The Hill

Does anyone else out there own a bed with a hill in the middle? Our king mattress is almost 9 years old, and it is one of those "no flip" mattresses. You are supposed to just turn it every 6 months so that your head is where your feet were before. The thing is, you still have 2 bodies lying in the same ruts as before. Eventually, you have what looks like an un-plowed, 2-day-old snowy street in Indiana. Or a muddy farm road in Texas. There are 2 dips- one where we each sleep- and a hill in the middle.
I discovered this phenomenon about a year ago when I inadvertently rolled over after Adaryll had left for work early one morning. You wouldn't believe how much more support there is on that hill! It is like 8 inches of brand new mattress! Of course, I have to lay perfectly still or I roll to one side or the other. Still, those 30 minutes on the hill each morning are so nice.
I guess it is time for a new mattress. Ok, maybe it was time a year ago when the hill first appeared. Blah.

Jump Rope for Heart

At school this month, Elias has been learning about living a heart-healthy lifestyle by eating right, exercising, and living tobacco-free. He has also been given the opportunity to raise money for the American Heart Association through Jump Rope for Heart. He has set a goal of raising $300 by this Friday and is already one-third there! If you are interested in donating, you can contribute online at Elias' donation page. (donations are tax-deductible and many companies offer matching-gift programs)

From Scratch

Ok, I am now admitting publicly on the internet for everyone to read that I am NOT a very good cook. Maybe even "not very good" enough to land me in the "bad" category. "Oh", you say, "It can't be that bad." Yes, it is.

The problem is that I don't taste individual ingredients. If I am eating chocolate cake, what I taste is chocolate cake. I don't know whether there is too much flour, too little sugar, not enough salt, etc. Hey, if it is chocolate cake, who cares?!

But seriously, since I don't taste all the parts I can't discern by looking at a recipe whether or not it will taste good as a whole. So I pretty much go by the titles. (note to reader: most recipes that actually make it into cookbooks, whether they are amazing or disgusting, have catchy yummy-sounding titles). So, if there are 2 different meatloaf recipes, one called "Meatloaf" and the other called "Tasty Mexican Meatloaf", I will probably choose the second. Because what sort of a Texan doesn't love Mexican?! This is not a good way to decide which kind of meatloaf to make for dinner. Unfortunately, it's all I've got.

All that to say, I am working on this problem. At this point, it is kind of trial and error. I find a bunch of good-sounding recipes (ok, titles) and plan out the meals and shop. And then it is total hit or miss whether dinner each night is going to bomb or be awesome. (sorry now to my poor family having to endure this growing pain with me. Papa Johns is just a phone call away when it is too awful to endure.)

Tonight I asked the kids to help me snap the ends off green beans. Who knew it would be so much fun for them?! (and they LOVED hearing the "snap" they were able to make each time) I can't believe I had never thought of this before. When we were done, Elias stood up and said, "Thanks for letting us do that , Mom. That was really fun!"

I have memories of being as young as 4 or 5 and snapping beans with my Meme (dad's mom) out on their farm. Thankfully, she was a much better cook than I am, and everything she ever made was incredible.

Maybe the beans tonight will turn out ok. Really, how bad can I screw that up, right?!

My Pretty

A couple of weeks ago I decided it would be fun to blow dry Elena's hair straight. I had only done it one other time, and that was about a year ago. (I think I actually posted pics on the blog when I did it, but I am too lazy right now to look for a link) Anyway, it turned out adorable. She looked WAY older than she is, and I couldn't believe how much hair she has now! So today, while at Target refilling her Pulmicort, I picked up a flattening iron. Wow! I have never used one in my life, but it definitely did the trick! Her hair went from super curly to completely straight in a matter of minutes. I still prefer her beautiful curls, but it is nice to know she's got options!

Literal

Kids are so stinkin' literal about everything, aren't they? It amazes me how often they just don't get a joke or a prank because they are so focused on the exact words used and what they ought to mean. For example:

Me: Elena, do you want to come upstairs with me? I need to fix my hair.
Elena: Oooooh noooooooo! Mommy! You hair is broken!? (yes, sometimes she says "you" and not "your"- it is quite cute)

Or how about this one:
Me: Elias, you didn't find your coat at school today?
Elias: No. We can just buy a new one.
Me: Well, that costs money.
Elias: But you have two hundred dollars! (he knows this because I bought $200 worth of groceries Saturday and he was very concerned about whether or not I would be able to foot that bill. At the cash register, I proudly told him that, yes, I did have $200 for the groceries.)
Me: But I spent all that on groceries, remember?
Elias: Oh. Well, we can order it online then. (I guess he thinks we don't pay for things we order online that just magically appear in boxes on our porch?)
Me: We still have to pay for that stuff honey.
Elias: oh.
Me: Maybe you should get a job at HEB and earn some money. You could be a cashier.
Elias: Noooooo, I already told you, when I grow up I want to be a worker. (he recently told me that he wants to be one of the guys that fixes roads and builds bridges)
Me: Well, then maybe you should get a job as a worker and earn some money to buy a new coat.
Elias: I can't. I am not old enough. And I don't know how to build stuff yet. (man, this guy really should be a lawyer, shouldn't he?)
Me: I know. I am kidding. Maybe I should go be a worker.
Elias: Noooooooooooooooo! I want you to me my Mommy!!!!

Roadrunners

No, this is not a post about an old cartoon. My son's basketball team actually named themselves The Roadrunners. Because they are so fast. And because they are five and six years old. And because no adults told them how silly that sounds. Actually, maybe the joke is on us and the kids all knew how ridiculous we would sound yelling "Go Roadrunners!"

So this is Elias' first season of basketball. Having been born a Hoosier, he has ALWAYS loved to shoot a ball in a hoop, so we were excited to find this opportunity through our local Y. He is having a great time and learning a lot. Really, the improvement in the first 4 weeks (especially considering that we missed 2 weeks with ear infection and trip to IN) has been tremendous.

Here are some pics and videos from his practices and games.

(Note that his team wears Texas A&M maroon. No, we were not thrilled about this. Yes, we are happy that it isn't burnt orange.)

Running down the court

Pregame Warm-up shot. (Elias is #21)

"Gooooooooooooooo Roadrunners!"

Pregame Warm-ups

Practicing shots

Practicing dribbling

Explanation for Lissie :)

In an effort to help my friend (and Elias' Kindergarten teacher) on her quest of having blog posts named after her, I thought I would write about something funny that happened last week. Something so funny that, when it happened, I looked at Adaryll and said, "Oh, that is SO going on the blog!" I kind of forgot about it until I read Elias' version on Lissie's Blog. And now, an explanation is definitely required.
One night last week, as Elias was getting his pajamas on, it became apparant to both Adaryll and me that he was stalling. He was moving ridiculously slow and watching t.v. out the corner of his eye in our room. Adaryll told him to get his pajamas on.
In that 6-year-old-boy, I-know-everything-and-can-do-no-wrong voice, he answered, "I AAAAAAAM!" It was not quite the tone or the volume acceptable to Jordan parents. :)
So, Adaryll asked, "Did you just yell at me?"
Elias answered yes.
So, Adaryll (joking) says, "Well, then come over here and I am going to give you a spanking."
Apparantly Elias didn't get the joke. He immediately starts crying and pulls down the pajama pants that have now taken 7 or 8 minutes to get on. He pathetically walks, barebutt now, over to our bed where both Adaryll and I are sitting. Adaryll and I both start to laugh.
Elias looks at us confused.
I say, "Elias, Daddy is not going to spank you."
Through giant tears, Elias begins to laugh HYSTARICALLY. I can't even begin to explain to you how funny this scene was. All of us laughing and Elias crying at the same time.
Adaryll turns to me and says, "Well now, that is not in the parenting books..."

Elena's Interpretation

Elias has been a big fan of The Lawrence Welk Show (PBS Saturday nights) for as long as I can remember. A couple of weeks ago, Elena decided to get in on the fun. Her dancing went on and on, and I finally just had to capture it in a video. I love the way she "feels" the music. It reminds me of her own version of modern interpretive dance. And how she applauds so enthusiastically at the end. Not sure this could be any cuter. (ok, maybe if she were wearing a tutu and leg-warmers)

Woooo-Hoooooooo!

Well, I prayed a couple of weeks ago that God would send some snow to Indiana during our visit, and I guess His answer was YES! By yesterday morning, we had 12-14 inches on the ground, and I think there is more to come in the next couple of days. I heard it was the most snow dumped in one storm here in 30 years or something. Since we aren't responsible for shoveling a driveway or paying a gas bill up here, we are loving it!
We got to go sledding yesterday, and boy did we have fun!!! I don't know how many times I went down the hill, but it was enough that my legs are sore today from climbing back up. The kids are having the time of their lives (ok, Elias is at least). It really is so much fun to visit this for a week, and not to have to deal with it all winter. :)

SNOW!

The kids and I are back in Indiana visiting friends, and having a ball!!! We arrived Friday and got settled in at the Millers' house (just down the street from our old house). Kylee and Ian didn't know we were coming, so when they got off the bus and saw Elias, it was like a scene out of a movie! (seriously- 5 year old girl running up the sidewalk, arms outstretched, towards 6 year old boy- I wish I had the camera!)
We spent Saturday just trying to recover from the 4am Friday wake-up (and the almost-missed flight because I forgot Mr. Pig and didn't realize it until we were halfway to the airport!). Saturday night we were able to visit with 5 or 6 neighborhood families and see how much all the kids had grown in the last year. I was amazed to see all the kids were in person, even though I follow all blogs.
Sunday we went to Traders Point, the church where Adaryll served from 2002-2008. I wondered if I would even actually make it into the service, there were so many people to hug! It was so, so good to see all those people in person! But what was even cooler was realizing that I have people in Austin at HCBC that I love just like I love the people here. And we have only been there for a year. It was an amazing realization. I really almost cried realizing that God would do that for me. That he has given me 2 amazing families of believers in 2 completely different cities. And that we are part of both forevermore. Wow.
I have more to blog about Sunday afternoon and yesterday, but I want to get to today's photos now so that Elias' teacher can show them to his class. There was a question asked of the class Friday about what was more fun- snowmen or snow angels. I think about half the class had to guess because they had never even seen snow. (how sad!!!) So here are our pics from today- and I'm not sure which Elias thought was more fun. But snowballs were right up there at the top of the list too! (we are supposed to have 10 inches of snow by tomorrow, so expect sledding videos tomorrow!)