The Eggscaliber 2000

Here is just a taste of this year's Neireiter Family Movie. Last year we had a great time with our 80's movie, but this year we decided to go in a new direction. Our infomercial on the Eggscaliber 2000 will be our best work yet! Jessie and I play the hosts, Kat and Cathy. John filled in as the audience members and JC directed, as usual. We'll also have some cameos from other family members. The filming will be completed later in January....stay tuned!

Christmas 08

WOW! We had a FANTASTIC week of celebrating Christmas. The opening of presents was way more CHAOTIC and FUN with a 21 month old, than it was last year when Luke was only 9 months. Luke's Grandma and his Nana went OVERBOARD on the presents. We need some cousins on each side to spread things out a bit. (Hint Hint J&J or M&D) But he loved all of them and I am thankful to have new toys to get us through the indoor winter months.

Here is a recap of our week...

Christmas #1
We spent a few days in Evansville before Christmas. Highlights included making a movie, going to Hacienda, and opening presents.



Luke loved his new snow shovel. He can't wait to help Daddy after the next snow fall.



To answer your question...YES! Those are ALL for Luke. Although my mom assures me that she didn't go overboard. :)

Christmas #2
We tried to drive home on Tuesday night, but we got stuck on I-70 for 2 hours. It was awful! We eventually had to pull over and get a hotel room. But we didn't have our pack n play, so Luke had to sleep in bed with us. It was the worst night EVER! He would only sleep if he was wrapped around 1 of us like a monkey. None of us really slept, so we got up early and headed back on the road again. We finally made it back Wednesday around 10 am.

On Christmas Eve, we went to 45 minutes of Redeemer's church service. Luke was very tired from the night before, so we had to bail. :( But we all got a good night's sleep and enjoyed a relaxing Christmas morning. If I would have known that Luke really only cared about the opening of presents, and not the actual present, I would have just re-wrapped stuff that my mom bought him...ha ha. He did really enjoy his Batman bike though!



Christmas #3
We had hoped that JC's parents were going to come to our house for Christmas Eve, but Cheryl broke her wrist! She's doing ok, but may have to have surgery. And it's her right hand, so it's very inconvenient. Anyway, we headed to Lafayette Christmas afternoon and spent a few days there. Highlights include opening MORE presents, seeing 2 movies, and seeing some college friends who came back in town.



The annual reading of the Grinch!



Luke and his lion checking out the Christmas lights in 3-D!



We all enjoyed playing in Luke's costume box :)

A boy after my own heart...

I don't know where Luke has picked up this skill...(can you sense the sarcasm?) He has started taking the baby wipes and cleaning everything in sight. I might be concerned with these OCD tendencies, if I wasn't so proud!

Merry Christmas to all...

This year for our Christmas card, we decided to try and re-create the funny Gap ads that you may have seen with all the scarves and sweaters. We know we're dorks and we're ok with that.

Here is our favorite Gap ad featuring Amy Poehler and Will Arnett.



AND here is our recreation! (Thanks Kelly for taking our pictures!) We only sent this silly version out to a few of ours friends...



Here is the real thing. Hopefully you got one in the mail. And if you didn't, it's probably because I don't have your address...so leave me a comment with it please :) MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Last 2 beach pics...I promise :)

Luke and Grandpa N playing guitar



Luke and Grammy

More pictures from the beach.

Grandpa Trombley e-mailed me some more pictures from our Gulf Shores Thanksgiving. i know it was only 2 weeks ago, but it already feels like a year!



Grandpa T and Luke



Trying to recreate our Christmas card from last year...with a twist



Can you find JC? He's on the U.S.S. Alabama



My favorite past time

It's beginning to look a lot like....

CHRISTMAS!!! My favorite day of the entire year is the Saturday after Thanksgiving. I LOVE decorating for Christmas! This year we were driving 13 hours back from the gulf, so my favorite day was postponed until Sunday.

Luke is really into the tree, probably because his superhero ornaments are on the bottom. We re-hang them 25 times a day.

Our Untraditional Thanksgiving

Everything about our Thanksgiving this year was traditional...my mom made a delicious dinner, we were with both of our families, and it was really fun...EXCEPT the weather! It wasn't the cold and snow we were used to in Indiana, because we were at the beach! We went back to our favorite vacation spot, Gulf Shores, AL and had a blast. It was a little weird to have Thanksgiving dinner while looking at the ocean, but I got over it quickly while reading a book and soaking up the sun. :)



Luke slept in the bathroom in his pack n play. One morning I heard him wake up and then he got quiet. I thought he had gone back to sleep. but pretty soon, I heard him saying "Mess. Mess" So I went in to get him and found that he had tee-peed himself :)



A pretty chilly ocean.



Even though the pool was heated, Luke wasn't sure how he felt about being in it.



Playing in the sand with Daddy.



A view from our balcony...heaven!

Dress Up

Luke has been sharing not only his love for Superheros, but his costumes as well! Kai came over to play this week and the 2 had a fantastic time being heros. They've created their own little Justice League. I love these pictures...and yes we were mixing the DC and Marvel universes...



Spiderman Luke as a cowboy and Superman Kai with a Spidey hat



Spidey Luke with his beloved Batman cape



Playing with their action figures. I have a feeling we'll be posting pictures like this for years to come!

I'm IT!

My old junior high bus friend, Brooke tagged me in this game on her blog! Here is a picture of us from high school...we were pretty cool ;) (Brooke, aren't you impressed that I dug this out of my old scrapbooks and scanned it?)



The rules for the game are:
1. To link the tagger and provide the rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blogs.
5. Post the 6th picture from your 6 file folder of pictures

Before I share my 7 facts, here is the 6th picture from the 6th file folder on my computer...little baby Luke from last July. He was only 3 months old! He obviously didn't like the water...


7 SARA FACTS:

#1. My favorite word is the word "favorite." I love it. I use it all the time to describe everything. I know that saying everything is my favorite defeats the purpose of the word, but I don't care.

#2. I am a coca cola snob. I have certain rules about the best way to drink a coke. In case you want to know, a McDonald's Large coke in a styrofoam cup is the way to go.

#3. I prefer rainy days over sunny. There is nothing like a rainy day...you can read a book or watch a movie and feel super comfy and relaxed!

#4. My favorite day of the year is the Saturday after Thanksgiving. In my house we always spend the day decorating for Christmas. It's a great tradition to kick off my favorite holiday!

#5. I read an average of 2.5 books a week.

#6. I am a list maker. My motto is "Make a list...you'll feel better." Currently I have 12 active lists. God has blessed me with some great organizational skills.

#7. I am a big fan of scary movies. My favorite are slasher movies, especially the Scream trilogy!

7 PEOPLE I AM TAGGING

#1. Kelly Warner
#2. Emily Elling
#3. Courtney Payne
#4. Kari Davis
#5. Jen Neireiter
#6. Jessie Neireiter
#7. Amanda Hooper

Mini-JC

Luke is a clone of his Daddy. They have such a great time playing together...



JC got out all of his old toys and action figures. Here they are putting the Hall of Justice together.



Playing with daddy's batmobile.



Pretending to be the Hulk.



Learning to draw.

Happy Halloween!

We had a great time trick-or-treating last night! The Warners invited us over for a fun party and we went all around their neighborhood. Luke didn't quite get the concept. He kept wanting to give his candy away.



I don't know who taught him to "say cheese," but he's been doing this quite a bit lately!



He LOVES his Batman cape...thanks Marisa!



Riding around the neighborhood in the "Batwagon."



Flying with Daddy

Guess what we were doing?

If you guessed finger painting, you were right! Luke helped me mix up the finger paint first. Then after it cooled, we added food coloring and I let him go to town. He loves getting messy (don't we all)!

Here's the recipe, if you feel like making your own mess!

Original Fingerpaint

Ingredients

1/2 cup cornstarch
3 Tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups cold water
food coloring

Directions

In a medium pan, mix all the ingredients together to make the finger paint. Cook over low heat 10 to 15 minutes. Keep stirring the finger paint mixture until it is smooth and thick. After the finger paint has thickened take the pan off the stove and let the mixture cool.

After cooling, divide the finger paint into storage containers depending on how many colors you would like. Add a few drops of food coloring to each container. Stir the coloring in to the paint to determine the shade of color. You're ready to finger paint! Cover tightly when storing.




Wonder what it tastes like?



Cool. I can paint myself too!

Luke's Pumpkin Experience

Since I have 2 kids (one of them being 28 years old) who are obsessed with Superheros, it was only natural that this years pumpkins have that theme. Luke loved playing with the pumpkin goo, but he didn't do much carving. ;)



Gooey!



We saved the seeds to bake in the oven. Yum!



Luke's pumpkin friends...Ironman, Batman, and Spiderman

Luke's Entourage

Last summer, Kelly, Marisa, and I took the cutest picture of our kids on a bench in the park across from Kelly's house. It was so cute that we decided we had to do it again this summer. We finally got around to it in September. This year we added 2 new additions to the crew. I just LOVE this picture. A typical hangout with the Warners and Notty's in super chaotic and crazy, but SO MUCH FUN! Every kid is awesome and they are all so funny in their own ways. This picture captures all of their own little personalities.

From left to right we have...

Reese, who you will never see without a truck or dino in his hands.
Makenna, who of course is wearing a princess dress.
Avery, who has no idea what she's in for in the next few years with this group.
Kai, who is already in his pj's and was racing around in the dirt just moments before this shot.
Emma, with her cheesy grin just loves to snuggle with anyone.
Lincoln, who is always gnawing on something.
Luke, who thinks he is a superhero.
and Macy, who will only wear dresses.

It's a crazy bunch and there's never a dull moment. Luke is so lucky to have such AWESOME friends (and so are his parents)!

A fun weekend!

Last weekend we went to Lafayette to see JC's family. This picture is of Luke with his Mommy, Nana, and Great Grandma (GG). He is so loved!



And here we have typical Luke...wearing a Superman shirt, Spiderman pants, and holding his Batman book. He is a mini-JC!

Luke's Obsessions

Luke has been so much fun these past few weeks. He is starting to mimic everything we say and has become quite the little talker. The kid has become OBSESSED with 3 things...

1. The Backyardigans. It's the only show he likes to watch. He would sit in front of the TV watching Pablo and friends all day if I let him. It's hilarious. I don't know where he gets his love for TV from...surely not from his TV addicted parents.

2. Batman (and other superheroes) Again, not sure where this comes from...maybe it has something to do with the fact that my husband is crazy about comic books? Just a guess. One of Luke's first words was Batman. He can spot batman or even just a bat from a mile away. You can imagine how much he is loving all of the Halloween decorations. Also, you should see his Hulk impression. I'll try and put a video of it on here soon. It makes me laugh so hard!

3. Robots. Of course his room is painted in Robots, so i guess this obsession is from JC too. He has 2 Robot books that I read about 12 times a day. He used to say "Ro Ro" but now he says "Ah bot". I'm sure he'll eventually put the sounds together and make the correct word, but for now, it's so cute. I love it.



Here is his "reading" one of his beloved Robot books.



Sporting the Batman tattoo. Gotta love Target's dollar section!