Monday, March 28, 2011

Lake Ray Roberts

We went camping this weekend with our dear friends Nick and Sarah and their boys, Titus and Rye. We had a blast. The boys spent tons of time splashing in the water, playing in the sand, and casting their fishing poles (with no hooks). They were totally in their element- outside, dirt, water, sunshine... we had three very happy and very tired little boys. :) We adults had a blast as well, and we're so thankful for this time to just enjoy being outside and with people we love.

A few pictures...

Eric caught a huge fish on only his second cast when we first got there. That started the weekend out right for him. :)



The swimming beach was gorgeous!



An interesting way to fish...



Wading in the water...



We had a fantastic weekend!

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Tree Climbing

The weather has been so pretty lately, and every spare moment has been spent outside. I told Eric tonight (after I practically soaked Eli's t-shirt in spray-n-wash) that the springtime has brought with it a major increase in dirty laundry and dirty little boys! :) But I love it. I love that Eli loves to be outside as much as we do, and I love how healthy it is for Eli and his cousins to run around and get dirty together!

Eli loves to eat lunch outside, so we've been having lots of "picnics" in the front yard. This is the face he makes when I tell him to smile. :)



He loves to throw frisbees. This is right after the release, I guess?



And his new-found love is climbing trees (or holly bushes, in this case). Here he is scoping it out...



Climbing up...



There!



He says when he does this, "Eli climb like monkey!" :) Except he says monkey like, "App-mee," so it sounds even cuter. :)

This weekend we're heading out to Lake Ray Roberts to camp with our good friends, the Vavras. We're excited to fish, play, hike, and just enjoy being in a beautiful place with people we love. I'll post some pictures next week! Happy weekend to all of you!

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Two Pictures

Look at me blogging regularly! :)

A couple pictures that I thought were cute from this week...

First, Eli on his scooter. This is definitely one of his favorite outdoor activities lately. He's really pretty good at it, and he has so much fun. (Thank you, Kate!)



Second, look who wears big-boy undies now! :) I'm super proud of Eli for doing so well at potty-training this week. And this picture just makes me laugh.



We had a great weekend, complete with a breakfast date, flower and vegetable gardens planted, great time with family, and a worshipful morning at church. I hope all of you are doing well!

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Me and My Llama...

...goin' to the dentist. Raise your hand if you know that song. :)

Eli had his first trip to the dentist yesterday! I wish I had a picture- he was so cute sitting in that big chair.

We talked it up big-time in the weeks before we went, so he was super excited to go. :) We happen to looooove our dentist, so I'm happy that Eli feels the same! Our hygienist is a friend of ours, and she was so good with Eli. He played with toys and watched me get my teeth cleaned, asking every three minutes, "My turn now?" He met the dentist, who is so good with kids, and Eli thought he was just the coolest person ever.

When it was finally his turn, he got a little scared, but when I offered to hold him on my lap, he was happy to climb up in the chair. He let the hygienist count his teeth and look at them with that little mirror, holding his mouth open and cooperating the entire time! I was so proud of him!

The best part for him was picking out a new toothbrush (He chose a yellow one with baseballs because "Daddy, Eli like baseball.") and toothpaste and sticker. He stuck that sticker on his shirt, clutched his toothbrush and toothpaste, gave everyone hugs, and marched out of there so very proud of himself. It was adorable!

Monday, March 14, 2011

Quick Update

I don't have any new photos to share, but here's a quick list of some of my favorite "Eli moments" in the past week...

-I don't think there is anything sweeter than a little boy picking a dandelion for his mommy. I love being the recipient of tiny little nubs of flowers picked just for me by my sweet boy!

-My dad, or Pop-Pop, as he is known by the grandkids, is building quite an elaborate play house for the kids. Today Timothy and Eli were "helping," and it was adorable to watch them with Pop-Pop's fancy tools working on the house. I wish I had a picture of it.

-Eli's favorite page in his children's Bible is a page with a picture of Jesus putting mud on the blind man's eyes to make him see again. I always say the same words when we come to that page, telling him that Jesus loves us so much that He wants to take all our boo-boos away. The other day in the car, Eli touched his forehead where he used to have quite a big boo-boo, and he said, "Boo-boo all gone! Jesus takes all boo-boos away. Jesus loves me!" My heart melted.

-He finally grew tall enough to pedal his Radio Flyer tricycle, and he is so proud. He goes so fast!

-He's still so into trains and tractors. He quotes his "Freight Trains" book from memory at least ten times a day as he pushes his toy trains all around the house. Everything is a train to him- anything he can line up in a row becomes a "choo-choo." And driving in the car serves the sole purpose for him of sighting tractors. I love it when we happen to drive by a construction area and he can see "diggers" and "dumper trucks" at work!

-We're working, as always, on helping him to gain weight, since he's still our tiny little guy (which we LOVE). Every morning when he finishes his [calorically enhanced] chocolate milk, he holds up his arms and yells, "Big muscles like Daddy!" :)

I'll post again soon, hopefully next time with pictures! Thanks for checking in on us!

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Cooper Lake

We went camping at Cooper Lake a couple weeks ago, just the three of us. It was such a blessing to get away together and have plenty of time to rest and relax and goof around. Eli, of course, had a blast. A few pictures... (I think if you click on them they get bigger?)

Playing on the awesome playground:


On the back deck of our cabin:


Taking the world's muddiest hike:


Our silly boy:


Fishing with Daddy (alternately titled "Mommy gets to read a book for three solid hours!"):


Picnic lunch before heading back home:

Return

So… I’m back. :) That’s the story in a nutshell. If you want more details, keep reading…

I have been thinking and thinking for weeks and months about Facebook. I originally joined just after we were married as a way to keep in touch with close friends from college that I didn’t get to see as often as we would all like. I started with ten friends, maybe. Now, almost four years later, my friend list had grown to 400ish, and I’d venture to say that more than half of those people were people that, apart from Facebook, I’d never even talked to. I loved posting pictures and getting comments from family members and friends who love Eli and like to watch him grow, but I found that the bulk of my posting was done not for the benefit of other people but for my own benefit. Who will comment on this status? What will they think of me when I post this? How do I measure up?

And, for me, this was just plain wrong. I was comparing myself to others every time I was on Facebook. I was feeling unworthy and less-than as I read about fantastic friends doing fantastically creative things with their fantastically adorable children. I was feeling proud and worldly when I posted something particularly comment-worthy myself. I was wasting time in little five-minute increments throughout the day as I logged on to check who was doing what at any hour of the day. I realized, slowly, that, for me, Facebook had become a negative.

It all culminated in a great discussion at our women’s Bible study a couple weeks ago. We were discussing 1 Timothy 2:1-2, where Paul instructs Timothy to pray that so that he can lead a “tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.” We talked about, practically, what this is and isn’t. And, for me, a tranquil and quiet life definitely isn’t Facebook.

A few of us committed to each other at our women’s retreat last weekend to deactivate our accounts, and so we did. I came home and told Eric about it and he just beamed. He is a man of few words (which I love about him), so when he comments on a big decision or situation, I make sure to listen, because his words are always carefully chosen and brimming with wisdom. His comment on deactivating Facebook? “It is either completely negative or some combination of negative and neutral. And why would you want to use your time on something that’s neutral?” Sold! :)

I’m not condemning Facebook, because I know many, many people who use it in a much more positive fashion that I used it. But for now, for me (and a group of close friends), I’m done with Facebook. And I’ve already noticed such positive changes because of it!

The one thing that saddens me about deactivating my account is that some of the people I care about and don’t get to see very often will miss seeing pictures of Eli. And I totally respect that. Which is why I’m going to try and make more of an effort to keep up with this blog. I’ll probably lean more heavily on the pictures and less heavily on words, but I really want to let those of you who care to still be able to see and keep up with our boy, who is the reason I started this blog in the first place! :)

So, anyway, after this supremely long and probably slightly annoying post, I’ll conclude. Key points? No more Facebook, more frequent blogging, Love you all and want to stay in touch. So check back reasonably often, and I’ll try to keep you updated with what’s going on in our world.

The end!