesn't seem to fight things off as well as Logan.  When he started to get sick, he just got sicker.  He had a fever for almost the whole week.  It was so sad.  Our poor Benny boy was not himself.  The best medicine: a quiet weekend at home!  We had a really great weekend nursing the kids back to health.  Lots of rest, playtime, and snuggles.  It was so awesome!  On Sunday night, Bennett's fever finally broke and we went with to watch Logan at his first Learn to Skate class!

Logan was on skates a few times last year, but of course he needed "new" (new = used from Play It Again Sports!) ones this year for his growing feet.

Logan was so excited for his first lesson!  It was actually the third week in the session, but we've been gone the last two weeks, so it was Logan's first time.

Logan calls it, "hockey".  Oh boy.

Logan practiced walking around the house in his skates and here he practiced outside the rink with John on how to get up: one leg at a time.

I wanted to be sure Logan wore a helmet.  I just kept envisioning the kids falling and whacking their heads on the ice.  I thought we could probably find a sleek helmet, like a ski helmet that could be used for multiple things.  We had this hockey helmet in with our toys at home and Logan loves to wear it when he runs around playing hockey downstairs.  John had it fitted with a new strap and its good as new.  It fits him perfectly, so I guess its appropriate!  This helmet was given to us by the Donnellans - it was David's when he was little and now he plays D1 hockey in college!

Hockey mom in the making?  The jury is still out...

Logan and Daddy got about 30 min on the ice together before it was time for the lesson.

Logan needed a little pep talk from his teachers.  Poor guy was a little behind the other kids since he missed a few lessons.  He was sad to be on the ice so much and not able to walk and skate around easily, but it will get much better with a couple more lessons.

At one point, Logan came off the ice because he was getting a little sad.  We talked to him and he decided to go back out on the ice.  We were so proud that he went back out and kept trying!

I think this was Logan's favorite part: watching the Zamboni!  Ned and Lisa Donnellan came to watch Logan's lesson.  Here is Logan with Lisa watching the Zamboni.  Lisa watched Logan every Monday night for almost two years and their favorite book to read was "Z is for Zamboni".  Cute!

Very special thanks to Baggie and BopBop for sponsoring Logan's skating lessons and for the new skates!  We are thankful and Logan sure loves "being a hockey player!".  Love you!

Last Weekend

I feel so far behind on blogging!  Actually, I feel really far behind on lots of things lately.  Every spare chance I have had recently has been spent either sleeping, doing laundry, or cleaning/organizing.  Last weekend was a great break in the routine.  John was headed to Castaway with a busload of high schoolers so the boys and I packed up for a weekend in Stillwater.  Little did we know, we would wake up to this:

A total winter wonderland!  It was a surprise!  The same system didn't move through Eau Claire at all, so we hadn't heard the forecast for snow.  Unfortunately, I didn't have the kids' boots along.  In the end, it was ok because they both came down with little colds and we enjoyed being cozy indoors.

Logan loves Nana's stash of playdoh!

This is from far away, but Bennett loves just hanging out in the porch by himself...he climbs around and lounges.  As Logan would say, "Just hangin' out and chillin' out".

Bennett is such a little charmer.  He is difficult for me many days, but he sure knows how to melt our hearts when he wants to!  He is almost 18 months now.  His speech is really developing quickly, and we are thankful for that!  Often, if he can communicate well, we can avoid a tantrum.  Bennett has no fear, loves to do just what Logan does, and plays really well alongside Logan or by himself.

Logan took a pretend nap with Frosty.  We do a lot of pretend play.  Usually L, B, and I are all puppies for a stint each day.

With my dad out of town in Asia for work and John at camp.  The boys flocked to Uncle Andrew for some "man time"!  He was a trooper because he watched a train show on the computer with both boys in his lap - and shared his popcorn!

Bennett loves turkeys.  He is a little turkey himself.  Here he is kissing the turkey after saying "gobb, gobb".

One of the highlights for the boys was our trip to Rosedale Mall.  My mom had heard they were running a small train through the mall, so we had to check it out!  We stopped for lunch at CPK first, which was just short of a complete distaster.  Then it was on to find the train...

When Logan saw the train, he just couldn't believe it - there is no track!  While we waited our turn in line, the train did a full loop around the mall and Logan could hardly stand the anticipation.  He grabbed onto Nana, hugging her and saying, "Oh my goodness, I am so excited, I can't believe it!"  It was so cute to see how excited all the kids were to get on the little train.  I think Rosedale hit the jackpot with this idea.

I should've had the video camera running because the boys were so cute, waving to everyone in the mall (it was BUSY! - I haven't started our Christmas shopping yet!) and Logan was saying, "Can you believe it?  We're riding this train!!".  It was so much fun for all of us.  The boys really didn't want to get off when the ride was over, but somehow we left the mall with only one trip on the train.

Then it was back home to see Dad!  What a fun weekend!

Fire Station Field Trip

Yesterday was Logan's class field trip to the fire station!  Of course, this was much anticipated around our house.  It was a really fantastic day for a field trip and John got to accompany the class since it was a young Life holiday yesterday.  Actually, I am not sure who enjoyed the field trip more...Logan or John.  When you see the photos below, you will understand why!

John was the only dad along on this field trip so when they asked for a volunteer to try on the fire fighter suit, John said all the moms just looked at him like, "of course!".

John had these four kids in the Swagger Wagon with him, which means you are their "grown up" for the field trip that day.  John had his hands full!

Both Logan and John were pretty excited that Daddy was wearing the gear!

The kids learned all about the trucks and the fire station.

John said Logan was so excited the whole time, he could hardly contain himself.

Sitting in the truck was a highlight!

Just For Boys

I've been hearing "Just for boys..." and "Just the boys" a lot lately.  Not from John, but from Logan!  He likes to do stuff with John and Bennett: must be a guy thing.  I realize I have a lot of that in my future!

Doing a little work on the laptop.

Bennett's turn.

Hockey in the garage.  Definitely just for boys.  Not for moms.

Bennett was being so silly...

Then he pulled his hat off and gave me this look like, "I know I just got caught!"

Another beautiful November day!

We're soaking up the time outside these days and what a treat to have Dad home for the Veteran's Day holiday today!  Hooray!

Trip to the Theatre (via the ER)

Today was such a fun day!  We went to the Eau Claire Children's Theatre for the first time!  "If You Take A Mouse To School" was the show we saw this morning and both the boys really enjoyed it.  We've been reading the book at home this week, so they were pretty excited to see the mouse on stage today.

We had such a nice morning at home and a completely clear day on the calendar (WOOHOO!).  We enjoyed breakfast together and a leisurely morning at home before we got ready to leave for the theatre...

Of course, in true Eiselt fashion, we couldn't have the morning continue on so calmly...

While I was inside getting just a few last minute necessities into the diaper bag, John was keeping the boys occupied playing a little hockey in the garage when he hit his head on a bike hanging from the ceiling.  He cut the top of his head open and was bleeding everywhere!  There was so much blood we couldn't tell how deep the cut really was.

So much for the nice leisurely morning.

Now we had to frantically load up the boys, get John a rag for his head, and go to the Emergency Room on our way to ECCT!  We were laughing on our way there because its our first fun outing as a family and our first free Saturday in ages now we're heading to the ER!

Luckily, John was able to just run in at the ER and tell them what happened and that we were on our way to the theatre so they sent a nurse out to take a look.  The kids and I stayed in the Swagger Wagon and Logan just kept saying "Daddy really should remember to duck under the bikes when we play in the garage".  Haha!  John's head was ok...not too deep of a cut.

So...we were off to see the mouse!  Hooray!

Bennett just woke up from a little cat-nap.  We had to bribe him to sit still with licorice.

Logan was so happy to be at the theatre and really loved it!

Cute little Mouse!

Halloween 2010

We had so much fun on Halloween!  After a long weekend of having a very cranky and sad Bennett, we all needed a little fun!  John and Logan went to church on Sunday morning while I stayed back with Bennett who was napping at that time.  For some reason, Bennett was sad or upset and had a rough weekend.  So, we thought sleep would be best.  The rest of the day we spent playing outside, enjoying the mild weather and waiting for "trick or treat time".

Papa and Nana came over with some special Halloween treats.  We all ate dinner together and then got ready with costumes!  Logan couldn't wait to wear his spider costume and go trick or treating!  John and I learned that at three years old, Logan is starting to really understand and look forward to holidays and special events!  I wasn't sure if Bennett would wear his owl costume for long, but he loved it!  I'm sure it helped having Logan in his costume at the same time.

We went outside for some photos and then Papa and Nana stayed at our house to hand out treats while we were out.

This is as close as we got to a photo of the boys sitting together.

Logan was such a cute spider!  He was sure to tell everyone that he is "a friendly spider"!

Bennett was adorable and didn't flinch at his costume one bit!

It was funny to watch the boys running around the yard in their bulky costumes!  They thought it was funny, too!

Trick or Treating hours are 5:30-8pm in Eau Claire so we started right at 5:30 when it was still light out and not too chilly.  John is the pumpkin carver in this house...he does a good job!

Logan LOVED trick or treating!  He did a great job of saying "trick or treat" and "thank you" at each house!  We just ventured down our street and then back on the other side.  We got home before it was too dark and busy.

Bennett walked for quite a while and then John carried him.  Our friends, Mollie and Aubrey came along to walk the neighborhood.

Bennett couldn't resist a treat...after the second house!

So much fun!  One year, John and I hope to have costumes, too!

We ended up back at our house where Papa and Nana were handing out treats for us.  I think our own house was the boys' favorite stop.

John and Mollie going through treats with the boys.

We all enjoyed some treats together!

The boys both chose lollipops for their special treat.

What FUN!