the prize makes it all worthwhile

elise's "my little pony" tatoo from the dentist

i tip my hat

when i got home shortly after midnight from my all evening crop, cory had done so much to get the house clean. he's amazing! he's quick, he's thorough, he's effective, he's productive...and he does it all with a smile and a good attitude. so i tip my hat you you, babe!

scrapbooking

last night i went to a "crop", which for anyone not into scrapbooking (i cringe to even think that's a possibility), is a party where you just bring all your scrapbooking stuff and work on your books all night. this one was from 7-12 at night. i got there about 7:30 and left around 11:30 and got seven pages done. i could have done more, but some people there really were in the mood to show me things (like pictures of theirs and stuff). i enjoyed that part too...that's part of the whole crop experience. last night, however, i was in a power cropping mood and didn't particularly want to do anything that took away from that. (i did manage to take a break long enough to scarf down some brownies!) none of my close friends went, which was not as fun. i got to know some new people and get to know several people better, but i did miss my crew! i'm thrilled to be as close to caught up as i am on the kids books. i've gotten to august 2004 in elise's book & september 2004 in ian's....i'm almost there....

dentist

elise's first dentist appointment was yesterday. we had prepped and prepared her and she was very excited. she woke up before 6 and immediately asked me, "are you ready to take me to the dentist?" wow! anyway, her appointment wasn't until around noon, so we had a while to wait! we got there and pretty soon the hygenist took us back. she let elise climb up into the chair and showed her how it moved up and back. elise like that pretty good and smiled a bit. you could tell she was a little nervous too, though. the fun kind of took a back seat right here...the lady wanted elise to open her mouth. elise flatly refused to open, would not even look at the hygenist, and kept shooting ugly looks at me. after some encouraging and cajoling (and the promise of a prize at the end) elise opened up for her. i have to say, the lady was sooooo good. she really handled the situation beautifully and with ease. an example: when she finally got elise to open up, she gushed, "oh my! look at these beautiful, white teeth. what a pretty smile you have! and to think, you weren't even going to show me these pretty things. you were going to keep them to yourself! they look great!" she put elise at ease and helped warm her up and make her feel good. they didn't do a formal cleaning, just mainly got elise comfortable with the idea of a dentist and what happens. she told elise that next time she would "tickle her teeth" and showed her what she would use. she even "tickled" elise finger with it so she could feel it. elise really did fabulously. and she got a new barbie toothbrush, spongebob toothpaste (ian even got to pick out some too!) and then she got two prizes at the end--a bouncy ball and a my little pony tatoo. i think it was a positive experience & elise is already looking forward to having her teeth tickled and getting two tatoos next time!

mischief

so far this morning ian has put straight pins down in my sewing machine and then stripped down to his birthday suit & painted much of his body (private parts included) with toothpaste. then he climbed into the bathtub (fully clothed) while i brushed elise's teeth and proceeded to turn on the water! dare i ask, "what next?"

refreshing

yesterday ian was doing something funny. he recently figured out how to scoot the kitchen chairs around so that he could climb up onto things and create more mischief. so yesterday he scooted his chair over to the refrigerator and stuck his head in to the ice/water thing. he would push his head against the thing to make freezing cold water come out, soaking his head. he laughed and laughed--it was great fun!

bambi

we sat down to watch some of bambi as a family yesterday. as we were getting started, cory commented that he wasn't sure if he'd ever seen bambi all the way through. there is a very long "tour of the woods" opening sequenc,e where there is nothing but soft music and trees...and more trees. after that cory said, "no wonder i've never seen the whole thing!" but as we continued, very shortly thereafter a reference is made to bambi, calling him "the little prince". cory halted the show and goes, "wait! you mean to tell me that bambi is a boy?" after some laughther, he goes, "who names a boy, bambi?" we decided it was true that he'd never watched the whole bambi movie before!

poopy

after wiping elise's poopy the other day, cory mentioned to her that she might want to learn to wipe herself off. she looked at him with utter disgust and said, "nooooooooo!" cory was like, "well, why not?" elise, still disgusted said, "because its gross!" hmmmmm.....

girls night out

last night elise & i went to eat at Tripps for "girls night out". on the way there we were playing games in the car. (elise loves to play games in the car, like "i spy", "i'm thinking of a person", "rhyming game" or whatever) one of her favorites is "joking game". this is not one of my favorites. it entails elise telling jokes like this, "knock knock...who's there?.....bathtub....bathtub who.....bathtub microphone." then i am required to laugh my hardest and then tell one of my own. i don't have a large repertoire of jokes, so pretty quickly my jokes degrade to the elise brand of knock knocks (i.e. ones that have no point and make no sense). this could go one for quite sometime. so last night elise wanted to play this game. i told her, "elise, let's play something else. i'm not very good at the joking game." she responded, "yes you are mama. come on mom, just tell one." i tried again, to get out of it, but elise would have none of that. she said, "you're great at this game, mom. and i promise i'll laugh at your jokes!" that did it, right there. she was so earnest and sincere, how could i not tell one! and she did as promised. she laughed like i had actually told something funny!

we had fun at tripps. she ordered spaghetti, i had the chicken stir-fry. both were delicious. i thought i would die laughing at her slurping up one long spaghetti noodle at a time, in true "lady and the tramp" fashion. it was cute. she was very neat, though, and kept her napkin in her lap throughout the meal. we had a great time--just the girls! on the way home we swung through the mcdonald's drive-thru for ice cream for elise (vanilla), which she thought was delicious. then she had me speak things in spanish all the way home. the spanish thing actually seemed to be the highlight for her (go figure). next time we'll just drive around for an hour speaking spanish and save the time and money. but seriously, we really had a nice time!

mistress mary quite contrary...

...how does you garden grow? this year i have a garden. thanks to daddy and his borrowed tiller, we dug up a section of our yard and planted a garden. it may not be the biggest, it may not be the most professional, it may not be the best....but it is a garden, by george, and that counts for something! i've planted, weeded and watered. so far i have blooms on my tomatoes, one grape-sized green pepper, and everything else appears to be thriving. below are pictures of where we came from and where we are now.

in the beginning.... 

garden beans from early on... 

garden beans today 

my tomato plants today...blooming fiercely 

my garden today 6-01-2005 

cory's baby-sitting

i had a dentist appointment today at 12:20. cory graciously agreed to watch the children at his office for a couple of hours. so we left home about 11, drove into town, swung by mcdonalds for nuggets and fries and pulled up in front of cory's building. cory took the kids on up & i drove off to the dentist. you can imagine what the rest of my day was like. meanwhile back at the office, ian slept a little, elise played "abskids" (www.pbskids.org), they ate lunch. at some point they must have gotten tired of that routine, and being at the office, their entertainment was limited. so cory began letting them send papers through the paper shredder. apparently this was great fun...for a while. but eventually they had to kick the fun up a notch. they started getting out the shredded "confetti" and would sling it into the air, yelling "surprise" with each toss. cory actually let them do this for a while, but all good things must come to an end. only elise & ian didn't want it to end. eventually, after not listening, they each got a talking to which left elise crying for her mom...at which point ian (somewhat oblivious up til now) began crying for his mom. (that was something he would jump on board for!) it think all were ready for this little escapade to end: however, tonight everyone has agreed to try it again sometime!

i remembered!

a little while back, elise did something that got her in trouble. she came to me after a few minutes and apologized very sweetly. i told her it was okay and that i loved her. she kind of scrutinized my face and asked, "are you still mad at me?" i said, "no honey, it's okay. i'm not upset with you." she looked at me again and then asked, "then why are your eyebrows still up?"

under the bamboo tree

i have been asked about the title of this blog. under the bamboo tree is a song i learned at girls camp as a teenager. as i was setting up this blog, i had to choose a title for it and this song is the first thing that popped into my head. so here are the words...

the cannibal king with the big nose ring
fell in love with the dusting maid,
and every night by the pale moonlight
across the lake he came
with a hug and a kiss
for his pretty little miss
under the bamboo tree
and every night by the pale moonight
it sounded like this to me--
ba-room *kiss*kiss*
ba-room *kiss*kiss*
under the bamboo tree
ba-room *kiss*kiss*
ba-room *kiss*kiss*
honey won't ya marry me?

we'll build a bungalow
big enough for two
big enough for two, my honey,
big enough for two.
and when we're married, happy we'll be
under the bamboo,
under the bamboo tree.

if you be m-i-n-e, mine
i'll be t-h-i-n-e, thine
and i'll l-o-v-e, love you
all the t-i-m-e, time.
you're the b-e-s-t, best
of all the r-e-s-t, rest
and i'll l-o-v-e you
all the t-i-m-e time!

rack 'em up,
stack 'em up
any ol' time!

beach bums

yesterday we spent the day at the beach. we planned to leave at 9 which ended up being 9:30. then i had a flat tire. then we had to make a bathroom break. then we had to stop for gas. we finally got to the beach around noon or so. logan & ethan dug a hole (about 5 feet deep) and logan climbed in and got buried up to his neck for pictures. while he dug out & rinsed off, adam & ethan went out in the ocean. elise spent most of her time at the water's edge, playing with madi, emmy & amber. they found shells, ran around, played imaginary games & ate amanda's food. ian really wanted to play on the sand dunes--the ones that say you'll be charged with a $500.00 fine, if caught on them! he loves to run to the top and wave! it's cute, but not $500.00 cute! oh well! we teased ethan about his tan. his head & body looked mismatched where his face was so tan, but his chest was so....not! we all got a little sun, though. ethan had a strange pattern of applying sunblock. he has a burnt stripe and a few burnt spots on his chest/belly. nice....;). logan forgot to apply to his face, so he's pink on his cheeks and nose. somehow i missed quite a bit on ian. i don't know if he had sand on him or what. he didn't like it, but i got him coated (or so i thought). i even reapplied & he still got burnt. not badly, but definitely red. elise has a few spots on her face. (like under her eyes, by her nose). i have some places on my feet and backs of my legs. i don't think adam got burnt at all, now that i think about it. he must be the ace sunblock applier! we had a fun day, and were tired & hungry by the end, but it was nice. there's nothing like a day at the beach....

trampoline

the boys are down visiting tonight. we spent the evening on the trampoline having a blast. there were several cool games we played--trying to "pop" each other out of a fetal hugging position (i think they called it cracking the egg), & jumping high to catch air. it was so fun. i couldn't stop laughing. the four of us sibs, all did a flip. actually, cory wasn't too impressed and said it was more of a sommersault (whatever the difference is). but either way, it was fun! there was one point where i was looking around trying to figure out who the grown-up was. maybe sometimes there isn't one!

blogger block

i was going to post a cute elise story, but i clean forgot! it's driving me crazy too. it's not that it's that big of deal, but it's right on the tip of my tongue & i can't quite get it. so pray for my memory!

new look

i decided after almost six months on the blog scene, it was time for an update! so what do you think of the new look?

the k list

so oprah has the o list...i have the k list. here are a few of my new favorite things....

1. country crock's spreads--cinnamon swirl & strawberry. they have only 60 calories/tbsp. and taste delicious. it's not just an ordinary piece of toast with these around. also great on bagels or biscuits.

2. philadelphia cream cheese--cinnamon swirl, fat-free strawberry, & honey nut. all are really tasty and make a great, healthy breakfast. strawberry is probably the best.

3. sun-dried tomatoes--can't live without them. they are a great addition to almost any dish. they make spaghetti sauce sizzle, they are great in an chicken romano dish, add them to squash and it will rock. they really make an ordinary dish outstanding!

4. kraft light done right raspberry vinaigrette--wow! need i say more? you'll be eating salads weekly, if not daily with this stuff. you won't eat salad without this stuff. once you taste this, you can't go back to anything else.

5. arby's chicken bacon and swiss sandwich--this is my all time favorite sandwich anywhere. get an extra container of honey mustard sauce and add to your sandwich. that will make it rock your world. i'm here to tell you. this sandwich is fabulous.

a rant about fast food

we went through the wendy's drive-thru for lunch today. the lady asks to take my order & i begin. "i'd like one 5 piece chicken nugget and two value fries." i look at the screen and it says that i have ordered FOUR chicken nuggets. so i say, "ma'am, i wanted one five piece nugget." she replies (in a tone that says, 'how stupid do you think i am?') "i have that already. what else?" this is where i start to get annoyed. i didn't really appreciate her tone, for one. and i thought maybe she really did have the correct order, since sometimes those screens are delayed or wrong altogether. so i contine, ordering a mediterranean chicken salad with low-fat honey mustard dressing & three waters. the four nuggets are still showing up, but after the snippy tone i got last time, decide to pull on around. when i get to the window, a different woman reaffirms that my total is still over ten dollars, including the four chicken nuggets. i reply that i tried to tell the other lady that my order was for one and she said she had it, but that i still only wanted the one five piece nugget. she calls the order lady over to fix it. when she gets to the window, in a snippy little tone, she begins, "you only want one nugget?" "yes", i reply. she comes back with, "well, i heard four, " (implying that maybe i don't know what i want or what i ordered.) i repeat the story of how i had tried to tell her that i only wanted one but we were just having trouble communicating over the speaker. (i was trying to give her some credit and even take on some of the blame. she wasn't interested in my good will gestures.) she condescendingly says, "well, i heard four both times. we all heard four every time." this is where i tune her out and tell her off in my mind, "listen here, woman! i don't care what you heard. obviously you heard wrong because i only said one. and since i'm the one who knows what i want, that makes me right. so why don't you cut the crap, lose the attitude and shut your mouth unless you can say, 'thank you, have a nice day' pleasantly and hand me my food." so there, drive-thru moron!

throw up

ian threw up first thing this morning. that's always a good sign that you might want to just crawl back in bed. normally that might have worked, except this morning ian threw up in the bed! not really the place you want to be. of course he had to have just drank red raspberry diet rite, therefore my white sheets were now stained a nice (slightly chunky) red. great! i immediately stripped the sheet, began washing them, and sprayed bleach on the red spot on my down matress pad. i put clean sheets on the bed and (sort of) made the bed. oh--did i mention i was holding ian all during this time. yes, the poor thing wanted to be cuddled. (honestly, i can't imagine why. when i puke i want to be as far away from humankind as possible. i really would like the earth to swallow me whole, at that moment...) he slept quite a bit, waking up only to throw up again. he's also been feverish, but seems some better tonight. he's still sick, but he's perkier than before. in contemplating the puking thing, i've realized that elise handles the situation to my liking. she says, "i feel like i'm going to throw up." i bring her a bucket. she pukes. i empty the bucket. ian doesn't do things so well. he wants me to hold him. he'd really like to throw up on my clothes if he could. he freaks out. he cries. he can't seem to get it out. he finally does. he cries some more. basically he throws up sort of like me. which is why i don't handle him doing it well. actually i think if i were being graded on my reaction to throwing up, i would get a "B". i don't go into full-blown panic attack, i don't run away, i don't scream. i deal with it. but i don't get down & dirty with me. part of me is still keeping my distance. GROSS!

Drama Class

This is my first time posting, i just wanted to post about an interseting day at school today. Today I had my Drama play for Drama class. It was pretty interesting, performing in front about 25 people in the auditorium. I got to play an army sergeant who was applying for a job at a company. I loose the job and then through a threat, end up getting the job. I forgot about 1/4 of my lines, but the play turned out well. I just wanted to see if anyone had any interesting performance stories from high school or anything! I only wish i had some pcitures to go with the amazing performance...haha!

let the drama continue

well....we started the day off with a bang--or maybe a barf! that would be ian who did that. try and contain your anticipation....details will follow!

siblings

siblings are just a great thing....

 

 

spills

lunch was chaotic today. first, we'd been out visiting teaching since 9:30, not making it home until 1:00. the kids had snacked on crackers, but basically we were all starving! so i heated up some corn on the cob and began making me a tomato sandwich. first ian got the smoked sausages out of the refrigerator and threw them on the floor. then the exterminator came to spray & inspect the house. then milo peed on the floor from the excitement of it all. at long last i went back to making my sandwich, buttering & salting corn & so on. we had just sat down & began eating, when elise reminded me that i'd forgotten drinks for us all. i got those while elise & ian *ahem* "discussed" where each other were going to sit. then ian wanted elise's drink b/c he put his in the floor....and so it went. we, at long last, were all eating our food when ian got mad about his drink again and intentionally spilled it across the table. he was in time out when i sat back down to finish. i was taking my last bite when i spilled my water all over elise's plate! i was thinking, sweet mercy, someone end the madness!

happy birthday

as most of you know, saturday was my birthday. i kind of put a lot of stock in birthdays. for me it's like my own personal christmas (no sacrilege intended). i like to be made over...be the star of the show. some people just don't think they're that big of a deal, and that's fine--go with what works for you. for me i like a big to do. cory did a wonderful job this year. he got me something i've wanted since childhood--a trampoline! woohoo! he brought it home from work on friday and set it up right away. we've had the best time jumping on it--all of us. the kids think it's great, and aside from the fact that i love it, anything that entertains the kids is a winner in my book! cory also recruited elise that night to help him wrap a few little presents for me to open (b/c every one wants to open something, right?) and blow up balloons. then they put the balloons up all over the house, put a birthday banner up on the wall, and wrote cute messages to me on the window with window paint. then he stayed up late friday making a birthday cake for me--dark chocolate with added chocolate chips frosted with vanilla and cream cheese frosting. he also decorated it with red frosting. it was so great--and delicious too! on saturday we got up early (elise & i) and jumped on the trampoline. when ian got up, cory brought him out and we jumped some more. cory had bought some silly string & those confetti poppers and we had fun with those (elise & i more so than ian...) then he brought out the presents and we opened those. i got some gardening items, a cool squishy pillow, some salsa bowls, and a few other odds and ends. after we'd opened everything & cleaned up the silly string & confetti & paper stuff, we went inside. cory had bought candles (a pack of 24 and one big one that played happy birthday) b/c i like to blow out the correct number of candles each year. the cake was "scrumdelicious" as elise says. after some housework we loaded up the car and spent the day at the beach. the weather was nice...a little cool, but still fun. after the beach we went and ate at one of our favorite seafood restaurants from when we used to live down that way. delicious, melt in your mouth shrimp, crisp huspuppies, golden fries...okay my stomach's growling now! it was the best! i have to say that my birthday was wonderful from start to finish! thanks to a wonderful family for making it that way!

neighbors

call me unsocial, call me a recluse, call me unfriendly....whatever it is, i don't like neighborhoods. i don't like subdivions. maybe it's from being raised in the country, with no other houses in sight, but i don't like having neighbors! for the last six years i've lived in places like this, but i'm still not used to it. i have lots of friends that i do things with, but i'm just not into the whole neighbor thing. i like to hang out in our yard by ourselves. i like to plant my flowers without people watching, i like to play with my kids without others around. but be that as it may, we do live in a neighborhood with, you guessed it, neighbors. so early last week our neighbor of about 5 or 6 months invited me and my kids over for lunch. she & her husband have a 2 1/2 year old daughter, so our lives are at similar places. it was so very nice of her to invite us, and the lunch was surprisingly pleasant. she had fixed pb&j sandwiches, egg salad sandwiches, salad, fruit, chips, and so on. any of you who know me well, know that i'm a little *ahem* funny about food. (like, i throw the milk out on the date on the carton, i'm careful about cooking, cleanliness, and so on...) so i was nervous about the meal. it turned out to be okay. nothing i'm going to rave over, but nice. (i was not pleased about the salad dressing, though. i always eat lite dressings. if you eat the regular kind, in my opinion, it defeats the purpose of eating a salad.) but back to the story. the lunch was nice, her daughter was nice--it was a pleasant experience. i learned that i have really intereresting neighbors. her husband teaches high school german. she taught physics for 8 years before she had her little girl. she has been on teaching/religious missions to every continent. she lived in china for 6 months. it really made me rethink my reclusive behavior. i'm not sure that i'll become best friends with this lady. i don't really even think she's someone i'll hang out with. but it is nice to have a friendly face next door. i'm still a country girl at heart, but maybe there could be something to this neighborhood thing after all.

******just a side note, elise was really excited about our lunch appointment with our neighbor, only she kept saying, "i can't wait to go eat with our neighborhood!" cutie! =)

alice samper

just an update i'm sure you've been anxiously awaiting....alice samper has a new name. her name is now rainbow, as elise has informed us. to quote her, "her name is rainbow....just rainbow. her name is zero alice samper, only rainbow."

there is something about her eyes

several years ago when cory & i were dating (we'd probably only gone out about 3 months at this point) and we were getting ready to go to a carolina basketball game. cory was playing around with a yo-yo and in the process knocked me square in the eye. i mean, nailed me good. he felt terrible (and so did my eye) but it was okay...never bruised or anything. then yesterday while hanging out with amanda and crew, she clocked me right in the eye with a frisbee (at close range)! again, no bruise or anything....go i guess i'm lucky that way...i think....

Fun at the creek! Working on the dam, looking at the fish, skipping rocks, roasting hot dogs over the fire, swinging on the ropes, playing in the water!

well, one time i....

i used to wonder why women always talked about pregancy & labor & delivery. it seemed like everyone always had a story to tell of what happened to them or someone they knew. i just didn't get it. now that i've had kids, i sooooo get it! i love a great pregnancy or birthing story. i could listen to all the gory details, all the aches and pains, and never get bored. it's so entertaining. i can't quite put my finger on why i like the stories so much, but i do. i equally love telling my own stories. there is something so fascinating about the birthing process. so yes, i am now one of those women who i used to look at in puzzlement (and yes, sometimes annoyance) as they pulled yet another birthing story out of their hat. speaking of which, one time when i was in labor....

its just the same old news

last night i was listening to a tape of a radio program. i had gotten out of the car to go to a meeting & when i got back in began listening to the program again. almost immediately the hourly news came on the tape. somewhere about this time i forgot i was listening to an old tape & thought i was listening to live news. i listened about Pope john paul's funeral mass, the michael jackson prosecution, and the funeral of prince ranier of monacco among other things, still thinking i was listening to live news. i thought, "wow! there's still services for pope john paul? i thought that was over. did i miss something? has the new pope already died?" and then i thought, "the prosecution? i thought the defense had already started their case? maybe they're just cross-examining....." you get the picture. it was not until about the last 30 seconds of the broadcast that i realized i had been listening to a tape of old news! oh well....

laundry, laundry, laundry

that's what been going on around here the last couple of days. we've been trying to dig out from under all the stuff we brought back from our trips! i think i folded (at least) 5 loads of laundry, maybe more. there are still 3 loads left to do! wow! you should have seen the bed with all those folded clothes. monday i was at the point where i would rather move to a new house, than clean this one up. housework is the never-ending story....

mothers day

i had a great mothers day yesterday. cory was out of town most of the week, getting back late last night. but elise had really expresed interest in getting me something for mothers day. so with cory gone we improvised. i took the kids to walmart and had them "pick out" something for me. with elise i chose several pairs of flip flops that were my size and then she chose the ones she liked the best. with ian i picked out a couple of little purses and elise held them up for him to choose. he actually picked one out. it was so cute and sweet. ian was pretty oblivious, but elise was excited when mothers day rolled around that she had something to give me. since i was in mt. airy with my mom, she was sweet to take time to have the kids make cards for me. the each wrote or scribbled their own message to me on them. very sweet. i think this mothers day was the best yet, b/c i felt like my kids really were a part of it. before they've been too young to really get it. but elise did this year and that made all the difference. she made stuff for me in church and sang with the primary kids and i was so proud to me her mom! it was great. when he got home, cory had me a beautiful bouquet of flowers--one of the prettiest i've had in a while--and a sweet card with some money inside. the card was the best one i've ever seen. it was just precious! i've posted pictures below. he also had me packs of my favorite chewing gum. a successful mothers day all around!

front 

inside 

build-a-bear

friday was elise's actual birthday, so we went to build-a-bear. she's been interested in it ever since we made one for her cousin charles allen when he was born. we had so much fun. elise picked out a purple rainbow bear. she fell in love with it. there was no question that she was going to choose it, once she saw the colors! elise stuffed, washed dressed and named the bear all by herself. she chose the name alice samper. but you can't just call it alice and you even have to be careful if you space alice and samper too far apart when you say them. its more like alicesamper. don't worry, she will let you know if you say it wrong! she chose a little shirt for it, a pair of awesome sunglasses and a backpack (or pack pack, as she calls it) to go along too. the lady also gave her some ribbons for alice samper's ears and some goodies since it was her birthday. alice samper got star treatment the rest of the day. she even got a seat with us on the carousel in the mall and a prime spot at the lunch table. (the same table where we spent probably a good 10-12 dollars on overpriced mall food and ended up throwing 8-10 dollars worth in the trash can b/c the kids were too excited to eat much!) but it really was a fun day for all of us!

giving the new bear a bath... 

choosing a name (alice samper) and finishing up! 

getting ready to ride home...we're all ready, even alice samper! 

chugga-chugga choo choo

another elise-ism for the day...we've been talking about potty training ian. she's got the concept down pretty good, just not the "phraseology". she mentioned to someone that we were going to teach ian to use the potty train. =)

the germs continue

we still have sickness over here....mostly sniffly noses and deep coughs. we're ready for this bout to end!

the birthday bash

elise's birthday party was yesterday. we had it at the place where she takes gymnastics. it was a lot of fun. for an hour the kids (about eight total) got to run, stretch, do an obstacle course, jump on the trampoline, and play with the parachute. the kids could get lots of energy out & had a blast doing it. elise enjoyed showing everyone where she takes gymnastics and getting to show off some of her tricks! the trampoline was obviously a highlight for everyone. little marleigh was especially cute trying to copy what the big kids were doing. the best was when they were trying to do full circle jumps. she looked like a broken record about halfway down...she had the circle thing going--jumping and spinning for all she was worth--just with no forward momentum! ian was funny on it too. he was like a streak of lightning from one end to the other! at the beginning, emmy was so busy checking up on all her adoring fans, she could hardly concentrate on what she was actually supposed to be doing. =) ericka was a trip, too. she thought every turn was her turn. that going to the back of the line was a tricky thing to get down pat! i got a kick out of watching her forward roll too! it was more of a full body launch down the wedge, but it was cute! dallen & victoria were especially good, being the older kids there. kyleigh, also had good coordination--probably from all her dance lessons. after all the gymnastics fun, we had chips, cake , & drinks. then elise got to be the star and open her presents. she got lots of really neat things that she has enjoyed playing with. i think this was one of the best gift years. the toys were all perfect & something that she has enjoyed immensely since yesterday. it was especially great since most of the cousins came over and played at our house after the party. the toys kept them entertained for hours--literally! all in all i'd have to say it was a resounding success. a good time was had by all.....

ericka did her own thing! 

dallen was a great jumper! 

little marleigh jumping her heart out... 

emmy doing a tuck jump.... 

kyleigh doing a straddle jump... 

admiring one of her presents... 

sliding down a slide in the obstacle course... 

a balancing act...elise on the balance beam! 

ian streaking from one end of the trampoline to the other! 

straddle jumps on the trampoline... 

The Three "E"'s (ericka, elise, & emmy) running in circles..... 

elise on the bars...