Even Bigger Difference 5 Years Makes!!!

I love it that Elias cried in his second picture too. I think every kid deserves the picture crying on Santa's lap. I have one of me, but it is packed in a box already. Maybe I will remember to post it when we get to Austin!

Anyway, wow has Elias grown and changed! He was so shy and reserved even just a year ago. Lately he has really come out of his shell and wants to make conversation with everyone! Hard to believe he is old enough to already have his 6th Santa pic!

What a differemce a year makes...

Last year, Elena had not a care in the world as we sat her in the lap of a strange, furry-faced, red-suit-wearing guy. This year- not so much. She definitely let us know she protested. In the picture she is holding a sucker that Santa gave her as we approached him. After the picture I picked her up (she immediately calmed down) and Santa put his hand out as if to shake hers or give her 5. At that, she proceeded to give him his sucker back.

Did That All Just Really Happen In One Month?!

(Deep breath)
Ok, so what a month we have had! It has been one of those months that has flown by without even the opportunity to visit my own blog site, much less anyone else's, and surely not enough time to actually post an update! So, here goes...
At the beginning of December, we announced to our church family that we are leaving in January to move to Austin, TX. Adaryll will be working as one of 4 small groups pastors and also overseeing assimilation of new members at Hill Country Bible Church. www.hcbc.com. He will shepherd around 40-50 small group leaders, which means he will spend most of his time investing in the lives of these guys- having one-on-one breakfasts, finding out how they are growing spiritually, just being "their guy". Sound like a good fit? :) For any of you who know Adaryll well, you know that is just who he is!
So, the movers are coming, the movers are coming!!! As of right now, it looks like they will be loading the truck January 14th and then we will start our 3 day drive to Austin the 15th. Pray for us- Elena is really not that fun to ride in a car with!!!
In other news, and in keeping with the Jordan tradition of having some sort of major medical thing going on anytime we move, I had reconstructive foot surgery 10 days ago. This makes me the proud new owner of two 3-inch-long screws in my ankle, 2 new big incision scars, and lots of narcotics (well, there aren't that many narcotics left, actually).
I scheduled the surgery for December 14th way back in September because I knew Adaryll would have 2 weeks off at Christmas time. When we took the job in Austin, I decided I should postpont the surgery until the spring, but when I saw the doctor again, 2 bones had begun to fracture. So, no postponing. Several friends from TPCC have had surgery with this doctor and all said they had "no pain". Let me repeat- they ALL said that they had "NO PAIN". I woke up from anestesia in so much pain the added morphine to my IV. Now, I know what I had done was really extensive, but I honestly thought I was going to be painfree from day 1. Am I a sucker or what?!
They moved several bones that had drifted out of place and fused the joints so that they stay where they belong and they put the 2 screws in my metatarsal/tarsal joint. Then, through another incision in my calf muscle, they elongated my Achilles tendon. Sounds like fun, huh?!
Soooo, after lots of narcotics, anti-inflammatories, and good old Tylenol, today was actually the first day of any significant improvement in pain. I am so thankful it is finally getting more tolerable!! And the stitches come out Wednesday, at which point I will get my next instructions. Up to now the instructions were to stay in bed with it iced and elevated until Wednesday.
So that is the Jordan life update in a nutshell. So much more to say about all the little things going on and funny things the kids have done. Hopefully I will get back to making time to blog and keep in touch with all my faithful blogging friends! :)

A Declaration of Love...

Last night during dinner, Elias made a declaration of love. As he pointed from Adaryll to Elena to me and to himself, he announced, "I love you and you and you and me and Jesus and God and Kylee!" (Most of you know Kylee is our 4-year-old neighbor who calls herself "Elias' wife")
Elias has such a kind, sweet spirit and declaring his love for us all just reminded me what a great kid he is (not that I am biased or anything...)

The Deep, Deeper, and Not So Deep

Friday (Oct 26) Night: The Deeper (after Bible story at bedtime)
Elias: Who are the disciples?
Mom: These guys in the picture. And that is Jesus. You can be a disciple too.
E: I can? What's a disciple?
M: Well, a disciple is someone who loves God very much and wants to do what Jesus says. You can do that too.
E: Yes. And then will he make a place for me in heaven too? (from the story)
M: Yes- he is making a place for you in heaven.
E: He is making a place for EVERYONE in heaven!
M: No, actually not everyone will go to heaven.
E: Who won't go to heaven?
M: People who don't love God.
E: What kind of people don't love God?
M: People who think they don't need God. They think they can do everything by themselves.
E: People who don't love God have a different colored heart.
M: Really?
E: They have dark hearts.
M: Hmmm, maybe.
E: So where will they go?
M: They will go to live with the devil.
E: Who is the devil?
M: He was an angel who thought he could be better than God so God sent him away.
E: What is that place called?
M: It's called Hell.
E: JAIL!?!?!?!
M: No, hell.
E: What's in hell?
M: Fire, and hurting and the devil. But not God. And it is a place with no love.
E: (with big tears) I don't want to go to the place with no love.
M: You don't have to, honey. You just love God and follow him and you will go to heaven.
E: But I don't know much about God.
M: Well, we will keep reading your Bible every night and learning about God.
E: We need to read the black Bible (my Bible because his is a story Bible- not full text)
M: Tell you what, tomorrow we will go and get you your very own big Bible to read.
E: OK. But Mommy?
M: mmm-hmmm
E: Some of the words in the Bible are in Spanish.
(Which all led to a trip to Lifeway to buy a new Bible for the boy)


Saturday (Oct 27) night: The Not So Deep (in the bath)
Elias: Mommy, why don't we have tails?
Mom: Because God did not make people have tails.
Elias: Oh.


Monday (Oct 29) daytime: The Deep
Elias: I don't want to go to heaven. I want to stay with you here where there is a lot of love.
Mom: Oh, well you don't have to go to heaven today. That is for when you die.
E: When I die?
M: Yes, probably someday when you get old.
E: Will I see you there?
M: Yes, I hope so!
E: I dreamed last night that I went to God's house in heaven. And me and you and Daddy were there. Elena was in a baby heaven.

Monday (Oct 29) daytime: Ok, this is getting tougher by the minute!!!
Elias: Mommy, why did Jesus have to get punished?

I guess noone ever said it would be easy, huh?? Seems to me the first years are physically tiring doing all the bathing, butt wiping, chasing, feeding, etc. But now we are entering the mentally exhausting years of having to know the answers to everything!!!

AMAZING!!!

So the piano went over really well- we had it on a trailer outside the birthday party and brought all the kids out to present it. It was covered in a sheet. When Elias pulled the sheet down, his eyes got huge and his hand popped up over his mouth. Several seconds went by before he exclaimed "AMAZING!!!" Except, if you know Elias and his funny pronounciations, you will know it sounded more like "AY-MAY-ZING!" (first syllable rhyming with the second regularly-pronounced syllable), which was really cute. I actually have a digital video of the whole thing, but my computer is not currently cooperating with such things.
He plays it every day, usually several times a day. Now we need to find him lessons...

Tomorrow's Big Surprise

Tomorrow is Elias' birthday party, which has turned out to be much bigger than I expected. We are so excited that most of the kids in his class are able to come, plus some friends from outside of school and some adults who are family to us here. We are having the party at the indoor playground at church, which is like a McDonalds playground on steroids. Then we are doing pizza and cake in an open gathering area. Elias can't wait!
I can't either- but for a reason he knows nothing about....
A couple of nights ago I was putting an ad on craigslist.com about my murals and began browsing other catergories. Somehow I ended up looking at pianos and thought (once again, for the millionth time in the last couple of years) how wonderful it would be to have a piano for Elias. We do have a keyboard out that he loves to play. He began playing melodies of songs he knew at age 3 and has begun figuring out the "demo" songs on the keyboard now. So, Wednesday night, on a whim I placed an ad on craigslist. I pretty much said that I was looking for a piano for a talented, budding musician about to turn 5 years old. I got an email back THAT NIGHT from a lady 15 miles away who said she has a beautiful upright she would love for Elias to have. We went to see it last night and picked it up on Jean and Jerry's trailer today. It will stay on the trailer tonight and Jerry will bring it to the church tomorrow for the party. After all the gifts are opened we will tell Elias there is one more gift outside. We will walk him out and let him pull the sheet off and see his new piano!! We even got a big red bow to put on top. I honestly think that he is going to be do happy that he cries.
So, off to bed tonight to get rested up for the big celebration!

Life Back to Normal?

What is normal anyway?! I'm not sure, but I can tell you that our last couple of weeks has not been it!
It all started with Adaryll having stomach pains on a Friday (but not mentioning it to me until Sunday!) He ended up at his doctor on Monday, and by this time he was doubled over and had a fever. He was sent to the hospital ER where, after lots of morphine and tests, he was diagnosed with an infection from diverticulitis. We were relieved it wasn't his appendix, but this is not really a great thing to have either. So they started IV antibiotic and kept him for a day. He is doing MUCH better now- I would say he is pretty much back to 100% except for energy level- and is continuing his antibiotics another few days.
In the midst of all of this, Elena decided to cut a tooth! She has had 8 teeth for what seems like forever, and I was beginning to wonder if there were actually any more teeth in there! Cutting a tooth is never fun, and we have still have 11 more to go including her 2 year molars! Kind of wish she would cut 8 at a time like Elias did- it was awful for a couple of weeks, but then we were done for the year!
Last weekend I hosted a baby shower for some dear friends of ours who are expecing their first baby (see Neil & Amy on friends list), and Adaryll performed a wedding in his drug-induced state the same day. Other weekends in October are booked with Elias' birthday party, my Dad visiting, TPCC staff picnic, and several other fun things.
So when will things get back to normal?! I'm not sure they ever will- or that they ever were for that matter! I keep thinking about all the friends who we would like to get together with and how I have told myself that we would "when things slow down". Well, friends, we had better just start setting dates and getting things on the calendar, because I don't think that life with a 15 month old and an almost 5 year old ever really does that!

Oh, For the Dawg Days of Summer...

We had our last summer popsicles with neighbors last night. Elena finally got one of her very own for the first time (she normally just mooches off the moms). It was cool enough yesterday that I had her in long sleeves and jeans all day, but when the kids came out with popsicles- well, who can resist?! So, Ian McC. handed out one to each friend and they all proceeded to load up with sugar and dye coloring. Elena was in heaven with her blue rasberry.
Then, all of the sudden, we hear Maggie crying and freaking out. And justifyably so- a bee had flown onto her popsicle just as she put it in her mouth. So she feels it sting her tongue and then realizes THERE IS A BUG IN MY MOUTH! Much crying, concern from the other kids, and Benedryl followed, with the conclusion that the bees are officially out (they start stinging from about now until November) and there will be no more sugary treats outside!

Finally!

We have been going to Club Rock- a worship service for kids and parents and at neighbor's church- for about a year now. Last night was the first one of the summer. The way they teach at Club Rock is mostly through drama skits, and the music is way-cool.
So last night was the fall kick-off for Club Rock and the value this month is INITIATIVE: seeing what needs to be done AND doing it. One of the skits was with "Coach Fred" (the pastor of the church comes out in coach gear and gives some sort of monologue about the value relating it to sports). So... many of you know it has long been Elias' dream to get to be on the Club Rock stage...
Coach Fred was talking about how the Colts used to be like 6 and 10 before Coach Dungy came on staff. But that when Coach Dungy came, he saw what needed to be done and did it. He called Ian Miller (another neighbor) up on the stage (the kids all sit on the floor at the stairs of the stage). He said that if he were Coach Dungy, he would say "Ok, I need a new quarterback", and he would get someone like Ian to play quarterback. Then he picked another kid from the crowc (wearing the black shirt in the picture) and said that he would also get a new lineman to protect his new quarterback. Well, as he was talking to the little boy about being a lineman, Elias just decided he wanted to be part of the fun too, so he walked up onto the stage and stood next to Ian. The parents were all giggling.


So you see him standing next to Ian above. Well, then Coach Fred realizes what has happened and he goes over to Elias and says "And then I would need to get a tight end who could score me some touchdowns. Could you score me some touchdowns?" Elias replies sheepishly, "I don't know". Fred says "Well, he doesn't know. But I think he could!" Parents now really giggling.



So then he goes on to explain how he would get a coach for each of these new players and train them up, etc. And that they would eventually become on Superbowl Champions. Elias stays by Ian and listens.

After it was all over they went back to their spots at the bottom on the stairs for the rest of Club Rock. And when Club Rock ended Elias ran to me and hugged me and told me "I am so proud of me for going on the stage!" Needless to say, all I said was "I'm so proud of you too!" And so he had his day on the Club Rock stage- Finally!

Pictures courtesy of Jennie M. (Ian's mom) who was prepared with her camera. She emailed them to me, which is nice because I have been unable to get pics off my camera onto my computer because my computer randomly decided the drivers are no longer there. Ugh!

Jonathan Wyatt

My sister and brother in law delivered their second baby boy today, which makes me an aunt again! His name is Jonathan Wyatt and they will call him Wyatt. He was 4 weeks early, but this was a scheduled c-section from the beginning because of complications that can occur if she goes much further than 36 weeks. He is super cute and I wish I could see him in person! I am posting pics of him and Elena as a newborn below so we can all ooooh and aaaaah over their sweet chubby cheeks!

Elena

Wyatt

A Cure for the Runniness!

No, not the nose kind. Though we are dealing with that too a little this week!

The runniness I refer to is that of the Gerber Pears. Anyone else out there wonder WHY in the world are baby food pears Sooooooooooooooo runny?? Seriously, they manage to make every other fruit a texture that you can at least get a heap on a spoon and into a little mouth, but the pears are in a league of their own! And this isn't a new problem! The pears were runny 4 years ago when Elias was on baby food too!

All that to explain the little experiement Elena and I had this morning. Guess what folks? It is easier and MUCH LESS MESSY to slurp your pears through a straw! It is like her very own "my first smoothie"! Aren't we hip?

Added plus- as you can see from the pictures, slurping sludge is MUCH fun for a 13 month old!

Wrapped

You know what they say about little girls and Daddies, right? About being wrapped around her little finger?

Elena: "Daddy, can I have the keys to my very own brand new Mustang?"

Daddy: "Ok, sweetie"

Nobody panic- it's only a joke. We did not, I repeat- did NOT- buy a red mustang! :)

School Daze

Wow- What a week! Elias started school on Monday. He is going to a class called "4's Plus" for the kids who will turn 5 between August and November this year and just missed the cutoff for kindergarten. It is 4 days a week, 3 hours a day.

We all went together for the first day of school because it was a half day (isn't a 3 hour class already a half day?!), so the kids only stayed for an hour and a half. We took pictures and tried to capture the memories we will forever have of his very first day. Elias went to class more then willingly and was happy to tell me all the details of his day when I picked him up (which, by the way, is very cool because you just get in the line of minivans and the teacher brings your child right to the car!).

Over the week he has told me about lots of things:

1. His new friends include Luke, Jack (who is his new best friend, he says), McKenna, Abby, Elizabeth, Colson, Ryan, Riley, Emily, Connor, Morgan, Alexis, and Kyle

2. The following was brought for show & tell this week (each kid gets a day and can bring 3 things): a doll, a vase, a stuffed bunny, a stuffed dog, a Jeff Gordon car, a James train that Elias' cousin Jacob also has.

3. Elias gets to bring show & tell this Monday. He has chosen Mr. Pig, his Leap Pad, and a toy Hummer.

4. He got to listen to a story on headphones one day.

5. He got to play in the sand table with Jack one day.

6. He learned Matthew 28:20 "I will be with you always".

7. He practiced writing letter "C" each day.

8. He worked on a workbook each day.

9. He built a house on Thursday. (not sure what that is about!)

Anyway, it is neat that he is so verbal about what he has done each day. The teacher has a list of what activities are planned, but it is nice to hear the excitement in Elias as he tells me what he has been doing! He even sang me his new "circle time" song after the second day of class- I will post a video soon...

Is It A Toy Store?

Elias has never been to Chuck-E-Cheese. So when we recently went there for a family night, he had a lot of questions. When we pulled in the parking lot he read the sign and yelled "Yeah! Chuck-E-Cheese!!!" But when I said "What IS Chuck-E-Cheese, Elias?", he replied "A toy store?" We went inside and he soon realized what exactly he was going to get to do. "Pizza AND games!!!!" he exclaimed. We really thought he would have a great time and Elena would be along for the ride, but, as you can clearly see from the pictures, she had herself quite a good time as well! I think the horse was her favorite thing in the whole place. She does have cowboy and cowgirl genes afterall!

Sleep Baby Sleep

Last night was Elena's sleep study at the children's hospital downtown. One word: AWFUL!!! I tried to have a really positive attitude going in with her- telling her excitedly how she as going to get to "sleep in a different baby bed tonight". When they began hooking her up to everything (already an hour past her normal bedtime), I made it a game of counting the "stickers" and seeing what color would be next. But when they got to putting stuff on her head, she was not a happy girl! They "papoosed" her, which means that they wrapped her in a sheet with her arms at her sides so tight that she could not move. Still, she as able to bring her feet up and kick like a dolphin to let us know what she thought about it. Eventually she had about 10 things stuck to her face and about 10-15 in her hair on her head. All these wires were gathered together at the back of her head and her head was mummy-wrapped all the way around her hair and under her chin. Everything was fairly stable except the nose things. As soon as she was un-papoosed she proceeded to show us all that tape was no match for her. Those nose things were coming out!

I sat with her for about 10 minutes trying to get her to lay still and go to sleep. I sang, I patted, I kissed. All to no avail. So I finally left her room and went to the nurses station where they were watching her on a video screen. She found the box that all the wires were plugged into and began to pull at it, so I had to go back in a lay her down again. I left again and she cried pretty hard, but laid herself down. This was now about 9:30pm. I went to watch TV in the lounge until 11:00pm and came back to check on her.

I asked "How's she doing?" (because I was ready to go into her room and sleep on the bed next to her, but I knew I should not do this until she was really asleep). He said she was mad. She apparantly kept removing her nose things. He would wait until she was in stage 4 sleep and then try to go fix it. She would wake up and freak out because she has no idea where she is or who he is. So he would fix the nose things and leave and she would pull them out again before she would go back to sleep. He said he had been in her room 6 times or so to fix it. Apparantly this is normal, but I was incredibly frustrated because now we were 4 hours past normal bedtime and she was still not asleep! So we waited for stage 4 again and I went in to fix it. He eventually had to come in and help me, but we got it in and taped all the way across her face and she went back to sleep without pulling it out.

So I laid down around 1:00-ish and slept for an hour and then slept again from around 4:00-5:00. Then they said we were done and sent us home.

We got her all unhooked and cleaned off and came home and went to bed! What a night!!!

I really hope they were able to get enough of a normal night out of her that we get some answers as to why her pulse O2 dropped so low on the two previous home sleep studies. And I hope we never have to do that again!!!

Here are pics of her as we got her ready. I wish I had a full-front one with everything taped on. She didn't think it was very funny that I took any at all, so this is all I got...

Paint a Lawn, Get Our Lawn Mowed!

I made a deal with our 11-year-old neighbor at the beginning of the summer: I would paint him a mural in his room and he would mow our lawn all summer. He decided he wanted a football field- the view from a blimp. He wanted the field to be called "Glacier Stadium" (because of a nickname he has) and be set for the Colts and Cowboys to play. Which, for the record, has happened the last 2 years in a row and the COWBOYS have won both! :)

I finished the mural a few nights ago and here it is...

The Answer to the Age Old Question...

we have discovered the answer to the question we have all pondered at one time or another! So, what came first- the chicken or the egg? Well, in Elena's case, the egg.

Most of you know that we found out last February (through testing at the allergist) that Elena is allergic to eggs. The plan is to keep her egg-free indefinitely and hope she outgrows it. Well, I began introducing chicken into her diet a couple of weeks ago and found that she broke out in welts on her bootie each time she ate chicken. Back to the allergist we went (except this time to a much friendlier guy!) and discovered that she is also allergic to chicken now.

Her milk, tomato, and peanut tests were not positive, but were bigger and redder than the rest of her negatives. So we are praying that she not make a habit out of becoming allergic to new foods.

But at least now we know.... the egg came first!

Daddy's Concert

Daddy had a concert at a local outdoor mall a couple of weeks ago. The kids had a blast. They played in the grass, pushed toy Hummers around, played their musical instruments, etc. I am going to try to post a video of the music, but it may not show up for a day or so...

Goose Goose

One of the cooler hazards of Indiana is the geese that come through this time of year. They are Canadian geese- fun to look at, not so much fun to actually be around. They aren't very nice and they poop everywhere. Anyway, Elena was sitting in her high chair a few days ago saying "Guh, Guh, Guh" and insistently pointing out the window. Guh is her word for Dog (or anything else ending in G: Frog, Pig, etc). I kept telling her there was no dog out there, and then I finally realized she was talking about the geese! I let her down and she and Elias proceeded to watch them excitedly out the back door. We actually went out and fed them some bread in the lot behind ours. The kids were thrilled. Adaryll and I were scared.

Seriously, I thought I was Smarter Than This...

Ok, I have been trying to install a new printer on our computer for around 4 hours now- is something wrong here??? I followed all the instructions to the tee, and it did not work right. My computer saw no new printer, but thought the old one was somewhere in outer space and was concerned enough to keep telling me that "the connection to your HP printer (old printer) has been lost". UGH! I decided to uninstall the old printer and the new one and start over. Still no new printer. I spent an hour on the phone with the support guy (who had a heavy accent- I seem to always get the guys with the heavy accents- I am coming to think the most brilliant people must have heavy accents, thus why I am not a brilliant person when it comes to these things, right?). So after an hour he decides to transfer me to a Level Two person. And, while on hold for this guy, my cordless phone dies. To quote the main character in the books I am reading- "Is there no balm in Gilead?!?!". So I try to call back and then it is after 6:00 in CA and they are no longer answering phones. I then think "maybe it is just the USB cord" and proceed to uninstall and reinstall it all once again using a different cord AND (did I say I wasn't brilliant???) also a different USB port. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. And I am about mad enough now to just throw the whole thing across the room!!! UGH! Could it be that God is trying to teach me a lesson in humility? Or patience? Or maybe it is just proof of what our dear friend Tommy Nelson jokingly says- that computers are of the devil.
So, please, nobody email me anything I might want to print...

Tagged

I have been "tagged". Thanks, Amy. If you find yourself "tagged" like me, here are the rules you must follow...
The Meme Rules:
1. I have to post these rules before I give you the facts.
2. Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
3. People who are tagged need to write their own blog (about their eight things) and post these rules.
4. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
5. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

The Facts:
1. I have not posted my response to this tagging because my keyboard died this week! I am much sadder than is probably healthy for a nornal adult who had to replace a mere computer keyboard. See, I bought the keyboard that died 12 years ago and it got me through undergraduate and graduate schools plus 5 years beyond. It is a really nice ergonomic design that my fingers have become accustomed to. Of course, in replacing it, I went to Fry's and just got the $10 cheap-o keyboard (because that is what I am: cheap-o). I still have the old one sitting on the floor here next to the computer with some hope that a miracle of God will occur and it will be raised back to life if it gets enough rest and time off from being plugged in. Tuesday is trash day, so I must get over the nostaligia of my ancient keyboard and force myself to part with it in only 2 days...
2. I randomly have dreams about people from my past who I haven't spoken to in YEARS. For example, I dreamt 2 nights ago about my second and third grade teachers. I was tempted to get on google and try to look them both up, but my keyboard was dead.
3. I am currently working on a HUGE mural in a bedroom across the street. I am at a stand still right now because I ran out of green paint, but as soon as I get some more the brushes will be flyin'! It is a wall to wall floor to ceiling picture of a football stadium as if you were looking down from a blimp. I hope to finish this week.
4. Last week I did a back flip off a diving board. No, I am not kidding! I told all the little kids at swim lessons that I would do a flip if they each jumped of the diving board to the teacher. It has been at least 10 years since I was even ON a diving board, much less flipping OFF of one! It was actually so much fun that I did another, which was quite a bit better than the first I think. The kids all stood around in awe, not believing that I had that much coolness in me.
5. In high school I had to disect a cat in anatomy class. In college I had to do frogs, pigs, sharks, cow hearts, sheep eyes, and much, much more. Beacuse of all this surgery on the dead, I have a hard time eating meat with bones in it. I can separate myself from the fact that meat was once a live animal until I some across a chicken femur of pig rib. My loving husband graciously pulls the meat off the bones for me a lot of the time!
6. I love my friends! I have friends from elementary school, high school (different city), college, grad school, and Indiana who I just adore. Lynn, Jeannette, Ceci, Megan, Corrie, Ali, Myra, Jenna, Jenny, Lori, Jennie- you all know who you are! I am so thankful to God for placing these amazing gals in my life and for giving them the patience to be my friends!
7. My shoe size went up a 1/2 size after I had kids. I know- not that interesting, but I am running out of ideas here...
8. My husband and I are both born and bred TEXANS. We have been in Indiana for 5 years, we have put down roots and are blooming where we have been planted, but (make no mistake about it)- we are still TEXANS. :) Our kids are both Hoosiers, which is probably God's joke on us for being so prideful of the motherland...

Ok, so here is who is being tagged:
Ali, Myra, April, Amy T., Jen A., Jen D., Jennie, & Jenna
Get it done, girls! I have faith in you- and no excuses... I already took the one about the keyboard dying...

A Good Laugh for All Moms

Adaryll sent me this link this morning. I watched it twice and laughed out loud both times....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlY8STkhopc

Of course, these are all things my parents said, not things that I would say....
...and you have to believe me... "because I am the Mom- that's why!!!"

Slip N Slide

We got out the slip-n-slide on Monday for the neighborhood kids. The Millers brought one also so we had 2 going at the same time. We made a loop out of them so that when the kids got off one, they were in line to go back the other direction on the other one.

Elias, although super-excited, is afraid of the slip-n-slide. Or maybe just of getting water in his face or up his nose. Not sure what the fear really is. But he is ecstatic to get the thing out and then doesn't want a turn.

We have coaxed him into laying on his tummy on the slide, and then a grown up takes one arm and lone leg and slings him down to the other end. He protests each time, but then laughs histerically when it is over.

Elena quietly observed the goings-on for a while before deciding she needed to actually participate. She kept crawling to the slide and getting in the other kids' ways. So I laid her on her tummy and gave her a good push down the slide. She yelped out a scream that was as much joy as it was terror. Then she sat up, laughed, and played in the water. She returned to the slide several times for more. Before I brought her in for nap I got a video- see above right. The look on her face is so funny- she really is somewhat scared, but enjoying every second of it!

Chatterbox

Elena has discovered the phone. Thus begins the looooooong journey of a girl needing to communicate. My sister and I had such a hard time with this when we were teenagers that we had to get our own phone line. Then we had to split the hours into "phone time" so that I had odd to even hours and she had even to add hours. It was quite ridiculous, really! I remember many a fight breaking out about whose turn it was to get to be on the phone.

Hopefully Elena will have a more mature view on such things- for now she doesn't even care that noone is on the other end listening...

See video on above right...

Happy Fourth!

Our day began with the local 4th of July parade, which we attended with our good friends and neighbors, the Millers. The kids caught enough candy to last all summer, and the grown ups had fun looking at the old cars and tractors. It was a nice, small-town atmosphere that we have grown to love since becoming Hoosiers.

That night, Daddy took Elias to his first baseball game. Our church had a block of seats, so Elias got to sit with some of his Hoosier "grandparents" from church- which he LOVED! He also loved the food- a hotdog, popcorn, lemonade, ice cream, cotton candy, and who knows what else! After the game there were, of course, fireworks. Elias will be talking about this night for a long time!

Curly-Q

Elena's hair has gotten so curly as it has grown. Her poor little head gets so hot when we go outside to play, so I decided to give her some pigtails on the 4th of July. She had 8 in all and her head was much cooler for it! I prefer her sweet curls hanging around her face, but this was a very finctional 'do for a hot summer day!

Go Daddy Go!!!

Softball season has begun and the kids had a great time at the first game! Elena, our bulldozer, played with her namesake toys and pushed enough dirt around to create a new infield. Elias, more grown up and into the game than ever before, stood on the sidelines cheering for Daddy. "Go Daddy!", "Run Daddy!", and "That's MY Daddy!" are just a few of the sweet cheers we heard.