Unexpected blessing

Most of the time, the best blessings are ones we don't plan out in our heads, they just sort of arrive! Owen has been such an unexpected blessing to us! One that we didn't really plan on having, but one that now we can't imagine living without! Thank you God for overriding my small brain idea of how my life should turn out!

We are home now and adjusting to our new "normal" life - 3 boys! Eli and Caleb were very excited to have Owen home and love him so! Caleb asks to hold Owen at least once a day, gives him lots of hugs, says "Ahh, he's so wittle" all the time, and has only tried to crawl into the crib once! Eli has lots more questions this time around and wants to know when Owen will be doing all kinds of things like crawling, sitting, eating food, etc. He is also good to find the paci, burp cloth or whatever I need. Owen has been "well received" by the Hall brothers - makes my heart smile!

We have even ventured out a couple of times and things went pretty well

This is my new life! So thankful for it.
Would love a little more sleep, but I'll settle for this right now!

Tara

Owen Samuel Hall

Owen Samuel Hall

Born at 4:29am

October 15, 2010

7lbs 4 oz - 19 inches long

So very handsome and loved!

The Fair

Last Monday, we managed to make it to the fair. It's always around Eli's birthday, so a fun tradition for him. In fact, the first time he went to the fair, he was 9 days old! Can you believe 1st time parents took their newborn baby to the fair?! (Me-yes, Lance-no). One of Eli's favorite things to do is to ride the gondola which goes up over the midway so you get a great view of all the rides, games, etc. This year Caleb & I rode too for the first time. Very fun! Next we let them ride some totally overpriced rides- but they enjoyed the 3 rides they got to do (next year we will come on buddy day when you can ride 2 for 1)!

I don't think Caleb was tall enough to ride this ride, but we sort of sneaked him on anyway!

Oh, how I love these 2!

Next we ate some fried fair food. I've decided, despite the newest fair food craze - the best value is the funnel cake and I've hardly ever been disappointed. $6 for this and we all shared. Eli wanted cotton candy @ first, but then decided that the funnel cake was equally delicious. Caleb did not want any at first, but then gave in and decided he liked it as well!

Since it was getting late and it was a school night, and I was 9 months pregnant - we made the boys choose between the petting zoo/ baby animals & the cars @ the Expo center. Any guesses what they chose? The cars. So off we headed to the Expo center. While there we saw this butterfly house exhibit. It was a huge net that housed over 5,000 butterflies! $3 to get in and of course they both wanted to go, so Lance took them while I waited outside.You can see the butterflies clinging to the top of the net. Eli liked it okay, but Caleb was the one that really loved it. You couldn't touch the butterfly wings, but they could land on you and crawl on your hand. Eli didn't want any part of this (he has crawly thing issues - can't say that I blame him), but Caleb was all over it. Lance kept helping him get butterflies on his hand. This is quite possibly my favorite picture to date of Caleb!

As they left, the workers checked their backs to make sure that no butterflies had attached themselves and would be leaving with them. Then Lance walked all the way back across the fair (since we parked in free parking) to get the car and meet us out front (since I am with child you know!)

So fast forward to the next morning when my husband went out to his car to leave for work. What do you think he found in his car? That's right a beautiful blue swallowtail butterfly. Unbeknownst (I've never used that word before!) to us, we had smuggled that butterfly right out of the butterfly house. It was amazing! We figured it had to have been on Lance's jacket or in his bag and traveled all the way across the fair, back to the car with him. The boys were thrilled with their new pet and named him "Switcher" because he was 2 different colors when he opens and shuts his wings. He stayed with us for a whole week . Then we took him back to the fair on the last night (just kidding, but that is what we told Eli because he was so upset at the thought of the butterfly dying). So that is our fair story! A great memory for us!

Tara

Eli's 6th Birthday (94 photos), by Tara Hall

I'd like to share my Snapfish photos with you. Once you have checked out my photos you can order prints and upload your own photos to share.
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Eli Turns 6!

Last Wednesday was Eli's birthday - I can't believe he is 6 years old. Time just doesn't stand still (unless you are in your last days of pregnancy ! Ha!). We let him plan out his entire special day: chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast, fish sticks/chips/butterfinger packed for his lunch, and Incredible Pizza for dinner! It was a good day and he seemed to be on cloud 9 all day! After all, he has been counting down to this day for the last 58 days! See the calendar he made.

I absolutely love it when he tries to spell on his own. This says - Eli's calendar until his birthday - 58!

After dinner we had a mini cake and he finally got to open his presents - so excited about everything!

Friday was his much anticipated "Alphabet Adventure" Birthday Party and according to Eli, it was everything he hoped it would be! Sigh, that is just what moms love to here! His party theme was based on his favorite book Alphabet Adventure by Audrey Wood.
We had an Alphabet Scavenger Hunt in my parents backyard. All the kids had clipboards and they circled each letter as they found them hidden in various places. I think the kids really loved this and were totally into it. Next we played "Alphabet Soup" a game I sort of made up, but one that all ages there could play - run down and get a scoop of letters, carry it back and dump in strainer - then arrange all letters in alphabet order. They seemed to like this.

Lastly, we had birthday cake - the best part. This year Eli chose a pencil cake with letters on it. This is how the alphabets travel around in the book. I made the cake and it was actually a pretty easy one (I have this thing about making my own kids birthday cake - it's cheaper, it challenges my creativity, and I enjoy it plus I love to see what they dream up!) The cake turned out great and most importantly Eli loved it!

The party was a lot of fun and all the kids seemed to really enjoy it. We made it - now we can have a baby! I prayed that God would allow us to get through his party before our baby arrived and he totally answered! In case you are so inclined and would like to see more pictures from the party (94 to be exact) here is a link to Snapfish : Eli'sBirthday party pictures

Tara

36 weeks

We are almost there! I think these 2 are excited! Maybe Caleb is just ready to have my lap back to sit on while reading books. Eli is just ready for his birthday that he has been counting down to for the past 58 days. We are ready. This was all God's deal (I keep reminding him of that!), so I know baby boy #3 will arrive at the appointed time. Until then, I'm soaking up moments with these two who have been my constant companions for the past 3 years! Love them so.

Tara

12 Months of Giving: August

For our 12 months of giving project in August, we collecting pencils for The Pencil Project, you can read all about it here. We collected pencils at our last Wacky Wednesday event and ended up with over 1,000 pencils. I was so proud of Eli, he made a poster to advertise to our friends about the project. Here is the poster - flying pencils with retractable wheels - how creative!

Next, we boxed them up at mailed them to the Rising Fountains Development Program in Zambia, Africa! The pencils will then be distributed. Here is a quote from the director that I got in an email "The pencils will go a long way to assist the pupils in schools who do not have access to pencils, books, and of course other school requisites." Wow, a little pencil can make an impact! We will definitely be doing this again next year!

Tara