3 Men & A Little Lady

Friday, July 24, 2009

Way to Go Owen!!!!

My to-do list before our little girl arrives is quite lengthy. Not only do I have to get her room all ready, buy her clothes (this requires a lot of shopping and $), but I have to update all the boys photo albums, scrapbooks, finish remodeling our 1/2 bathroom, and potty train Owen. I am quite pleased to announce though that I can check off my list...potty train Owen! We always potty train our kids when they turn two, so when we returned from our vacation we said "good-bye" to diapers and "hello" to big boy underwear. He has done great with only a few accidents. However, one was a very sticky and messy disaster as he decided to poop in our upstairs loft and then proceed to walk in it and down the stairs. Luckily he did this right at five o' clock and daddy had just come home and was able to help with the clean up. Besides that mess it has been smooth sailing. I'm just so thankful I won't have to deal with two kids in diapers. Unfortunately, we will continue to fill up the landfill and pay for diapers for our newest one.

Potty training in process....Day 1. He loves to watch "Choo-Choo," otherwise known as "Thomas the Train" while working his magic! Hey whatever works.

Our Super, Silly Big Boys! They just finished running around in the sprinklers in their underwear, at least they weren't completely naked!

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Family Summer Fun!

We just returned from an exhausting, but wonderful vacation to Colorado, Kansas, & Missouri! First we flew to Denver to see Catherine and Gabi get married. The ceremony was beautiful and Catherine and Gabi could not have looked more happy to be husband and wife. The boys all got to wear matching zipper ties and Owen LOVED his. By the end of the evening he was wearing Drew and Ian's ties too.

The Bride and Groom with all their nieces and nephews.

We jumped on a plane for Kansas the morning following the wedding to meet up with my family for an Elliott reunion in Branson, MO.

Here we all are, soon to have two more babies to add to the group.

While we were there Owen turned 2 years old, so we celebrated his birthday with family. He loved his gifts of a new pool ring, water guns, and water balls and used them all in the many hours spent down at the pool.

We spent two hot days at Silver Dollar City. Carmin and I, who are both very pregnant, spent hours trying not to go into labor as we hiked up and down hills, in the heat, for hours pushing strollers with kids. We did "hide out" in the taffy store, which was air conditioned, with our sleeping kiddos in hand and ate a lot of taffy and talked. It was wonderful...when the husbands came looking for us we snuck to another store so they couldn't find us!

The boys are obsessed with trains right now, so they all loved riding the train around the park.

Ge is a big kid at heart and adores her grand kids. She had a bigger smile on her face than the kids as she hopped along on the frog!

Grandad and Ian flew around on Dumbo, he gets sick easily from rides, so he was a trouper to ride this with Ian.

We surprised my parents with a dinner out on a ferry boat down the river. We dined on pizza! The boys even got to steer the boat!

We spent one morning at a fish hatchery where the boys got to feed the fish and then went hiking.

Owen let us know that he would definitely prefer walking rather than take this ride on uncle Ty!

Drew, Jace, and Ian hiking in Branson.

The Elliott men are known for their savy card playing and Kenny loves joining in. Unfortunately, he lost to an 8 year old!

While the big boys were playing games the little kids were too! Ge had bags full of prizes for them to choose after they would win. She sure does know how to have a fun time.

Ge's one request for the whole trip was to Ride the Ducks with the older grandkids. Drew and Ian were ecstatic to get their duck calls and to go on this adventure.

They got to ride around town quacking at people then go into the water.

We had a marvelous time with family and love the memories that were created. We can't wait to see everyone again soon. Thanks Ge and Grandad for making our reunion so much fun...we can't wait for the next one!

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Happy Early Birthday Owen!

Owen is turning 2 on the 29th, but we will be vacationing with my family at the time, so we decided to let him have his birthday present early. We gave it to him today, so it would keep him and the boys busy while we worked on house projects. He was so excited when he got his train set and was jumping up and down. He loves "choo-choos" and was happy to have his own and not have to use his brothers. Our STILL empty front living room is now the train station. We have given each boy at their second birthday a train set, so our collection has gotten quite big and now has a lot of fun accessories, like a mountain, airport, crane, police and fire station, etc. The boys have spent hours playing and love having "architect" Kenny build new designs.

GOOP!

Ian has been asking me for days to make them some slimy Goop. Its a fun and messy activity that the boys love. We always play with it outside and then I just hose off the mess. Homemade Goop Recipe:

Makes enough for 1 child…

1/2 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup water
small bowl, tin pie plate, etc.
cookie sheet or pizza pan
more water
Food coloring (if desired)

Add the water to the corn starch in a small bowl, tin pie plate, etc. Mix it together using your hands. If you need to add more water, add just a couple of drops. Add food coloring for fun.

Nectarines Gone Bad!

I love the summer when fruit is on sale. I was excited that nectarines were on sale for $ .88lb. for 3 days. I went on the last day of the sale and picked up enough nectarines to last us a week. My boys love fruit as well, so as I made a quick potty break upstairs I came down to find my sweet, beautiful nectarines across the counter top with bite marks taken out of ALL of them! I was livid and went straight to the source. IAN!!!! His response, "I like them." I was not to about let them go to waste, so I made Kenny and the boys each finish a nectarine and I ate the remaining 6. They were pretty tasty. I just wish I could have enjoyed them longer.

Monday, June 8, 2009

Cherry Festival Parade

Every year our litte town celebrates cherry season. There is a parade, carnival, and lots of fun activities. This year Drew and Ian were invited to ride in a train in the parade. They were really excited and were beaming with joy when they rode past me. Hopefully, they will be able to do it again next year because they told me its more fun to be in the parade than just to sit on the street and watch.

Owen & Mommy

the train

Ian, Drew, and Tristan

Let's go out to the Drive-In!

On Friday night we went to the drive-in movie with our good friends the Pattersons (both sets), the Grovers, & the Harris's. We had a great time hanging out, barbecuing, and watching the movie "UP" and "Earth." The boys loved both movies and couldn't get enough of pigging out on popcorn and candy.

Mese Patterson, Orin Patterson, Ian, Owen, & Drew

Owen and Orin, they have a Love/Hate relationship. Right before this picture was taken, Orin had grabbed Owen's soda out of his hand and I had to physically help Owen release the handfuls of Orin's hair from his fists. They always hug each other good bye though at the end of their visits.

Our little family!
I love summer evenings and spending time with friends. We will definitely be spending some more summer evenings at the Drive-In!

They say the cutest things.....

Mya, my little girl, said in her prayers last night, "Please help us to be strong and healthy like the Hulk!"

Owen almost ran straight into a woman as we entered a dark parking garage. As I told him to watch out, he quickly yelled, "Well she's all black!" Coincidentally she was African American! She was wearing a black dress, which is what he was referring too!

Owen told me today, "You are the best mom I ever had! I love you all the way up to Jesus!" He also loves kissing and told Kenny, "I just want to stay home from school and kiss mom all day!"

Drew lost a tooth at school when he bit into his apple. He felt the tooth inside his mouth as he was chewing and when I asked him about it, he said, "I didn't realize it was mine and I wondered if it was one of the workers!"

While at church, a teacher asked the kids what happened to Jesus right after he was baptized and brought up from the water. Ian enthusiastically raised his hand and said, "He asked for a towel!"

After a long struggle with my boys, to get them inside, bathed, and into bed, I yelled, "I am done, go to sleep!" Owen looked up at me and said, "Mommy I'm sorry you're sad, but the problem is that you don't beat up Drew and Ian. Just beat them up and I will be on your team!"

We are not a family who eats beans, so when Drew went to a friends house to play and eat dinner, he was hesitant to eat the burrito that had refried beans in it. When I picked him up he said to me, "Mom she put mud inside the burrito!"

Aunt Connie pleaded with Owen to shoot his daddy with the gun instead of her and his response, "No, he's the best daddy i've ever had!"

I begged the boys to quit fighting and Drew looked at me and said, "Its not Mothers Day anymore mom!"

Owen got kicked in his "man hood" and said, "Oh, I hurt my Tenders!"

Drew asked this morning, "Mom in 2011 can we get a cat?"

Everytime I feed Mya prunes, Owen comes up to me and says, "Me like chocolate mom!" I give him a bite and his face turns to total disgust.

Owen ran up to me after wrestling the dogs and said, "Me see Cassie's boobies!"

While I was nursing Mya, Drew walked in and said, "Is she done drinking from your boob?" I replied, "No and it is called a breast, thats the proper way to say it." He looked at me puzzled and said, "No thats the Spanish word for it."

Kenny opened the fridge and said, "Something in here stinks." Ian looked at him and said, "Dad, sometimes I toot over there!"

Last night as the boys were saying good night to Mya, Drew looked up at me and said, "Mom, Mya has a boy haircut!"

Drew was reminding me about how when we saw macaws in Hawaii, that one of the macaws was chewing on a woman's hair. He said, about the macaw, "Thats not very nice, it's not choosing the right."

My favorite word Drew and Ian used to say when they were toddlers was, Laddie- for water. I thought it was such a cute word. Owen comes to the fridge and points his little finger and says, "Wa-Wa" for water. So cute!

Last night Kenny went in on a call to deliver a goat and Ian came into our bed. He climbed in and snuggled up beside me, he usually snuggles into Kenny. I asked him why he was snuggling with me and he said, "I can snuggle you because daddy isn't here mom!" He is such a daddy's boy.

Ian is such a daddy's boy. The other night Kenny had to go to the clinic and Ian was sobbing for him for a good twenty minutes because he wanted to go too. When I asked him why he was so upset he replied, "I just want my daddy, he is my favorite boy!"

Birthday parties celebrated in California are usually BIG! There is always a huge jumper, pinata, food for the whole family, and tons of presents. Well we went to a party last night and the boys spent 2 hrs. jumping in a big jumper. On our way home we saw another party going on that had an even bigger jumper with a slide attached. Ian asked, "Can we go to that party too?" I replied, "We don't even know who those people are. " His response, "Well lets just go ask them their names."

As we prepared to go to the Glenwood Springs pool in Colorado with Kenny's four sisters Drew impatiently said, "Come on girls, you're taking too long!" Kenny told him, "Get used to it, this is what men do, wait for girls to get ready."

Much to my dismay I found black ink all over our white sheets on our bed. I of course went straight to Ian and asked very sternly, "Did you write on my sheets with a pen?" With an innocent look he replied, "I was just trying to write my name."

Drew was watching me as I divided my hair into sections with clips to straighten it. He looked up at me and said, "Wow, you look beautiful!" Then when I was completely done with my hair he said, "You're a cute little mommy!"

Ian was dipping his finger in Kenny's contact solution and then touching his eye. I asked him what he was doing and he replied, "Just putting my eyes in mom!"