My Love

It's always interesting to me the things that I end up doing with one child, but not the other. Eli knew "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love To Town" pretty much by heart when he was just two because I would always sing it to him before naps and bed. (I know...odd 'lullaby' choice.) Maddux knows the song, but I rarely sang it to her. No real reason; it's just the way it worked out.

One thing I have found myself doing way more with Maddux is a specific declaration of love before bed each night. I'll say to her, "I love you all the way up to the moon, all the way down to the swimming pool drains." Then she'll respond to me with "I love you all the way up to the birds, all the way down to the grass." And so on.... It wasn't even intentional on my part, but I love that it is a staple in our relationship. A few weeks ago I also said to her, "I love you more than ice cream." and a similar trend followed. That girl loves to love, and that makes my world go round.

Date Night

Crazy schedules have been the norm since we returned to school this month. Because of that, we've not been able to start back up our individual date nights with the kids yet. It seems that each night finds one of us home with the kids and the other at an appointment or rehearsal. Saturday night we had nothing planned, so we opted for a group date night: a Family Date Night. We picked a fun restaurant that the kids haven't been to in at least a year and played it up big. Lehr even took Eli to Harry's during Maddux's nap and bought flowers. Eli wanted to wear a work shirt, so we all got dressed up as well.

The evening started off great, but Eli tripped coming into the restaurant, landing hard on his knee. Since he'd been going strong all day, his fatigue set him off into a bit of a whiny spell. Luckily, the restaurant is loud, so his complaining as we waited for a table was totally unnoticed by anyone else.

Once seated we ordered quickly and then just enjoyed each other's company. We were sitting at a high table, so I worried about Maddux and her potential for injury. (She tends to not sit still. Ever.) However, she was great the whole night! She ate cleanly, sat pretty well, and behaved wonderfully! Both kids got hamburgers and we split some zucchini fries for the table. The venue we chose is known for their small specialty milkshakes, so we all had a little. The Nutella shake was topped off with flame-charred marshmallows. That made Eli VERY happy!

Scoot!

Eli and Maddux received razor scooters for Christmas and they are still a HUGE hit. More so with Eli, as Maddux has really taken to riding a bike recently. This weekend Lehr shot a few minutes of video as the kids enjoyed the sunshine and lack of snow and ice on the ground.

Swim Lessons

Last year I enrolled the kids in one swim lesson over the cold months, just to keep their swim 'skills' in their memory. Since it seemed to work pretty well, I did the same this year. Once a week the kids take lessons, back-to-back, so they each get to watch the other. So far so good.

Maddux loves the water. She can kick pretty good, but struggles to remember that her arms are supposed to come out of the water. And something she's done the last two weeks is stopping halfway down the lane to grab onto the side for a moment. Maybe she's getting tired? The video is pretty cute because it shows her working so hard to keep her eyes in the water, but she alternates that with throwing her head completely back to wipe the water and hair out of her eyes.

Eli is a fish. He loves the water even more than last year, and his progress is obvious even inside of a lesson. This last week the coach advised the boys to turn their heads to the side to breath...not a stroke passed after that without Eli moving his head to the side.

One area Eli has always struggled with is the kicking. He never seems to keep his legs together, moving them like a water polo player instead. This is very easy to see when it comes time to use kick boards. Without his arms helping him, Eli falls to the back of the pack quickly, pretty much swimming in place. One area he may have a knack for is diving. You can only see part of one 'dive' on the video, but over half of the time that he's asked to jump into the water, Eli leads with his hands in a stretched out dive/flop. No formal instruction has been given on that yet, he just sees it and mimics.

2011 01 Swim Lessons from Nicole Eliason on Vimeo.

Winded

This is Maddux's newest term: "winded". She doesn't use it in the context most people would, however. She uses it to describe something that has had wind go through it. For example, yesterday we were driving down the street and she asked why some trees had leaves and some didn't and some trees had MUCH leaves. I went through a quick winter temperature explanation for her, reminding her how the leaves fall in our yard each fall. She responded by telling me that the leaves that fell off of the tree in our cul-de-sac were due to her climbing on and jumping on the branches, and NOT because they were dead and fell off of the tree when the wind blew.

"Mommy, I climbed up the tree and jumped on the branches to shake it. I make the leaves fall off.....they didn't get winded."

All-American Man

Eli loves the American flag. Why shouldn't he, really? I'm not sure what started his adoration of it, but for months (at least six months now) he's been obsessed. He draws it, he wears clothing with it, he points it out every time he sees it... At one point over the summer, he wore the same flag shirt a solid week. (Since we were displaced at the time and living out of suitcases, I barely noticed.)

This Christmas I knit most of my gifts: hats and scarves mostly. Sometime around Thanksgiving, Eli asked me to knit him a hat. I was hesitant. I've knit him a blanket, two hats and two scarves and he uses NONE of it. But he kept insisting that he wanted a red, white and blue hat. So I told him after the holidays I would. We were iced in all week, so I had some time to make said hat. Eli loved it. Outside of the goofy stars, I'm happy with it too. So far, Eli has worn it 75% of each day, whether he's cold or not. I guess that makes up for the other projects that have gone unused!

Bobsled?

Eli went to rehearsal with Lehr this morning. This week Lehr was only playing in one song, so there was plenty of downtime before the service started. Our church parking lot was a huge flat surface of ice all week, but most of it has melted away. The shady spots, however, still have some frozen areas. Eli and one of his idols, Ashton, found a big icy section this morning. Skateboards, recycle bins and shoes were used to play on the slick surface. At one point, Ashton convinced Eli to get in the recycle bin and bobsled around the corner....good stuff.

2011 01 Eli and Ashton on Ice from Nicole Eliason on Vimeo.

Defrost

For the first time in a week, we were able to go outside today and PLAY! No big jackets, no three layers of gloves....just warm sun, temps above freezing, and a whole lot of energy to burn off. The kids had a blast with their bikes and scooters...they've been unable to use those for a full week due to the layers of ice over every surface. I was working most of the day, so Lehr was on full-time Daddy-duty. He tells me that angels were singing: the kids played TOGETHER for quite a while without arguing at all. They interacted without yelling, complaining, or bossing each other around. Of course that would happen when I'm not around, right?

Snow Days!

As predicted, we got a huge dumping of snow late Sunday night, resulting in no school for the kids on Monday. It was so much snow (for Atlanta) that we also had no boot camp, no work, no swim lessons..... The city basically shut down. The precipitation stopped around noon Monday, but the cold air lingered, freezing everything up last night leaving us home-bound again today.

Yesterday we went outside to sled first thing. A few boogie boards, some rain boots...we were set. After about an hour, Maddux was done, so I brought her back inside. Eli stayed out long enough for his fingers to get seriously numb, but he had a blast. We colored, played with new bead-crafts I bought the day before, listened to music, and read books all day. When the temps were the highest, we took a short drive up to the store, just to check out the rest of the world.

Shortly after dinner the snow/slush turned to ice and everything, including the snow, froze over. This morning we woke up to many many sheets of ice as far as thee eye can see. Eli still wanted to sled, so I took him back to the main hill we'd used the day before. Unfortunately many people had driven on that road at this point, so it was ice mixed with patches of just road, which was starting to rip up his board. After about 15 minutes I suggested we go back to our hill, which gets less traffic. The hill was not too great (TOO much snow coverage), but one of our neighbor's driveway was perfectly iced and sloped. Also, the hill in our yard worked, as long as you weighed less than 60 pounds. Eli and I spent a few hours outside before Maddie joined us. She lasted approximately 6.5 minutes. Just long enough to go down the driveway and yard hill one time each. And just long enough to fall, touch the ice, and fall again, resulting in tears each time. After the snowball that we found lodged in her boot yesterday, I think she's been 'scarred' by the snow. My girl does not enjoy the cold!

More reading, coloring, dance-partying, and bead-crafting today. We made bagels when the kids go up...blue, red, pink, purple, all in a tie-dye fashion, due to the way the kids 'mixed' the color in. In a few we will turn on a movie...we're about stir-crazy though!

2011 01 Snow Sled from Nicole Eliason on Vimeo.

That One's A Keeper!

Haven't blogged yet this year and I thought this was the perfect reason to start. We've been boxed up in the house for two days straight with no school, no boot camp, no work, no photo shoots, no swim lessons.... My last 'fun' idea today was to paint Mad Dog's nails. Eli declined, but Maddie and I spent a good 20 minutes in my bathroom being all 'girly'. At one point she pointed to the trail map on the counter.
"What's dat, Mommy?" I told her it was a map from the last time Daddy and I went snowshoeing, before she was born. I told her she may have even been in my tummy. (Upon further thought, she wasn't.)

Maddux asks, "Was dere toys in dere?" I could barely stop laughing long enough to answer her. She didn't get it, so she then asked me, "Well, was my blanket in there? No??? Then what did I do?"

I told her she was just growing, but she grew so fast she didn't have time for anything else.

"Well, how about clothes...was I wearing baby clothes?" I told her she was naked but it was roasty toasty in my belly, so she wasn't cold.

"Yay!! Roasty Toasty!!!" That girl makes sure I never go a day without a good laugh.

Eli's Heart

I know it keeps coming up, the kids' heart 'conditions', that is, but we've had some moments lately. And as much as I wish sometimes that Eli would care more about his sister and friends in moments of unexpected hurt feelings or physical discomfort, what I've seen out of him in quiet moments this month blows me away.

About a month ago I started talking to the kids about Christmas gifts. We talked about why we celebrate, and why we may want to give other people gifts, even though it's a birthday for Jesus, not us. The main point of our conversation was for me to get the kids thinking about what the friends and family in their life might find joy in. I reminded them that they've seen me working on knitting projects and photo projects for our family, because I was trying to make something that they'd enjoy and remember. Also we talked about how most of our friends and family have so many things that they don't really need 'stuff'. So we brainstormed some ways to give. It came up that people like Pkemei, the little boy we sponsor in Kenya, would enjoy anything we could get for him: clothing, toys, books, blankets... But people like our Grandparents and friends at school already have all of those things, so something handmade, some time spent together, or something picked out that signifies a bond would be a better choice. Then I told them that we wouldn't be buying anything for at least another week: I asked them to think about the people they would be giving to and what those people would cherish.

Eli had already made a gift for both Grandmothers at school, he made something for Grandpa Ed and Sandy in Art, and we'd made small magnet crafts for most of our friends already. For the remaining gifts, Eli and I set out on a Saturday with him leading the way. We went to Target first because he really wanted to get Maddux a Hello Kitty toy. He didn't know specifically what, but he knows how much she loves Hello Kitty, so he was set on something in that arena. What he picked out was perfect; she loves it and has already misplaced the pieces several times due to overuse.

Originally he wanted to get Lehr a Christmas Tree shirt (because he doesn't have one), however, no holiday shirts for men were to be found. Midway through our Target run he found a replacement Christmas themed gift, which was great. But my most favorite thing was what he thought of on the drive to Target. From the back seat I heard, "MOM!! I know what I need to get Daddy! A drum key, cuz he lost his!" Apparently the previous time they'd worked on drums together, Lehr found himself without a key; it had been misplaced. I thought it was so cool that Eli remembered that and realized that was something that Lehr definitely needs and would value. So even though it added another store in our errand list, in the totally wrong direction of course, to the drum store we went.

The final gift that Eli chose was for Grandpa Jim. While my parents visited over Thanksgiving, Grandpa took Eli ice skating. When I asked Eli what he wanted to get for Grandpa Jim, he immediately told me, "A hockey ice skater ornament." As cool as that sounds, we couldn't find exactly that. In fact, for the longest time we couldn't find any kind of ice skating or hockey ornament at all. Finally, the day after we mailed out our gifts, we found a solitary ice skate ornament hanging randomly in a Target store.

Eli really enjoyed wrapping all of the gifts he picked out, especially the drum key for Daddy. He wrapped it in a large box full of Lincoln Logs, to try and trick him. When I put Eli to bed on Christmas night, I asked him what his favorite gift was that he gave and without hesitation he told me "Daddy's drum key", with a HUGE smile on his face. I think Eli really enjoyed the giving part of this holiday season.

Sing It, Girl!

Complete with a repeat refrain or "coda" (please correct me if I'm wrong, music people), here is Mad Dog giving her new microphone (and dress up clothes) plenty of use.

2010 12Maddux sings again from Nicole Eliason on Vimeo.

Snow Day!

What are the odds?!?! I lived up north for many Christmas seasons and often did not have snow on the ground for Christmas day, let alone falling from the sky. This year, in Georgia, we had snow for Christmas! It snowed late in the day and continued for the next two days. Unfortunately, the first half of the snowfall turned to water and/or slush when it hit the ground due to some warmer temps the few days beforehand. The kids didn't care though, they were just happy to see white stuff. When enough had accumulated, we bundled up and headed outside. Eli was the first to run through the yard, picking up snow and throwing it as he went. It wasn't the greatest snowball or snowman making material, but we made it work. Maddux liked it a little less, not wanting to have any snowballs thrown at her. After much running and playing we ventured over to our neighbor's yard where their new trampoline was covered in ice and snow. Once all sharp edges were removed, the boys jumped like crazy. (Maddux was thoroughly cold at this point and i had to bring her inside to 'put fire on her feet'.)

2010 12 Snow Day from Nicole Eliason on Vimeo.

Puppets

We are really enjoying this break from school and 'schedule'! Another thing I've been wanting to do with the kids is take them to the Center for Puppetry Arts. October ran a great show, but we had no days off, and November's show may not have held the kids' attention. This month was Rudolph, based on the old-school cartoon/clay-mation we've all watched for years and years. Even though I could not secure tickets online, I figured we'd give it a shot. When we arrived, all of the box office windows had signs reading 'Sold Out'. But I had to ask anyway. The attendant informed me that they were indeed sold out, even all of the way through the end of the week (3 shows a day too!). I had a back-up plan for the day, but we really wanted to see the show. The awesome attendant told me that from time to time they have a few unclaimed tickets, so if I gave her my cell phone number and stuck around the lobby, she'd call me if that was the case. We still had thirty minutes until the show, so we did just that. And as luck would have it, five minutes before curtain, my phone rang. Three tickets were ours!

Eli and Maddux loved the puppets, the show, and the songs. And I could not get over how well-done everything was. The puppets looked EXACTLY like the cartoon, only better! The show lasted about an hour and then we got to go upstairs and make a craft. The craft for this show was a reindeer puppet. Although I did 99.4% of all constructing, the kids got to decorate their own reindeer, which was so much fun. Maddux, of course, tried to glue 34 pieces of foam on her reindeer, all using a pound of glue each time. Eli, on the other hand, matched each side, making sure they followed a pattern. He even asked me to help with hooves and antlers when we got home.

Like A G6....

So the kids and I have been dancing to this song (thanks to Zumba) for a few months. Recently the song about an airplane came on the radio while Eli and I were running errands. Of course I started car-dancing and Eli began his air drumming. He told me that when he had room time later that day, he was going to write the music for the song on a piece of paper so that we could dance and sing and drum it later. He even told me the parts where I snap to each side would be shown on his music with "X".

If you haven't heard the song...it's pop-y, it's kinda annoying, and it talks about partying, but it's a FUN dance song, so we go with it. Eli was true to his word and 'composed' this music when he got home. (If you don't know the song, the chorus goes, "Like a G6, like a G6, na-na-na-na-na...".) Eli obviously got the words down fine and even wrote in the snaps (with arrows!) for me. Love it!

Christmas Day

What a blast, but it went way too fast. Eli woke up around 6, but Lehr got him back to sleep until about 8AM. We went down and turned the tree on and then let the kids come down to see what Santa had left. Their three gifts were in a corner (unwrapped with only bows) next to the fireplace: each got a kid's umbrella, a book and a board game. Maddux was ecstatic about the umbrella, of course. Actually both kids really enjoyed that; they'd been asking for one for quite some time. Eli went to see if Santa had eaten the marshmallow, and he saw the Coke and the note. When we went to start the fire, he saw the glitter..... Eli was totally into the awesomeness of Santa this year and I love it. (Speaking of which, I asked him this morning if he remembered me in his room last night: negative.)

We opened a few gifts and Jesus stocking notes and then had a delish breakfast of Dutch Babies. A few more gifts and then I ushered the kids upstairs to get dressed. Matching reindeer shirts (by choice) and they were ready to come back down. I told them to wait for a minute because Daddy and I wanted to give them our gift now, but it wasn't wrapped. When Lehr gave the all clear, we came down and the kids saw their razor scooters. Eli was soooo excited. Maddux was, but she seemed confused. "I didn't ask for a scooter though" was one of her responses. However, as soon as we got outside and she rode it, she turned around, looked me in the eye and said, "Thank you, Mommy, for getting me a scooter." That is my awesome, grateful girl. I do love her heart!! Eli couldn't get the smile off of his face; he LOVED the scooter, of course. He kept riding over bits of carrot left over by the reindeer...the magic continues....

More gifts, more Jesus stocking. Eventually we opened our stockings, which held a few small gifts the elves had slipped into Santa's pockets. The best part for me was Eli's gifts to people. He got Lehr a drum key and he helped Daddy wrap some PJ's for me. He was so excited to give those gifts.

Dinner was homemade spaghetti sauce and meatballs, and we had a birthday cake for Jesus, which Maddux helped me make. The hits of the day were the scooter for Eli, TWO chests of dress-up clothes for Maddux, courtesy of both Grandmothers, and legos for Eli. Those kids are certainly surrounded by people who love them!

Christmas Eve

Such a great time had by all. Mom-Mom visited all week, so she was able to join us for Christmas Eve service and waking up the next morning with the kids. Early on in the day, the four of us ran a few errands for dinner the next night. We knew it would take long, so Lehr and I decided to make it special for the kids by popping in a Christmas movie in the car. That is something that is strictly reserved for long car-trips, so Eli and Maddux loved it. We chose the Grinch (Jim Carrey version), which they'd never seen. They had a blast.

My favorite part of the day was before church when I asked the kids to pose for a few quick photos in their fancy clothes. Maddux wore the same dress she wore last year and Eli wore a spiffy red 'work shirt', jeans and his Vans. He was pretty good about standing still for a few pictures; that's not something he usually does for me. And when I asked Maddux to kiss him, Eli avoided it totally. The funny part is, he was more than happy to plant one on Mad Dog's cheek.

Our church does the service on the early side and the kids are included. Thankfully the service is no more than an hour and includes much music and media. Eli and Maddie did great, not even requiring the paper and pencils I brought along to entertain. Maddux wanted to dance in the aisle each time the music started. That would be fine except after a minute of dancing she usually wanders up towards the stage, so we had to keep an eye on that.

After church we drove by several of our favorite holiday houses and snacked on some pretzels. When we got home we changed into our matching PJ's, courtesy of Grandma Cathie, and had a quick hot cocoa while we followed our tradition of letting the kids open their gifts to each other. Maddux loved her Hello Kitty play set from Eli, and Eli was over the moon for the match-box car holder-truck that Maddux picked out for him. They even hugged for a few pictures.

We then set out a few things for Santa. Eli wanted to roast a marshmallow for him, so we had that and a few treats given to us by a neighbor. (We ran out of time to make cookies.) We asked what they wanted to leave SC to drink and Eli replied "Coke". He said he'd seen Santa drinking Coke when we went to the aquarium (the Coke Museum is right next door), so he must like it. Luckily we still had a few Diet Cokes in the fridge leftover from Grandpa Jim. Finally it was time to put food out for the reindeer. Eli wanted carrots, which we luckily had a whole bag of. Off to bed!

Lehr and I poured some coke in the glass, ate the marshmallow and broke up a bunch of the carrots and scattered in the driveway and front porch. Then I sprinkled some ash and glitter around the fireplace and dropped a few pieces of white cotton ball fluff nearby. I also wrote a quick note from Santa, mainly to help Eli cope with a possible disappointment. He had it set in his mind that Santa would be bringing him a razor scooter. Eli assumed if you asked for it, you'd get it, and that's all he had really been asking for. While Lehr and I did get the kids razors (from us), we weren't going to 'unveil' them until after breakfast, to allow for the Santa gifts to have their place, and because we knew the kids would want to rush outside as soon as they saw the scooters. In the letter we told Eli that the scooter was too big for his bag and sleigh (which is the story I'd already been telling Eli all week).

One last thing, since Eli was hook, line, and sinker for Santa this year, I wanted to play into it one more way. Even though our boy is a heavy sleeper, I wanted to wake him up in the middle of the night with jingle bells. My plan was to get him a bit woken up (loud noise or something) and then shake the bells outside of his room. Of course that didn't work the way I'd hoped. First I went into his room and banged around a lot, planning to ask him, "Did you hear that?" when he woke up and saw me. No go...the boy snored and snored, even when I shook his bed. So I finally jostled him as i made a noise and he opened his eyes. I asked, "Did you hear something? Were you making noise?" He yawned and shook his head. I left and we shook the bells loud. Lehr saw Eli sit straight up, so he high-tailed it back to our room in case Eli came out and questioned us. Not a chance. Eli went right back to sleep. Guess we'll have to try this on Mad Dog next time...

Myrrh

Lots of talk over the holidays surrounding Jesus, the manger, and of course, myrrh. Maddux can correctly tell you the three gifts from the wise men every time. However, one day last week she got a little confused.

Since Eli loves to read all types of informative, non-fiction books, we have learned about many things from hurricanes to dinosaurs to Native Americans. Since our trip to the aquarium last week, Maddux has pulled out a few of our penguin books. The other night we were reading about the waterproof-type fur some penguins have. The next morning when the subject of myrrh came up, Maddux said, "Myrrh, like on the penguins." Gotta love that girl!

Bagels!

About a month ago Eli started asking for candy cane bagels. Last year or the year before, our usual spot for Sunday bagels had 'candy cane bagels', which were regular old bagels, but dyed red and twisted with regular (white) dough in the shape of a candy cane. After two failed trips to score said bagels this year, Eli and I asked if they were just sold out. Apparently they were not big enough ticket items to warrant a return. Given our new, fancy dancy kitchen, and some help with childcare this week since Lehr is working less, I told Eli that we'd make our own bagels the week before Christmas. As fun as this sounds, I am not always the best with baking. Cooking I can handle, but I don't have a lot of confidence where baking is concerned. Nevertheless I found a recipe and this morning my boy and I set out to the store to get the necessary goods. Eli helped me mix the dough and roll it out. We divided it in half and mixed in some red food dye (that's when Maddux entered the equation). After some more rolling, we had 16 long 'snakes' that soon turned into eight candy cane bagels. So much easier than I thought and they turned out pretty good!

Maddie

I could post one of these 'thoughts' at least once a day.... That girl is just full of one-liners and quick-witted stories; she keeps everything interesting! In the past month, it has been rare for the house or the car or the bath or her room to be quiet. Every second of every day has been filled with a Christmas soundtrack, consisting mostly of tunes she learned at school for her concert. The most common songs were (are) Rudolph, Chipmunk song, and I Saw Mommy Kissin' Santa Clause. She never ever stops. In fact, when she does, I take pause because it takes me a moment to figure out what's 'wrong'; the music is such a part of our day that when it's not there something feels off.

Mad Dog loves to care for her babies. Right now she has a few that she drags (literally) around a lot. She will put them in a suitcase (since her stroller was destroyed long ago), in my BOB stroller, or in a small little baby bjorn she received as a gift.

Maddie's clothing is something to be admired. I have a lot of fun dressing her in colorful and 'loud' outfits, but in case I forget, she always accessorizes to make up for my shortcomings. If she does her hair, no less than four clips will be used, and if she dresses herself, mismatched socks and scarves and mittens are always included. On the flip side, around bath time, or morning dressing time, some outfits LACKING in appropriate amounts of coverage are also common.

And what a Dancing Queen she is. Maddux loves to twirl around to music playing, whether it's in her head or on the computer. She spins and sashays and shimmys up a storm...no matter the tune.

Finally is her temper. She is really coming into her independance. Matching that with her need and desire to be loved and to show love is a struggle. She'll fight me, but then bow her head and sob until I hug her and reassure her. Maddux is also still a bit 'insecure' at bedtime. If I'm not 'working' outside of her room (in the computer room) when she goes down, she is all kinds of upset. We're working through it, but it is quite the process. What a fun time we are having with that (insert severe sarcasm).

Mermaids!

The kids hadn't been to the Georgia Aquarium in about a year, so I figured it was a good time to return. A few weeks back I caught wind that the mermaids of Weeki Wachee would be 'performing' for a few weeks in December. DONE! We had company in town this morning, which I hated to tear my kids away from after lunch, but I knew they'd love it once we arrived. The mermaid 'show' had already started when we arrived, but we then found out another would happen an hour later. So we walked through one exhibit before heading back to the huge tank. The kids really got into the animals this time, asking about their names and what they ate. When the mermaids joined the fish and sharks in the tank, Maddux got all giddy. She couldn't take her eyes off of them! Eli asked me about their feet inside of the fins...I told him they had bones in there - no legs. He doubted me, but I kept a straight face and tried my best to convince him that mermaids were real. What fun is being a parent if you can't have fun at their expense some time, right?

We finally left several hours later. This was by far the best trip to the aquarium yet. Both Maddux and Eli got very into the exhibits and the animals. Both really enjoyed the penguins, especially when they got to peek their head through a glass 'pop-up' inside of the African Penguin area.

Merry Christmas

I totally meant to post this about a month ago and forgot. Yikes!! Please take a watch...it's how our family has grown to love to celebrate the holidays...wanna join us? :)

Big Brother

Eli is so cool. No really. He warms my heart a lot these days. He's become very cuddly and 'lovey', as of late, and he even includes his sister in that sometimes. There have been several weekend mornings that have found the two of them playing REALLY nicely; one in particular the day my parents were coming to town. Lehr and I were trying to get some last minute things done around the house and the kids played together, HAPPILY for over an hour before we had to intervene and help.

Recently Lehr pulled out a bike he'd purchased for Eli that wasn't needed. He and Eli put it together so Maddux could use it. When she woke up from her nap, I brought her outside to see what they'd been working on and Eli go so excited. "Congratulations!" he yelled at her when she saw the bike. Not sure where he got that, but it was so sweet and funny at the same time.

My favorite moment lately surrounded Maddux's holiday concert. It took place at noon on a school day. I didn't hype it up too much at home, but from the moment Eli heard about it, he wanted to go. I told him it would be during the school day; he insisted I come take him out of school so he could see his sister perform. Never before have we seen this type of love or loyalty from Eli.... I planned to follow through, pulling Eli out of school, until I found out that his class was making gingerbread houses on the same day at the same exact time as the concert. I was crushed, but I wanted to give him the choice. The gingerbread was a big deal too, and it was planned to be a neat class activity. When I first asked Eli, his face fell, but then he said, "Well, I'll just make another gingerbread house at home, Mommy." I almost cried when I realized what he was willing to skip in order to see Maddux. I really wanted him to have fun with his class though, so I told him to think on it for a few days, and I also reminded him that I'd videotape her concert. In the end he did choose the gingerbread activity, but what a heart on that kid!

Rudolph....Or Maybe An Elf...

Eli has gotten SO into the Christmas spirit this year. The day after Grandma and Grandpa left, Eli and Lehr were going outside to edge or play soccer or something. Lehr got sidetracked in the laundry room while Eli played in the driveway, waiting patiently. When Lehr emerged, Eli had constructed a wooden shape in the driveway with the leftover pieces of wood trim we had stacked up. He said, "Look, Daddy!!" Lehr wasn't quite sure what it was, so he asked. Eli told him it was a reindeer, and I have to say, he did a REALLY good job with no guidance! Lehr grabbed a few nails and stuck it together so we could use it as a decoration. A coat of brown paint later, we have Rudolph (whose name has since been changed to "Olive").

The next day we set up our tree and I got to work decorating it. This involves many many (MANY!) plastic totes full of decorations for the tree and house. Lehr just loves this. (Not so much.) Eli, however, fell right into it, helping me with everything and getting so excited each time a new decoration was unveiled. Decorating used to be my absolute favorite thing to do...maybe this little man can help me enjoy the process again too.

A Few Of My Favorite Things

On the last day of Grandma Cathie and Grandpa Jim's visit we took them to one of our favorite pizza spots: Antico. If you haven't been, you ARE missing out...it's delish, quick, and kid-friendly. It just happens to be down the street from the rental place I frequent for my favorite lens, and I just HAPPENED to be renting it that day for a few weekend shoots. Put the two together and you've got a grandparent photo shoot in the parking lot of the camera store. Although they were hesitant to 'pose' in a random, dingy parking lot, I think the end result was good. Eli and Maddux did a good job of coaching them through it, having gone through many a random, spur-of-the-moment photo shoots themselves.

Fa La La La La, La La, La, Laaaaaa

Maddux had a Christmas Program at her preschool today. She and the other three-year-olds sang (and did hand motions to) about eight songs. It was VERY entertaining, as one might guess. The most impressive thing was how well all of the kids did! No crying, no running off stage, no real 'stuff' in the middle of the program.... Maddux and the boy behind her were tickling a few times, but she managed to not cause a scene on stage this time, so it was all good. The clip is long; unless your a grandparent or me, you may get bored after the first 20 seconds.

2010 12 Maddux Christmas Program from Nicole Eliason on Vimeo.

Girls Day Out

Over the Thanksgiving holiday, Grandma Cathie visited us and I thought that would be the perfect opportunity for us to go get 'mani/pedis' with Maddux. She enjoyed them so much with Anni, and I knew GC would enjoy it as well. Unfortunately the day we planned to do that and then go to lunch, Maddux woke up fine, but quickly showed signs of being sick, the way she was a few times in the last year. She took a little longer to succumb to a hard nap this time, but when she woke up she eased back into the land of the living and we were still able to follow through with our plans. Maddux chose pink and purple alternating fingers and toes, and little white flowers on thumbs and big toes. She was in heaven and the women at the salon loved her.

Another Trip to the ER

Same child, third time. The first one didn't really count since she was only a month or two old, and it was ultimately nothing more than a false RSV scare, but the last two trips count for sure.

The morning started out fine; we all got up and got ready for church together. Lehr and I were both scheduled to work in the children's area which meant Lehr would be working in Maddux's class and I'd be right across the hall with the babies. We got set up, started receiving children and then I heard Maddux's 'hurt cry'. I stood up to see if I could see her across the hall. No such luck, but then I remembered that Lehr was in there with, so I returned to what I was doing. About a minute later Lehr appeared in the baby room door way, Maddux in hand, a compress against her head. He told me that he had to take her and go. Then he pulled back the compress and I saw a deeeeeep gash in the side of her face. (Apparently Maddux had been running circles in her classroom and hit the side of the chalk tray with her face.) I started to fumble for her insurance card and then we both realized that this would be a two-parent job. We attempted to spring Eli from his room, but one of our friends would have nothing of it; she insisted we leave him and she'd take over if we weren't back in time.

As fast as my heart was racing, Mad Dog was fine. Of course. She was in the backseat with Daddy, talking up a storm...not a care in the world. More importantly, not a hurt in the world. The hospital we took her to has a separate pediatric ER, so we got right in. The ER doctor on call saw us immediately. She assured us that the stitches she would use would be the same as a plastic surgeon...that any 'damage' would not be able to be determined until she was older, and that it should heal with no problems due to her age and the spot of the trauma.

So they cleaned it and applied a topical numbing agent that would take thirty minutes to work. "Beauty and the Beast" was popped into their DVD player, and Maddux was happy as could be. Lehr left at some point to get Eli. While he was gone they came in the stitch Maddie up. She laid very very still and didn't even flinch when they pulled out the needle. They were so impressed with her! Six stitches later they applied a band aid over top and handed her a blanket and a Popsicle. What a day!

Merry Christmas, Y'all

I get a chuckle EVERY time I watch this; seeing Lehr's facial expression as he's clappin' his hands and boot scootin' across the floor is just too much....

A Few Of My Favorite People

I did a REAL quick shoot with my parents and the kids outside of the place I rent my latest favorite lens. I know they thought I was nuts for shooting them in a parking lot, but they are by far the best pictures I have of them together.

All Grows Up

About 80% of the time, Lehr gets Eli on the bus in the morning. I'm not typically home in time to see him off, but I do make it back before Eli climbs aboard at least once/week. However, Lehr is always the one to get him dressed, fed, and ready for the day. In the last few months this has included Eli making his bed. Even though I see his bed made neatly each day, I always assumed it was more Lehr than Eli. Not so. Lehr has that boy making it all himself, and with great attention to detail. I watched Eli make the bed a few weeks ago, all on his own. It looks better than MY bed!!

Happy Holidays!

Bowling Champs!

The main word to sum up our week with Grandpa Jim and Grandma Cathie would definitely be 'bowling'. They arrived early Sunday morning and left early Saturday morning, and in that time I think they played 62 games total. Each night the kids wanted to play a few frames with their indoor bowling set. And each afternoon they wanted to play a few frames. Come morning? A few frames, of course. One day we even went to the 'real' bowling ally to play a game....Big Earn: look out!

On two occasions at home, the games were very organized, planned out, and every family member participated. These matches became known as the Grandma & Grandpa Classic. It was fitting, then, that Grandpa Jim won the first one and Grandma Cathie won the second. Eli insisted they get trophies, much like the ones we make for our own family games. Eli and Daddy made paper bowling pins with their names and the date for them to hang on their door. Even though the kids didn't win, they had a blast. I think Maddux enjoyed saying, "Good job, Gwrampa!!" more than actually playing.

Gobble, Gobble!

We had no real plans for Thanksgiving; eat, play, and then eat some more. Of course Eli planned to bowl, play basketball, and work in some hockey. And high on Maddux's list was playing 'Go Fish', preferably with Grandma Cathie, preferably in the kids' secret room.

Once a Dutch Baby breakfast was consumed, Eli and Grandpa Jim went across the street to shoot some hoops on the big rim. I joined them for a bit, followed by Maddux, Grandma Cathie, and Daddy, all at staggering times. At one point it was just Eli and I, so I taught him to play horse. Even though he rarely made a shot, he loved the game and wanted to play 'cow' next. Maddux enjoyed entertaining the neighbors' dog more than anything. She spend most of her time throwing the ball two feet in front of her in an effort to play 'fetch'.

While the turkey cooked, the kids became interested in the whole food prep for the day. Someone asked them what they thought the turkey's name was and the name 'Emily' came up. Both kids have classmates named 'Emily', so I guess it was fitting??

For the feast we enjoyed turkey (prepared a special way by Lehr...delish), sweet potatoes, caramelized onion mashed potatoes and our family's traditional dressing made with wild rice. So good! Our meal concluded with apple crisp (Eli didn't even miss the pumpkin pie) and then went upstairs to play (yup...you guessed it) more bowling before bedtime.

Hockey Galore

For months Eli has been talking about playing hockey with Grandpa Jim. Somewhere along the line I told him that his grandfather grew up playing hockey almost every day. Of course that meant Eli wanted to play with him, but living in Georgia, we don't get much practice on the ice. I *did* tell him that he could play in a tennis court with him, like Daddy and Uncle D used to do; same thing, but no skates. It was set in his mind.....a game WOULD take place.

So as soon as Grandpa Jim arrived Eli let him know that they would be playing hockey, and most likely on a tennis court. Lehr helped recover a few hockey sticks and a ball, and he even put two goals in the driveway (one soccer and one OLD PVC hockey goal sans net). Eli and my dad spent hours outside, hitting the ball (puck) back and forth. Early in the visit, Eli even got to go ice skating for the first time. Grandpa is very comfortable on skates, so he took Eli and held him up for about an hour as they moved around the rink. No pictures, because Grandpa had no extra hands, but Eli had a great time. Here is a quick video Lehr shot of Eli and Grandpa in the driveway one day.

My Heart Belongs To Daddy...

That is true at our house. Even though lately Maddux's renovation-prompted insecurity at bedtime has favored me, she loooves her Daddy. Lehr got to spend a few morning hours at the house one day this week which meant breakfast with Mad Dog. She loved that. But what she loved even more was Daddy driving her to school. That is something that never gets to happen because of the hours she attends (very 'mid-day-ish'). She was over the moon to be able to direct him to which streets to take, and then which doors to use and which hallways to walk down to get to her classroom. And when I dropped her off today, her teachers could not stop telling me how much Maddux gushed about her dad that day. She kept telling them, "Dats my daddy" and "My daddy brought ME to school today". It was a good reminder that just those little things go SUCH a long way with our kids and their self-worth. That five minute breakfast and ten minute school drive and walk-in made Maddux feel so so valued. It's really quite amazing (and SCARY) how much weight we hold with our kids!

Turkey Turkey

Eli has been doing some really cool stuff in school this week. Of course the focus was on Thanksgiving, and the Pilgrims and Native Americans...what fun crafts you can do surrounding that! He's made a Pilgrim mask, the quintessential macaroni necklace, a 'hide' story, an Indian head-dress, a family feather for their class turkey, and this cool, cool Mayflower ship. He was so excited to bring it home and tell me ALL about it. And he had his facts down; it was as if he was reading from the same book his teacher read from him. And not only did he tell me, but he then told Lehr a few hours later over dinner. The same story. Word for word! We'd read a Pilgrim book at home that talked a lot about the journey over and the first months of the Pilgrims' life in America, but none of it stuck as well as what he learned at school (as usual).

One of my favorite things Eli did this week was his thankful Pilgrim. The class made Pilgrim bodies that opened up their jackets to reveal writings done by the kids. They were supposed to write about what they were thankful for. Eli wrote that he was thankful for his cousin, Treis. So heartwarming to me because he only gets to see his older cousin once or twice each year. But he was all full of stories from the last few times he saw him, and he was very heartfelt when he told me how thankful he was to have another boy cousin. Love him!

Never A Dull Moment

In true Maddux fashion, many a Christmas song has been sung more times than not in our house over the last few weeks. Mad Dog is 'rehearsing' for an upcoming production at her school, and much caroling has taken place. In addition, she recently picked something up from me one cold morning. The two of us were downstairs eating breakfast. As soon as I finished, I hopped up and started doing some squats because I was SO cold I couldn't not do something to get myself warmed up. Later that morning Maddux did the same thing and told me, "I cold, Mommy!! SQUAT!" I caught both things on video yesterday....love that girl.

2010 11 Maddux squats and sings from Nicole Eliason on Vimeo.

Let Me Count The Ways....

So tonight Maddux does her usual five-minutes-post-lights-out-'I-have-to-go-potty'-distress-call. We oblige and leave her in the bathroom as we continue on with whatever we were working on. From the bathroom I hear my girl talking/singing to herself. This is so not out of the ordinary. Everything is a song. Everything is a conversation. She is usually the only known audience. (But I love it when I get to hear her performances as well!)

Tonight cracked me up more than usual, and the stuff that comes out of Mad Dog's mouth is usually pretty funny. As she sat in the bathroom, she played a game of 'this starts with that'. It was all in a sing-song voice and it was all very enunciated.

"Toilet Paper starts with 'toy'. Sink starts with 'seen'. Door starts with 'door'. Bathtub starts with 'baa'. Floor starts with 'fluh'."

This seriously went on for two minutes straight before she threw this one out and I laughed so hard I cried.

"Puter (as in computer) start with 'pew'." Ding Dang, I love that girl!

Ballet Observation

I know I'm waaaay behind on posting this, but time is hard to come by these days!!

Last week was Maddux's ballet observation week. Her studio does not allow viewing during classes, due to the distraction factor. As much as I want to watch her each week, I respect that, especially at Maddie's age. So last week was the first time I got to see her in her class. Lehr and Eli were allowed to view, as well, so the three of us sat with a few other parents at the front of the class and watched 45-minutes of three and four-year-old ballet unfold.

First off, Maddux had to change classes the week before, due to low attendance in her time slot. (Read: Maddux had 2 or 3 'private' lessons because she was the only one showing up.) So this observation was only the second time Mad Dog was in that class. That did not stop the other girls from taking their cues from my crazy girl. She is a natural leader, and it is wacky to watch. She doesn't do anything specific, but when she walks into a room, or approaches a group, they respond. I can only hope she uses her powers for good instead of evil....

The girls did really well listening to the teacher and mostly doing what was asked, even though the parents were in the room. Sometimes they didn't duplicate what their instructor did first, but they all tried their best and were very respectful. It was so so so neat to watch. Maddux was always the first to raise her hand when Miss Noelle asked "Does anyone know...." or "What does it mean when I say....." Maddie would raise her hand, kinda stick out her belly, grin and say, "I know!" in a cute, goofy and excited voice. And she did know. My girl definitely listens in class. No pictures were allowed, so here is just an old shot of her before one of her first classes. I can't wait for Spring observation week!

Randomness

That sums up Maddux these days (well, actually, most days!).

This last week I started to talk to Maddux about months. In her pre-school class they have different 'jobs' each day. One of the jobs is 'calendar', which means the helper for the day gets to help put the day, the date, and the month on the calendar in the morning. Somehow in our conversation we went from playing on the playground, to wearing pants, to leaves... Then Maddux says (totally out of the blue), "Oh, and O-vember."

So I ask Maddux, "What month is it?"
She responded correctly with "O-vember".
"Your, right. And in November, what do we do?"
Maddux says, "Well, we do a TURKEY DANCE!" In her defense, that was a weird, open-ended question.
I responded with, "Yes, we do a turkey dance, but we also have a holiday. Thanksgiving is a time when we show extra thanks for all that God's given us. What things are you thankful for?"
"I know I'm thankful for the princesses!"

Oh Happy Day

Unexpected Joy

You are not a brother to Maddux in the same way that Maddux is a sister to you. That is not a comparison: just an observation. She is much more obvious with her affection and adoration. While I know that you love her and that you miss her when she's not here, you aren't as vocal about it.

Today, Eli, you were amazing. You were an OBVIOUS big brother the entire day. You asked her to play with you. You helped her get out of her crib. You told her to be quiet at one point, but you did it SOO kindly. You pulled multiple toy bins out for her so that she could find something to play with. (And even though I need to clean them up right now, I am going to leave them there a bit longer, just as a reminder of your awesomeness. ) You shared crayons with her. You helped her tear paper out of her coloring book. You let her watch you while you 'worked' on your music notes. And when it came time to share Daddy, you did. Without complaints. I can't think of an afternoon that has gone as smoothly as today....ever. And it's all because of you. Thank you, Eli, for being wonderful you.

Halloween

What a fun weekend! Very full and busy, but fun fun fun, especially for the kids. Saturday we FINALLY carved the pumpkins; it has been too warm to carve them until now. Lehr did a great job of letting Eli carve his little pumpkin from his field trip, and then the kids decided on a 'mood' for the big pumpkin for Lehr to carve. Magnificent!

Yesterday started off as most Sundays do, with church. There was (still is!!) so much to do regarding the house, so I'd 'warned' the kids that naps were a pre-requisite to trick-or-treating. Any failure to comply may result in staying home. (I really did mean it given the lack of naps, and consequentially the increase in 'tude, in recent afternoons/nights.) They both snoozed and Lehr and I worked.

4PM came and we got the kids all dressed and ready for the neighborhood parade, set to start at 5:00. Eli got himself all suited up as a dragon, without any clothes on underneath, I later found out. I pulled Mad Dog's pig costume over her Halloween shirt and pants and then took her outside to spray her hair. (About a month ago I came across some pink hair spray and bought it for her to use for Halloween to complete her desire to be totally pink.) We were set. Packed a few water bottles in the stroller and we headed up the hill with our friends.

Once we hit the start of the parade, the kids were off on their own. I loosely kept an eye on them, but they were in their element, making the rounds. Eli knows many more kids now because he sees them on the bus each day. In fact, when the parade started, we knew Eli was ahead of us, but we didn't know who he was with. We later found out he rode the whole parade down with a friend from his class. Awesome parents, we are!

The parade finished at the pool where we ate pizza and had a quick costume contest. Neither child won this year, but they sat very patiently while the judging took place. Once the awards were handed out, the trick-or-treating started. Hooray!! Eli and Maddux teamed up with our neighbors both in front of us and behind us. The 6(ish) of them moved from house to house faster than I could believe. And it didn't even hit me until about 30 minutes in that I wasn't going up to the doors with them!! They were doing it all (and using manners for the most part) on their own! This was really cool to me because it was proof of the awesome benefits of growing up in a neighborhood with so many kids. Each house was mobbed with 2-10 kids at any given time, so even if/when they strayed from our original group, they were never alone.

Eli and Maddux collected lots of candy, having a few stops for 'special treats' before we went home. They both did so great, walking the whole way and saying "Thank you" at least most of the time.