Here is Eli this morning. He got up at 7:15am and was still sleepy, so he laid in our bed with his puppies. He loves his puppies.

Here he is eating some french toast and a banana.

Notice he's using a big fork. It's a big fork for him, but an adult fork. He's getting so big :( Today I took him to the doctor to check his ears and they usually have me put him in the center of the weighing thing and lay him down. Today they told me he could keep his diaper on and sit up. He's growing up too fast!

A Beautiful Day!

It was such a beautiful day, so Eli and I went outside and played a little this afternoon. We also took a Gator ride. Pops got Eli a wheelbarrow at the Co-op Saturday so he could help on the house! Eli loves it. Thanks Pops.

BATHROOM: Before, After, & After

Happy Birthday, Jan!

Happy Birthday Jan. This passed year, I have seen you grow in the area of serving your family. You are gifted in compassion and serving and have always excelled in that area, but this passed year you have grown in specifically serving your family with excellence. You have made the apartment a home and are helping Matt to get the house ready. Phone calls, meeting subcontractors, you are the woman. Ephesians 5:15 "Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. " This is you Jan! You are becoming a wise woman, busying yourself with the affairs of the home and loving your family! To speak your language..."you go girl...word..." I would also be remiss, if I did not mention your recent acquisition of the "gift of meat" ( nowhere found in scripture, but inspired from the holy spirit none the less). Given 1/2 a day and any slab of meat, you perform miracles.... again..."you go girl....word".
Kaleb and Sophie worked themselves into a frenzy constructing your card ( as shown above-note: marker on face and hands) Kaleb's favorite letter is the "jumpin J" so he was simply enthralled to work on your card. Get ready it is a veritable masterpiece, suitable for framing...refrigerator ready.... Happy birthday :)

Update On Our Remodel

Hear are some pictures of the house. Josh, Stephen, and David came over and did this for us in one day! Thanks! It's getting closer and closer to being done. Of course there is so much more to do.

There used to be two walls behind Eli and also some kitchen cabinets.

There also used to be a wall all the way to the left where the refrigerator is and table.

Eli just looking out in the back yard where uncle Tommy is digging footers for the addition. Look at all the rock! There is so much rock everywhere!

This is the big window that I love! But the new addition is going here. Matt is adding a master bed and bath on the back of the house.

Look Mom! What happened to the fireplace?

The hall bathroom. We are gutting the whole bathroom. I can't wait to see what it will look like.

Eli likes to get in this closet and shut the door.

Here is Eli helping us out with the demo of the fireplace.

Looks proud doesn't he? Or maybe hurt! Who knows...

Is Eli too young to use an ipod shuffle?

Happy Valentine's Day!

These are the tulips Matt got me. Aren't they beautiful? Thanks Matt!

Kaleb's antics

We are entering a whole new realm of imagination with Kaleb. This is his new doggie "THUNKIN" He is very, very small probably because we gave away his other dog because it was too big ( LAMAR fiasco 2006-2007) He wants to be certain we do not give this dog away. He named another dog " THUNKIN"S DADDY"

Several times, i have caught him playing and talking to someone. I was pretty sure he was calling him "BOBBY" Whenever we asked him about it, we got a strange stair. Today, I asked him who Bobby was and he looked at me very matter of factly and pointed to his right hand. As if to say, " duh, mom he is right here.." Kaleb's friend Bobby is his ' right hand man' One day he might think that is pretty funny :)

Last night at the Steakhouse from Down under..... The waiter came up full of excitement and asked, " So, can i get you any cheese fries? How about some wings" Kaleb LOUDLY exclaimed, " NO! No! We don't eat birds, we eat food" ...

Leftovers

Here is a family picture taken at Nanny & Poppy's on Christmas. Sophie got that purple backpack and plays with it all the time. Thank you Ken and Beth!

Grandma turned 45 this year :) So Sam organized a Surprise party for her. Here is the best shot of all 5.

Kaleb was so excited that Clifton had a birthday, because he got to make a cake. The kids each did sprinkles. Only they did not sprinkle anything, they dumped almost the entire botttle on the cake. Kaleb picked out the candles himself.

This is what Kaleb did when i told him to put his arm around Sophie. Mr. Literal.

She has progressed to stealing and wearing the underwear.

Let the fun begin...

Well, this morning we started with the demo of the concrete/rock and are digging the footers for the new master bed and bath. Thanks to Daniel, Tommy, Clifton, and Dad for coming and helping us today. Also, we want to thank Dad for letting us borrow his backhoe. I don't want to forget to thank Elizabeth, Jennifer, and Stephanie for letting us borrow their husbands! Thank you!!!

Here is the house. We are moving the front door to the middle of the big window in front and adding a porch. We are changing pretty much everything about the house. Come back for updates.

We are enclosing the carport.

Waiting to start...

We have 1.24 acres inside Clinton and Eli's got plenty of room to run and play. But my little man loves to play near the road!

Daniel and Tommy put Eli in the backhoe tire. Too cute!

He kept getting back in the tire and smiling and saying cheese.

Here is Tommy getting the stone/rock up. It is everywhere!!!

This tree fell down last week when we had that big wind and storms. Tommy was moving it out of our way.

More stone/rock at the back of the house.

I was taking this picture and Matt's say... "where's Eli?"

Here he is! Tommy let him ride in the backhoe.

Eli says cheese now when I'm taking pictures. I think this is a down spout thing for the guttering. Not sure though.

Up close! You can tell his hair is a little uneven. I guess I will try to cut his hair from now on. Bonnie does a great job on everyone else, but Eli's is always a little uneven. Does anyone know of another person to cut Eli's hair?