Heeeeeeeeere We Go!!!

Ok, the silence has gone on WAY too long. And so, with encouragement from many of you to get this party started once again, here I am! =)
So many things have happened over the last several months. I have learned more than I could possibly record in the short time I have to blog this afternoon, so some of that will have to wait. I am actually going to try to go through my photo files and back-blog important things. It's either that or Elias' entire first grade year be missing when I order my blog printed in book-form someday. =) And there have been some GREAT moments! Don't get me wrong- this season has been REALLY difficult and trying, but we are exactly where we know we are supposed to be in this moment. And there is just an unexplainable peace in that.

So I greet you once again, sweet friends, with a funny story (which I recently said on Facebook was so funny and blogworthy that it would end the 6 months of silence on my blog)...

All four of us were sitting at the dinner table when something came up about Elena turning four soon. Elena began to talk about, as she regularly does, "when she was a baby". The conversation them moved to when Elena was in my tummy and Elias used to talk to her. All of the sudden, Elias began to ask questions about how Elena got out. Normally, we just answer questions like this on a truthful, but age-appropriate answer such as, "Well, when God decides it's time for the baby to come out, the Mommy goes to the hospital and has the baby. Then the doctors make sure the baby is ok and eating well, and they both come home in a couple of days." Typically, this type of answer is completely satisfactory. Not this night. No way, no how. The boy wanted answers. And he wanted them right there at the dinner table. As we kept straight faces and continued to re-word our answer over and over, his questions got more intense. His progression went something like this...
"How did Elena get out of your tummy though, Mommy?" *insert simple explanation here*
"Did she come out your mouth? Through your throat?!" *insert Mommy gagging on food from both hilarity and complete disgust at this idea. Then repeat simple answer*
"Did she come out your belly button?!" *Again, trying not to laugh, explaining (because he REALLY does want to know!) why we all have belly buttons. Talk about how babies get all their vitamins and nutrition through the tube that attaches the inside of Mommy to baby. Hope he forgets original question.*

*Pause* Hope that scientific explanation and distraction really worked...

"I just don't get it, Mommy! How did she get out?! Wasn't there a HOLE?!?!?!"

Me: "You know what, Elias. When Elena came out, she was really gross and slimy. And I don't really want to talk about it at the dinner table." *rush to Amazon.com and order the next book in the Focus on the Family sex-ed series*

See, aren't you glad I'm back!!! ;)

Friday Five!

last week’s friday five had a challenge rather than a question:
try to incorporate dancing into your week and tell us how it goes!
let’s see how the five did…and feel free to share any dancing adventures of your own.

lissie- so…i can think of 4 times i got to dance this week.1. i babysat ethan a little on sat morning to give brent and meredith a small break and we played a kiddie cranium game that involved some dance moves.2. halloween night at nathan’s turned into a kitchen dance party. it started with couples being goofy and turned into everyone moving around. that was a blast!!3. chris twirled me around a little at the joe nichols concert on tuesday night.4. my class got canceled last night so i joined tracy and some friends for some bday dancing downtown. while it was good to hang out with girls, djs refused to give me any 80s, ac/dc, or bon jovi so i went home early. punks. i thought of cory getting his groove on at 80s/ladies (or however that goes) and wished i could teleport to columbus.

kimi- Kinda a lame dance week for me. I was expecting to have more to say. Went to a group lesson at the studio wednesday night. It was a pretty standard lesson, with all stuff that I already know, but I impressed my instructor with the stuff I had been working on. Then he gave me the CD to listen to for the solo I am going to do in December. The song is cell block tango from Chicago and I have to test out the edits he made. We have been planning out the choreography and which parts of the song I would be acting out. We’ll start the actual movement work on that tonight. The best part however, has be designing costuming for that event in the style of the musical. Lots of black fishnets and gothic-y looking clothes. Fun.

Jen- I had a week that I was completely unprepared for. In the midst of unexpected events, I wish I had remembered that our challenge this week was to dance- maybe it would have made it all more fun!
As it was, I danced a few times with my 3 year old (which is pretty normal). My favorite dance time was when she was hooked up to a breathing machine getting an albuterol treatment at her doctor’s office and we were dancing around the exam room together while she sang an impromptu song about medicine smoke coming out her nose. hehe. And I don’t mean sweet dancing like me holding her and swaying. I mean both of us on our feet, boogie-down, rock-out dancing. With breathing tubes and mask and all. =)

Rachel- There was not enough dancing in my week! On Monday we had over a professor and he brought his two-year-old child, and we danced. After dinner we cleaned up the kitchen and put on fun music and shook our booties a little while putting away our mismatched plates. I know Jill Scott songs were involved. That was super fun.
I think the only other times I danced while was preparing cookies or brushing my teeth. That seems OK. You just have to be careful that you don’t hurt yourself with the toothbrush. Hygiene is dangerous!

Cory- about dancing, mine has been irreverence. i didn’t go out dancing or anything this last week, but there were a few times when i was being talked to, and i didn’t really like how the talk was going, so i just started to shake it. dance as protest.

Happy 7th Birthday, Elias!

I know this post is a couple of weeks late, but I thought I'd at least get it up while we are still in the month of October. =) (I have about 3 hours left...)

Elias had a great birthday this year. As usual, it was more like birthday week with the celebration of both of our birthdays ran on and on. We ate at Spaghetti Warehouse, which was major excitement since his favorite food ever is spaghetti. He opened gifts from the family on his actual day and then had a birthday party a few days later at Gattiland.

I honestly can't believe that I have a 7 year old. It just doesn't seem possible that he could be that old. Not that it's old, but it just doesn't seem like that amount of time can possibly have passed with him in our family. What a joy he is to us! I thank God every day for allowing me to be his Mom, and I can't wait to see what his future holds.

Elias was excited about his new "Bee-noculars" from Honey & Raun

We got him a Nintendo DSi, which he has wanted for about a year

He also got this case to hold his DSi and games, etc. He opened it, read the package, and exclaimed "YES!!!! My very own UNIVERSAL TRANSPORTER!!!" He still calls it that. heehee

Party with friends at Gattiland. What a great time!

Star Wars birthday cake.

Friday Five!

Hey friends! Life has been a little crazy here the last few months, and I have- once again- fallen off the blogging bandwagon. In an attempt to start the habit of blogging again, I am participating in something called "The Friday Five", in which five different bloggers tackle the same question or experience. We actually started this last week, but I couldn't get it to post. Maybe I'll try again in a bit...
*note: even though my answer this week is super-wordy, I am pretty sure mine was the shortest answer last week*
I hope you have fun with this and feel free to share your answer as a comment (or even in your own blog!) as well. =)

This week’s question:
When was the last time you stayed up all night or most of the night? How was school or work the next day? What’s your stay-coherent technique on days like that?

Lissie: the last time i stayed up all night, or practically all night, was two thursdays ago for my cousin’s bachelorette party. we got in and slept for about 3 hours before we were up and running for day-before-wedding festivities and prep.
the next day wasn’t awful like going in to teach kindergarteners has been after an all nighter. i had enough shots of espresso and family drama to get me through the day. it was saturday that i paid the price. word to the wise: don’t spend 8 hours walking around and dancing in 3 inch heels if you have to wear heels at all in the following week. your feet will hate you!

Kimi: The Last time I stayed up all night was last March. I had gone to see Dirty Dancing on stage in Chicago that day and then ended up talking in my friend’s (now boyfriend’s) apartment until about 6:30. This was a Saturday night. I do unfortunately work on Sunday mornings because I work at a church. So I drove straight from his apartment to my church which took about 1 hr due to the nasty road conditions. It was one of my busier days at work so I was running the entire time, but I remember very little of that day, except several kids telling me that I looked really really bad and asking me if I was sick. I got home from church around Noon and then slept until 5:00PM, when I headed out with him again to see another movie.

Rachel: I got 2.5 hours of sleep on Monday morning after getting home from Manhattan at 2 a.m. My pals and I went to see David Bazan at the Bowery Ballroom. He didn’t start until 11 p.m.! That’s late for us old people! The show was super awesome, and it was totally worth exhaustion throughout the next day. We drank coffee on the car ride home and so I didn’t get to sleep until 3:30. I was up by 6 to write more on my paper and to get to an 8:30 a.m. class. Woooo!
My stay-awake plan: drink lots of water, drink lots of green tea, don’t rely on coffee, eat very little sugar and eat light meals. Sugar makes me get really tired. Oh – stretch a lot, too.

Cory: well, as it happens, i stayed up most of the night last night. sadly, no Ladies/80s, but i helped a friend move some furniture and talked, then i went home stayed up watching movies on AMC with way too many commercial breaks. i just can’t not watch Stargate…
my coping techniques are going to be drinking lots of water, and since it’s friday, i might put some music on at work. i will probably hit the breakroom coffee machine a few times too.

Jen: I thought I was going to have to write about a few months ago when both of my kids alternately puked all night, but, alas, I remembered a more recent late-nighter that is much happier and less gross. =)
Our church has an annual girls retreat at Log Country Cove near Marble Falls. 20 or so log homes are rented for the weekend, and there are 10-18 women assigned to each one. There is a “hostess” (who makes contact with each of the women assigned to her cabin before the retreat and generally keeps the weekend moving along) and a “presenter” (who presents the actual teaching sessions planned for the weekend). I have served as a hostess for two years now, but this year held a bit of a surprise. =)
I got my list of ladies in my house a couple of weeks before the retreat, and there were only a couple on the list who I didn’t already know. One was “Mary Smith”, and her contact info was all the same as my presenter’s info. I thought that was a little weird, but my presenter told me she was a friend from out of town and that she would forward any correspondence from me to her.
Soooo, we all arrive at the retreat on a Friday (this was about 3 weeks ago), and a car full of girls pull up to our cabin, As I walk over to give them a hard time about taking so long to get there, etc, I notice that one of the girls in the car looks eerily like one of my best friends, Jenna Spears. But Jenna lives in Atlanta. As I got closer and realized it actually WAS Jenna, I laughed and cried and exclaimed “shut UP!!” all at the same time.
All that to say, that night was pretty much a school-girl slumber party. We stayed up till the wee hours of the morning chatting and laughing. And then my ridiculous body decided it should still wake up at 6:30am in the spirit of routine.
My coping mechanism the next day was pretty much to just keep the adrenaline going. I SOOOO could have used a nap, but instead rented a boat with a bunch of girls and went skiing for the first time ever. I even did a backflip off the boat (just to prove that I really AM still young and hip…. or something…).
There came a point that night when I hit the wall though. I pretty much knew that if I didn’t go to bed right then, I was either going to get really mean or be reduced to tears over nothingness. So, off to bed I went, followed by Jenna, where I feel asleep in the middle of a conversation. =)

The First Day of First Grade

Anyone out there ever seen the VeggieTales Jonah movie? You know the "Billy Joe McGuffrey" song they sing in the van on the way to the Twippo concert? I have been singing that song ALL week. Only we made up our own words and verses about "Elias Daniel Jordan" and the first days of first grade. It's been a GREAT week!

First of all, I recognize how blessed we are to be able to send Elias to a Christian school. It warms my heart to hear staff from last year speak highly of him and know that they have been praying for these kids all summer.

I love that this morning, as Mrs. Baker taught one of their summer books "The Three Little Pigs", she explained to them that this wasn't just a story about pigs. It is a story about us. About how well we listen to instruction from God (In this version, the mom pig tells her 3 sons to build their houses out of strong materials but only one pig does so. The other 2 actually get eaten, which I thought was a little harsh until I heard her tie it all in.) About how if you build your "house" out of things that won't last, the wind that will eventually come will blow it down. Wow- I am 32 and sometimes need that reminder! How great to hear at 6!

I love that, every morning, Mrs. Baker takes prayer requests from the kids and begins the day asking God to guide their little minds. I did have to stifle several laughs as I listened to some of their requests while I did some filing in the classroom yesterday. :)

I love that Mrs. Baker didn't just tell them where to put their backpacks, water bottles, and lunchboxes on the first day. She explained to them that God is a God of order (just read the Genesis account of creation and try to argue that one!).

I love that when Elias was given the opportunity to participate in the gifted and talented program, we were able to go to the leadership of the school and ask them to join us in prayer about God providing the funds to make that happen. And that I knew they would actually pray! And that today, less than 24 hours later, someone came to find me to say that a gift had come in to the school specifically to help a GT student. I have seen God move people's hearts so many times that it is ironic that this would surprise me, but it still did! I wish I could write that family a letter telling them of the journey we have been on- praying for God to provide a way or to fill our hearts to overflowing with contentedness with what we have. I really can't express the appreciation I feel that such a thing was done for my child. Makes me wonder how God must feel when we do nice things for His children.

So here are some pics from the first day. It was a great, great day. Elias' first favorite things about first grade were that he is in Kelii's class (and they actually sit right next to each other- brave woman that teacher is!) and that Mrs. Baker likes to say "BINGO!" when someone gives a correct answer. :)

Here We Go Again!

The first day of first grade is tomorrow! I can't even begin to explain how excited I am about Elias' class- his teacher, his classmates, the parents! I absolutely LOVE our school and feel so blessed to be able to be a part of the community there.

Quick, funny story: A little birdie told me which class Elias was going to be in for first grade, but I didn't pass the information on to him knowing that there was a chance he could be moved between classes. As the summer progressed, we decided to start praying about his first grade class. One night, at the dinner table, we had the following conversation:
Elias: "I know which class I am going to be in. I am going to be in Ms. King's class because they had their Camp Watermelon tents setup before any of the other classes."
Mom: "Hmm. Actually, Ms. King won't be teaching first grade next year."
Elias: "Oh. Well, I know I am going to be in Ms. Gates class."
Mom: "Remember last year when we prayed and asked God to put you in just the right Kindergarten class? He did a GREAT job with that, didn't he? God already knows who your teacher is and we don't have to try to figure it out, but we can pray for whoever it is going to be and that it would be just the right one for you."
Elias: "Ok." *places his hands over his heart and looks up at the ceiling for about a minute. maybe two.* *laughs* "I was wrong!!! It's Mrs. Baker! I am in Mrs. Baker's class!"
Mom: *totally looking confused* "WHAT?!"
Elias: "I just asked God, and He told me it is Mrs. Baker!"

Well, God and Mrs. Baker, we can't wait for the year you have in store for us!!!

Alarming

Monday night was an exciting time here at the Jordan house. We had hosted our first night of Backyard Bible Club, so the kids were up a little later than normal. Adaryll and I were wound up from the evening and stayed up until around 11:30. Needless to say, we were dead tired by the end of the night!

I was awakened at 12:30 to something beeping. As I sat up in a stupor, trying to figure out what that sound was, I realized there was also a child screaming in terror- "Moooooommmmmmmmmyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!!" I got out of bed and walked out of our room to quickly realize that beeping was in Elias' room, and the child screaming was Elias. As I opened his door and turned on his light, the beeping suddenly stopped. Still not fully awake, I went over to his alarm clock to check and see if it could have accidentally been set to go off in the middle of the night. Even though I fully knew that was NOT the sound his alarm clock makes. Nope- still set for 8am. I then began to awaken and asked my crying curled-up-into-a-little-ball child, "Was that your smoke alarm???" He didn't know. But that HAD to be what it was, right? What else would possibly be so friggin' loud and obnoxious??! So I told him I needed to check the house. (meanwhile, Adaryll is still fast asleep)

I walked the entire house, sniffing deeply for any sign of smoke. I had a hard time discerning between real smoke and the bacon smell that was left over from dinner, but I didn't see any fire anywhere. When I went back to his room and sat in his chair to think, the alarm started again. Seriously, these things are like the loudest, highest pitch, ear-piecing sound I have ever heard. Elias begins to scream and cry again- I think he thinks the house must be burning down??? After a couple of minutes, it stops again. I realize I am not equipped to handle this on my own (ceilings are too high!), so I go get Adaryll.

We go together to Elias' room with a step ladder and proceed to try to disassemble/destroy the alarm. Meanwhile, it continues to alarm off and on as it darn well pleases. Finally, I give up and go downstairs to call the fire department and ask them how the heck to make it STOP!!!! Noone answers. (Obviously, I did NOT dial the emergency number!) So I call the police non-emergency number and tell them what's up, and they transfer me to the fire department. Pretty quickly, the guy on the phone asks me how many people are in the house and tells me that we all need to evacuate immediately. He says there is already a truck on the way. WHAT?! "No, no, no", I say. There is no fire! He then explains that there can be fire in the attic or inside a wall, and we would not even know it. So, I hand the phone to Adaryll and go wake Elena up to take everyone outside.

Minutes later, a GIANT fire truck, 4 fully decked-out firemen, and all their gear/tools arrive. They go into the house with heat detectors, axes, etc. And then ANOTHER GIANT firetruck arrives. They turned off the sirens at the neighborhood entrance, but the lights are enough to wake the dead. Needless to say, neighbors began to emerge to see what was going on. We told them it was nothing. And 15 minutes or so later, that was confirmed. A faulty alarm, they said. Still, the kids thought it was the coolest thing ever.

We came back in (an hour has passed now since the alarm first started), and we put the kids back to bed. Elias gets a pallet on our floor because I seriously think he may have a heart attack if this alarm wakes him again. Adaryll and I vacuum out that smoke alarm in case it has dust inside (which it thinks is smoke) making it go off. Finally, we head back to bed. Which is where I lay awake for the next TWO HOURS. ARGH!!!

Then- you will not believe this- the alarm in OUR room begins to "chirp". Are you kidding me?!?!?! I throw back the covers and wake up Adaryll to tell him our alarm needs a new battery. Seriously, is this really happening?! I go get the big ladder from the garage (our ceilings are even higher than Elias'), march it up the stairs, get a battery, and switch it out. (note: Elias slept through this whole drama)

We decided to take cookies to the firemen who came to our house, since we probably woke them up too. And I can't even fathom the amount of needless paperwork we created for them. Poor guys. So we went to Costco and bought cookies (because those of you who know me well know that had I actually baked cookies, there might have really been a need for the fire department). The kids carried the box of cookies in together, and they were invited in to see the trucks, tools, kitchen, bedrooms, etc. It was such a neat experience for them, and I am grateful for how friendly the firemen were. Overall, the while ordeal turned out to be a very positive thing for the kids. They got to experience real-life fire response in a completely safe environment. They got to see the guys in all their gear, which can look pretty scary, and realize that they are here to help us. Plus they got to do something nice for their local firemen. :)

1, 2, 3, Goooooo Redwings!

Elena decided she wanted to play t-ball this summer (like brother, like sister!). She is playing on a 3-year-old team through the YMCA, and she is the only girl on her team. Since she didn't actually turn 3 until the 2nd or 3rd week of the season, she is also the littlest one out there. Does she know that? Doubtful. She LOVES playing with "my boys", and she also loves being the representative-of-pink of the team. In fact, when we talked about signing her up, we dug out Elias' first glove for her to use. She quickly pushed it away and said confidently, "Ummmm, I think I need a PINK one. And a PINK hat." After a quick trip to Academy, she was set to go. (aren't you proud, Kirsten?!)

Her team is the Redwings, which is pretty cool considering her fascination with birds! Here are some pics from the most recent game...

Saying the YMCA pledge

Bow-head

"Hi Mommy!"

C'mon, ball!

Got milk?

All the moms thought it was great that she gave me a little pose before her swing.

BAM!

This is FUN!

Running to 1st base

Made it to 2nd base!

Waiting on 3rd

Run HOME!

Are You Transformed?

This week kicks of The Great Adventure 2009. The Great Adventure is a month-long summer focus on loving and serving people all over the world. We start tonight with the Concert of Prayer, where we will pray for all the teams traveling on GO (global outreach) Trips, the work they will do, the people they will get to meet and work alongside, the Backyard Bible Clubs that will be happening all over Austin this week, the families who will attend them, the Extreme Adventure camp for 5th-7th graders, the Summerfest street party this Friday, etc. At the end of The Great Adventure (5 weeks from now), we will close the season with the Concert of Praise, thanking God for all the work He has done, for how He has grown us closer to Him, and for the lives He has changed.
The theme this year is "Transformed- More than Meets the Eye". And, yes, if you hear my cellphone ring in the next month, you will hear that my ringer has been changed to the theme song from Transformers. Elias thinks I am the coolest mom alive. :)
To illustrate how we can be transformed by God, Elias was given one of these at Sunday school today...




It's a mealworm. Thankfully, the nice teachers gave it oatmeal and a slice of potato, so there is nothing else we have to do for it. We don't even have to open the jar. Ever. :) Elias decided it is a girl, and he named it "Sarah". Not to be confused with "Sara", who is a friend from Kindergarten. Over the next 5 weeks, this is what it will become...



Yep, it's a beetle. Gross? Yes! Am I gonna touch it? No way! Is something gross transforming into something grosser (I know- not a word) going to help teach my son about the way God works in our lives? Absolutely!!! Am I excited about it? YAH-HOO!!!!

Mommy, What year were you born in?

Conversation in the kitchen as I prepared dinner yesterday:
Elias: *runs in out of breath* Mom! I was born in 2002! What year were you born in?
Me: 1976. (that never sounded like a LONG time ago until i JUST said it)
Elias: WOW!!!! That was a looooooooooong time ago!!!!!!
Me: MmHmm.
Elias: What did they have back then?
Me: (thinking- "back then??? really???")
Elias: Did they have houses?
Me: *laughing hysterically now* YES WE HAD HOUSES!
Elias: What else did you have?
Me: Well, we had t.v. But no DVD. We got VCR's when I was a little girl though. (didn't even try to explain BETA vs VHS)
Elias: Did you have a phone?
Me: (how old does this kid think I am????) YES WE HAD PHONES!!!! Only for the house though. We didn't have phones for the car. Actually, we got one when I was a little girl and it was bigger than this house phone.
Elias: What about video games?
Me: We did have a video game. I was probably about your age when we got it. It was an Atari. And then we got a Nintendo a few years later.
Elias: Nintendo DS or Nintendo Wii?
Me: Nope. Just Nintendo. The ORIGINAL.
Elias: Hmm. What games did you play on it?
Me: Super Mario Brothers.
Elias: Oh yeah! Like Mario Cart?
Me: Nope. Just Super Mario Brothers.
Elias: What did the controls look like?
Me: OLD.