Eli's new words of the week are: Pink (talking about chalk), Chalk (which he says in this hilarious voice), and Bra (said it once and it stuck like glue). I was laughing so hard that he picked up bra. I literally said the word once and he knows what it is now. Friday night we had a pizza party with all my cousins. You have no idea what an amazing childhood we all had playing together non-stop. It's not everyone who is best friends with all their cousins. We had so many sleep overs, parties, etc. We were all so close in age (one kid for every year from age 2-26) now. Now we're all starting with our kids! This picture is of my cousin Megan's baby Luke. Doesn't he make Eli look big? That's saying something! I've had a lot of sickness this week, thus not many posts! Still just nausea here and there. Yesterday, I was SO sick all day. I was afraid I might not be able to sing last night at Meads Corner Coffee Shop, but I ended up feeling better RIGHT before we went on. God was watching out for me! I did warn everyone at the beginning in case I had to run off stage :-) Eli and I went to the park by our house Riverside Park this morning early to cheer on all of our friends (and cousin Ellen) running the 1/2 marathon. Eli LOVES to watch people run. We just watched the start and Eli was clapping for everyone! He loves to run himself...he literally will do laps in the driveway around the car. After the start, we went to the playground with the rest of the kids and had some fun for an hour. These two sweet older kids were helping Eli bounce on the bridge. It's super fun to watch him with older kids. You can tell he's so curious but cautious as well trying to figure them out. After we got home, our neighbor's grandaughter came outside to play with Eli. Olivia and Eli played for a long time sharing sticks, balls, acorns, tickle grass, etc. You can definitely tell the kids who are in daycare vs. home. They are usually so much better at sharing. Eli is doing better and better, but still has issues once in a while. We picked some baby carrots out of the garden. Eli and I had fun digging for buried treasure :-) They are sweet and delicious.

The best moment of my week was when I was playing outside with Eli this stranger pulls up in a truck (I was thinking he was going to ask for directions). He stuck his head out the window and pointed down the street to the next block where he and his wife live. He just stopped to tell me that he and his wife would like to commend me on how much time I spend playing with my son, playint outside etc. He had some other nice things to say but I hardly remember because I was so shocked. It was so nice; I cried when he left. I was having a horrible day and it totally turned it around. It means so much more to hear it from a perfect stranger!