Wonderful Walt Disney World!

During fall break, we spent a long weekend in DISNEY WORLD! It was a magical trip, and we were joined by Brooke, Russ and my parents. We did as much as we could in the 3 days we were there, and we look forward to being able to go back one day.

About 30 days before our trip, the kids and I made a paper chain so that we could count down the days until we would leave for Disney.  Here they are with the paper chain...

Here they are on departure day...with the very last paper chain link.  Do you think they look excited?

The trip was truly amazing.  As neat and cool as we ever thought it would be.  We stayed at the Animal Kingdom Lodge and were able to see animals from our balcony.  The only complaint would be the HEAT!  We thought this wouldn't be a problem in October...but we were wrong.  While we were there we experienced record highs for that time of year (in the high 90's).  It practically melted us all, but with lots of bottled water and ice cream, we suffered through it and had a fabulous time.  I won't bore you with every detail, but I will share some fun pictures.  I think the expressions on the kid's faces says it all.  Oh, and since we went in October, the whole park was decorated for Halloween, and the kids got to wear their costumes to the Not So Scary Halloween Party in the Magic Kingdom one night. 

Amelia Island, Florida

Over Labor Day weekend the kids and I went to Amelia Island for a last beach trip for the summer. Unfortunately Marshall did not get to go with us, but my parents, Brooke and Russ did! A fun time was had by all.

One morning while Elijah went to the bait store with Russ, Payton and I found LOTS of shells on the beach, and collected about 380 of them (yes, we counted).



Brooke and Elijah eating breakfast before the fishing began

Memaw and Payton

After getting the bait, Elijah and Russ caught this fish!

The kids were super excited to go crabbing, and this is them upon return with their catch!
These were our two captives from the crabbing adventure.

Thanks Memaw and Papaw for taking us to the beach!

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.