Labor Day Weekend, Family Fun

The Dodsons:)
Brent with sweet little Aria.
Aria is wearing a dress that Jenna wore when she was a newborn. So adorable:)
Gonga and papa with the boys:)
Anybody want to read?
The adult table. Great conversation, lots of laughs, good times:)
Lots of little ones means lots of times on the floor for the grown-ups:)
Trying to hold these babies and open a card can be hard:) Wesley was not having it! Elli is wearing this coat because it was freezing cold outside.
I LOVE this picture of Elli and grandma blowing out her candles. What fun to have your birthday on Labor day this year:) We celebrated with lots of people!

Bekahs Birthday Party at Skateworld, Sept 2, 2011

Elli and the Raymond girls, minus the baby:), taking a break from the skating.
Elli and Bekah, the birthday girl. What a fun morning!!!!
Opening presents:)
The crew, well not the parents which were just as exciting to watch on skates:)
DQ ice cream cake is sooooo yummy! It was a great way to celebrate a special little girl.

Last and first, Sept 3rd, 2011

Last trip in my first car. 1988, 300E Mercedes, 273, 379 miles. I will miss this car.
We left her parked at her new owner's house. Both Elli and I were a bit teary. Elli more than I. She had a really rough time with this!
First time in my new car! 2012, Hyundai Elantra, 7 miles!!!!
So fun to see it up on the truck.
Seeing the semi was precisely the point Elli starting crying, ran up to Brent's mom and said, "I tried to get mommy to keep our car but she wouldn't listen to me!"
Last bath for my beloved Mercedes. I really did enjoy this car. It was the first car I bought, back in 1998. It was also my 3rd date with Brent, sort of, when I picked it up at the dealer:) I will miss not being a Mercedes owner anymore, but am happy with the car we now have.

Visit with Leah, twins, Mom and dad

Luka relaxing with his Gonga and his bottle.
Papa tried a little different approach to feeding Wesley.
The boys were sleepy so we got out these relics:) They may be a little big but it didn't stop them from getting some good sleep!
Wesley, nearly out.
Luka. It didn't take long:)
Luka was having a rough day. But, he is oh so sweet!
Look how tall the boys are getting. Elli is on her knees, but still, so big!

The Star Student of the Week! Aug 29-Sept 2

She wanted to show me how she can climb and hang on the spider web.
So proud of herself:)
Ms. Cooney made a poster of the pictures I sent in for Elli.
Elli with Ms. Cooney. She has made this transition easy. Elli loves her.

Ms. Cooney pulled me aside on Friday to tell me she had chosen Elli to be the star student of the week. She asked me to keep it a secret and to send in pictures for the poster. When I showed up to get Elli on Monday, she came running down the hall, as the line leader of the week, wearing her crown and yelling "Mommy, Mommy. I am the star student!" She was chosen for her good citizenship.
This is a picture of Elli's first homework assignment. She got a sticker and a smiley face. The picture is a self portrait:) The green lines are for her good behavior. She has really come around and now likes kindergarten. I on the other hand still cry each morning when I leave her there.

Elli's first day of Kindergarten

Posing for me and her Gonga. She wanted to eat eggs for breakfast because she said she eats them pretty fast!
She loves her new backpack.
Walking toward the school with daddy.
First steps into the classroom.
Pulling out her goodies. She was a little disappointed that she would have to share all her new supplies with everyone in the class. She picked out some special things:) We did keep a few sparkly pencils for her to keep in her bag though:)
Ms. Cooney talking to all the kindergartners.
They had to find their names and have a seat. There are coloring pages under the crayon box.
Daddy kissing his big girl before we leave.
Here come the kindergartners out of the classroom to the hall where their parents are waiting anxiously. Not sure how Elli got to be last in line. She said no one talked to her. Not sure about that one yet because she also said she played with the kids today.
Elli is telling Brent about the things she learned today. She was especially excited about getting recess today and about having a "cookie with a bookie" day. She said she behaved well and didn't have to move her car any spaces. She couldn't wait to show me all her papers in her folder either.
We celebrated her first day by going to Young's for lunch. She was very excited and she was very hungry:)

Her first impressions seem to be good. I cannot tell whether she likes it or not. She did tell me she didn't really want to go back though. I think we need to wait a little longer and see how she does. My guess is once she gets used to getting up early and gets to know the kids better, she will do fine.

She did say they only counted to ten today and she seemed disappointed by that:)

Love my girl and cannot believe she is in kindergarten. I cried when I walked out of the room. She was just sitting there with those wide eyes looking around at everyone and everything. It was hard for me. I hope to hear Elli share in the future days that she is enjoying school. I want to see her strengths shine. I want to hear about how she helped others. So, I am praying for my girl. Join me in praying that God uses her to touch the lives of those she is around.

Sweet Corn Festival, Aug 20, 2011

Caleb enjoyed the pony ride!!!
Elli had fun on her pony ride as well.
So did Madilynn:)
Travis, Jenna, Clay. Travis sang and played with Jenna (Sherry's cousin, my former student). It was really good! They sounded great.
Travis and Caleb sang Jesus Loves Me! Caleb was so excited and thought he was going to play his guitar and sing so Travis let him come on up and sing. Such a sweet moment.
Caleb was practicing while all the equipment got set up.
These two toothless wonders were just a small part of Caleb's audience. (Elli couldn't wait to show Lily that she lost the same tooth!)
Before Travis got to perform, these belly dancers gave us quite a show! At the end they offered to teach anyone who wanted to learn. Elli is giving it her best shot:)

Good Neighbor 5K, Aug 20, 2011

Before the race.
I ran it in 26:38.
Brent pushed Elli and ran it in 27 something. Proud of him:) He stopped and let Elli run across the finish line. Sweet memories!

Elli lost her first tooth!!!!!

The "Tooth Fairy" left Elli a tooth pillow and a $5.00 bill. Apparently the fairy didn't have any single bills:) At 4:12 in the morning, Elli came into our room to show us her "big money and her pillow!"
She worked on that tooth all day and kept saying, "This is it, mommy!" After about an hour of that, she was able to pull it out. She was so excited and we were able to share that excitement with Gonga and Papa too.
During the day, she was wiggling and biting her tooth. I even made hamburgers for dinner to help it out. Apparently it worked pretty well:)