Summer pics

Summer pics!

Gotcha Girl!

Next week marks 1 year since we Gotcha, Piper! And we just happen to leave for Hawaii that day, so we are going to celebrate in a huge way with a fantastic trip! Dennis's company is participating in a conference-ish thing there and they pay for spouse's to go...how incredible is that? We decided to extend the 3 day work part into a week and are bringing the kids and my mom is coming, too. We may not have a cake to celebrate her Gotcha Day, but we will celebrate all week long.

The boys have been taking swimming lessons so that they are ready for our trip. Camden is swimming now and can do a few "tricks" and Bro isn't far behind. Peeps is not afraid of the water at all and if they did lessons for 2 yr olds w/o the mommy-and-me type of waste-of-money class, she would show them how it is done. It was really important that they learn to swim and well, because I can't take them all swimming by myself during the week because of the different stages they are in at their ages. And swimming is a must when it is a 100 degrees on a regular basis. It is too hot for them to do anything else outside and well, I am sorry, but the thought of us all cooped up inside for 3 months straight and for 14 hours a day makes me shake, shiver, and a little nauseous. Camden is reading up a storm and is ready for kindergarten to start. He can not wait. We even had to take a picture of his school so he can look at it. And Brodan, well, let's just say he doesn't have the interest in learning that his brother does and I was a little worried. The whole ABC thing was completely lost on him. I bought the Leap Frog Letter Factory DVD and after about a week of playing it on the TV, he has it down! I can not believe it. And do you know that Piper is telling me the sounds the letters make??? At 2 years old? I SWEAR by that video, even though I cry a little bit when I hear it now because it makes your ears bleed after the 150th time. It is her favorite video and she asks for it at least 10x a day. She is getting funnier by the day. The other day, I said something to her and she looked around both ways and said, "you talkin' to me?"(said WITH the accent and attitude, thank you!)

When school starts I will be teaching my own class at the parents day out, yay! I have been an aide in the past. I am so excited. I love the 4-5 age, so it will be fun. I have been exercising at the rec center for a couple of months now and I love it, however, I have lost a total of 3 stinking pounds. What is up with that? Granted, the eating has not changed at all, but I go for about an hour 4x a week and do cardio and weights. My clothes fit the same, too. It is a little discouraging. Anyone an expert on that stuff? I alternate upper and lower body, too. I guess you have incorporate the diet portion of it all. I have done diets before, or excuse me, lifestyle changes, but never the workout part. And I lost weight eating less and thought maybe that would be the case with just working out, too, but I guess that was just dumb wishing on my part. Whatever. I have to assume SOMETHING good is coming out of it, anyways.

Summer fun

Happy PreK Graduation!

Yes, I know it is silly that they do "graduation" for the kids at Parent's Day Out. I really thought so always, that is, until it is my kid's turn. It was something exciting for the kids to do and got them excited about going to kindergarten. What parent doesn't like watching their child in a program of any sort?

Anyways, my baby boy has grown into my little boy-goofy, goofy, goofy. He makes up silly words, laughs at anything poop and fart related, and has made his butt cheeks talk to me on more than one occasion. And now his brother, who is a year and a 1/2 younger, is just more up on the take on it all. I love little boys :)

And my little girl? She is quite the pistol and loves to announce her own bodily functions at the dinner table...gotta keep up with the bros! Not to worry though, she is ALL girl- she loves her shoes, necklaces, and purses. And she can flip through a small board book for an hour. There is NO WAY the boys could do that. She has a great sense of humor and LOVES to tease. In her future, I definitely see the words "strong woman" attached to her and for those who can't handle her, I am sure they will use another word. But I am so glad to see that my daughter will hold her own when she needs to! I would not have it any other way!

Work in progress.

Some things I have noticed and I have wanted to blog about but find that I don't have the time to think it through and do:

1. I am incredibly suburban. I am pop culture, pop music, married with 3 kids, on my way to having some bumper stickers on the back of my SUV, blah, blah, blah. I can't help it. It is who I am. I have made peace with it. But I hope my kids are weird. And by weird, I mean not scared to be who they are. I think it was bred into me to be mainstream and and that the only reason you should stand out is because you do something better than others. Not different, better.

2. I am not above stealing quotes from other blogs. Matter of fact, every quote I use is off of another blog. Not because I read something profound in a book that I am reading to further myself and not scripture out of the Bible. Just good ole' stolen material. I do give credit, though.

3. I love Haiti. And because of Piper, I love Ethiopia. I think I love anyone that I see is suffering. It really tears at me. And I wonder what is next for me and my family. Hub unit is going on his first mission trip this year. I am stoked even though that means I can't go. This time. Next year is all mine!!!!

4. I am tired of being fat. I joined the gym and I am loving going even though I will spend $4 in gas every time I go. I think I have just gotten so desperate for alone time (hello! can I go to the bathroom w/o an audience telling me good job when I'm done???) that if it means 30 min. on a treadmill is the way I'm going to get it, then so be it!

That is all my self revelation for now. Dennis needs the computer.

That Jesus Guy

ETHIOPIA




HAITI

If you want your problems, your fears, your dreams, passions, and hobbies to feel incredibly SMALL…visit Haiti. Caring for orphans, widows, the broken and oppressed is surely the most valuable and holy thing we can do. And must do. That Jesus-guy was really on to something.

-Aaron Ivey (adoptive father of Amos, in Haiti)


You can insert many places into this quote. I love the end of it! You don't have to peer down from the pulpit quoting scripture to sound like you know exactly what is up!

Quote of the Day

Some wish to live within the sound of a chapel bell, I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of Hell."
- C.T. Studd





I'm not there yet, but that is my aim.

Like Summer

Having fun cleaning our wheels and each other!












Have you ever made Gak or Oobleck? It is wild! You take water and cornstarch and mix it together. It is so weird. It looks soupy, but when you squeeze it, it becomes a solid. After you squeeze it just open your hand and it becomes a liquid again. The kids loved it.

Little Boys and the ER

So Tuesday I made a dumb comment and said that we have only made one trip to the ER for pneumonia and that we have been lucky. Time to update. Last night Cam was in the shower, slipped on Diego, and cracked the back of his head wide open to the point that we have now seen our son's skull. It was so bad that it actually cut his hair. The doctor thought we had tried to cut his hair around the laceration. Yeah, no time for that really. Dennis was the one who walked in and saw what looked like a murder scene (one in which I will be bleaching floors to get rid of the evidence...doesn't that always work, ha-ha). Apparently head wounds bleed like a stuck pig. So we called my mom, who lives close, thankfully, to come watch Brodan and Piper and headed on down to the hospital on the longest, most red-light ridden ride of our lives. I have to give props to Georgetown hospital, which you most certainly don't hear of very much, because they got us in and out in about an hour and a half and they were great with us and Camden. He has 4 stitches inside his head and 8 staples on the outside. He will forever have a scar in his hair. I am so proud of him, too. He was very brave. So I need to change my statement from Tuesday to say that little boys make me laugh AND cry.

These pictures are just a day in the life of little boys. How either one didn't end up with a complete black eye, I don't know. So far we haven't had any ER runs, with the exception of pneumonia (of course it had to be a Saturday), so I guess we are lucky. Although, they are still pretty little. Little boys just make me laugh. It is either a mile a minute or a snail's pace for these two.

For Camden's 5th birthday, instead of having a big party, Dennis and I took just him to SeaWorld for the day. It was the first time that he had ever done anything with just him and mom and dad. That made me sad. Now, he has done lots of stuff with just me or just dad, but never together. It was such a great experience that we decided that that is the 5th birthday-deal from here on out. I will make it a point, though, that Dennis and I do something with each child, on a smaller, less expensive scale, every year. Why is this such a difficult thing to do? When I write it down, it sounds terrible of us. And I really think that we are a very family oriented family, especially at this point with everyone so young, but to do that seems like a huge ordeal to undertake. It will be so worth it, though. Cam had the best day and so did we!

HAPPY 5TH BIRTHDAY, CAMDEN! WE ALL LOVE YOU!

The Mek Tribe

I am so sad. Last week, I discovered "Living With The Mek Tribe" on the travel channel and watched 3/4 of the day's marathon. Yesterday, I finished watching it and the season finale. And now, I have nothing. It was the most interesting show. I would be dead in 2 days, or at least dropped like a hot potato and ditched quickly because I would never make it and would be such a detriment to anyone who had to deal with me. What a hard life. Watching the show made my mission trips to Haiti seem like a vacation, although, I don't quite "live" completely the way the Haitians do when I go. However, it is still roughing it! Tribal life was such an amazing thing to watch and it is funny, even though we have "advanced" over centuries, our relationships are just as messed up and/or wonderful as an indigenous tribe of people's in the middle of absolutely nowhere. I hope they do a "reunion" show. Just joking. What a great show.

Camden turns 5 this week. I.can.not.believe.it.

The Elliott team

Camden has begun T-ball. For those who have seen 4-6 year olds play T-Ball, you know that it is a complete joke. Well, at least for those parents who don't think that their child's career is at stake anyway. Cam has had a few games, and he absolutely LOVES it! That said, poor baby is not a natural. He has the batting thing, running the bases thing down, but playing out in the field? Uh. No. It doesn't matter where he is playing, he chases the ball while it is in motion. Or, if he is playing a base, and there happens to be a coach standing close to tell him to stay by the bag, he stands on it and puts his hand out like he is directing traffic to tell the runner to stop. His birthday is next week and we are seriously getting him a video game thingy(that is daddy territory) with a baseball game, so that he can see and learn the rules better. The boy is freaky about rules, so hopefully this will help. We try and explain at home, but there isn't enough people for him to get the gist of it all, so we just practice catching, fielding grounders, batting, and that type of thing. Now, I say that we aren't parents who think that our kids will live,eat, sleep the sport at 5 years old, but it is hard to watch your kid shooting imaginary spider webs and having imaginary conversations with his glove without yelling out his name to pay attention once in awhile. And can we pee while we are in the dugout waiting to bat or does it have to be out on the field, where EVERYONE gets to hear about it? Of course, he isn't the only one, but definitely one that you can count on for entertainment EVERY TIME. Just like I am sure his violin teacher refers to him as the kid who farts every lesson when she talks about her day. It is only 30 minutes for crying out loud, can you hold it please?! Does anyone know what age children begin to be embarrassed about everything, 'cause I'm waiting! I am learning, though. I don't cringe as much as I used to.

And a Brodan story? About a month ago we passed a lady coming out of the restroom at HEB(because we always have to go check out every bathroom) who smiled at the kids. Unfortunately, she was missing a couple of teeth. So Brodan, in his very loud bellowy voice, screams, while pointing, "hers don't have her teef, Mama!" and again, "hers don't have her teef!" She stopped smiling.

Piper hasn't done anything embarrassing yet, except pitch fits, and give go to hell looks to strangers who try to smile and talk to her. She can't help it, she's 2 and her face is either hot or cold, smiling or eat my shorts.

Ahh, kids. I am so glad that we are ripping the band-aid off, so to speak. It is a very challenging time right now with everyone home and these ages, but definitely entertaining. People who homeschool are saints.

Sleeping Angels and zoo animals

We went to the zoo in Waco yesterday because it was 91 DEGREES HERE!!!In the middle of February! What is up with that? And do you know that today, the high will be 66 degrees. You can't rotate winter and summer clothes here because every day, you have no idea. And since the boys share a closet, this can be an issue. I don't know what we'll do when they get bigger. Jeez.

Pretty in pink



Overtaking our bed



At the Zoo