Christmas 2008

The boys got police costumes for christmas--they love to dress up.

Eli...I mean Officer Works!

Avery opening up one of his gifts.

Avery coloring along with his cousin Sophie

I will try to post more about our Christmas along with some more pics.

Christmas Carols

The boys were especially cute tonight after supper, and I caught Avery singing what sounded like "Silent Night", so I got out the video camera. That which is below is the last take, when they had just gone beyond silly.

Autumn Pictures

Here are some pictures Tony took last weekend at Antioch Park.  We had a great time playing in the park, it was such a beautiful autumn day! 

2008-10-25 at 16-33-54

2008-10-25 at 16-33-54
Originally uploaded by Tony & Kate

Halloween Pictures

Halloween Pics

Kate & Avery carving pumpkins

Tony & Eli carving pumpkins

Batman & Robin (aka Eli & Avery) posing by their pumpkins

Manhattan Trip

Well we finally experienced our "first" of having a sick kid away from home.  We went to visit Josh & Jessa in Manhattan for the weekend.  The boys had a great time playing with their cousins and then we went out for dinner.  This is when we should have known something was wrong with Avery, because wouldn't eat...which hardly ever happens.  We chalked it up to not having an adequate nap that day.  So we went back to J&J's, put the boys to sleep, and enjoyed our evening with J&J.  Then all the fun started: at about 2 am I woke up to Avery with a fever, coughing and gagging, and ultimately throwing up x3 times.  After an hour of caring for him and waking the whole family, we decided to hit the road home so as to not expose J&J and baby Jack to his illness anymore then we already had.  We stopped off at Wal-Mart, loaded up on paper towels, loads of caffeine & cleaning supplies for our trip home.  We had a few more messes to clean up on the way home, but all in all it went fairly well.  We rolled into our drive at 6 am before the sun was out, put the boys to bed and hit the sack until late morning.  So far no one else has gotten sick and Avery got better just as quickly as he got sick.  I hope 

Avery's 2nd Birthday

Avery has changed fairly rapidly the last couple months from that sort of early-toddler that is always sweet, quiet and easy-going into that sort sort of mature toddler that terrorizes the twos.  His talking is evolving, but not as fast as his desire to communicate or his opinions on things leading to such desire to communicate.  

Throw an older brother into the mix, and we're in for a fun year.  It's so fun to watch them develop, but you can't help but mourn the loss of the purity of what they were.

Regardless, here is a bit of video of his 2-year birthday party we had last Sunday, September 14, 2008.

Eli's 1st Day of School

What a milestone.   Eli started preschool September 2, 2008.  He is going to Teresa Cook's preschool here in Iola, and he is loving it.  He goes Tuesday and Thursday from 9 - 11 am.  Avery sure misses his brother when he's gone--even to the point of crying in frustrated anticipation when Kate goes to pick him up.

Here's a bit of video of him prepared for that first day.

Home Depot Marketing Genius

Last Sunday we took the boys to the zoo in Topeka.  It was a perfect day for seeing the animals and playing in the park across the street.  Afterwards we headed down Wanamaker in search of a place to eat.  From the back seat Eli yells, "Mom, look a Home Depot."  My response was "Yes, what about Home Depot?"  Eli continues, "Welcome to Home Depot where you can find a tool for every project." This kid always amazes me with his memory.

Papa Joe and Grandma Works have a toy tool box that they bought at Home Depot, and it has a couple buttons.  Most buttons make tool noises, but one plays a short plug for Home Depot.  That plug is what Eli absorbed.  Just goes to show how pervasive (and invasive?) marketing messages are to our kids.

Kinda evil, but cute.

Vacation Bible School - Flip Mino

Over the weekend, I got a new toy for my birthday: a Flip Mino. It is a little camcorder, small and efficient enough to keep within reach for those special moments. Hopefully that will facilitate a bit more of a multimedia approach around here.

This week is Vacation Bible School in Humboldt. Eli is participating, and mommy is helping with the refreshments. Eli loves it, and we're getting good use of it as a reward for good behavior. Here's a bit of video showing us trying out our new toy, and Eli--somewhat reluctantly--placating his mommy with a tune he is learning at VBS.

Birthday

Today is my birthday.  The plan is that Kate is taking me to Kansas City for the weekend--that's all I know.  This being the Works Boys Blog, this is merely background for the fact that Grandma O'Dell is down here for the weekend.  She's taking care of the boys today through Sunday, and they are excited about it.

Eli has been asking about Grandma O'Dell every half hour for a few days now.  We went outside yesterday early evening, when I knew she was almost here, and he spotted her van as it turned down our street, was jumping up and down and yelling, "Grandma O'Dell is coming!" over and over.

Kate and the boys woke me up this morning with a pastry and candles singing "Happy Birthday".  Eli carried it and started the song (in key) all by himself--he's growing up so much.  The look on Avery's face was unforgettable:  a mixture of pride, joy, and unadulterated love.  After the 30 seconds of singing and blowing of candles, Kate and Eli were off to get ready for the day.  Avery laid down and snuggled with me, sharing my pastry.  Through his limited speech, "mine?" I know he's looking forward to his own birthday.  It was a great moment.  Thank you, Kate, for that.

I'll tell Grandma to keep notes about her weekend, so we will have material for Sunday.

Third Haircut in Three Days

Every family has this story; here's our iteration.

When I get done shaving in the morning with my electric razor, Avery is typically curious and asks me to let him have it.  I usually do, since he just pretends to shave his face like Daddy.  Sometimes he'll turn it on, and I have to warn him about nicking his lips, tongue, etc.

This morning, he wandered off with it, and his older brother evidently showed him how to flip the sideburns trimmer up, and turned it on.  The story from Eli is that Eli did this to Avery's head, and not Avery himself.

We had just given the boys haircuts a couple days earlier, which probably accounts a bit for their action, it being on their mind and all.  So tonight, in the bathtub, I took the 1.5 guard to Avery. 

A few minutes after putting him to bed tonight, I caught him just laying there, rubbing his head.

Summer Fun

The boys had a fun day staying at home with Mommy.  They played around the house till mid-morning and then headed outside to play in the wading pool & sand box  while mom mowed the lawn & worked in the garden.  The tomatoes I picked made it as far as Eli's mouth, he loves veggies!  Next we headed out to run errands & stopped by Daddy's office to say "hi" and dropped off his lunch. After lunch the boys took a great nap while I finished up mowing the rest of the yard. 

The boys played so well with each other today.  Over the last few weeks we've noticed how much better they actually "play" with one another.  Until recently they would each do their own thing. What we think has changed is that Avery has evolved into a two year-old toddler and is now able to do more of what Eli normally does & can understand most of what Eli would like him to do.   However there are still times when they are not on the same page.  Take for example today, Eli was pretending to be at a hotel and Eli wanted Avery to take a "nap", immediately Avery jumped off the bed, said "no" and made a quick dash out the bedroom before Eli could catch him.  Needless to say Avery avoided Eli for a while in fear that he may have to take another nap.  They are so much fun.    

4th of July

We have had a busy and wonderful holiday weekend with the Works Boys.  It started Thursday evening after work; we took the boys down to Papa Joe & Grandma Works's house where we played with Seth and Sophie, jumped on the trampoline, ate pizza, and visited.

Beth and Steve showed up later, and we followed them to take a tour of their new Barn/Home.  It's the classiest barn we've seen.

We went to B&W's parking lot at dusk to watch Humboldt's fireworks display.  Attending: Blair and his wife with Beth & Steve, Sophie & Seth; James & Andrea with Britnee and Ashlynn; and G-ma & G-pa Works.

Eli loved the fireworks and being with his cousins.  He got to do his first sparkler, but still was a bit too cavalier with it.  Avery was in awe of the first couple explosions, and then became a bit worried about it, and so was stuck to Mommy the rest of the show.  He did get to chow down on a big wedge of watermelon, though.  A late night for the boys.

Friday we just stayed home all day and gardened while the boys played in the sandbox and wading pool.  We had the bright idea to take them to the Humboldt Pool pre-nap, but got down there to find it closed for the holiday.  Imagine that.   After nap we headed down to Great-Grandmom Works's for barbecued ribs.  The boys loved wandering around the farm, looking at the combine, pond, etc.  Tony let Eli drive the van on his lap from G-ma/G-pa's to Grandmom's.

We had packed Friday afternoon for a brief KC visit, and so after a good meal and visit with Grandmom, got the boys in their pjs and headed for KC.  Eli doesn't miss a thing, and based on some minor details asks, "Are we going to a hotel?"  It took him a bit longer to fall asleep because of his insight.  We reached the Extended Stay America at around midnight.

Earlier our plan was to just go to the petting zoo and visit the Hesseltine cousins on Saturday.  When we contacted Jen & Rick, they said they were going to Worlds of Fun late on Saturday, so we decided to join them.  We booked Saturday night at the Sheraton, let the boys play with Brooke & Megan in the morning, took a nap at the hotel, and headed to WoF late afternoon.  We didn't leave until 10 pm, and the boys had a blast.  Avery was gung-ho about riding all the rides, and despite being denied the first ride (Viking Voyager) for being a 1/2 inch too short, got to ride everything else: Octopus, Fjord Fairlane, Train, Carousel, and everything at Camp Snoopy.   Eli got to do the bumper cars all by himself, and got to ride Viking Voyager with Daddy.  It was a perfect 5 hours at Worlds of Fun with two young toddlers.

Tornado last Friday night?

Last Friday night - early Saturday morning we had a pretty nasty thunderstorm come through.  I was awakened just after 1 am by our county's phone notification system, so I got up and opened my laptop to check the radar.  This is what I found.  

Needless to say, I was quite disturbed by the large mass of rotating air coming toward Iola, and Kate, the boys and I spent the next 20 minutes in the basement until it blew over.  No tornado in Iola, but I've not heard whether Neosho Falls saw anything destructive.