A few comments from Elyse

I wish I had a recorder on me, to record the funny things Elyse says these days, but I don't, and sadly, my memory is not what it used to be. (As I told Lisa today, when she mocked me for saying Isaac's birthday was the wrong day, "you lose a little brain power with each kid..." - she'll discover that soon enough!)

Anyway, I wanted to write down a few of her recent comments that I do remember.

Tonight at dinner just before she was about to dive right into her meal, I said, "Wait! Elyse still needs something." I pointed to her neck and said, "what goes here?" She looked down and said very nonchalantly, "a necklace!"

Yeah, I guess she's right, but that wasn't quite what I was going for...a necklace doesn't exactly protect her clothing from the soon-to-come mess of food! She is SO girlie!! It's pretty cute, but I'm not sure where that comes from!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Also at dinner, we had music on in the background. At one point, while the boys and I were discussing doing some math "problems," some Steve Perry or Journey song came on and Elyse interrupted and said, "Dad, Dad! This is my favorite song!" She's quite the little communicator!

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Grandma celebrates her big day, the day after Elyse, so we just continue the festivities in the Colorado Eilmes household! This year, rather than sending a typical Halmark card to Grandma, we sent an e-card with this rendition of "Happy Birthday!" I thought it was too cute not to share it!
http://www.smilebox.com/playBlog/4d5459784e4441324d6a4d3d0d0a&blogview=true

A time for every season...

Can it be? Are we really done with babies?!

I think it's fair to say that at the age of two, they're not really babies anymore, but toddlers. So, as of Wednesday, April 14th, we are out of the baby-stage. (I wish that meant we are out of diapers, too, but...we're not!) It's a bit bitter sweet, but it is our reality. Thankfully my sisters will be having babies soon, bringing more babies into our family!

To celebrate our sweet little girl we just spent a lot of family time together, and, on her demand, we had cake and sang "Happy Birthday," frequently throughout the day.

I didn't originally think I cared whether I had a girl or not. I really thought another boy would be just fine. But, now that I have her, I'm so thankful! They really are so different.

Elyse got a lot of dress-up clothes for her birthday - a fairy costume with wings and a magic wand, a princess dress, "high heels," several tiaras, two purses, and more. We had to run some food by to friends that afternoon and Elyse came with me - not as Elyse, but as a "fairy princess!" It was pretty cute.

I could go on and on about what a sweet, yet sassy girl she is and how she can verbalize more than her brother, sometimes, but instead, I'll let the photos speak for themselves.

Here are a few from 2 years ago and then a few from her birthday, to see how she's grown.

Meeting her big brothers!

Let the festivities begin...

My sassy little 2 year old!

Ecstatic to hear MiMi and PopPop sing to her!




When she opened this "purse" from Auntie Lisa and Uncle Dan she said
it was perfect for holding her Spiderman action figure!
(She may be girlie, but she can definitely hang with the boys, too!)


"Mommy, take my picture!"

I ended up having to blow out the candles for her, as she still had un-swallowed carrots in her mouth and the candles were melting all over the cake...

Easter 2010

For the first time in years, the weather on Easter was sunny and somewhat warm. For the past (at least) 3 years, we've had snow. It was a nice change, which allowed the kids to have an Easter Egg Hunt outside, if you can imagine, and it also meant we even got a few outdoor photos.

It was fun dressing my little girl! I have to admit, the wardrobe of a little girl is so much more exciting than that of a little boy's! The question Easter week wasn't "does Elyse have anything to wear," it was "out of all these beautiful clothes that have been gifted to us, how are we ever going to choose one outfit?!" As you can see, we went for a long pink dress that had scalloped edging and had a tiny bit of an old-fashioned feel to it. I really wanted an Easter bonnet for her. In my quest for the perfect bonnet, I kept coming up with hats that were way too big, gaudy, or expensive. Finally I tried the Dollar Store, of all places, and sure enough, they had them - simple, but perfect. The only problem was they didn't have anymore pink - just green and blue. I went for the blue and figured we could tie it all together with a blue sweater. It worked!

Kurt attended nearly all of the mid-day Holy Week services and I got to go to the Maundy Thursday service, which included a foot washing and communion. It was a very powerful service and I was struck with what an incredible example of servant leadership Jesus was. God started speaking to me at that service about a new possible "calling" or project that He might have in the works for me. It's exciting - more to come later, but I need to continue praying about it and discerning all the "W's" - when, where, what, etc.

Throughout the week prior to Easter the kids and I had been talking a lot about Easter and what it is we are really celebrating and remembering. We read some great children's books and read directly from the Gospel, too. Isaac had some really great questions and we hit upon things we hadn't ever really delved into, so it was exciting. Isaac's understanding of His faith and the Bible, as well as His relationship with the Lord continue to amaze me.One evening...Friday, I think, the boys were in the back of the car together as we drove around doing a few errands, as a family, and we heard Isaac, our little evangelist, asking his brother if he had asked Jesus into his heart yet. There was a lot of loving encouragement, not coercing, just encouragement. We didn't say anything, we just let them be brothers. Later that night, at prayer time, Austin asked Jesus into his heart! It was a pretty exciting moment. I'm not totally sure he gets it completely and he'll probably do it several more times, but it was a first step, so it was neat. And what a fitting weekend for him to take that first step?!

Below are a few photos from our Easter - Alleluia He is Risen!!

The Beginning of my 33rd year

I am from family.
From volunteering and leading.
I am from a hard-working dad and a hard-mothering mom.

I am from Home-cooked meals.
From Grannie’s Casserole and Shepherd’s Pie.
I am from encouraging words and the “B word.”

I am from Three sisters.
From playing school and pulling hair.
I am from an embarrassing blow-up at mom’s 50th birthday

and thankful for the best relationship with my sister because of it.

I am from church.
From singing in the choir and acolyting.
I am from Extended Family and ugly church politics.

I am from family traditions.
From traveling and family reunions with the Malone crappy singers.
I am from the talkative Malones, and the loud Tilneys.

I am from road trips.
From the reoccurring saga of the breaking-down scout and drawing imaginary lines along the seats between my sisters and I.
I am from parents with a solid and loving marriage and yet parents who argue about nearly everything.

I am from the outdoors.
From pooping in the woods, not latrines and from no-campground camping.
I am from rustic cabins at Soward Ranch and experiencing God in his creation.

I am from bedtime prayers.
From The Giving Tree and Keeping Christmas.
I am from Hallmark Hall of Fame Sunday Night Movies and 80’s cassette tape mixes.

I am from “The World is Your Oyster.”
From “Under Promise and Over Perform” and “Don’t Ask Permission, Beg Forgiveness.”
I am from “The Only Thing You Can Change is Change Yourself” and “Attitude is Everything.”

I am from 9 years of ballet and an injury to end it all.
From one LONG 6th grade year with Dr. Redding and surviving high school with my fellow Happeners.
I am from Romans 8:28 and experiencing God through living the tough life with friends.

I am from passing notes.
From Jazz Band and singing duets with Lisa.
I am from Anne Murray, James Taylor, Billy Joel, and Kids Incorporated.

I am from memories.
From stills recorded on film and those recorded on VHS.
I am from memories written and memories yet to come.

I wrote this for an exercise we did on MOPs Ministry Team last fall.

"Beautiful"

The other day after Elyse's bath, I set her on my bathroom counter, as I always do, so I could dry her hair. Once it was dry, I told her to stand up and look in the mirror. She did. Her towel fell off, and completely naked she smiled really big and said, "Beautiful!"

Isn't that the truth! Beautiful! It seems simple and silly, but in a world where women (and her mother) struggle with their body image, I was ecstatic to hear her say that about herself!! We stood there together and said, "God made me Beautiful" over and over again, making up hand motions. She thought it was the best game ever!!

What a wonderful moment and a good reminder for me, even though most days it is so hard to believe when I see my reflection.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. Psalm 139:14

A Sense of Humor at my Expense

These days, Austin is without a doubt, my easiest. Those of you that have known him from day one, or anytime in his first two years are probably shocked to hear me say that, knowing that he was a very "challenging" baby for two whole years. He screamed bloody murder for the first 4 hours of life, took a deep breath, and basically continued that way for the next two years.

All that to be said, he is in a fabulous stage now. A real joy. Elyse, however, is hitting that "busy" and potentially whiny stage. I am not allowing her to be whiny...she's going to have to bypass that stage, as our house already has a whiner and is plenty loud! :-)

Isaac, is definitely my biggest challenge right now. To the outside world, he is still fabulous - we hear he's the most considerate of his friends, extremely helpful, thoughtful, blah blah blah! At home, however, we are seeing a completely different kid. His attitude is so negative and he's always whining. No matter how much fun we have as a family, he inevitably is disappointed by something. It's exhausting.

Now, in addition to displaying a "DRA" (Dirty Rotten Attitude) via his words, he's now begun rolling his eyes!
Seriously??! He's FIVE!

My family may now be putting together what the title of this post is all about...

A little history:
I was always a good kid in school. A real people pleaser. A good student. Teachers always liked me. Until, that is, my 6th grade year with Dr. Redding!
In hopes to not make this a dissertation-length post (although it could be, due to the emotional scarring...) long story short: I supposedly rolled my eyes at her and was sent to the Principal's Office because of it! I say "supposedly" because if I actually rolled my eyes, I did it at Chris Allen, who was piece-by-piece eating his notebook paper. (Who wouldn't roll their eyes at that?!) Needless to say, it was a traumatic day/week/and year for me. All because I had an eye-rolling problem.

Now my 5 year-old is rolling his eyes at me! Boy does it push my buttons!
God sure does have a sense of humor!

P.S. Isaac does have his good moments at home, too...