Karate Boy

Elliott got his first stripe on his belt Friday last. We are proud of our little Karate kid. This has been a VERY good thing for him. Boost of self confidence! Way to go El-dogs!

Beautiful Weekend

Weekend last was so BEAUTIFUL here! It is February but the weather was a perfect 70-80 degrees. The crew above went on a 7 mile bike ride- all the kids did the whole ride. We were so proud of them. I had my trusty steed- the Zip bike- thank heavens. But with E still on training wheels I got plenty of pedaling in on my own- which was awesome too. It was a great Saturday- great day.

I LOVE living here in California. Years ago, someone asked me why I would want to live in California. Where to begin....- let's start with the weather- you can probably tell just from the pictures why I'll start there. I'll touch on other reasons another day!




On Monday we took the kids out fishing. It was really fun. They had a great time- we caught puny little mackerels but the kids didn't care- they were loving every minute of it- until it came time to touch the fish. They weren't too into that! It was another beautiful day and I loved every minute with these guys.

Sensing a theme

This is how E plays Dart Tag. He doesn't want to get hit- so he suits up. Craig got the Dart Tag from Elliott for Christmas and we have been trying so hard to get him to play it with us- finally after Craig and his brilliant plan to suit up- we have a dart tagger.





Elliott and Craig out scoping their hunt in the backyard. To me it looks like way more of a gun than a pellet gun. *No animals were harmed in the shooting- just a metal target thingy. However, I wish the neighbors porch light were harmed.

Dear Valentine's of mine....

I am the luckiest lady in the world.

My two guys-
HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!

Max's visit....

Elliott's preschool has a "Star of the Week" each week of school. There are so few kids that they end up being the star multiple times throughout the year.

When they are the star they get to take home a bucket (in which was conveniently placed empty right by me the other night when I had the flu and I vomited in it- Thank You Max.) with a few changes of clothes and hats and a little book to write down the adventures you had together.
Elliott really could care less about Max. He takes him right out of the bucket does like one thing with him and then discards him the rest of the week.

Played a game of football and then he decided that Max needed to go to sleep- and was that way until I moved him. All of his stuffed animals are always sleeping. Funny kid!

Burrito- no good.

If you know my little guy- you know that he is one of the most cautious people. He takes his sweet time doing everything- he does NOT want to get hurt.

Well, we have this game called Burrito. Pretty self explanatory- wrap him up tight in a blanket like a burrito and Craig throws him on the sofa and rolls him around- he rarely gets up and goes anywhere- however night before last he decided to get up and walk away from Craig, he was laughing so uncontrollably that he biffed it big time. He was wrapped up so tight he had no hands so he couldn't catch himself. Man, it was a bloody sight. I am not used to this stuff.

The best was Elliott's comments during the action:

Ow- ooooooooooo am I bleeding? I'm bleeding, mom, dad I'm bleeding. When is it going to stop? I'm bleeding.

He was way more concerned with the blood than the actual pain of smashing his face right on the wood floor.

Karate

That's what he said-

Today two of E's best:

After- literally ripping the toilet paper holder out of the wall- whilst throwing the worst fit I've seen in months Elliott yells at me:

I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm repenting.

Then after loosing some serious media time- (note: he has been battling some sort of stomach something- so the "belly" has been on the mind heavily...) he says:

My belly feels like watching a movie.

Then later- knowing I have a little sewing project in the works:

My belly feels like sewing.

Seriously- he works it like no other. He did not get to watch a movie. He did get to sew!

Preschool Outing

We had a little preschool outing to ride the ferry- back and forth and then do a little beach clean-up. It was awesome- there was hardly any trash. Yes, I know it is January- so it's a given that there wouldn't be as much as in, say August, however, there wasn't much- it was great. Isn't it beautiful? We have had such nice weather the last few days. I LOVE the rain- but love a good sunny day after the rain. Hopefully we'll get a little bit more of both in the next week or two.

Do you ever pity yourself?

Do you sometimes find yourself pitying your mere existence? That possibly there must be more in store for you? That you can't possibly live another day as yourself? Annoyed at the hand that was dealt to you? Why in the world would I have chosen this...- type of scenario?


Well, I do. If you can't admit that you do this once in awhile- you're in denial.


I have found great comfort in following a life of another soul- one who has WAY MORE on her plate than I- one who humbles me and makes me remember the GREAT PLAN that is this life. She is truly amazing- one day I shall meet her and I will have a MILLION things to talk with her about.

So if you ever find that you feel as I have- why don't you explore HER great journey and put yourself in another's shoes- then decide if you'll trade your existence for another.

I KNOW that our trial are custom made- they often, TOTALLY SUCK but they are ours. It all comes down to how we choose to live through them.

I just can't help myself-

These are the newest little additions in my life!

No- they aren't mine- I can only wish at this point in my life for this to ever happen again for us- but- close enough. My sweet friends Karlea and Don have been so blessed to adopt these little twin babies! One boy- Ian and One girl- Isla. They are SERIOUSLY perfect- SERIOUSLY- PERFECT. I inspected quite well- perfect little toes, fingers, perfect round heads, perfect little 6 pounds of perfect baby. Did I say that they were PERFECT???

I'm lucky enough to have such a good friend who shares the same life stories as I do. Adoption is a miracle. Those around us know and have seen the miracle but there are very few that get to have it happen to them and live the life- Elliott gets to grow up with close friends- Matthew and Conner (Karlea's other little boys) who have also been adopted. (Matthew is actually why we are in the Karate class we are in- to be with him.) I am so very blessed to have met and gotten to know Karlea- well before we too would adopt- I had no idea- but I KNOW she was put into my life way ahead of time to be there for me and help me through something that I could not have gone through without her. I consider she and Don and her little ones Matthew and Conner- and now Ian and Isla some of my most treasured tender mercies in my life. It is unexplainable how blessed I am and how well taken care of by my Heavenly Father I am.
So, if I have no more little ones- I rest assured that I get to spend some good quality time with these two new little miracles.
Even Elliott is stoked for them- it is amazing how at 5 years only he grasps little parts of how lucky we are as a family to be together and have each other.
Yesterday- WAS A GOOD DAY!

Christmas- I'm a little over it!

I have somehow lost my Christmas photos. We got a new computer and I feel like I am re-learning everything- programs seem to have changed. I'm sure it's me. Anyway- It was a really lovely Christmas. Elliott was sick but other than that it was beautiful and special. Sorry- however, I'm sick of Christmas posts and I imagine so are all of you!

Piano and other things...

Elliott LOVES music! Always has- we sing all of the time and listen to music constantly. We thought it was time he started learning to play something- we chose the piano- I play a little and we thought if he could learn the piano he could branch out to another instrument when he was ready. As of late there is some talk of the tuba (heaven help me if he really chooses that one- ergh!). We had a little Christmas money and so we CraigListed and found this awesome deal for $200! We thought we just found something pretty good for our needs- however, the piano tuner thinks we totally made a steal- he says he'd sell it for $700. So we are stoked with our purchase!
Elliott is loving it- every time he walks by he plays a little something and I am in heaven playing again. I've already learned a few new songs that had been my goal YEARS ago!

This is the sparring gear. They only wear it when they spar with one another. It is HILARIOUS!!! He loves putting it on and wrestling with Craig. It is quite a show.

Elliott is a rather shy individual- mostly when it comes to his physical abilities- meaning- he really takes forever to do things because he is so very cautious. Once he started walking finally (19 months) he never fell- he was up and running and TOTALLY ready to go. He is like that with everything physical. Where his cousins are riding bikes without training wheels- I suspect it will be months before he will even consider it. I'm fine with this. However, we have just felt like he needed some confidence to help him in his life- especially with his physical development. When he is at the playground with some of his friends or cousins he won't even try some of the stuff they do- he watches with excitement and anticipation and I will see him start to try what they do- and then he just gives up- even though I KNOW he can do the same things.

So- he started a Karate class about 4 weeks ago. He LOVES it! He isn't the biggest fan of sparring- it really bothers him. My hope for his is that he learns how to control some of his emotions better and gain some serious self confidence that he could really use by taking Karate. So far, so good. Happy boy.

Merry Christmas

MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Fabulous Christmas details to follow...another night!

That's what he said-

Tonight Elliott comes to me and tells me to look behind his ear. I say-

Oh, you have a penny stuck behind your ear.

Mom, I know- the Holy Ghost put it there.

Love him.

For the Grandparents...

This post is mostly for the grandparents who are not here with us this year- which is ALL of them! Very strange not to have them here- we were hoping some would get here and then in the end it didn't happen. We miss all of you!

The kids started our evening with "Christmas Bells are Ringing"- it was lovely. As you can see Elliott's lovely tissue in his ears- his relationship with bells is a love/hate relationship. They did a fantastic job as you can see!

We've hardly begun with the presents- they each opened one tonight- from Grandma Lauralee. They were all a HUGE hit mom- THANK YOU! You're the best!

Until tomorrow...Merry Christmas!
This time of year is AMAZING with little kids. I can't imagine life without these little people in my life- it makes it so perfect with them here!

Halloween 2009

Best shot I got of our crew. Not at all the best! Kenyon- Vampire, Nate- Skeleton, Elliott- Darth Vader, Gavin- Wolverine, Luke- Batman, Etta Jane- cutest little baby Chick on the planet. This picture just doesn't do any justice to how cute they all looked!

Elliott HAD to be Darth Vader. I settled this year for a store bought costume. It was hard- I had to glue on some rhinestones to make it look a little less- thin polyester. Still looked it though. Elliott loved it and that is really all that matters. He was a good Darth Vader.

Sweet K and Nate carving pumpkins. Kenyon was a vampire and Nate was a skeleton.

We got these cool pumpkins from some friends of ours. They grew them. I loved the shape of the one E is holding.

At home carving a few of our pumpkins. E couldn't wait. I am quite sure that Halloween is his favorite holiday. We have driven everywhere in search of homes decorated for the holiday- talked endlessly about all of the things we've seen and done- gone to Disneyland to see the Haunted Mansion (Nightmare Before Christmas style)- listed to "This is Halloween" more times than I want to admit- and waited ever so patiently for the carving of the pumpkins and for the actual day. He could really care less about the candy. Which of course- I'm stoked about!

Trike-a-Thon

E's preschool had a trike-a-thon on Friday last. He LOVED it. He decorated and rode his skootch. All the kids got a little medal at the end. Elliott had almost just as much fun cheering his pals on as he did riding.

Elliott

Wildebeest

Elliott selling me some wildebeest over play dough restaurant play-

We have wildebeest here...do you want to try it?
We give samples of wildebeest here...do you want to try some?
It's pretty gross because we squish some of the blood out....