Trick or Treat

Halloween seemed to sneak right up on me just like it does every single year! I always have good intentions of getting Elem such a fabulous costume, but it seems that I am always scrambling until the very last minute. However, I couldn't have been happier with Elem's costume this year, and more importantly what a fun time we all had trick or treating! I tried putting the little Halloween bug in Elem's ear about 2 weeks before Halloween. And he didn't really understand what it was all about, but I knew it was only a matter of time before he got the picture. I began by asking him what he wanted to dress up as for the big event. Of course, he had no idea and just kind of looked at me. But strangely enough, the very day I started asking him about his costume, he started dressing up with some of the boys at school in the power ranger outfits. Elem has never been one to wear a mask, or costume, and I was very hopeful for a change of heart for the big night of trick or treating. Although I do catch him with this fabulous little crocheted baby blue hat with a flower on the side, and this black purse that he claims as his to "go to walmart" with his friends at school. haha. So deep down I knew there was a possibility of getting something on him, I just had to pump it up and catch him at the right moment. So once I saw him dressing up as the power ranger, I tried to talk it up, and make sure he knew how cool dressing up was! Before I knew it, he was telling me that he wanted to be a "pirate pig" for Halloween. Uhm, what??? Well I can thank Dora for that little idea. He has recently been watching this DVD in the car where Dora and Diego are on a mission to get their pirate costumes back from the "pirate pigs". Hehe. So a pirate pig seemed to be the ONLY thing he wanted to be. I mean nothing else. I thought....baseball player-NO. I thought football player-NO. I thought an animal, dragon or monkey or something-NO. Pirate pig, pirate pig-which meant super large hat, a sword, and an eye patch needed to be in the works. Meanwhile, I was trying to get 40 costumes donated for the kids at the shelter, and Elem's pirate pig seemed to slip to the backburner. I never mean for that to happen, but it always does! I am so obsessed trying to make everyone at the shelter happy, that I have to scramble when it comes to my own family. Never the less, and I had one pirate pig to create and so we did! Luckily, once the pirate pieces started to come together, the actual pig part kind of faded into the background! And thank goodness for that! I was willing to get a razorback nose and slap it on his face if I had to, but so did not want to do that. Thank you Elem for your cooperation and for being THE most adorable pirate pig in the whole wide universe. Da, da, da, daaaaaa-
ELem the pirate pig...eye patch and all-enjoying our freshly carved pumpkins. :)

The eye patch didn't really make it past the first house. But he was still as cute as could be. I love the massive pirate hat, I think it totally made his little costume. ha!


Off you go little man...reach for that "ring bell" as he likes to call them.


"Uhm..just a minute people. I need to take care of the popcorn ball before we take another step towards the next house. "


All set and ready to go.


We barely hit up the first few houses and rounded the corner before we ran into-who else....Cecilia the pumpkin fairy! The good thing about living about 10 houses away from your family-there is always a playmate ready to hang out! Can anyone tell they are excited to see each other?


Here you can see Elem doing his normal thing-smooozing Cecilia. I can only imagine what he is telling her here. He is probably telling her that they are going to knock on the door and then when the person comes with the candy to let him pick first. haha! Neh he loves his sissy and would do anything for her, most of the time. :)


Daddy was a big help, and took Elem to the door while I handled the camera. I tend to get a little finger happy when it comes to snapping shots of Elem, but I just cant help it. I seem to think every single thing needs to be snapped! It is my guilty pleasure, so what!


Cecilia, me, and Elem. I believe this was the last house of the night that we hit up. 15 houses or so was enough for Elem, he didnt feel the need to be greedy!


We had such a blast! Nothing to big or flashy, just a good ole night of trick or treating in the neighborhood and then back to our house to pass out candy to the rest of the kids that came by. Elem was so polite and adorable when he said trick or treat at each and every door he came to. He even said thank you to every single house, with a little encouragement from me and Seth, and had the most genuine look each time a new face would come to the door with a bowl full of candy! Such a fun holiday to share with a toddler. Looking forward to the even bigger holidays we have coming up! It is going to be so much fun, I cant hardly stand it. Oh and let me end on one last note about my other side of my family. Yes, Cecilia was a sweet little pumpkin fairy, and Elem pulled off the pirate pig look, but I cant mention this Halloween without including my sweet little red headed nephew-Wyatt. My sis has the cutest, red headed, pale skinned, little 18 month old boy, and they turned him into none other than-
Yes you guessed it-CHUCKY!

Better luck next year Wyatt, maybe you can choose what you get to be when you can talk a little better. I think your daddy got the upper hand this year! But you are THE cutest chucky I have ever seen and I wish I could have been there to see you say trick or treat when I answered my door. :) Love you!

We THINK PINK

Yes, all of us THINK PINK around here-including our boys!


Especially during the month of October, but mostly just because we love love love my mom (memaw to Elem) and are so proud of the battle she has won against breast cancer, and for all the women out there who have been touched some way by this horrible cancer. I am happy to report that it has officially been 3 years, well a little over 3 years, since my mom won her battled against breast cancer, and we make it a priority to do the Race for the Cure here in Little Rock each and every October. I have been doing the race for many years now, but it means so much more to actually walk for someone close to you, and "see" the difference you and all the others who are there are making, just by showing up, walking, and supporting the cause. It is truly an amazing event to be a part of and we wouldn't miss it for the world. I know many of you also participate in your cities, and I just want to say on behalf of my mom, THANK YOU! For those of you who run it, I envy you, because I so wish I could get there, hehe-Becky-but I am just as happy to walk with my mom. And all her many supporters. My mom arrived Friday night before the race and had some super sweet moments will Elem Zane. Every time he hears Memaw is coming, he gets excited, and immediately starts asking, "where", "where is she". And I mean does not usually stop until he sees her getting out of the car. It is so cute.
Catching a few stories before heading to bed to get ready for the big day...uhm did I mention how many stories Elem likes to read every single night??? Memaw had no idea what was in store. Typical night, bout 15 books or more. I think Memaw got off easy. :)


We made it downtown around 7:40am, after scooping up my cousin Jeff who drove from Memphis to walk with us in support of my mom! We are so thankful he got to join us for this wonderful day. The more the merrier. Seth's mom and sis, known around here as Aunt Ali and Grammy, met up with us as well-even battling a little illness, they made it just to show their support and sport their pink. Again, just so thankful and happy to have family around in support and to do this together. We signed up for the Family Fun Walk so Jeff and Seth could join us, and Elem :) After listening to a little music and battling the masses, we snapped a quick pic and headed off to join in with the tens of thousands already walking. Sadly Jeff seemed to get the boot on many of our pictures. hehe. Sorry Jeff, we still love you!
Me, Mom, Elem, Seth, Grammy, and Ali


I try to go all out, and make Elem as PINK of a supporter for his Memaw as I can, and still keeping him a noticeable boy from afar! Here he is sporting his "PINKED" out stroller with countless pink ribbons, and his "I walk for my memaw" shirt. True supporter since 6 months. Lets get to walkin'


The weather was beautiful, ending out a rainy couple of days, so it made the day even that much better. Our crown seemed to flow smoothly and there were no melt downs by the toddler. :) Made for an even better Race Day. We love you Mom, and are so thankful you won your fight against this disease. Thanks for letting us walk for you. And we look forward to many more years of supporting this cause until a cure is found. Hopefully, we can add to our little "memaw" group as the years come. :) Here we are heading round one of the last blocks downtown (otherwise known as the turn where the firemen are on their firetruck, stripping down and dancing to music.). Always a favorite of the ladies. I love this pic! Look at all that pink, too.


At the end of the race, there is a umbrella of balloons with people lined up on the outside, for survivors to run through and feel the love! Here is our little hero herself, enjoying her moment of triumph. Too cute. Go mom go!


And last but not least, Jeff and my mom. Thanks again for coming all the way down and for showing your support by walking and wearing pink, etc. We hope to see you here each and every year. I don't know why the girl at the end of the race cut you out of the family pic, but she did, so I am giving you your own little pic with mom in the blog! :)


What a great day! What a special day! We love you mom, and will always THINK PINK for you!

"I ride the 4 wooter, mommy"

Here is the video from the fair where Elem and Cecilia rode the "4 wooter" (4 wheeler)! Elem LOVES 4 wheelers so this little ride was right up his alley. At the beginning he is just too cute waving at the camera and all the onlookers, which consisted of myself, seth, ali, dustin, and grammy and poppa. So there were plenty of people looking for a little wave. And then if you watch closely right at the very beginning of the video he is putting a little bit of gas in the 4 wheeler hehe :) and telling us thats what he is doing. Cecilia's face is priceless too! Uhm, and check out how fast this little ride is going! geez for such little people....I know I am going to have my work cut out for me when he gets a little bigger and is wanting to go on the crazy upside down and super fast rides. Guess I need to be thankful this one just goes in a small circle, round....and round.....and round..... again.

Fair frenzy!

October = S-T-A-T-E F-A-I-R T-I-M-E !!!!



Every October, the State Fair comes rolling through Little Rock, and is one of those "must do" activities for just about everybody. And that everybody totally includes us. I love the atmosphere: throwing on some jeans and a jacket, all the lights and fun sounds, animals in the barns, the "typical" Ferris Wheel standing high above all the other rides, and last but not least-FAIR FOOD! Whoo hoo. Who doesn't love a super large $5 pronto pup?? Comon' now? This was Elem's 3rd year to go to the fair, yes we took him when he was just 5 months old-not really sure why, but it sounded good at the time, and this turned out to be such a great age to go to the fair. From the minute we entered the gate, he was mesmerized by all the lights and all the people. I kept looking over at him to see his reactions and they were so genuine and sweet, I just couldn't get enough of it. Eyes wide open and cheeks flushed, with a huge smile, pretty much sums up his overall demeanor of the day. It made it worth every single $3.00 we spent on rides, hehe and the overly priced duck game that was so cute to watch it could make someone sick. You know the one where all the ducks are floating in the baby pool of water, each with a number on the bottom, and every number is a winner???? If you were 2 years old, I tell you, when the person behind the duck game tells you "you won, you get to pick any prize you want" it must be one of the best feelings in the world. :)

All bundled up and ready to go. First stop? A massive monster truck that even seemed a little extreme for me? Why anyone would enjoy driving one of these around will never make sense to me. But the overly large tires, do make for one great photo op. :)


With the state fair comes many new and exciting opportunities for someone so little. Here we have Elem's first attempt milking a cow. Hmm. Plastic cow, with rubber utters, that actually spits out milk, if you "milk" them just right. Very strange, but fun at the same time. We couldn't miss out on this thing.


So much to do, so much to see, barely even time for a quick pic with the Shelby boys. Notice any resemblances here?


On to the Children's Barnyard-better known as the petting zoo, which is a must at the fair. I love love love petting zoos, and Elem seemed to love it too! On our way in-


Yep- he loves it! The pigs were one of his favorite . He thought they were so goofy. He let most of the animals eat the feed out of his hands, but was a little timid when they go up to him. I kept seeing him get this look on sheer adrenaline across his face every time they were licking it out of his hand. I could only imagine him thinking that they were going to bite his little finger. But he enjoyed it, and just kept on laughing and smiling the whole time.


The first "official" game of the fair-the duckies in the pond game. Elem and Cecilia waited so patiently to pick the perfect duck of their choice in hopes of winning a prize. Luckily they were both winners, and sissy chose a huge purple kick ball, and Elem chose a huge purple football. Good prizes if I do say so myself.


After the game, we moved on to the rides. Seth and I were a little apprehensive about the whole ride thing, and there were only a few that we thought he should even set foot on. This I must add, was not one Seth or I were too excited about him getting on. We thought it was going to go too fast, and didn't have any "real" sides holding him in, incase he flew off, just one tiny little seatbelt. But as you can tell, he loved it, and he and sissy did just fine. They actually did more than fine and this was probably one of their favorite things they did the whole day. In the end, after he was safely off the glittery blue 4 wheeler, I am happy that he got on. Hehe. :) Just look at that face. Who could say no to that!


The kids rode a couple more rides, including a train that made about 4 teeny tiny circles, but that Elem LOVED, and some insane dragon roller coaster that was almost impossible for me to catch on video, but I will post that another day. The rides turned out to be worth it, and we were lucky enough to catch a few for free, and not the $3.00 for 20 seconds of fun that they were listed as. So that made it a little better! We sure did make time for some good food though. Corn dogs were high on our list of things we HAD to stop and get, and even though Elem seemed to eat a little bit of just about everybody's corn dog, he still had room for some yummy cotton candy. As you can see, he is thankful for the sugar. He and Grammy enjoying some fair sweetness!


One last photo before we leave. Almost too hard to get a good one with everybody looking at the camera-when there is so much going on around us, but this one will do.


We had so much fun, the pictures almost don't even do our trip to the fair justice. Another great time with the Shelby's and the Suitors, beautiful cool crisp weather, plenty of good food, a few nerve racking rides, and more smiles than I could count made for one of those early fall unforgettable memories. Can't wait to do it again next year.

Always time for Play House Disney

We have been pretty sickly around our house these days, hence the lack of blogs! But I am back and ready to get on it. We have had such a busy fall already....just seems to be something every weekend, and every day of the weekend for that matter, and we are taking full advantage of cramming it all in. A few weekends ago, Ali and Dustin took Elem and Cecilia to see Play House Disney here in Little rock at the Altel Arena. I need to get in the circle of knowing when fun stuff like this is going on, because by the time Ali told me about it, it was way to late to go looking for a ticket!!! Or one that cost reasonable anyways. I seem to be so insanely busy during the week that not only do I not have time to answer phone calls from my own husband, but I don't take time to look ahead for fun family friendly activities that are taking place right around the corner. So, I am going to seriously try to find more fun and cheap events to take our little man too! I actually wasn't even sure if he would really appreciate the show or understand it, because he doesn't watch any of those cartoons. And only knows who some of the characters are from a few books that we read. So I just sent him on his way hoping he would enjoy his first little musical performance. :)

And from what I hear...Play House Disney did not disappoint!


Here are the two happy campers on the way to the show! Elem had no idea what he was going to see! Haha. I just kept telling him Sissy had a surprise and she was taking him to see some super fun show with dancing and singing! They seem all grins from this photo that Ali snapped before they made it to the show.


So before the show the of course had to pose in front of the fabulous Disney props. :) Look at those 2 cuties! Best friends forever, for sure! Oh and might I add Elem wore a special robot shirt that was supposed to light up in the dark. :) hehe I thought it would make the show even more fun! ha!


And what is a show without cotton candy! Uhm, you have got to have it!! As you can tell Elem made out with a fance new hard hat, just like Handy Manny, who he seemed very impressed with when he made it home. He was actually referring to the show as the "Hindy Mindy" show that Ali and Dustin took him to see. Hahaha. Doesn't get much better than this from what I can tell. New duds and sugar= Happy :)


Super zoned. And loving every second of it! I don't think the large animated figures dancing on stage quite scared my child like I thought they would! They both seem quite calm actually.


Aww....and 2 very hyped up and satisfied little toddlers after the show.


They had SO much fun...and Elem has not stopped talking about it yet! He came in the door wearing his new "Hindy Mindy" yellow hard hat, and told us all about Tiger and Pooh, and Mickey Mouse, etc. The Whole Gang I believe they like to be called! Thank you so much to Ali and Dustin taking the kids to enjoy such a fun event! I am so glad Elem did not miss out. To make it even better, the Saturday after Play House Disney, we turned on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, or whatever it is called, and Elem was super confused!! He started grinning from ear to ear, and said, "I saw them with Dustin. Me and Sissy watched them the oder day". It was so sweet. He totally was putting 2 and 2 together and actually remembered those characters. It is so amazing that while sitting in the stands, lights out, large people in costumes dancing and singing, he was totally soaking up every single piece of it. The colors, the musicality of the whole thing, the names, so sweet to see something we think of as a fun event or show to take your kids, and then to hear about it and imagine it through their eyes.

2 little monkeys jumpin' on the bed

It is too funny to see my child doing things that as parents you don't really want to allow, but as far as remembering it was something that you always liked to do, and weren't supposed to, you kinda want to let them do it, cause you know how much fun it is! That being said, jumping on the bed, is so one of those things! I totally remember wanting to jump on my bed when we were little, but my sis and I shared a room AND we had bunk beds, so it was kind of out of the question. However, jumping on my parents bed -was not. Hehe. Sorry mom, it was the biggest bed in the house and pretty bouncy if I do recall! Elem and Cecilia have made very good use of Elem's crib when they have sleepovers or really just any time they get together. I guess you could say we really have gotten our moneys worth here-this bed has served as a place to sleep, a place for "time out" when Elem has needed to get away for a moment, and of course -as a trampoline.

This video is just one I caught when Cecilia was over a few weeks ago. They are so sweet when they get together and have developed some ind of "silly phrases" that they like to say back and forth. One of those includes calling each other or themselves a peanut. Not quite sure about where that came from, but it is still cute to hear. They are super giggly and as soon as they turn on Elem's little radio on the side of the bed with his lullaby music, they pretend to be going to sleep.Too funny. This video has me smiling from pretty much the second I hit play!

We all scream for ice cream

I'm pretty sure that my kid has some sort of extraordinary hearing abilities. Not so much when I am talking to him and trying to get him to do something for me :) but he sure can hear the ice cream man from about a mile away. And once he hears that silly little tune and the bell dinging,you might as well just go ahead and grab a dollar because there is no turning back. Not only do we stand do we all head outside to wait, sometime we jump on our bikes and head out to "track down" the ice cream man. Whatever we do, or however long we wait on the sidewalk till he finds our street, the end result is always the same -pure bliss with a smile that appears to stretch right off his face. :)In that moment it is totally worth


A story board might read a little something like this....

He's coming, he's coming, I hear him!


Frosty Treats have arrived.


Decisions, decisions.


I pick...that one.


One dollar for one frozen delight.


Look what I got.


Happy about the choice.


Mmmmmmm.


And its all m-i-n-e.


The end.

Sad to see you go

Summer that is. Summer is my most favorite time of the year! And I am so sad to see it officially go, with the onset of some much cooler temperatures and the recent downpour of rain here in Arkansas. Guess its pretty much official, no more trips to the lake on the boat (courtesy of Ali and Dustin! Woohoo!). I have to say, I am actually embracing the fall with pretty good attitudes, although I will miss the hot temperatures, laying out on the weekends, jumping in the pool, and just spending time outside with limited amounts of clothes on! I do not like to be cold, and the winter is really hard for me, so to me, fall just means, colder temps they are a coming! And I need to start getting layered up. Whoo, I gots to get ready!

Good bye lake time, and the good ole life jackets. We will see you next year.


Guess we got to do some thinking for some new fallish family activities.


I know 2 itty bitty people who are not going to be very happy about the decline in time spent outdoors. 2 little people who want to be outside just about every minutes of every day.


Alright Mr. Fall, bring on the pretty leaves, and comfy sweaters.

Mommy Out. Daddy In.

As we speak, Elem and Seth are taking a bubble bath in the big bath tub. After they just got finished playing fire trucks in our bedroom on the floor and shutting the doors to let me know I was not welcome. After they took off their shirts and I was informed by my 2 year old that I didnt have strong muscles so I couldnt do that. And after they finished up a quick game of football, where they run and tackle each other in the middle of the living room. Yet another thing I am not welcome to participate in tonight.

Taking baths with Elem was SO my thing. And so was playing with the fire trucks, and police cars, and even the choo choo trains for that matter. And most definitely anything in the clothes department-putting on, taking off, or buying for that matter! And I am so welcome in sports-sheesh, talk about a double standard! Girls can play too. Let mommy in boys!

You love me little man-You know you do! :) I can see it in your face! hehe.



This can not be happening at such an early age. Elem is not quite 2 and 1/2 and I am already getting the boot. No, no, and no. I have got to hang on to a few things that can be mommy/Elem special time. I have my thinking cap on, and I still have high hopes for story time later tonight. Story time is some of the best 30 minutes of my day-so that one can make up for all the other ones I am obviously too "girly" to participate in.

Humoring the medical staff

Elem made a trip to the pediatrician's office this week, just to check on a few things.

First off: he was running a slight fever, and had a yucky cough, and a lot of congestion in his head and nose. So we figured why not get the ears checked out just in case. See what was going on with all the stuff draining down his throat. Second: He also had this weird bump on his bottom, that was progressively getting worse throughout the end of last week and into the weekend. In my head, I truly felt like it was a boil, even though I always thought that kids who got boils only got them because the parents were not proactive in getting their kids treated for some kind of infection. However, after speaking with his doc, they quickly assured me that there is nothing you can really do to avoid them, just apply a lot of heat to the area to hopefully bring out the infection. Ewwww! Yuck. And yes, it is a result of staph infection. Ewww, even grosser. They also stated that staph is everywhere, and is so easy to pick up, there is just not a lot you can do about it. So I attacked it the only way I knew how. Multiple baths per day, and with a reminder from my mother in law, a dash of baking powder to the bath to dry out the skin. A little topical antibiotic cream, and lots of washing of his clothes, and everything he touched! After a little more research I knew that if the "stuff" didnt come out on its own, that the docs would have to drain it-which I can not even tell you how bad that would have hurt Elem! I have had so many kids at the shelter who have had to have that done. Ugggh! We kept on it, and by some miracle by Sunday night, the "stuff" came out!!!!!! It was so sick, but whatever, it came out and I was sooo happy that he was not going to have to have it drained.

So Seth still took Elem to the doc on Monday just to get it checked out, along with the minor cold symptoms. Luckily-just a slight cold, and no ear infections. Good deal. Even better, nothing would need to be done for the... boil (yuck, I shiver every time I say that word!) just some oral antibiotics to make sure everything was gone and help in further clearing it up, and to also help with the little cold some. Whew! It could have gone very differently from that, and I am oh so glad no ear infections and no draining of the....boil!

On an even better note, Seth informed me of some conversation that went on at the pediatrician's office between Elem and the medical staff. And I couldnt help but want to remember it looking back.




The nurse came in to check Elem's temperature. And so the conversation went:
Nurse: Okay Elem, when it beeps, that means we are all finished. Listen for the beep.
Thermometer: BEEP.
Elem: Popcorn ready!

Hahahah! The funny thing is, we dont even eat that much popcorn around our house or at school! But we do heat up a lot of food in the microwave, and make toast in the toaster oven etc. So all things that make a beep, or ding rather, to let you know the food is ready! What else could we expect. Come on. :)

Next up, Dr. Ledbetter was checking Elem's ears. He checked the first one, all was well.

Doc: Okay Elem, looks good. Can you turn your head so I can check your other ear?

Elem: Like penguino?

Hahahaha! Let me better explain.

A. Elem loves him some Dora the Explorer. And on the way to Gulf Shores, if you recall, he watched his fair share of this one particular Dora episode, where Dora and Diego were helping this little penguin find his way home. Of course, Dora called the penguin, penguino. So ever since then Elem has referred to all penguins as penguinos. And there is no turning back. He just will not accept that they are really called penguins here in America.

B. We read to Elem A LOT!!! More than a lot, and he loves this one particular book HEAD TO TOE, with illustrations by Eric Carle. In the book a bunch of animals are basically asking if you can do what they do. And there is a penguin (or penguino) who turns his head from side to side, and asks if you can do it too. :) hehe.

Smart baby. What are we going to do with you?

Splish Splash

What is the deal with little boys and puddles of water? And the fact that they just cant help themselves, but to get right in them? With their clothes and shoes on I might add? I guess I will never understand, thinking of it from the clean jeans and clean shoes and socks perspective, but I just go with the flow...and provide a little encouragement. We can get more shoes and more jeans, but this is just classic:

This is after a long day at school, and Elem and I were about to jump in the car to head home and were saying a quick good-bye to one of his best friends-Canaan. I should have known it was too good to be true that he made it through an entire day without messing up or dirtying up one single article of clothing! And as soon as he looked up to me, his eyes wide and excited, while standing at the very edge of a giant puddle, all I could say was, "Jump in silly!" "Just don't fall down!" Before I could even get the sentence all the way out, he was already up to his knees in water, just trudging away.


I remember liking puddles of water, but I remember liking them with my shoes and socks off. Oh well, he had more fun in those 10 minutes that they splahsed around in the water puddles, than I think he had all day. So it was worth it! I'm sure there are many more days of splishing and splashing to come.

GOLF-TASIC

Yes, my little golfer is too cute for words. I caught this video while we were on vacation, and it pretty much sums up how sweet my little dude is, even in the middle of a rain storm, while we were at the beach! Go Elem Go!

FOOOOUUUURRRR!!!