Happy Birthday GI Eli!

Wow!  Last week was the longest week!  Poor Eli was sick the entire week of his birthday.  In fact, he did not go to school a single day last week.  It was a long week for both me and Eli.  Asthma is a scary thing and I tend to freak out every time it rears it's ugly head.  By the end of the week we had been to the doctors office twice and he was on heavy nebulizer treatments.  When we asked the doctor if we should cancel the party on Saturday he said "No.  He will be bouncing off the walls anyways, you might as well go ahead with it!"
We were blessed with wonderful weather for Eli's birthday party and a fun time was had by all.  GI Joe was the theme, and everyone turned out in their camo.   Here is a picture of the cake.

Elijah and his buddies Mathew and Olivia

Blowing out the candles

Eli and his motley crew

The Zbeeb family was there to celebrate!

Baby Ryland and parents were also there for the party

Payton is an amazing babysitter if anyone needs one.  She loved helping with Ryland.

Payton and Eli's two great grandmothers from Marshall's side

Eli is feeling much better now, and so excited to be 5.  He was asking Marshall just yesterday, "hey dad, do you remember a long time ago when I was 4?"

A long time ago...that was last week :)

5 Years Old

Today is Elijah's birthday.  He is 5 years old.  I can't believe my little one is 5!  How time does fly.

Marshall has class tonight, so we decided to celebrate last night.  Marshall's mother and grandmother came over for dinner and cake.  And of course Eli got to open a few presents.

Eli started running a fever yesterday, to go along with a nasty cough that he already had, so he is home with his dad on his birthday.  He was feeling pretty crummy yesterday, but excited about the little family "party" that we had.  He is very excited about the party on Saturday.  Let's just hope he feels good by then.

Happy 5th Birthday Sweet Elijah 

True Love

My cousin sent me this link and I must share.  Click on the following link to see a precious elderly couple who could teach society a thing or two about the covenant of marriage.  How sweet is this?  I can't imagine being married for 85 years!  Heck, I can't imagine living to be older than 100.  And to think that I was excited about 10 years of marriage this year!  Aren't they cute?  Look at how old and weathered their hands are.  Just imagine all that they have seen and been through together as a married couple. 


http://specials.msn.com/A-List/Worlds-record-longest-marriage-Herbert-and-Zelmyra-Fisher.aspx?cp-searchtext=Worlds%20record%20longest%20marriage%20Herbert%20and%20Zelmyra%20Fisher>1=36010

Brothers

Eli was 16 months old when Odell was born, so it is always a question in our minds exactly how much he remembers and understands about his brother.  The following conversation occured this morning on the way to church.  The car was quiet as I think everyone was tired, and then...

Eli:  Whenever I go to church, I think about Odell.

Me:  Really?  Why do you think about Odell?

Eli:  Because he is my brother mom!!!

Me:  Of course he is!  So you just think about him, just sort of remembering who he is?

Eli:  At church we talk about God, and Odell is with God, so I think about Odell. 

Me:  Oh. 

Makes perfect sense right.  All the more confirming that Eli has an amazing awareness of who his brother was, and where he is today.  The words of a child.

A Trip to the Children's Museum

Curious George is one of Eli's favorite characters and TV shows.  In fact, he sleeps with a stuffed "George" at night.  So when there was an exhibit at the Children's Museum featuring Curious George, we knew we had to go.  One day last month the Presley family went with the Davis family to Imagine It, Children's Museum in Atlanta!

There was lots of Curious George stuff to explore.

Eli dressed up like the bellman from the Curious George show.

Payton was really a little too old for the museum, but she did enjoy getting to go. 

She also enjoyed getting to hold a bird on her arm.  Notice she is taking a picture of it?

There was a part of the museum all about food...from growing it on the farm all the way to our own kitchen table.  The kids loved it!  Eli got to sit on the tractor, and he and Hailey enjoyed pushing baskets of food down the conveyor belt.

Yes, Eli and Hailey were quite the buddies that day...as always.

My artists at work

How nice it is to live in a city with places to go and enjoy like a Children's Museum.

More Snow!

On Friday, February 12, 2010, we got some of the best snow that Georgia has seen in a while.  Marshall had the day off, Payton had a half day, and my school closed an hour early (I could leave at 1:30), so right about the time it really started snowing, we were all home playing!  It was an awesome snow...fluffy and soft.  It snowed hard all Friday afternoon and was beautiful as it came down.  We played. 

I love the snowflakes in Payton's hair. 

Marshall vs. the neighborhood kids in a snowball fight

(see our dog on the right...she kept trying to catch the snowballs in her mouth)

While the snow fell, the kids built a snowman

Odell's tree was so cool because the snow stuck to every branch.

In fact, the snow stuck to lots of things...

And it just kept getting deeper and deeper and it countinued to snow all afternoon.

Oh, and did I mention that we had a few snowball fights?  Here is Payton's ammunition.

Here's Eli's ammunition

After dark we took a walk in the neighborhood.  This tree looked magical. 

The next morning we walked to Mountain Park

Have you ever seen snow on the SIDE of all the trees??? 

The kids tried to climb up this hill for probably 10 minutes and they just kept sliding down.  It was so funny.  The loved it!

We are so thankful for the snow that we got to enjoy and play in. 

Surprise! It's a Snow Day, 2010

Happy New Year everyone!  I can't believe that the first week back to school of the New Year and we already have a snow day!  Yeah for a long weekend!  Not really that much snow...mostly ice.  But whatever it takes to get us out of school and work!  The Presley's have had a fabulous day sledding on the ice and snow.  The cul-de-sac was covered in ice, so we slid down it for a while.  Then we walked to Mountain Park and the kids had a blast sledding down the hills and making snow angels.  We finished the evening by watching a movie and enjoying popcorn and hot chocolate by the fire.  Thank you Lord for a family day! 

Sledding down the cul-de-sac

Eli's snow angel...and a cat paw print

Sledding at the park...they LOVED it!

At Mountain Park

Even Marshall had to give it a try!

A GREAT time was had by all!