Lunch with a busy dad

October 13, 2010
Some doctor, or head resident, or admin in charge got this great idea to hold didactic conference during the lunch hour.  Then they insisted attendance was MANDATORY.  They must not have known about our LOVE of having lunch with dad when they made all these decisions. Because if they could see this...

...I think they would have changed their minds. We love to see you daddy!  We miss you!  We can't wait to be with you each evening when you get home from work.  Thank you for squeezing in a few extra minutes with us!  And for trading your lunch with mom so she could have something fun to eat! You're the BEST!

Simple pleasures

October 8, 2010

                                              Here's to life's simple pleasures.
                                              A potted geranium. Bright red.
                                              Still blooming in the October sun.
                                              A cold drink. Strawberry sauce. White ice.
                                             Clear cups. Spoons for mixing and scooping.
                                             Two blue, child-sized camping chairs.
                                             A deck for visiting.  A long, green yard.
                                             Two children. Nestled. Content. Daydreaming.......

                        Simple. Simple. Pleasures.

Crawling

October 3, 2010

Porter is getting along fine now that he has figured out how to crawl. He’s got his own style about it though.  I thought I’d share how it goes.

First he leans over from sitting position.

  Then he begins to roll his bum up.

 

All the while he uses his head as a support, then as a pivot point.

And wouldn’t you know it, he never leaves this position. He moves himself around using his head as the steering wheel to his new found mobility.  Too bad I can’t attach some sort of dusting mop to his head!

Porter has always had a love for head rubs.  We discovered this one 2am morning when he was about 2 weeks old and wouldn’t go back to sleep. He cried and cried and I tried and tried.  But nothing seemed to work.  Until Derek changed his approach from that of Prentend-I’m-Asleep-And-Hope-He’ll-Go-To-Sleep to that of Okay-Give-Me-The-Kid-I’ll-Give-Him-A-Try.  He placed Porter on his chest so they were belly to belly, then began to rub his head.  He was so new that his skin was like a Pug and hadn’t attached yet to the skull. He rubbed back and forth two or three times, then he was out like a light. Inspired!  Needless to say, we learned quickly to do the ole Rub-Head trick any time we needed to calm him down.

Racing

October 1, 2010

Each week we have a little playgroup with Colin's two-year old buddies.  There are 4 of them and when they get together, they have a GREAT time!  Racing is one of our favorite past times.  You can see, we just pull out  a board and put it at the end of the couch. Then gather every toy car we own.

On your MARK!

Get SET!

GO-oooooooooooo!

Ahh, the chemistry between a boy and his toy cars.

Love.  True Love.

Such simple pleasures.

Merry-go-round

September 27, 2010

Just thought I'd share with you a little of Derek. I married such a great guy! He is always coming up with fun ideas. Especially in the food dept. Here's our family night treat!

South Bend

After our trip to Chicago, we all jumped in our van and drove to South Bend, Indiana. Home of Notre Dame! For not having kids, Alan and Rosa did a great job of entertaining ours!

They took us to the Farmer's Market while we were there too.  The east really knows how to do these right! If you ever get the chance, you should go.  They're amazing!

I spy Lexie!  This give you a feel for how BIG these mums are!

That night after we put the kids to bed, Rosa and I slipped out for pedicures and the guys played a computer game.  Then we hooked up for some good times visiting. Rosa graduated from a culinary arts school, so her cooking is amazing! We ate very well while we were there.

The day we left, Alan and Rosa were off to an Irish football game. We quickly discovered the potency of school spirit in that little town of South Bend. Even in the bright colors of Autumn, GREEN was everywhere!

We loved our visit to see you Alan and Rosa!  We can't wait to see you again!

Chicago!

September 24,2010

Derek's brother Alan just recently got married, so we took a trip up to South Bend to see them and meet his new bride.  It wasn't hard to fall in love with Rosa, she is definitely an awesome gal!

Guess where they took us!

 I've been to the Shedd Aquarium before, so I was SUPER excited about this visit with my kiddos.  (Not to mention I had a husband there too!) The aquarium has an inside tank that looks out over Lake Michigan.  The designers of this building gave it an impressive visual affect by making the water from the inside take drop off.  With the glass wall behind it, you have the feel of the inside water extending out beyond the building and being part of the outside water.   

They had a cute show there complete with boats flying through the air.  The children were captivated. The adults just wanted to see the animals fly!

That we did!

They had a bunch of hands-on fun for the kids!

 This isn't the hand of one of my children, but it struck me when I saw it.  There is something about God's creatures.  Our souls just want to connect with them.  This little girl was watching the beluga whales and her way of connecting was a reaching hand.

The boys loved the submarine with all its gadgets!

 I am always fascinated by the jelly fish.

 We went outside to have some lunch on the grassy banks of Lake Michigan. Colin loved chasing the seagulls!

Rosa and Porter hit it off gloriously!  He loved being in her arms.

Our friends from Missouri met up with us too! Here are all the kids in the boat!

Just as we were leaving the Aquarium, Kate stopped into the gift shop and had her children pick out a stuffed animal toy for each of my kids. This was such a sweet thing to do and little did I know how much those stuffed animals would mean to my kids.  They are truly LOVED!

 After our time in the aquarium, some of the adults unleashed. There are 8 of these Ellingson boys, and well, boys will be boys! It is always so good to see them together. Especially in their element!

 

 Thank you Alan and Rosa for taking us to Chicago!  We loved it! These are memories to last a lifetime!

Heritage Arts and Crafts Festival

September, 18, 2010

Knowing this would be our last year in Missouri, the Heritage Arts and Crafts Festival was high on my list of "MUST ATTEND". These folks do it up in style. They have something for everyone and indeed, we all have a great time!

My never-ending attempt to get a family photo.  Notice only one person was actually looking at the camera.  Gotta love em!

This is always Derek's favorite activity.

They have a whole bunch of children's activities.  Milking the cows (above), finding "needles" (aka Popsicle sticks) in the haystack,

Printing press,

Not sure what this is called, but the kids love it.  You put a button on a string, then swing it around and around until the string curls up, then pull on both ends and watch it curl back up again and again.  This was a pioneer game that has been passed down the generations.

Visiting the farm animals.

They have a whole section full of pioneer life and folks dressed up in period attire. I love stepping back in time!

Here are Tanner and Lexie panning for gold!

I hope you don't mind if I share a few details with you.

 

This man was just sitting there playing his guitar so nicely, so I took his picture.  But no sooner had I snapped the shot, then a bunch of kids happened to walk by.  He stood up and began to do magic tricks with them.  He had the lot of them completely captivated and spellbound by his tricks.  My kids were amongst his crowd and Tanner was watching him like a hawk.  He was trying to figure out how this guy was doing his tricks!  Well, the man had the kids convinced that they each had a bit of magic in them.  He'd pull a quarter out of their ear, or something similar one by one just to show them he was right.  He did this with each of the children until he got to Tanner.  And to my bright boy (who was just dying to catch this guy in his act) he said, "there's no magic left in you, you're too old". And that was that.  All the kids dispersed and the magician returned to his guitar. Tanner never got his chance to catch him at his  trickery!  What a brilliant man!

Riding the hay ride!

The woodworker's Association always sets up a booth for the kids.  They have wooden cars they give the children and let them install the wheels. Then they can color their car and take it home.  It is a labor of love.  One year Lexie made one of these cars and gave it to her cousin Benson for Christmas. The kids always look forward to making their own car when we come.

While we were there we ran into our very dear friends Noah and Emma.  These kids might as well be brothers and sisters.  They see each other nearly every day and live to be together.

By the likes of this dirty face, you can tell, we had a marvelous time at the Heritage Arts and Crafts Festival!  It is a part of Missouri I wish I could package up bring with me wherever we may go.