Eli « English Meadows

Archive for Eli

Summer 2010

{ August 21, 2010 @ 10:34 AM } · { Drew, Eli, Erin, Jack, John }
{ Comments (1) }

We had a whirl wind of a summer. We had so much fun, and enjoyed so many adventures! Below are some of our favorite memories.

This summer we…

Visited the farm (Deanna Rose)

and saw a few 3D movies!

We loved visiting the model train station.

For extra adventure, we took the back road to Colorado

and had a blast doing so!

We ALL got spoiled by our Grammy & Grampy.

Had the adventure of a lifetime riding the Zepher to Glenwood Springs,

then risked our lives riding the gondola up the mountain (YIKES!)

We rode all the rides,

played all the games,

enjoyed all the scenery,

but always looked out for bears!

John & I FINALLY got our wedding picture taken!

Then we rode the rides again!

We celebrated Drew’s 11^th birthday, and as you can see the cake nearly set on fire!

And the very next day… we sent him off to 10 day boy scout camp.

We enjoyed visiting Drew at camp, ’till he nearly killed us on the “scenic” route (over the river & through the woods) to the infamous “lookout point”.

John finally got to go on a couple of the campouts with the boys too.

And of course we did lots of realxin’!

But through it all… we PRAISED GOD!

Wildlife Rescue

{ June 16, 2010 @ 11:07 AM } · { Drew, Eli }
{ Tags: mimi's, pond, wildlife } · { Leave a Comment }

One of our favorite things to do when we visit Mimi at her country home is check all of her window wells for animals that have managed to find themselves stranded down there. You name it, we have found it. Some things like turtles, frogs, and bunnies the boys like to rescue. We save the snakes, skunks, and any animal larger than the baby for Uncle Chris to rescue…

During our most recent trip the boys rescued one tiny, and adorable, baby turtle and three frogs. This was Eli’s first adventure in Wildlife Rescue at Mimi’s. It was pretty exciting for him!

My favorite part is the Wildlife Release. Mostly because the beautiful pond at Mimi’s makes for pretty amazing pictures!

Thomas the Train

{ June 14, 2010 @ 10:29 AM } · { Eli }
{ Tags: thomas, train } · { Leave a Comment }

Three boys later, I finally “get” the Thomas the Train craze… Eli is all about Thomas, trains, and anything with wheels. I don’t know how or why some kids get the thomas bug, but I have to admit John and I are as crazy about Thomas as Eli is!

Last weekend we were able to take Eli to his very first meeting of Thomas in Baldwin City, KS. He was over the top excited when he saw the life sized version of his favorite Train. There were lots of fun activites while we waited to take a ride on Thomas. Eli’s favorite was just watching the model train run on it’s track. I think he could have stood there all day! We got lots of cute pics!

fun, rain, & worship

{ June 12, 2010 @ 10:55 AM } · { Drew, Eli, Erin, Jack, John }
{ Tags: family outing } · { Leave a Comment }

John surprised us with tickets to “Shinefest 10″ this spring at World’s of Fun. The tickets included admission to World’s of Fun plus a special concert in the evening featuring 5 different worship bands, including Toby Mac amongst others! He purchased the tickets months in advance, and we were literally counting down the days!

As that Saturday approached, so did a lingering rain storm. Determined to get our money’s worth despite the rain, I took the boys over to enjoy the rides early that Saturday morning, with plans for John to meet us after Eli’s nap. It sprinkled on and off the entire time we were there. The boys, including Eli, were troopers though! The rain made it quite an adventure!! Above is one of my favorite pics of the day of all the English boys in their rain ponchos; wet but happy! Below are a couple more of my wet crew during the concert. We had so much fun!

Coincidentally we also discovered that the Train at World’s of Fun is named ELI! How cool is that?!

stay off the grass

{ March 31, 2010 @ 2:27 PM } · { Eli }
{ Tags: soccer, spring } · { Leave a Comment }

The weather is FINALLY warming up! The trees are starting to bud, the grass is slowly becoming green, and I hear birds singing through the open window as I type this. My KS friends can testify to the unusually cold winter we have had, and I’m sure are equally excited about the weather we have had the last several days. Yay for SPRING!

Eli was only 6mo old this time last year… and still fit in my sleep wrap. Now that he is walking – it’s a whole new world, and the world is a whole new adventure waiting to happen for us both.

Yesterday was Jack’s first soccer practice of the season, and it was a BEAUTIFUL day! I forgot to dig out the lawn chairs so we sat in the grass, or rather I sat in the grass, holding Eli. He didn’t seemed to mind walking with shoes on, but did look a bit like a drunken sailor. The grassy ground is much more uneven than our carpeted living room, you see. I wish I had my video camera…. He would lift his legs very high, as if he were marching, to be sure not to trip. Then he would get to laughing as he wobbled everywhere. It was very cute.

Once we sat down, I thought he would enjoy feeling the breeze on his feet, and the grass beneath him. He didn’t mind having his shoes off, but he did NOT enjoy the feeling of the grass on his feet at all! When I would try to stand him up he would pull his feet up high and refuse to go down. Then he became nervous about walking in fear that he would trip and his hands might touch the grass.

My friend, Emily, told me one of her boys was the same way about grass. She said she bought him a carpet square to take to games and such, and he mini-man would sit on his square contentedly avoiding the grass. I likey! I was thinking I would be chasing a toddler all over the soccer fields and ball park… perhaps not!

Can’t wait for the pool to open… : )

Where’s my camera???

{ January 12, 2010 @ 2:13 PM } · { Drew, Eli, Erin, holiday, Jack, John }
{ Tags: Christmas } · { Comments (1) }

I’ve been hoping to update the blog for awhile now, but haven’t seen my camera since Christmas morning! You can’t very well have a Mom-blog without pictures! I’m sure some of you out there would disagree… so I’ll give it a go! I can’t imagine it would be as fun to read about my kids as it would be to quickly glance at cute pics – but maybe it’s just me!

Drew got his braces off over Christmas break. He now wears a retainer part-time. He looks great!! I can’t believe how fast he made progress (he’s advanced, you know)! It seems like I had braces from the 3rd grade thru 11th (8yrs!!) Drew had braces from May-December (8mo!!!) Pretty cool!

Eli is getting closer and closer to walking, but I think we have several more weeks (hopefully!)

Jack… Jack still continues to surprise me with the things he comes up with. His perspective is one of a kind… the boy cracks me up! The latest occurred when he and Drew were watching MacGyver. I didn’t see what happened, but heard Jack lean over to Drew and say, “You should probably learn to open your pocket knife with one hand like that… just in case…” Drew and I were also talking about how it’s okay to be a “nerd” because the nerds statistically grow up to be well adjusted, smart, happy, and wealthy. On the flip side, the mean kids or “Popular” crowd usually ends up fat, bald, and unhappy. (stereotypical – maybe, but I was trying to encourage my 10 yr old who asked me if it was okay with me if he was a nerd.) After I go back to washing dishes, I hear Jack again lean over to Drew and ask, “Does that mean I’ll be miserable when I grow up?” oy. ~Hey Mr. Popularity – everyone is popular in 2nd grade. Your 15 minutes is coming, nerd boy!~ OKAY, OKAY catch your breath… That wasn’t my response! I told him as long as he was always kind to everyone, nerd or not, he would be just fine.

John is busy, busy with work and traveling with all the trade shows that seem to go on the 1st part of the year. He continues to be the most handsome husband, and doting Dad. We did get to enjoy having him home several days over the holidays! We had a fantastic, inexpensive Christmas. We spent several days at Gramma Birdie’s for New Year’s Eve/Day, and even got to make and pull taffy! After years of being merely spectators, my sister Shannon and I were actually allowed to touch, and even pull the taffy and it was SO MUCH FUN! The boys enjoyed an EXTRA LONG Christmas break with 2 snow days the very first two days they were supposed to go back.

So here we are in 2010! Everyone is healthy and happy (& back-2-school!) Looks like it’s going to be a great year, and I can’t wait to see what God has in store for each of us, AND each of you! (Hopefully it involves finding my camera soon, and posting more “mom blog pics!”)

Is he walking yet?

{ January 12, 2010 @ 12:46 PM } · { Eli }
{ Tags: development, walking } · { Comments (2) }

Eli is SO CLOSE to walking. I am not anxious for this developmental stepping stone though. He can no longer be considered a “baby” if he’s walking, and he has the rest of his life to walk, right? That’s just how sweet he is to entertain my fantasies and stay a crawling baby. He does love to push things around, walking behind. It started when he saw Tia Chrissy walking with her walker after her hip surgery. He tried it out while we were visiting and loved it! Then he got a little tikes ”crazy coupé” for Christmas and has had so much fun pushing it around the house. Now it’s the vacuum, kitchen chairs, and even a small folding table on wheels. His FAVORITE is when Jack holds his hands and walks around with him. He could definitely be walking if he just tried… I haven’t told him that yet though.

Christmas: New Traditions

{ January 12, 2010 @ 10:10 AM } · { Drew, Eli, Erin, holiday, Jack, John, traditions }
{ Tags: Christmas, traditions } · { Leave a Comment }

Christmas as an adult had certainly lost it luster for me. It somehow became this overly expensive, gift centered, busy, chaotic “holiday” that had very little to do with Jesus. Then one day not long after Christmas ’08, my friend Heather and I got to talking about Santa Claus and Christmas traditions. She shared with me what another family does for Christmas and I LOVED IT! I followed up with that family for all the details and we gave it a go this year. To read their ideas click HERE. We made it our own… … continue reading this entry.

jayhawk

{ December 3, 2009 @ 11:45 PM } · { Drew, Eli, Jack }
{ Tags: Christmas, football, Jayhawlk, KU } · { Comments (2) }

we thought it would be fun to have our Christmas card picture with the jayhawk at the union this year. eli was so excited to see a giant jayhawk. we’ve trained him well… he LOVES jayhawks.

we will be taking eli to his first game at allen fieldhouse next tuesday. i can hardly wait! i hope he does well; it’s a late game. i think with all the jayhawks and excitement of allen fieldhouse, he’ll have a blast. i know the older boys + john & i will!