Worth Living

I adore my children as every mother should. I think because I was so young when I had Emma and my life was so chaotic then, I didn't enjoy as many of life's little moments with her. It makes me a little sad. But I try not to dwell. I also think it makes me cherish the moments I have with Elliot a lot more. Elliot and I fell asleep in the recliner by the fire a while back and Emma took these pictures of us. What a sweet and wonderful girl, my Emma is! Thank you Emma for preserving this moment for me and Elliot!









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Location:The Compound

Too Much Pink?

NEVER!!!! ;o)

Cameron's Dad, Richard, bought Elliot a little pink Radio Flyer tricycle for her birthday. We were hoping to get the red one in the event that we have another child and it is a boy, we would be able to pass it down. But alas, we have a pink one and the odds seem to be on getting another girl anyway, so I'm sure it will all work out in the end.

Anyway, since Elliot's birthday is in November and most of the days have been cold since then we've mostly just been letting her ride it in the house. [thank goodness for wood floors! ;) ] but with the nice weather over the last two weeks we've moved or daily life outdoors and that includes the pink trike too!

You don't really think about all of the pink one little girl has until you see her on her pink trike in a pink dress, pink bow abandoned somewhere in the yard, as well as the pink flip flops left on the trampoline. One might ask, "Too much pink?" And our response will forever be "NEVER!!!"

Momma's Always Right!

Last Sunday we had dinner with all of our wonderful family at my sister Sarah's house. It was great to see everyone and have a chance to share a meal and enjoy each others company.

It had been warm most of last week, unseasonably warm for February, and on Sunday evening the weather was great again. But it's STILL February! Emma had been chattering all week about swimming at Aunt Sarah's house. Sarah and I both told her many times that while the days may feel warm, the pool would still be like ice. Never mind the fact that we were there for dinner, making it evening, and thus cooler anyway.

There are some things that children just need to learn on their own, and I believe this falls into that category, Sarah kindly found a swimsuit for Emma, and Emma was ready to dive in!

Location:Arlington, Texas

Bored, Bored or Both

Cameron has been modifying one of his little 50 cc motorcycles. Don't ask me what he's doing to it exactly, because to be quite honest, I only half listen. [and only completely don't care! ;o)] A few weeks ago he sent the engine block to some guy, so he could have it bored. Which I do know means he made part of the block larger, but it's purpose beyond that, I have not a clue. Anyway, on Thursday we received the block back in the mail and Cameron was inspecting the work, at the table, after dinner.

Elliot was immediately interested and went over to watch her Daddy. Unprovoked and out of the blue, she tells Cameron, "It's so pretty!" Her voice was so sincere and excited, you knew she was speaking honestly and from her little confused heart! ;o)

As I watched Elliot interacting with her Daddy, I could see the joy in his face. His heart was melting for this little girl that seems to share his love for all things wheeled, motored, and dangerous!

Here's a picture of the two of them with the "pretty" engine block.



I'm sure I mentioned before that I have a feeling we will be making many, many ER visits with our youngest girl! ;o)

Lord help me!!!

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I Flipped It!

I have been known to drive our Ranger a bit erratically. I guess today I took it a little too far!


It seemed like it all happened in slow motion. Yes, with both of my children in the Ranger I turned it over onto it's side taking a corner a wee bit too fast! ;o)


Emma was a bit traumatized by it all! Of course, the Ranger did tip onto her side, so I'm sure it was infinitely more frightening for her than it was for Elliot or me.

I remained surprisingly calm throughout the whole ordeal. The worst part for me was trying to get Emma to keep her arm and leg in the vehicle as we were tipping onto the side. This was the part that seemed to be in slow-mo. I was yelling at her, "Keep your arms and legs inside, keep your arms and legs inside!!!" Repeatedly!! It was like she was trying to catch us or keep us held up or something. Funny, but scary at the same time!

The good news is no one was hurt and we were able to put the Ranger upright and continue enjoying this beautiful day that God made for us! At a much slower pace, of course! ...until next time! ;o)



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Location:Weatherford,United States

Dancing Queen

I've been meaning to post this little video of Elliot dancing for awhile. It's obviously a little older, seeing as she is still wearing her short purple cast, and we have been cast and walking boot free for almost a month now.

Children are so precious, and Elliot has so much joy for everything she does in life. I often find myself wishing I could recapture just a moment of that innocent affection for life that all children have!
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Fireside at Kim's

We have the best neighbors! I've always wondered if I would find a friend that I felt comfortable enough to just invite myself over and hang out over there in all my morning glory. [which sometimes is all day glory! ;)]

I'm happy to report that I have! My kids raid the fridge and we stay for dinner, no shoes required, house slippers are perfectly acceptable. The other day Kim and I actually just sat around reading together. How cool is that!?!?

Here's a picture of Elliot eating all of their cheese balls in the rocking chair by their beautiful stone fireplace.




Life is good. God is good. And I am so very blessed!!!

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Fancy Shoes on Snow Days

We've had several pretty cold days here in Texas. I guess all of the being cooped up is making us a bit creative, and maybe a little crazy! Last Wednesday we had our fifth snow day, and missed yet another day of school.

It was then that Elliot decided she couldn't take one more day, with her booted feet, and decided we would all wear our fancy shoes for the day!

Good thing we had a nice big fire going, so our toes could stay nice and toasty! :o)



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Pouty Face

I'm not sure where she picked this up from, but Elliot has started to stick out her bottom lip and say, "pleeeaaase" when she does not receive the answer she wants.


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Language

Please forgive any heinous typos that might make it into this post as I'm not feeling so hot again, but do feel like sharing something that has been on my mid lately.

I have been very interested in Elliot language.  She watches Dora a lot, and is able to speak several words in Spanish.  I think I posted the other day on my FB page that she often says "abres" which I believe is the command conjugation for that word.  I took French in high school and college, so my Spanish isn't that great.  She also counts and says other words in Spanish.  I don't really understand her completely, but I don't always understand her English either.

Today I was noticing that she often leaves her verb out of a sentence. Saying something like "I hungry." It made me realize that while it is not perfect English, I understand what she is tyring to say, and I will get her some food as a result of her broken sentence.

I would really love to fluently understand another language.  But I think the way they always tried to teach you in a language class is to advanced.  They need kindergarten for language, where you learn how to say words, spell words, and the meaning of a word, but you don't get into all the complicated business of forming complete, grammatically correct sentences.

For awhile now, I've been thinking about labeling different things in the house, like lamps, tables, doors. . . whatever I can, and just learn the vocabulary of the language.  If I learned the word lamp, la lámpara, and that was all I knew, theoretically, if I wanted to "turn on" la lámpara, and if I were to repeat la lámpara over and over to a Spanish speaker they might eventually figure out that I wanted to turn the lamp on. 


It's basic speech.  First you learn words, and then you learn small sentence, and then you learn all of the grammar of the language.  It's that simple.  I think individuals would develop language much more successfully if they learned a new language in this manner.


I'm sure someone else has already come up with all of this insight, but I've not come across any education material that makes it so easy.  Not that I've really looked, but I really want to look into that Muzzy Language course stuff.  I keep thinking that it might be a good place to start.  Knowing a second language is essential in a place were so many people speak multiple languages.  


If you have any suggestions or would like to further expand on my topic I'd love to discuss it further!