More snow.

Yes, it is true. We have had more snow.


Snow, snow, go away, please come back another day. (Next year preferably)


We are all snowed out, and the pics above all took place in about 15 minutes. Thats about all the time Elem was willing to spend in the snow this most recent time, which kept us out of work and school for 3 whole days. Craziness! Yes, it was pretty, but we are ready for Spring!

One sad little boy

This is not the face of a happy camper. Much less one that feels good.


I made a HUGE mistake, but one that I will never do again-as a parent. Normally, I feel pretty confident about the decisions I make regarding parenting, and Elem, with the education I have had, and all the experience I have had with kids. Of course, I dont know every little thing about raising a kid, but I do my best. And to this point, have been so proud of the limited illnesses and injuries Elem has had. I can safely say I have been able to protect him from any major head or teeth injuries :) haha, really from anything happening to his face (which I am very proud of because it freaks me out!). And other than the regular bumps and bruises that come along with being a very active 3 year old little boy, we have been so lucky! Until recently. The other night Elem took his bath, jumped out, brushed his teeth, and while he was looking at himself in the mirror, I quickly grabbed a Qtip to clean out his ear. Now I usually do this about once a month, and I have a fear that I am always going to hurt him. So I really am very gently and he usually giggles and thinks it tickles. So I cleaned the left ear, just fine. Moving on the the right ear, and screams of bloody murder began to pierce MY ears! Never have I heard Elem cry or scream so loud and genuine, and I knew I had done something to his ear. Next thing I know, Elem is telling me that I stuck "that tooth pick" in his ear and hurt him really bad. Talk about feeling awful. :( I looked at the Qtip and there was barely 3 strands of cotton on the end I stuck in his right ear, meaning I basically did stick a Q tip in his ear! OUCH!


So I held him, and after noticing that he was covering his ear and trying to lay on it so it wouldn't hurt, I just felt even worse. The point when he asked me for some medicine to make it go away, this coming from the child who swears up and down he is not sick, just to get out of taking medicine, just about broke my heart because I knew something bad had happened. Over the next couple of days, he continued to complain about his ear, but it seemed to be getting better. With work and school, I didn't really see him but early in the morning and late at night, so I had to go on limited info. By Friday (this happened on the Monday), he was so upset and still complaining about his ear, and I could see blood coming out of it. So I took him bright and early to the doc on Saturday. Once we got there his Pediatrician looked at the ear and said yes something had been done to it. And that there was dried blood all over his ear drum. To which she told me his ear drum did not look like it had burst due to infection (which I already knew), and that I had perforated the ear drum. Basically, I poked a little hole in it. But with all the dried blood inside his ear and coating the eardrum, she couldnt tell where the hole was, how big it was, if it was healing, etc. :( Talk about feeling bad. Break my heart right there on the spot and just stomp on it. I feel awful, I know it hurt so bad, and it was totally my fault! Sigh. So sorry little man, mommy did not mean to do that!

One thing I took away from the whole experience, DO NOT ever put a Q-tip in your child's ear. EVER. And so I have been told by the pediatrician, and everyone else in my life (including Elem) haha, and so I listen. No more Q-tips. Ear wax is a good thing and it is there for a reason, which is what the Pediatrician said, so I guess I will get over my little fetish of thinking it is nasty if I can see it when Elem is sitting in my lap. Oh well.

For now, E went through some ear drops for a week, and he appears to be all better. No pain, and the dried blood has all come out. That we can tell. This is one thing that I can assure you will never ever happen again.

Are you smarter than a ...preschooler?

This is what my child has been up to. The Ipad.


He has played it more than me, knows how to use it better than me, and officially thinks its his. Currently his favorite game is Madden football (go figure!), Angry Birds, and Cut the Fruit. Oh and lets not forget he watches ESPN sports highlights on their every chance he gets. Oh yeah and uhm the fact that he knew how to get on Netflix and find his "video of choice" before I did. I think we have a problem. Someone is addicted to electronics.

Happy 10th Birthday Sage!

Looks pretty good for a "70" year old if you ask me! My "sweet sweet bo bo bear". ha! That is Sage's nickname that she has graciously accepted from Elem Zane, who takes every opportunity to call her that. One of our favorite things about Sage is her underbite, which includes a snaggle tooth-you can see it if you look really close its on the left side. ;)


Elem and Sage are the bet of friends, although the journey was not always smooth! It took her a bit to warm up to him and now, they are "bed buddies". Sage sleeps with Elem just about every night, eats her Dingo bones practically on top of him, and gets all the good scraps from his meal times, and plays fetch and tug of war with the best of them!


On January 20th we celebrated 10 years of Sage!My fetish with photos began with Sage. She was my subject, I guess you could say, and I always loved taking pictures of her and with her. (That was even before digital cameras were big. We are talking Kodak throw away cameras!) Sage has been the best dog, and a part of my family since before the days of Seth or Elem. Yes, in the beginning there have many days of chewing up my shoes, using the bathroom in the house, spending lots of money on grooming bills, etc. But she is a part of my family I could not imagine ever having gone without. In honor of the big 1-0, we decided to have a small family party, because Elem was super excited about celebrating it! We went to Petsmart, Elem shopped with his own shopping cart, and picked out Sage 2 new dog bowls, a couple of toys, and a good little variety of doggy cookies. :) He loves her so much and wants her to always choose him, sit by him, lick him, hug him, etc. It really is just too sweet. So Cecilia's family came over, and Grammy and Poppa, and their dog and we just had a little fun celebrating in Sage's honor. Not to mention that I made a bone shaped cake for her. I mean a party is nothing without a cake!

We love you Sage!

Puzzle Champion

Today Elem completed a 25 piece puzzle all by himself. Aw. I am so proud of him! he is getting to be such a big boy I almost can't even believe it! He loves puzzles and always has. But he usually loves to work on puzzles with me. He totally gets how to find the corner pieces, then the side pieces, and then try every one that has a matching color in it until you find the right one! ha!


The puzzle he finished today was a truck puzzle that he has always loved and tried to put together, but never quite made it with out a little help from mommy. But today was the day, he just sat in the floor for about 10 minutes and worked away. When he finished it, he asked me to close my eyes, then he carried it in, and told me he had a surprise for me :) It was so sweet. I love him. My little puzzle champion!

Our tiny Fall Photo Shoot

I forgot to post pics from our mini photoshoot I tried to arrange about the first week of December. The leaves were so beautiful outside, the weather was great, and I THOUGHT Elem would participate long enough just to get a few family photos. But I was wrong. It was insane. Elem did not want to cooperate at all. So I included a couple of pics from the 2 days I tried to make it happen. I know I get a little obsessive over photos, but I really like to capture at least one good planned family shot each year, so I can look back and remember ...US.

This is what I got.

Handsome.



Silly.


Love.


Fun.


Little Man.


These were the best I could get, but I actually love these. I just wish there were more great ones! I got a few other good ones too, but Ill save those for a future post or something. If only my kid have the love of pics like me, then he MIGHT be willing to cooperate with me. Preschoolers....hahaha.

Story time

Elem still loves to read books. Although "kid shows" are in the top running for nite time activities, which I swore I would never let happen! But they have turned out to be somewhat relaxing before bed time for Elem, so yes, I admit, they are a nightly thing around here. But story time is still a much loved favorite of mine, and I find everything about it just an overall great opportunity for learning, imaging, relaxing, bonding, and time to be ...well......wrapped up in totally something different.

Love this pic:


My reading has primarily been made up of Mental Health/Psychiatric Nursing, haha. So not so much relaxing time for me, but Elem has a few top books on his list, that he has been a big fan of for a little while. They include: The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Home Depot-My Drill Book, Sea Creatures Pop Up book, Ten Little Ladybugs, and The Icky Sticky Ant. The Night Before Christmas was top of the list for a good month, but just recently he has moved on. I hope he keeps loving story time and just books in general. He loves trying to read the books by himself, but really does get frustrated when he cant remember what to say for a specific page. That is usually when I am sitting with him. When he is in his room or playroom reading, he usually just says whatever he can remember and is totally content. I am thinking it wont be much longer (well a year or 2) before Elem is reading to us! I can't wait!!!

Reading with Friends

This is a cute little video of Elem reading to his friend Rowyn. Rowyn is Uncle Spoons little boy and he is almost 2 years old. We love us some Rowyn around this house and wish we got to see him even more! Elem is reading him this Curious George book about frogs and tadpoles. It is so cute if you listen, you can hear Elem pointing to the stages of life of the tadpole. I think he says, egg, tadpole, frog. Haha. I love when Rowyn looks over at the book like, "Oh yeah Elem let me see real quick." I am hoping this is the kind of sweetness Elem will show a future little sibling on down the road one day. Waaaaaaayyyyyy on down the road, after I graduate from nursing school (for all of you who got the idea that I should have another baby in your head form that comment. :) )

Sweet little memories with BFFs.

A few faves

Just a couple of Elem's favorites these days are:

The color blue! No matter where he is or what he is doing, if blue is an option, then you better believe he is going to pick it out. It can be his shirt for the day, socks, marker color, sticker, or even plate for dinner. Blue is the best right now, and it has been for quite some time. Not sure if that will change any time soon, but he is pretty concrete in his decision for now. :) I like blue and his room isn't blue, so I tried to add a little more blue to his playroom in hopes of pacifying that want!


Kickball/soccer. Every single day when we get home Elem is loving to run outside and play kickball or soccer in the backyard. he loved kicking the ball into his little soccer goal and could play out there for hours. If it didn't get dark, I don't think he would ever come in! He still plays football and basketball all day once we get indoors, since I don't so much allow the kicking inside, but outside he is on a kicking frenzy! And of course I think he is already a star. What can I say? :)


I'm going back and forth with trying to decide whether or not to pay for Elem to be on a little soccer team for the Arkansas Soccer Club. It is the only organization here in Little Rock that allows kids under 4 years old to be on a team. I know he would love it, but I also know I would love it for him. So I am trying to toss that one around. I'm gonna make a decision here this week so Ill post about that soon. I am sure I will sign him up, haha. But I am just thinking he might not want to play if he doesn't know anyone on the team. He is kind of shy like that. Likes to see a friendly face to actually interact with other kids. So that is the main thing. Anyways, I think overall he would get a kick out of it and enjoy making new friends and running around and being free on the field! Who wouldn't!?

Snow, snow, I love SNOW!

Believe it or not, when the snow starts to fall here in Arkansas, everything shuts down, and school is out quicker than you could believe! Although, I do love a good snow day just like everybody else, there comes a point when those of us who actually do have work to be done and school work to be learned, that you have to pray for the snow and ice to be on its way. But for the most part, we welcomed some much anticipated wintery snow and cold weather, taking full advantage for some sledding, playing, and fabulous snow ball fights!

What else to do first, but......EAT IT!!! Elem loved eating the snow-a little too much if you ask me, and every time I turned around I kept seeing this:


After a few bites of snow, and a little shoveling and kiddie play, we headed to some HUGE hills for sledding. I wasn't quite sure what Elem would think or if he would actually do it, but I was super pumped when he did! He is usually a little timid with things like roller coasters and things that go up high, so this one was going to be iffy. Family sledding time!


Back to eating the snow-Cecilia, you want some...its Y-U-M-M-Y!


So we kinda jumped right into the sledding and once Elem had one good first run, he was into it for the rest of the day. Once he got to the bottom of the hill he would just run back up, and hit the slopes again. So funny! I was shocked at how much fun he had and so happy he was a fan of the snow day sledding. Yeeeeaaaahhhhhhh-weeeeeeeeeeeee.


Per Elem, "I love that"


Fun in the snow with mommy and daddy:





After several hours of sledding, snow ball fighting, and plenty of time embracing the freezing wind, we were all happy to get home to the nice heated house. Since that snow day, we have had a couple more, but none have been as much snow as this one. I am ready for the snow and col weather to be gone and for spring to find its way here in Arkansas. I need some time to ride bikes and play at the park, tshirt kind of sunny weather to head my way! Com-on' spring!

Did somebody say snowday?

Yup, thats right, there has been plenty of talk of snow here in Arkansas, and believe it or not it finally came! We have spent a day or 2 enjoying the fluffy white snow. Ill post more soon!