The Elam Family

My Girl

2010-03-12T08:47:00.000-08:00

Many years ago, when I turned eight, my best friend and I spent a day in Salt Lake with our moms shopping, eating at nice restaurants, sightseeing, and having a great time. It is still a treasured memory. I wanted to have that same opportunity with my soon-to-be-eight daughter. So after chatting with her best friend's mom, we came up with a plan that entailed some much-needed girl time, combined with their current favorite thing...American Girl dolls. Santa brought the girls a "Day at American Girl Place" package. So Madison and I and Coralee and Mindy set off for a weekend in LA to spend a day at the American Girl store.

First on the agenda, get beautiful!

Just before setting out for our day--aren't they gorgeous?

On our way to the American Girl store, we stopped to see the LA Temple. The visitors center was being remodeled, but we did get to walk around the grounds and take some pictures.

We have arrived at the American Girl Place! The dolls in the display case are called Just Like You dolls, and Madison examined every one to find the one that looks just like her. The girls shopped and spent every last penny of their allotted gift card money. (But thank goodness not too many pennies more!)

We took a break from shopping to browse the Farmers Market across the street. Madison had crepes with strawberries for lunch. Yummy!

Then we made our way back to American Girl Place where the girls had a photo shoot with their dolls. Madison's picture was then put on a personalized magazine cover.

The doll hair salon was so cute. A whole line of doll-size salon chairs, with the stylists working their magic. Madison's doll even got her ears pierced at the salon.
We finished off the day with a dinner in the American Girl Cafe. The cafe was so girly, all hot pink and black and white. The napkin rings were hair ties that the girls got to keep. The dolls got their own little seats next to their girls.
Is this girl excited or what? This is the dessert plate--flower pot chocolate mousse, a tiny heart-shaped cake, and a tiny star sugar cookie.
The whole girly group...two moms, two girls, and four dolls! (Oh, and don't forget the little girl in my very large belly!)
Since we went all the way to LA, and we had one more day, we rounded out our weekend with a day at Disneyland.

Two sweet girls! They had a great time and I think they even realized how very lucky they were to get to go on this trip. They were very well behaved the whole time. And the moms...well, we were well behaved too. I sure love my boys, big and small, but I enjoyed every minute of our girl time. I can't wait to do it again in eight years with the next little girl!

Levi...growing up!

2010-03-10T10:18:00.000-08:00

We took pictures of the kids the other day against the wall, so the next time I pulled the camera out, Levi ran to the wall again for his pose. Then he got back to business of cutting fruit. This task has occupied a lot of his time the last few days. He is growing up so quickly and has such a cute personality. He finally stayed in nursery for the whole time on Sunday. He is sleeping better--in his room with Wyatt, and only waking up in the night occasionally. I am starting to have a little hope that I might be able to handle both him and the new baby sister!

Our New Ride

2010-01-10T20:11:00.001-08:00

In 96 days and counting...(or maybe even less), we will officially outgrow our 5 passenger Saturn Vue. So we finally have upgraded to the typical mormon wagon. We now have a minivan! It is a Nissan Quest, smoke gray. It has some little extras that the kids love (built-in DVD player) and some that I love (mostly that the kids can buckle themselves because their seats are not so crammed in). It's a few years old and has a couple of minor scratches and dings, but overall it's in good shape. We're loving our new ride!

Halloween

2009-11-25T07:12:00.001-08:00

I'm finally getting around to posting Halloween pictures...if I do it before Thanksgiving, I figure I'm okay. Levi was a puppy this year, Wyatt was a Transformer (Megatron because he "likes the bad guys just a little bit more than the good guys"), and Madison was a clown. She wore this same costume three years ago. She has grown a little, but we adjusted the suspenders and added some crazy tights, and it worked great. She also had to have a matching doll costume. We had a fun night trick or treating with cousins. Their neighborhood gets way into the holiday, and most of the houses were fully decorated. The best one even has a haunted house through their garage and into their house, complete with live scary people, bloody footprints, and creepy sound effects.

Fall Break, Part III-The Pumpkin Patch

2009-10-23T14:12:00.000-07:00

To finish off a fun Fall Break week of vacation, play dates, the zoo, and lots of Halloween crafts, we went to Apple Annie's Pumpkin Patch. Our friends, the Swain's, came with us. We had a tasty lunch of hamburgers and hot dogs and pie out in the apple orchards, played in the huge basins of dry corn, then boarded the hay wagons to ride out to the pumpkin patch to pick out the perfect pumpkins. Wyatt picked out a tall, skinny one. Madison's is perfectly round. And Levi, well he didn't really care, and his parents are cheap, so he got one of the smallest we could find. Levi did love crawling around over all of the pumpkins. He didn't seem to mind the stickery vines at all. It was record-breaking hot that day (at least it was a few degrees cooler at the pumpkin patch in Willcox than in Tucson), and it was super windy. But we're not complaining...we had a great time!
By Sunday night, the kids were at each other's throats, and they were bored. We had a fun, busy week, but they were sure ready to go back to school on Monday!

Fall Break Fun, Part II--Levi's First Trip to the Zoo

2009-10-23T13:59:00.001-07:00

Since Levi gets so excited about the birds in the Wal-Mart parking lot or any dog we may run into, I decided he was ready for his first trip to the zoo. And being Fall Break and nice weather, we invited our cousins to join us, and we did the zoo. We love our little Tucson zoo. It is big enough to have all of the major animals, but small enough that you can see them all. We can do the whole zoo in under two hours and for 10 bucks for all of us. Levi's cousin Aaron is six weeks older and it was his first zoo trip, too. They both did surprisingly well at finding and watching the animals. We had a great day at the zoo...

Fall Break Fun, Part I--Mexico

2009-10-23T13:17:00.000-07:00

Last week was Fall Break for the kids. I was worried about keeping them entertained for a whole week off of school, but it turns out we had more than enough to do. We had a super fun, busy week. We started off with a weekend in Rocky Point with the Burns'. I was afraid it would be too cold to swim much and we would spend most of the time in the hotel. I was sure proven wrong! The water was beautiful, both the pool and the ocean. We spent almost the entire time in the water. The ocean was a little rough and the waves were too big for the kids to go in very far, but Darin and I liked swimming. The kids stood at the edge of the water and they spent hours playing in the sand. Levi wanted nothing to do with the water this time, but judging from the contents of his diaper for a few days after, he had a great time in the sand! We buried all of the big kids in the sand. They loved it and laid there for quite a long time. Levi tromped right over the top of them when they were hidden in the sand. The resort had a great pool with a nice kiddie pool and a fun waterslide. The kids especially liked that there were no rule-enforcing lifeguards on the slide (like they are used to in Rancho Sahuarita), so they were able to go in trains and on their bellies.

Made Me Laugh

2009-08-31T22:41:00.000-07:00

I visited Madison and Wyatt's school the other day, with Levi in tow. After we had lunch together, we were on the playground when a cute little Hispanic boy (dark skin and black-as-black hair) came to talk to us. He was talking to Levi (my blond-as-they-come baby) and telling me that my baby is so cute. And then, "Don't let him get a sunburn. I worry that he will get a sunburn. See (showing me his arm), this is what a sunburn looks like." I look closely for signs of redness. Nothing. He goes on, "When I was born, I looked just like him. I got a sunburn and now I am this color." Thanks for the advice, cute little second-grader. We'll avoid sunburns!

When I went to give Levi a bath this afternoon, the tub had little pieces of something all over it. I questioned Madison and Wyatt, who had been playing in there earlier with toy boats.
Me: "What's all over the tub?"
Madison: "Oh, that's dirt."
Me: "Where did all this dirt come from?"
Wyatt: "We wanted it to look like a real ocean."
Madison: "We dumped out Wyatt's shoes in there."
Of course you did. How resourceful of you.

Rocky Point Getaway

2009-08-11T11:15:00.000-07:00

Even though school started last week and summer is officially over, we were able to sneak in one last little vacation and hit the beach like the kids had been asking to do all summer. Our good friends invited us to join them for a weekend in Rocky Point, and we are so glad we did! We had a great time. Travelling with another family was so much fun. The kids had friends to play with, and then after the kids went to bed at night, the adults stayed up and played Rook and talked and laughed a lot!We stayed in a really nice place. This is the view out our back door...a nice big patio, grass, a three-section pool, and then the beach right in our backyard.

The kids all loved the sand and the water. Levi crawled right in, not a bit scared. The water was warm--the warmest ocean water I ever remember swimming in. We even went on a banana boat ride (all of us) and rented jet-ski's (Darin and Brian).

Madison got to go on vacation with her best friend, Coralee. What lucky girls!

All the kids--Wyatt Burns, Wyatt Elam, Coralee, Levi, Madison, and Carter

Shopping

The whole group, just before the long trip home. We had a perfect trip--great company, nice weather, fun swimming, happy kids, and good food--now if we could have just stayed a few more days!

When A Kindergartner Hijacks Blogger

2009-08-10T22:59:00.000-07:00

Wyatt asked me today if he could play on PBSKids. He does that quite often, and knows how to get to the website and find his way around just fine. So later when I came to check on the latest blog happenings, I was surprised to find a new post. Somehow he opened my blog, found the "new post" button, typed in the text area and even the labels area, and then successfully posted. I think he forgot to run spell-check though.

2009-08-10T17:37:00.000-07:00

jkln.......;.,m[[;p[u[]==[iikifjhuhgfgtgjfhsdddddddddddsrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrwqfsrdfddfxfghvcgbghbhbbbhbhbjhnbjbnjnbvnbgggffhdgfdhfgdjfjdfdghgjghgjk

It's So Quiet

2009-08-04T11:41:00.000-07:00

With two kids off at school, and Levi going on hour three of his nap, it's awful quiet around here! Madison and Wyatt were excited to start school today. I think Wyatt was a little nervous. When we went to meet his teacher yesterday, she asked him his name. He said, "um, I don't remember." Was that something I was supposed to teach him before he went to school? After seeing his classroom and meeting his teacher yesterday, he was feeling a little better about things. We are very happy so far with Wyatt's teacher, Ms. Goodenow, and Madison's teacher, Mrs. Meyer. We are looking forward to a great year!

Not So Uniform

2009-08-03T20:39:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow's the big day...back to school! We had a "Not So Uniform" back to school party last week with Madison and 14 of her friends. The girls and their moms came and we did what we could to make our school uniforms a little more fun. We added small flower and heart embellishments to our shirts and rhinestones to the buttons. We made belts and hair bows and flowers in uniform colors. The girls made beaded backpack charms with their names on them. We all had fun crafting, and the girls are excited to go to school in style!

Levi's First Haircut

2009-08-01T14:53:00.000-07:00

I kept putting it off, but I finally was ready to cut Levi's hair for the first time. Maybe its because he was the first of my kids to have even a hint of curl in his hair, and I didn't want to cut those cute little curls off in the back, because he may never have hair long enough to see them again. I love the new look! What do you think?

Levi's First Birthday Party

2009-07-28T17:10:00.001-07:00

We celebrated Levi's first birthday at the park with lots of friends and family. We had a cowboy party, with a hamburger and hot dog barbecue, then Texas sheet cake for dessert. Levi got his very own cowboy hat cake. We had to take pictures of the cake as soon as we got there, because the chocolate brim melted in the first five minutes. Levi has truly crossed the line from babyhood to little kid--as demonstrated by the new foods he got to try...chocolate, Capri Sun, and Twizzlers. He loved the Capri Sun. After every sip, he kicked his feet like crazy. I guess it doesn't take long for that sugar high to kick in. He loved his chocolate cake too. That kept him busy for a long time! After we were all sufficiently hot and sticky, we cooled off in the pool, then opened presents poolside. Thanks to all who celebrated with us!

You've Come a Long Way, Baby!

2009-07-28T15:33:00.000-07:00

Where does the time go? I can't believe my baby is one already. Look at how far he's come...

On the day he was born

One month old

Two months old, showing one of his first smiles

Three months old, picking pumpkins

Four months old, loving the bath

Five months old, with his favorite blanket on Christmas Eve

Six months old, trying peas (ignore the pink bib)

Seven months old, crawling and exploring

Eight months old, standing and cruising (with the same shirt as three months and seven months)

Nine months old, he loves to be outside

Ten months old, propped up in a trench helping Dad with the yard

Eleven months old, with Papa--he wouldn't leave that cane alone

And a big one year old! This kid has tons of clothes. I don't know why he is wearing the same ones in so many pictures. I guess I have my favorites. We love our Levi. He is such a sweet boy. Happy Birthday, buddy. Party pictures coming soon!

Tag: 6 Small Things That Make Me Happy

2009-07-01T10:13:00.000-07:00

tag: make a list of 6 small or "unimportant" things that make you happy.

1. Monsoons
It's that time of year again in AZ. I love the monsoon season. We have hot, hot mornings that just beg to be spent in the pool, then the clouds roll in in the afternoon and we get fabulous storms. The temperature can drop about 30 degrees in just a few minutes, and the kids love to run around the cul-de-sac in the pouring rain.

2. Homemade bread with homemade jam
Maybe my favorite indulgence! I made peach, raspberry-peach, and strawberry jam this week. Okay, I actually made peach syrup, raspberry-peach jam, and strawberry yet-to-be-determined. I have made peach jam a bunch of times, and this is the first time that it just did not set up at all. It still tastes great, but its use is limited to times when we don't care if it just runs all over our plate. The raspberry-peach was a first, but I think it's a keeper. I just made the strawberry this morning, so I hope it turns out okay. I'll need it when school starts again. Madison eats PB&J with homemade jam almost every day in her lunch.

3. Uh-oh
Or uh-oh-uh-oh-uh-oh....Levi has learned to say uh-oh and we think it is so cute! The best part is that even if he is in the middle of a crying fit, if we just say "uh-oh" to him, he will usually stop crying and start saying uh-oh over and over and over. He said it for quite a long stretch on the way home from our vacation. He has also learned "no." If we say "no" to him, he stops and shakes his head, then goes right back to what we were telling him no about. He's funny when he tries to shake his head, he can't just move his head, it is more like shaking his head and shoulders and most of his upper body. He's at such a fun age right now. We are having lots of fun with him.

4. Seeing all three of my kids playing together
Madison and Wyatt play together all the time, and Madison loves to play with Levi. And sometimes Wyatt will slow down enough to pay attention to Levi for a while. But every once in a while, all three of them play together, and for some reason, it just makes me so happy. Last night Levi was standing up next to something and Madison and Wyatt were sitting next to him, all of their backs to me. I wanted to keep that picture of those three little heads in my mind forever.

5. Watching my kids learn
Madison is reading so well. She surprises me with the words that she can read, spell, and understand. She was reading from the scriptures the other day without even pausing or stumbling over words. I found her laying in her bed reading on her own for the first time a few months ago, and it made me smile. I spent lots of hours like that as a kid!
Wyatt is my little math kid. He is reading a little, but he is really good with numbers. He can do double digit addition and subtraction, and he hasn't even started kindergarten yet! If I ask him a math problem that is a little hard for him, he goes and sits behind the chair, and counts it out in his head, then comes back a few minutes later with the answer.
And Levi is learning to stand on his own. We'll have a walker soon!

6. A clean, organized house
I sure wish I was better at this. I go on kicks sometimes where my house is so clean and organized, and I love the feeling. I wish I could make those times last longer or come more often.

I tag: Donna, Leah, Jerlyn, Nancy, Mindy, and Cherece (a good first post for a blog!).

Being Crafty

2009-05-13T13:59:00.001-07:00

So in my attempts to do something besides being the mom, I have decided I will try my hand at scrapbooking again. I used to do it regularly, and I have tons of supplies, but haven't done much for a few years. Some girls in my ward do a scrapbook/card exchange that they invited me to join, so that was my motivation to really get going again. These are the cards and the scrapbook page I made for the exchange. I had so much fun doing it, and now I'm excited to work on the other pages that I got the makings for last night.
And does anyone know why blogger sometimes rotates pictures for you and won't let you rotate them back?

Serious Separation Anxiety

2009-05-11T14:55:00.000-07:00

I stuck Levi in his crib for just a minute the other day to keep him away from one of Wyatt's toys. He started jumping and smiling, laughing and squealing. He was being so cute, I just had to have a picture of that great smile. So I ran to get the camera...I forgot for a minute that I am not supposed to be out of his sight. As soon as I left, he was done being happy. Even after I came back, I couldn't get him to so much as smile, let alone laugh or jump.

"Come on, let me out of here!"

When I didn't rescue him, it quickly turned to this. Isn't that sad?

Wyatt is 5!

2009-05-11T14:39:00.001-07:00

I can't believe my little boy is 5! His latest toy interest is Transformers, so he wanted a Transformers party. We didn't have a real big party, but we did have fun celebrating with Nana, Grandpa Bruce, Sharon, Michelle, Zak, Ethan, Colby, and Sadie. He chose lasagna for dinner and we watched the Transformers movie. He got lots of fun toys, the best being his Transformers--the hard kind, not the easy kind.

Happy Mother's Day to Me!

2009-05-11T13:23:00.000-07:00

Madison brought me a card from school (a fill in the blank type). She says, her words are in purple: My mom is the most wonderful mom in the whole world! She's as pretty as a motal (model). She weighs 7 and is gorgeice. Her favorite food is spugety. In the days when Mom was little, she used to like school. I think Mom looks funny when she runs with me. I know she is mad when she yells my name out loud. I wish mom would play a game with me every day. I wouldn't trade my mom for ice cream! I think my mom is exulint! I love her very much!

I sure love being a mom. I'm grateful for mother's day, not so much for the time to get gifts and to celebrate me (although that part's good!), but for the time to remind me just how lucky I am to be a mom. I have great kids!

Easter Egg-citement!

2009-04-20T11:01:00.001-07:00

Our Easter week in pictures (lots of them)...

The Monday before Easter we dyed eggs with our friends, the Burns'.

Then, since one egg-dying session a year isn't enough, we did it again on Saturday with the Price's.

Then we had to find all of our special dyed eggs, along with a bunch of plastic ones. There were more than enough eggs to go around! Cousin Colby, Wyatt, Madison holding baby cousin Sadie, and cousin Ethan.

After a fun day with the Price's, we had to head home so the Easter Bunny could come. That amazing Easter Bunny knows all of the kids names. He brought Levi a bunny, some balls, and a bath toy. He brought Wyatt a plastic bat and ball, some flip-flops, and a Webkinz. He brought Madison a jumprope, some flip-flops, and a Webkinz.

I love these kids!

Since Dad had to work on Easter, we went to visit him at the fire station. We were surprised to find eggs everywhere! We found them on the fire trucks, around the station, and even in the supply room. Dad even gave the kids Biohazard bags to use as their egg-collecting baskets. The firefighters all thought the kids looked great dressed up in their Easter clothes. They especially loved Levi's little tie.

Movie Night

2009-04-20T10:53:00.000-07:00

Friday night is movie night at our house. More often than not, this is how movie night ends for Madison--backwards on the recliner, head in hands, fast asleep. (Saturday morning is usually movie morning so she can see how it ended.) Wyatt, on the other hand, will make it through any movie, no matter how tired he is, or how long the movie is, or how many times he has seen it. The kids think movie night is such a treat for them. I love the break from the normal nightly routine.

My STAR of the Week

2009-04-03T11:49:00.001-07:00

Madison has been so excited for star of the week since the very beginning of school. It was FINALLY her turn! She told her first grade class all about herself and got to bring in some of her favorite things.

My name: Madison Jill Elam

My birthday: March 23, 2002

Where I was born: Tucson

My favorite food: Lasagna

My favorite color: Pink and blue

My wish: To fly to the moon

What I do well: Swim and jumprope

My favorite book: A Bad, Bad Day

A person I admire: My mom and dad

What I like most about our school: My friends

Today was "50's" spirit day at school in preparation for the "Happy Days" school carnival tomorrow. If the kids brought $1 to school, they could be out of uniform and dress up in 50's clothes. What a deal. And the first I heard of this was the flyer she brought home from school yesterday afternoon. I don't have much of a 50's wardrobe lying around and decided we weren't going to dress up (and save our dollar for something good). But when Levi wakes up at 5 am, what else could I do all morning? I made a poodle skirt!

Happy April Fools Day, You Fools!

2009-04-01T11:58:00.000-07:00

Hope you all have some really good jokes going today! We had April Fools dinner last night since Darin is working today. I had the food all ready to go in the oven last night, and waited and waited and waited for the oven to preheat. I finally opened it to see if it was feeling hot. No heat, just lots of gas smell. Ha ha, funny joke. Broken oven. While I carried the food to our neighbor's oven, Darin dismantled ours. And being the handy husband that he is, he was able to fix it. Good thing, because our warranty just ran out exactly four months ago. Isn't that the way it goes? We had cupcakes for dinner (meatloaf with mashed potato frosting), biscuits with ketchup (strawberry jam in the ketchup bottle that we just happened to finish off at lunchtime), and chocolate milk (pudding...this was so funny when Madison tried to pour it). Darin asked me how long it took me to put the jam in the ketchup bottle. Not long, I just did it while the oven was preheating! I found the recipe for the cupcakes a few years ago, and have made them every year since. Besides the fun, they are really good and not hard to make. Madison asks for them all year. Here's the recipe if you want to try them tonight:

April Fools' Colorful Cupcakes

1 lb. ground beef
1/2 cup grated Monterey Jack cheese
3 tablespoons ketchup
1 egg
1/2 tsp celery salt (I didn't have this-I used salt and celery seed)
1/4 tsp pepper

3 cups mashed potatoes (Real are better, but I used instant)
food coloring

Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Line 12 muffin tin cups with foil bake cups.
In a large bowl, mix together first six ingredients until well combined. Divide the mixture evenly among the lined cups (the liners should be about 3/4 full).
Place the filled muffin tins on cookie sheets and bake the cupcakes for about 15 minutes or until cooked through.
Divide the mashed potatoes among three small bowls and stir in a few drops of food coloring into each batch to create blue, yellow, and pink pastel frostings. Spread a generous dollop on each cupcake. Makes 12 cupcakes.

Check out this blog for a fun April Fool's video, and a contest! http://lilypstudio.typepad.com/lily_p_studio_and_design_/

Wyatt Goes to Preschool

2009-03-30T12:45:00.000-07:00

Wyatt started preschool today. It is a home-based preschool with eight kids and a great teacher. I think it will be just right for him. He was a little nervous when I dropped him off this morning, but he came home so excited.

Puppy Party

2009-03-30T12:09:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Madison's birthday on Friday with 10 of her friends. She invited girls from primary, school, girl scouts, and the neighborhood. Just before the party started, I was a little intimidated, knowing I would be severely outnumbered by little girls. No need to fear...they were amazingly well-behaved and we had a great time. We had hot dogs for dinner, then played "pin the nose on the puppy" and "puppy walk" (like a cake walk except they walked on puppy paw prints, and the prizes were stuffed puppies). After all of them won a puppy, they got to choose a name for their puppies. Then Darin engraved the names on little dog tags for them, and we attached them to a little puppy collar. After cake (don't miss my amazing cake decorating skills) and ice cream and a big pile of presents, the girls all spread out their blankets and pillows and we watched the movie "Bolt" about a super dog. I'm so proud of my super seven-year-old. Happy Birthday, Madison!

Can't believe she's 7!!!
Doing the Puppy Walk--I love that Madison is wiggling loose teeth as she walks!

All of the girls with their puppies.

Cute girls! I'm so glad she has such fun, nice girls as friends.
Amazing, huh? The dumb sprinkles wouldn't even stick to the cake. Just call me if you are in need of my services for your next party.

You Got It Going On

2009-03-30T12:01:00.000-07:00

"The Amaaaazing Madison" and her cousin "The Amaaaaazing Sarah" put on a fashion show for me the other day. I was cracking up at the music they chose for their modeling walk: "You got it, got it, got it, got it going on..."

My Babies

2009-03-24T10:49:00.000-07:00

I finally took my kids to get their pictures taken with all three of them together. I may be just slightly biased, but I think they're pretty darn cute. Take a look...

Dear Miss Manners,

2009-03-17T14:01:00.001-07:00

I have an etiquette question. What do you do when your daughter gets sick in the middle of a playdate? And we have invited the whole family to come for a playdate. And we have just met this family. And the playdate happens to involve making sugar cookies for St. Patrick's Day. And sick daughter has touched nearly all of the cookie dough. And then all of a sudden she needs to tell me something. Whisper, whisper, "I think I'm going to throw up." Proceed to bathroom. Throw up. Throw up again.

Now...do I send them home? Do I throw all of the cookies away?

I left it up to the other mother. We went with the "all the germs cook out" theory or the "it might have been something she ate" theory. Anyway, sorry new friends.

Happy Green Day!

Going to the Mountains

2009-03-17T13:39:00.001-07:00

When we asked Madison what she wanted to do while she was on spring break, the only thing she came up with was "go to the mountains." So go to the mountains we did. We drove around and hiked around. We roasted hot dogs. I think the kids were a little concerned about the whole fire thing. Their dad's job is to put out fires...and here he is making one. I love getting them out in nature. I love to see how their personalities shift a little and some of their normal fears and inhibitions are gone. Madison and Wyatt went off hiking up the hill by themselves. I overheard: "Wyatt, you might get a little scratched up, but that's just part of hiking." (From my children who almost always have at least one band aid on, and four or five is not all too uncommon). And then: "Wyatt, remember, break sticks, break sticks, break sticks." Then Wyatt's chant starts: "break sticks, break sticks, break sticks." What little trail-blazers. Even Levi got a taste of the great outdoors (literally). We tried (unsuccessfully) to teach them to skip rocks, a skill that Darin is really good at, and I seem to have completely lost any skill I once had.

Tucson Festival of Books

2009-03-15T14:51:00.001-07:00

The kids and I went to the Tucson Festival of Books Saturday at the U of A. They had a great time collecting cheap little prizes and seeing storybook characters. Wyatt thought they were cool to look at but wouldn't get close to them, while Madison had to hug every one. They had some great activities for the kids...I don't even know how many different bookmarks we made! Levi was a good sport and rode happily in the stroller almost the whole four hours we were there. It was also fun to show the kids where I went to college and explain to them about college life. I have so many good memories there. It was crazy to see how much everything has changed in the few years I've been away. I asked the kids after if they were going to go to college. Madison: "Yeah, but I'm not going to live at college." Wyatt: "Me too. I'm not going to live at college either." They may change their minds in a few years! We had a fun day. It was nice to have an excuse to be outside all day because it was fabulous weather.

Madison with Ronald McDonald.

Happy Levi.

Wyatt decorating a canvas bag.

Goofy Wyatt making a bookmark.

Madison with the mouse from "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie."

Letters Y and X.

Fun Tag

2009-03-06T09:31:00.000-08:00

If you read this, then you've been tagged.The things in bold are things you've done. Just copy, paste and change it to apply to you!
1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Italy
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in person
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a pig
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating (do fish count?)
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92.????
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Been on the news

Milestones

2009-01-14T14:23:00.001-08:00

Mom is proud that Levi is now eating solid food and sitting up on his own.
Wyatt is proud of Levi's first brown poop today.

As I was going to get the camera to take pictures of Levi sitting up, Madison yells from the other room that Levi has a problem with his diaper. I guess so.

Don't Miss "The Show"

2009-01-14T14:17:00.000-08:00

"Welcoom to my show. Ples do not look ovre the crtin. babys ulowd if ther quiyit. Thak-you."

Madison loves to put on shows for us. Someone really should teach her how to dress.

Her brothers are watching patiently.

Happy 2009!

2009-01-14T14:11:00.000-08:00

Wishing all our friends and family a happy new year!!!

Christmas, Finally

2009-01-14T13:21:00.000-08:00

I spent the last two days cleaning my house--the first "real clean" since Christmas. So even though I am very slow posting Christmas pictures, I feel like I am finally emerging from the holiday madness and ready to get back to normal life. And normal life may even include some blog posts now and then! We had a great Christmas. We spent Christmas Eve with Darin's family (and Darin got to break out his "party shirt"), then Christmas day with mine. Santa found our house and the kids have been entertained with the new selection of toys. Wyatt got a "museum-quality" dinosaur skeleton replica. He and Darin put it together on Christmas, and now I have been moving it all around my house trying to find a place where it isn't in the way. It is four feet long! He also got a Buzz Lightyear, a light saber, a few new Pixar cars, movies, play-doh, games, crayons, clothes, etc. Madison got a play laptop, a dog that grows and knows her name, clothes, a jacket, shoes, movies, games, books, play-doh, crayons, and some pink Pixar cars. Levi has been loving his bouncing horse Christmas present that showed up in mid-December. Santa didn't have much left to bring him, but I don't think he minded too much.

Adventures in Africa

2008-12-16T09:32:00.000-08:00

Madison and Wyatt are getting to do fun things and meet new people! Take a look...

Future Missionary Wyatt with Elder Hutchison after Zone Conference.

With Grandpa and Grandma by the pool at the hotel in Arusha.

On the bed in the hotel room.

In Primary with the kids in the Arusha Branch.

Visiting Santa at the mall in Nairobi. I love this one. Good thing Grandma and Grandpa are taking them to see Santa, because Mom and Dad haven't taken them!

Madison and Wyatt Go To Africa

2008-12-02T09:35:00.000-08:00

After a long journey, Madison and Wyatt finally arrived to visit Grandma and Grandpa in Kenya. So far, they got to see Grandma's office and kick back and watch a little TV with Grandpa. Grandma has promised them lots of fun adventures, and Grandpa is thrilled to have them there (as you can see). Keep checking back to see what fun things they get to do.

The Bestest 7 Ever

2008-11-19T14:44:00.000-08:00

"Mom, he just made the bestest 7 ever!" Madison and Wyatt have decided Levi is ready to learn how to color.

Child Labor

2008-11-19T14:28:00.000-08:00

It was time...It got that bad...I decided my floor really needed a hands and knees mop. So I got all of the stuff ready, and was down on the floor ready to start.
Madison walks in, "Mom, what are you doing? Can I do it?"
I try not to turn down the help (even though it's sometimes easier to do it myself). "Sure, grab a rag."
"No, I want to do it myself."
Okay, I'm sure I can find something more entertaining to do. She later allowed Wyatt to help. It kept them busy for an hour and a half. Can't beat that--a sparkling clean floor and two kids entertained for that long!

Keeping Up With His Cousin...

2008-11-07T13:04:00.000-08:00

Levi is practicing his "making friends" smile, kind of like Katelyn's. He doesn't quite have it down as good as her, but he's getting there. We've been able to get some little laughs out of him, but it never lasts long because he always gives himself hiccups. He doesn't have the cutest picture clothes on. I really should try his clothes on him before I get to the picture place. This was the spare outfit I carry in the diaper bag because the shirt I brought was way too big. And his pants aren't really 80's stonewashed, they just look that way in the picture. But for all the work it takes to make the appointment, pack him up and drive 20 minutes, and try to time it right so he isn't hungry or asleep...we were going to take his pictures in cute clothes or not! Maybe that's why the photographer suggested we do some diaper shots (which turned out really cute, too).

Doing the Pumpkin Patch

2008-10-31T11:39:00.000-07:00

Madison started asking a few weeks ago if we could go to a real pumpkin patch this year. Since we have never made it further than the Fry's pumpkin display before, we decided to oblige her, and go do the real thing. We made the trek out to Buckelew Farms on Saturday, where we had our pick of hundreds and hundreds of pumpkins. I was amazed at how many "perfect" ones there were. You just don't find them that nice at the local grocery store a couple of days before Halloween. They had tall, skinny ones, short, fat ones, and perfectly round ones in all sizes, as well as white ones and some dark orange warty variety. We loved the horse-drawn wagon ride out to the pumpkin patches and then tromping through the vine-covered ground. Wyatt only went down once with his feet tangled up in the vines. We did the petting zoo, which was cleaner and less odorous than many I have been in, and took advantage of some of the photo op spots (even some with cousins that we ran into there). We had lunch that, although overpriced, was quite good for coming from a little carnival trailer. Madison picked out a nice big round pumpkin of the regular variety, Wyatt got a big dark warty one, and Levi got a cute little round one that was still half green. We carved them up last night. The kids (exception--Levi) drew their own faces on their pumpkins and carved them all by themselves. We thought for sure Wyatt would give up and ask for help, as we learned the dark warty ones have very thick shells, but he sawed and sawed and sawed and...ended up with a nice looking jack-o-lantern that probably will last until Thanksgiving. The warty one didn't smell like a pumpkin either. Madison said it smelled like watermelon. I was glad we had at least one regular one so we could get a good whiff of that once-a-year pumpkin slime smell!

Halloween Party

2008-10-27T13:04:00.000-07:00

We had a halloween party at our house Friday night. Check out some of the great costumes!

We love Halloween!

2008-10-26T20:33:00.001-07:00

With my friend Reyna's amazing photography skills and my amazing costume-making skills, we got some great Halloween shots of the kids!

Road Trip!

2008-10-15T19:54:00.000-07:00

We took a road trip last weekend to go to my friend's wedding in St. George and to visit family in Las Vegas. Lots of pictures...

Levi, loving the break from the carseat.

When we pulled into Las Vegas, the first thing Madison told Nana was, "Levi cried the whole way!" That was a huge exaggeration. There was a little crying involved, but I thought he did pretty well for how many hours he had to be strapped in.

Darin and Papa building chicken boxes.

Papa's neighbor raises chickens, and apparently they needed a place to lay their eggs, so Papa is hooking them up. Madison and Wyatt got to go see the chickens and pick up the eggs they had laid.

Madison and Wyatt enjoying Nana's pool.

Mid-October is a little late to be swimming, but they actually stayed in longer than I thought they would. I love that I have very similar pictures of me swimming in this same pool when I was about their age. Nana and Papa's house has so many great memories for me of when I was a kid. I was telling Madison all weekend about the toys I used to play with there and the things I loved to do there when I was little.

My friend Tracine's wedding.

What a fun wedding! They had their reception in a hangar at the St. George airport. The bride arrived in an old WWII plane, and the groom in a 1930's car, with all of the wedding guests there to greet them. We enjoyed a fabulous prime rib dinner and dancing (okay, we watched the dancing--we had the baby). Levi, who is usually the easiest baby around, didn't want to cooperate during the reception. Darin found a room with a big screen TV and comfortable couches, and he spent most of the time in there with the baby (and he was just fine with that!). Thanks to our old Tucson friends, the Calkins, for keeping Madison and Wyatt while we went to the reception.

Hanging out with the Calkins.

We had fun catching up. With their 6 kids, our 3, plus Darrel's parents that were in town, we had a full house...15 of us! All 9 kids spread out on the family room floor, and we took over their beds. Don't look too close at the picture. This is after we had all just rolled out of bed. Thanks for taking us in, Calkins. It was great to see you!

The pretty drive between St. George and Las Vegas, and cousins cleaning the yard at Nana's house.

We had a great trip. It was nice to get away from our normal lives for a few days, and to give Darin a break from the hard work he has been doing lately. It was fun to see family and friends that we don't get to see very often. The kids did great in the car. I loved that we did the whole trip without the portable DVD player that we usually take for entertainment. We read books, listened to music, and played games, and didn't miss the movies a bit.

As always, even though we loved our little vacation, it's nice to be back home!

My Boys

2008-10-14T21:59:00.001-07:00

My Brother

My brother's worth about two cents,

As far as I can see.

I simply cannot understand

Why they would want a "he."

He spends a good part of his day

Asleep inside the crib,

And when he eats, he has to wear

A stupid baby bib.

He cannot walk and cannot talk

And cannot throw a ball.

In fact, he can't do anything--

He's just no fun at all.

It would have been more sensible,

As far as I can see,

Instead of getting one like him

To get one just like me.

-Marci Ridlon

Wyatt loves his baby brother. They are going to have so much fun together in a couple of years! Aren't they cute???

I Got Tagged!

2008-09-30T09:23:00.000-07:00

8 TV shows I like to watch
1. Jeopardy
2. The Office
3. The News
4. Letterman
5. America's Funniest Videos (My kids favorite)
6. Wheel of Fortune
7. Who Wants to be a Millionaire?
8. Wipe Out (My kids second favorite...is it a problem if their favorite things to watch are people getting hurt?)

8 things that happened yesterday
1. Fed the baby, and fed the baby, and fed the baby, and...
2. Started reading "My Antonia"
3. Made sourdough starter
4. Ground wheat
5. Made pumpkin muffins
6. Made invitations for a Halloween party
7. Ironed patches on Madison's Girl Scout uniform
8. Folded laundry
Wow, I was very domestic yesterday.

8 favorite places to eat
1. Rubios
2. Joe's Barbecue
3. Manuel's
4. Outside (camping, picnics)
5. Texas Roadhouse
6. Quizno's
7. Nico's
8. El Pollo Loco

8 things I am looking forward to
1. Trip to Utah next week for my college roommate's wedding
2. My package that I ordered from Old Navy
3. Making Halloween costumes
4. Trick or Treating and Halloween parties
5. Turkey
6. Christmas shopping
7. Cooler weather
8. All of Levi's milestones in the next year

8 things on my wish list
1. A good night's sleep
2. A whole day of kids not arguing (any advice anyone?)
3. A clean house
4. A landscaped backyard
5. New pans
6. A vacation
7. A trip to Seattle to see Larissa
8. A van

8 people I tag:
1. Leah C.
2. Heather P.
3. Amanda J.
4. Suzie S.
5. Stacy L.
6. Kris M.
7. Jenise K.
8. Donna E.

Levi Smiles!

2008-09-22T10:37:00.001-07:00

Levi has been sharing his adorable wide-mouth smile for a few weeks now, but I can never seem to get a good picture of it. Here's a cute smile, but I really love the one with his mouth wide open. I'm sure we'll have plenty of pictures of it in the next few months. Levi is two months old now, and is doing great. He seems to be following the growth curves of his brother and sister, so we'll have another tall, skinny kid. He loves his bathtime now and gets quite a workout every night in the bath, kicking and waving his arms.

Dinosaur Land

2008-09-22T09:47:00.000-07:00

In an attempt to get Wyatt out of the house, we took a trip to Tucson Botanical Gardens last week for their special "Dig" exhibit. Wyatt would rather stay home and play than go anywhere, and my attempts to run errands, go shopping, or even go out to do something fun, are often met with resistance (translation: crying, whining, complaining). Unfortunately, the stay home and play turns into too many hours of movies and computer games, so I decided we had to get out. We made it to storytime at the library one day, and to the Botanical Gardens another day. The dinosaur exhibit was fun, although not very extensive. They had a little treasure hunt set up throughout the gardens, and when we solved the puzzle, we were rewarded with...rocks. Okay, they were pretty cool petrified wood rocks, but I thought Wyatt was a little disappointed with his treasure. I changed my mind after we got home and he was telling Madison all about how it used to be wood and then it got buried in the ground for a long, long, long time and then it turned into rocks. I had never been to the botanical gardens before, and I actually liked it more than I thought I would. I think it would be even more impressive in the spring when more things are in bloom. We are planning to go back when they have their butterfly exhibit starting in November.

The Life of a Mother...

2008-09-18T08:36:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Wyatt said, "Mom, the only time you can sit still is when you are feeding the baby, huh?" So I asked him, "What do I do the rest of the time?"
"You just clean the house and curl your hair."
I guess that's my life these days (although there's really not much hair curling going on).

Levi's Blessing Day

2008-09-09T08:04:00.000-07:00

Levi was blessed by his dad on Sunday. It was a great day! Darin gave him a beautiful blessing, and we were happy to have so much family there. Grandnana and Papa came from Las Vegas, Aunt Janet came from Dallas, Chelsea came from LA, Nana from Gilbert, Grandpa Bruce from Chandler, the Lichlyters from Yuma, the Prices from Tucson, the Kluvers/Parisots from Vail, and the Elams from Tucson and Sahuarita. We appreciate all the miles traveled to be with us on our special day. When Darin and all of the other priesthood holders circled around Levi for the blessing, it hit me how blessed my children are to have that amazing circle of support and love that includes many generations. After the blessing, we all gathered at our house for a lunch of Hawaiian Haystacks and Sweet and Sour Meatballs. And we all put away lots of cookies!

The day before the blessing, we went on an excursion to Madera Canyon to have a picnic dinner and let the kids run and play. Nana and Papa hit the root beer pretty hard. The kids loved hiking and playing by the creek. Ethan fell in the water and soaked his shorts, but somehow his feet stayed completely dry. The kids even saw a few bear caves, and Lindsay was sure she saw the bear! These cousins get along so well. I love it when we have an excuse to get them together.

I Didn't Mean To!

2008-09-08T14:30:00.001-07:00

So a few days ago, Madison and Wyatt were playing in the back yard. Since our back yard is just dirt for now, it usually turns into some play of this variety. When I went outside to check on them and see what they were up to, I saw this Wyatt, and the first words out of Madison's mouth were, "I didn't mean to!" I'm not sure how Wyatt got mud so perfectly placed in his face, but I'm sure it was purely accidental. Just like she "accidentally" pulled his hair the other day...hair that is about 1/4 inch long. She only looks sweet and innocent!

Favorite Quotes

2008-08-28T12:56:00.000-07:00

I was going through some papers the other day, and I came across this:

I got this quote from someone when I was in college, and I had it hanging on my bulletin board all through my college years. When I saw it again, I remembered why it's one of my favorite quotes. I like that there is nobody--of the billions of people in the entire world--that is exactly the same, and those things that are different about each of us can be used to enrich our lives and the lives of others, even to make the world a better place. Since I quit working a few months ago to become a full-time stay-at-home mom, I think I sometimes don't feel like I'm making a difference in the world. Deep down I know that my influence is more important and my impact is longer lasting in my new job than my former, but you sure don't get frequent accolades or reassurance of a job well done. This quote was a huge reminder to me that it is my "unique strengths" that qualify me for this job...and that nobody else has exactly the same "insight" and "passion" to be a mother to my children. I'm sure I have long since been replaced at my former job, but I still have lots of work to do here at home.

I have always admired people who are very involved in community programs and volunteer in so many capacities. Someday, when my children are a little more independent, I have aspirations to expand my influence beyond the walls of my home. I will find my mission "to make the world a better place" and get involved in causes that I care about. For now, I am content to be at home and care for my babies (and type all of this one-handed because Levi wants to be held!).

What is your favorite quote?

Levi's One Month Old!

2008-08-25T10:40:00.000-07:00

Levi is already a month old. I took him in to get his pictures taken last week. and literally the day before his appointment all of the hair on the top of his head fell out, he got a serious case of dandruff, and he broke out with baby acne all over his face. Oh well, the pictures turned out really cute. I'll share them after we get them back. But he's doing great. He's growing bigger and starting to be more active and alert. He's happy most of the time. We are still trying to coax that first real smile out of him. We are all loving having him as a part of our family. Here's a bunch of pictures for our far-away family.

Thanks for the cute blanket, Larissa!

Madera Canyon

2008-08-23T08:46:00.001-07:00

We went on a family outing to Madera Canyon this week. Madera Canyon is a great hiking and picnic area that's not too far from our new house. It was so pretty up there. We saw a couple of deer and all kinds of cool bugs. We saw plants and trees that weren't covered in thorns and even some mushrooms and other assorted fungi. There is a little creek that is dry most of the year, but it was running from the Monsoon rains when we were there. We picked Madison up from school in the 98 degree heat and headed up to the canyon, where it was in the 70's. It was so nice to be outside and not feel like we were cooking! The kids loved to run around out there. They have been too cooped up all summer in this crazy AZ!

Our whole family...even Levi is hiding somewhere in there. He did great for his first outing in the baby carrier.

Dad helped Madison and Wyatt cross the stream, and we didn't even have any wet-shoe mishaps!

Our cute Madison!

This was Madison's first time holding Levi while standing up. No problem, right? I stayed close!

I can ride my bike with no training wheels, no training wheels...

2008-08-11T12:57:00.001-07:00

Another thing to add to my "She's growing up too fast" list...the training wheels came off last night! We dug out the knee and elbow pads, then Darin chased her around trying to stay close enough to catch her if she was going down. The first stop surprised her. She put on the brakes and the bike immediately tipped over. She was able to catch herself though, and then she figured out how to brake and then put her foot down. She cruised around for a little while with no major mishaps. A little more practice, and that will be one more step of growing up that we can officially check off!

Invasion!

2008-08-06T12:33:00.000-07:00

We are being invaded by these nasty things! If any of you have called me in the last couple of days, you've probably heard all about them, because Wyatt tells anyone who will listen about the "catepittars." The pediatrician and the AC service guy were especially impressed. We first saw them on the way to church on Sunday. They were all over the road by the church. Then by that night, they had found our cul-de-sac. They are coming out of the desert by our house by the hundreds. There were about 30 on our driveway yesterday, and 10 crawling up our mailbox, and one had crawled up the house almost to the roof. They are everywhere in the rocks, and we watched one devour a leaf of a weed in our backyard in about 3 seconds. I ran over one when I backed out of the garage, and its guts shot about two feet. Our driveway is covered in slime, either from them being squished, or from the green substance they emit (I'm not sure which end it comes from) when they are threatened.

My fearless hunter. Stepping on them would be too easy. Wyatt is using a metal bat to squish them.

Madison took over the bat. Wyatt now has a plastic sand toy that he covers them with and says, "Now you can't see your friends!"

First Day of First Grade

2008-08-06T10:43:00.000-07:00

Here she is! My big girl, on her first day of first grade. We do uniforms at our school, so it kind of takes the fun out of school clothes shopping, but at least she got some pink converse shoes with little hearts all over them to jazz up her outfit a little. We added a pink glitter headband to maximize the pink factor, and a girly brown and turquoise butterfly backpack, and all in all, the uniform isn't too bad! She had a great first day, and the first thing she asked is if she gets to go back tomorrow.

Back to School...Let's Party!

2008-08-06T09:40:00.000-07:00

Madison was so excited to start first grade...seemed like a great reason to celebrate! Sunday night, Darin taught the kids how to play Uno in honor of starting 1st grade. Then we attempted to document the day on video, but our video camera wasn't cooperating. We had big slices of yummy Jello Poke Cake that Madison helped make. Then we topped off the evening with a back to school blessing from Dad.

Monday afternoon was "Meet and Greet" at the school where we got to go and meet Madison's teacher and see the classroom. Her teacher is Ms. Kastigar. From the few minutes I spent with her, I was really impressed. This will be her third year teaching, and she seems so excited. The classroom is set up really nice. The kids have their own desks, different from the kindergarten tables. Madison sits next to a girl that was on her soccer team last year. She says, "That's good I get to sit by Ashley so she can keep me safe and I can keep her safe." I'm not exactly sure what they have to keep each other safe from, but I am glad she knows someone in her class. There are also two kids that used to be in our ward and two kids that were in her class last year. I kept waiting for her to express some sort of apprehension about school, but she never did. She just wants to go! It's funny what being in a classroom environment does to kids. We walked in and she started pointing to posters that were hanging around the room and telling me all kinds of things--like counting to 100 by 10's--that I have been trying to practice with her all summer. She hasn't really been interested at home, but as soon as we step in the classroom, she is ready to learn!

Levi Thomas Elam

2008-07-27T16:32:00.000-07:00

Hi Everybody! I've had a couple of people bugging me for months to start a blog, but I haven't gotten around to it. Then I thought I should have something exciting to post as my very first entry, so I've been waiting for some excitement in our lives. Well, I can't think of anything more exciting than the birth of a new baby, so I guess my excuses are gone now. Anyway, we are very happy to have Levi Thomas join our family. He has been such a sweet baby so far. His brother and sister adore him. Wyatt pats his head and says, "Cute little boy" over and over. Madison loves to hold him and kiss him. I wasn't sure I was ready for a newborn again, but I have spent way too many hours this week just sitting and holding him, and loving every minute of it!