Rainy Day

Today it has rained all day! So Eli played in the puddles and ended up riding his scooter through them. Fun!

The First Day of 4th Grade!!

Payton started the 4th grade today. She loves her teacher and is excited about the new year. We are so thankful that she is able to go to such an amazing school!

A Few More Summer Highlights

As I have looked back over our summer pictures, I realize that there are a few more things we did this summer that I would like to share with you.

Let's see...where to start?

At the end of the school year Payton expressed to us that she wanted to "redo" her room. She was ready to change the color scheme, paint on the walls, bedspread, the whole shebang, and we said YES! Last year when Payton was in the 3rd grade, she not only made straight A's the entire year, but she also made straight E's in conduct the whole year. We felt like this was certainly a good way to reward her for her excellence! The end result is awesome! She did a great job choosing her bedspread, paint color and all.



She wanted a new desk in her room for studying and doing homework since she is in the 4th grade now and has heard that her work load will be harder this year. We found this fun vintage table painted lime green on top that perfectly matches her bedspread. Obviously we have not gotten a white chair yet :)




Payton had the opportunity to meet pro surfer Bethany Hamilton this year. Payton has read her book and really looks up to her. So below is a framed picture of her and Bethany along with a poster that she autographed for Payton.

What else did we do?...

One day when cleaning out cabinets in the kitchen, I found a few left over party supplies from Eli's first birthday. So I gave it all to him and he had an impromptu "birthday party" with his stuffed animals. Pretty cute.

The kids have been asking to do the new Sky Hike at Stone Mountain, so we finally decided to do it! Eli was just tall enough to do the actual "sky hike" so the whole family participated and had a surprisingly great time. It was fun because it pushed everyone's limits a little bit. Even Marshall and I. The kids did amazing though. Elijah really surprised me, and Payton went on to complete levels 2 and 3 with Marshall while Eli and I played on the younger kids obstacle course/playground area. The kids also both got to experience rock climbing for the first time. Eli made it about half way.

Payton on the other hand scaled up quickly and was the first to reach the top, beating 3 boys. Not bad for a first time rock climber!


Launching onto the double zip line. They LOVED the zip line.

On top of the mountain!

Confessions

As the summer is winding down, I have been thinking and reflecting as I wonder...where did the summer go? What did I do this summer? Why is there still such a long list of things that I had hoped to do this summer but did not seem to get to?

And that is when I remembered...

If you know anything about my son Eli, then you already know that he is my strong willed child. I spend a lot of time trying to figure him out, why he act the way he does, and what form of discipline will work with him. I TRY to stay one step ahead of him if at all possible. Most discipline does not work on him. He simply does not care. He wants what he wants and he thinks that the world revolves around him and he should get what he wants. He does not like to hear the answer no, and he is quick to whine and pout and pitch a fit in an attempt to get his way. He is very rough and tumble, and as he likes to say, he loves to "tussell." He is also very witty, often saying funny things and one liners that leave us wondering...where does he come up with this? Oh yes, I could talk about Eli all day. He has dimples that give him a most charming and irresistable smile, but he is such a stinker! He treats his sister terrible most of them time, and by Payton's account he is a pesky, mean, little brother. But what does all of this have to do with my summer ambition?

Well, this is where the confession comes in. Let me first say that I am in no way proud or happy about what I am about to tell (or confess to) you.

Marshall's mom gave us a much appreciated break from the kids recently, and kept them all day and through the night. In the late afternoon she took the kids swimming. Apparantly it was time to go, and she had already told Elijah a few times that is was time to go and he was running away from her at the pool. She finally caught up to him and again reminded him that it was time to go home to which he promptly turned around, looked straight at his Memaw and said "Shut up!"

Yes, you read that correctly....SHUT UP! Of course Marshall and I were not there to do one of the various things that immediately came to our minds upon hearing this a) smack him in the mouth b) wash his mouth out with soap c) spank him d) all of the above....etc, etc, you get my gist.

To be honest, Marshall and I were devastated. Embarrased. Confused. We don't talk like that in our house. What would ever make Eli think that he should say that word at all? Especially to his grandmother!!! This was pretty much the grand finale that caused us to make some pretty drastic changes around here. As Marshall and I talked through it and tried to figure out where all this was coming from, we had some harsh realizations.

So, much of our time and effort this summer has gone to enforcing the new rules around here. Eli has had a reality check these last few weeks. A much needed one! And I am happy to report that so far it seems to be working. I am certainly not saying he is the perfect child now. That strong will is still there all the time. But I do feel that we are gaining some control over his actions, because we are controlling the things that matter most to him.

This is an old picture when Eli had his mohawk. This is our dog Maya.

An added funny story about Elijah...

Recently I said to Eli - "Your epidermis is showing!" Of course he asked and asked what epidermis was, and then I finally told him and explained it to him. Bad move on my part apparently. Now it is his favorite thing to go up to everyone and say it, only he does not say it exactly right. In fact, he says "Your penis is showing!" And no matter how many times I have corrected him and he says it the right way, he always gets it wrong the next time. Whoops. Guess I need to be careful what I teach him.

This is proof that he CAN be sweet when he chooses to!

Enough is enough!!

A few months ago, my kids didn't even know who Michael Jackson was. Now they can't seem to stop talking about him. It all started the day or two after MJ died and they were playing his videos on TV practically around the clock. The first video Eli saw was from when Michael was young and still cute and normal. Eli's first question was "Why is he dancing with that beautiful girl?" Which he was (and yes those were his exact words, beautiful and all). The next video to come up was one more recent, to which Eli asked the question "What is SHE singing about?" So over the last few weeks we have answered more quesions about Michael Jackson. We even let the kids watch the Thriller video. And we have talked about how he never truly seemed happy to be who God made him to be.

Well, the other night after getting out of the bathtub, a naked Elijah walks over to a full length mirror, strikes some random pose, and asks "do I look like Michael Jackson??" WHAATTT???

Then yesterday Marshall was trying to cut Eli's hair and Eli was fussing about wanting to grow it long. Marshall said, "Why do you want to grow your hair long?" To which he replied, "So I can look like Michael Jackskon."

That's when you know enough is enough.

Growing up my sister had a Michael Jackson doll. It is the size of a Barbie, and it somehow ended up in all of my Barbie stuff that got passed down to Payton. I could not locate his pants, but I did find his awesome red jacket. He is pretty creepy looking actually.

The Farm

In June, Brooke came along (Russ was in Africa with the Marines doing some training) with our family of 4 to Knoxville, TN for a weekend trip up to visit our family friends the Watsons and Sharpes. There was a birthday party for Ashley's oldest daughter Raegan, and my parents came up just for the day on the day of the party. It was a sweet time of memories and fellowship with old friends. Marshall and I always say that we wish Ashley and Todd were our next door neighbors. In fact, we have often talked about moving to Knoxville to be closer to them, and because we love it up there. Since getting married, Ashley and Todd have always lived "on the farm" (some family land that Dick and Judy had always wanted to build a house on but never did). When we would go stay with them, there would be cows in the field in the morning right outside the back window. The kids could run around the fields and ride the four wheelers all around the house. But next time that we go back to visit they won't live there anymore. They have since moved into a new, bigger house. It will be much different. But I am reminded in the following pictures of the beauty of "the farm".

Brooke, Ashley and I

Isn't the background beautiful? Behind us is the view Ashley has from her front porch. The old barn is awesome and the rest of the house is surrounded by fields with cows roaming around. Now do you see why it is called "the farm"?

This is one of my favorites pictures. We never take pictures with everyone. The whole crew (minus Russ of course).

The original five. Eric, Brooke, me, Ashley and John.

The brothers I never had and my little sister Ash, and good ole Brookie of course.

I love Ashley because being around her is like spending time with Judy. She has her mother's wit and humor. She is also an amazing cook, just like Judy was. We were being silly here.

This is supposed to be try #2.

And of course I love this one of the boys. Dad and Marsh look so serious. And then there is Eli.

Somehow I currently don't have any pics of the kids to post. I will have to add some later. That is what is the most fun about going up there these days, is watching all of our kids interact and play. Just like we did when we were little. While the parents are having their own fun :)

Evergreen Eels

This summer Payton changed swim teams and swam for the Evergreen Eels. It is actually a neighborhood 2 subdivisions down from where we live, so it was very convenient. Payton and I would even ride our bikes to practice sometimes. We love the coach and are very glad that we made the switch. Payton swam a great season swimming both freestyle and butterfly in the meets. We are very proud of her! She even swam in the county meet. Although she did not rank in county, her team came in 3rd place out of over 45 teams in Gwinnett County! Way to go Eels!

Diving in!

Freestyle in Action

Swimming Butterfly

Some of her support team

The Swim Banquet

I love this picture of Marshall, his parents and Payton!