The Joys of Being at Home

Dancing with her Hula Girl outfit on. Dancing takes up a big part of our day.

Elli likes to be with me all the time. When I was making dinner, she asked me if she could sit up on the counter and play dinner with the dishes. (She was very careful.) This is typical of our days as well. Elli likes to be with me doing what I am doing as much as possible.

Elli was taking her baby to the "store" and it was raining outside. So, she is dressed up and ready to go. So practical she is.

She still likes to dress up. I love seeing my little princess ome down in a new dress every so often.

Elli also still enjoys doing school with me at home. She is doing very well. She has also taken on two responsibilities that she does without me asking. She wakes up and turns off her heater and makes her bed, all by herself, before coming out of her room. What a big girl!

I feel very blessed to be able to be at home with Elli most days. We truly do have a wonderful time. I have the opportunity to witness this amazing person's growth every day. What a blessing. Just when I think there is no way I can ever forget the things she says and does, I seem to forget them. Too many memories to keep them all inside. So that is why I have this blog with these pictures and stories, to help me remember the best days of my life:)

The Snow is Melting Fast

I really wanted to make a snowman, but by the time the snow was ready to make a snowman, it was melting. So Elli and I ran out quickly today to build a snowman while we still had snow. Elli noticed she was taller than this snowman as well:) We also had to make a bunny and a turtle so the snowman would not get lonely. She makes everything come alive, like I did when I was a child. She actually asked if we could wrap the bunny in a blanket. I love imagination.

Elli's faithful Friend

When I was making dinner, Elli was playing cash register and she told me she needed more customers. Curious to see who the other customers were, I peeked over to see this...little snowman.

"I can jump as far as snowman!" (June 2009)

This little snowman used to be a decoration I got out at Christmas time. But, for the last year and a half or so, it has been Elli's friend. It has taken on many names, played many games, been to school and church, slept in her bed, and participated in countless other adventures. Today she said, "Mommy, look how much taller I am than snowman." A sad realization on my part.

Science Experiment

The end result.

I feel that my school with Elli has been a lot of memorizing and not a lot of content, so today we did a science experiment. We got a cup of snow to see if it would melt and make a cup of water. We also kept track of how long it took the snow to melt. After 25 minutes, we only had about 2 ounces of water. Elli was surprised we didn't have more. Her excitement was fun to watch.

Illness Shared by Mother and Daughter

Both Elli and I have been sick with a stomach virus. I ended up sleeping on the floor of her room last night, which Elli loved! Then, all day today, Elli has not left my side. We even napped in my bed together which NEVER happens! She has been the sweetest little girl, hugging and laying on me. She is feeling better than I am at this point, but she is so sweet. I guess if there is a good thing about throwing up all night, it is that Elli and I got to spend so much sweet time together. She has such a "mothering" spirit.

Real Hills this time!

On Saturday morning we went to Hawkins Hill to do some sledding. The walk was brutal, for Brent, but the sledding was awesome. Elli wasn't brave enough to go down this hill by herself, nor was I all that willing to let her try, but she loved taking turns with us!

Look at those smiles. Elli was having a blast!

The hike back up the hill at Shawnee Park was not as bad as it was at Hawkins Hill. Elli started out only wanting to ride with one of us, then once Brent put her on by herself, we had to beg her for a ride:) Her giggle and smile were so fun to watch.

Snow Day fun

We had some sledding neighbors stop by for a visit. Literally, they sledded down to our house:)

Elli's first snow angel of the season.

This is the real angel. Brent made a path in the front yard for Elli to sled down. It isn't very big and not that fast, but for a girl who wasn't so sure about sledding, it was perfect.

Grandpa came back down for a visit to help Brent fix the truck, but they ended up getting into an unknown problem that required the resources of a garage. Bummer.

Story on my eyes

Elli woke up this morning and said to me, "Mommy, when I was sleeping, I had a story on my eyes." I thought that was the cutest expression I had heard in a long time. I asked her what kind of story it was. She replied, "A Lily story."

Grammy's Funeral

Our family before the service began.

Grammy's four kids. From the left; Sharron, Sheila, Cheryl, Greg (dad). You can't see the flowers in the background, but they were very pretty. Thank you to all who contributed!

This picture was taken of all 9 grandchildren about 28 years ago. Front:John Scott, Jennifer, Leah, Jeff, Mary Ruth. Back:Ben, Heather, Michael, Lori.

We took the updated version at the funeral home. We are all a little bigger and Leah refused to sit on Jennifer's lap:)

The grandkids, all grown up.

Grammy's funeral was very well done and ended up being a blessing. Dad read 1 John 4:7-12 which is Grammy's favorite passage, and he prayed, Mary read from Romans, Ben read a devotion Grammy wrote on the hymn Blessed Assurance, Jeff sang and played his viola and Heather, Leah, and I shared some stories about Grammy. Pastor Matt Fleck read her eulogy and gave a messgae. Overall, it was very good. Los of people that were near to each of us were there as well as MANY who came out of their love for Grammy. It was a ad day as we said goodbye, but a good day visiting and sharing with each other as well. I met my cousin's youngest child for the first time. She is now 5! I also saw another cousin I hadn't seen in about 15 years! We all love and miss Grammy.

Christmas Week with the Fergusons

Okay, Linda you may not like this picture all that much, but your expression is priceless. The kids went together and got mom and dad money for a new dishwasher. So fun to watch them open up a wad of cash!

Getting ready to open gifts. As you can see, Seth is so impressed:)

We loved having Jenna and Justin here and cannot wait for them to move closer!

Justin got lured in rather quickly to an extenisve time of playing dollhouse with Elli. She'll rope in anyone who comes close so look out if you are not planning on spending lots of time on the floor.

Brent's family, missing Lance and Lana, came to our house the week after Christmas. It was fun to all be together. We opened presents Tuesday evening. Mostly though, we enjoyed spending time together.