Another Funny Elli-ism

Elli and I were working on an assignment she got through preschool when she said something that cracked me up.  The directions told her to draw whatever she wanted on the paper.  She spent about five minutes coloring things while I went about doing something in the kitchen.  When she was done I asked her to tell me about the picture.  She had drawn a person with brown hair, a duck and something else (I can't remember what). 
"This is a picture of President Eyring.  I love the prophet.  He teaches me about Jesus.  I want to be an artist one day and give all my books away to people.  Aloha, I'm Elli Johnson and I'm an artist!".

I could not even write the last part I was laughing to hard.  So, to give some background on this, Elli loves to watch this video clips at lds.org showing children across the world.  They are titled "One in a Million".  They show a quick video of what the kid enjoys doing and how they are involved in church.  At the end of the clip the child will say something like, "I'm (their name) and I'm one in a million".  Elli took her spin on that!

She keeps us laughing.  I wish I could remember to record more of what she says.  She is such a joy to have around. 

Bananas

 We live on smoothies.  Almost every day I bust out some sort of concoction.  I put my girls to work peeling and cutting up bananas to freeze for later use.  They worked hard and completed the task.

Crazy Elli wearing the Bumbo.  She keeps us laughing!

Brinlyn turns 3!

 For Brinlyn's actual birthday we did a cake, opened some presents and sang "Happy Birthday".  The girls decorated the cake with all sorts of random toys and of course she picked pink and purple for the frosting colors.  I had to leave for my Maui trip that afternoon so dad carried out the birthday celebration.

 As much as I don't like Chuckie Cheese, it makes for the easiest birthday party ever!  Brinlyn has been talking about doing her party there for months so she was super excited when the day finally arrived.  She picked a few close friends and off we went to the kids dream world.

 Brinlyn asked for a butterfly cake and considering I got home at 1:00 am the night before, this was my best attempt.  She picked pink and purple again for this cake but the purple turned to blue.  Not sure it if is from the humidity here or what but she ended up with a pink and blue butterfly.

 Brinlyn was not a fan of Chuckie himself this time around.  This is when the gang is singing to her and she is making sure she doesn't make eye contact with Chuckie.

 Bennett was giving high fives and everything, which I guess you can't tell from this picture.  He was a fan!

What a day!  Exhausted he fell asleep in the stroller, holding the lighter.  I usually wouldn't give my kid something like this to play with but he was mad and that's what I had.  It did the trick!

Girls Trip!!!! YAY!!

 Becky, Me, Ashley, Tiffany, Rachelle, Jen, Erin and Lauren at the airport at the beginning of the trip.  I wish I would've taken one at the end of the trip--we were SO tired!

 Me( Jasmine), Tiffany (Sleeping Beauty), Rachelle (Pocahontas), Ashley (Cinderella), Becky (Belle) and the Super Mamas (Becky, Kristi, Lauren, Janny and Jodie).  Two of the runners (Jen who was Snow White, and Erin) were running their leg of the race in this picture.  It was a gorgeous run!

 My first leg of the race at 6:30 in the morning

 Pocahontas and Jasmine stopping for a quick photo opportunity

My three wishes...my kids survive a weekend with dad, I finish the race, and I have an amazing trip!  All three wishes came true!

Nate was so good to me and let me go on this amazing trip to Maui last weekend with eleven other girls to run The Road to Hana relay race.  It was 52 miles total but each person runs about 9 miles split between six team members.  It was just wanted I needed to give myself a break.  We laughed so hard we cried almost all weekend.  When you get a bunch of mom's together without husbands and kids you get some real craziness.  I will always cherish this memory...I'm practically laughing as I type this just remembering how much fun it was.  Thanks to Nate, Bennett took a bottle!  He managed the kids like a pro.  He took them to a movie, swimming, Elli's soccer game and much more I'm sure.  It sounds like I need to plan another trip soon! :)

Funny Sayings

I don't ever want to forget some of the things my kids say.  You think you will always remember, but sadly you forget over time so that is why I am taking a minute to jot them down. 
My friend told me about these two funny things Elli said at preschool the other day.

Erin was teaching the kids about bones and the human body.  Her husband is an orthopedic doctor.  Her little girl told the class, "My dad fixes people's bones".  Elli followed that comment with, "Oh, my dad kills people".  Hilarious!

I sent Elli with a water bottle we had picked up at the thrift shop down the street.  I guess it had leaked all over and Erin couldn't figure out what was leaking.  Eventually she figured out it was Elli's water bottle.  Elli then said, "Oh it's a leaker!  What do you expect when we got it from a garage sale!" 

Green

They sure love their brother!  I couldn't decide which picture to post so I did them all.  Bennett is so lucky to be so loved by such sweet sisters.

The Girls

Our happy Elli

 In August our house was struck with the most awful, dreadful stomach flu.  Somehow Nate and I escaped but wow, it was a nasty one.  Brinlyn ended up in the ER to get rehydrated, almost getting admitted.  Elli was pretty sick herself but escaped the IV.  I thought I was never going to get to leave the house again.  We were on serious quarantine.

 While the girls were sick I let them get away with things they don't normally do.  They took face paint and painted their entire bodies.  It was quite the mess as it got everywhere and it's pretty oily stuff.  Oh well, it brought some great joy to two little girls.

Brinlyn started preschool this year one day a week.  She loves going!  She was spotlight and here are some things about Brinlyn.
*She loves to cut paper into tiny pieces
*She loves to help me bake
*She loves duckies (toys more than the real thing)
*She loves to go to the beach
*Her favorite treat is gum
*She loves playdough
*Her favorite colors are pink and purple
*She has a ton of "makeups" as she calls it and protects them with all her life (chapstick and nail polish)
We sure love our little Brin!

Getting bigger...

 It's a rough job to be baby number three!  Our little guy has learned (or kind of learned) how to sleep on the go.  He is probably a sleep deprived baby but what else is a mom to do when she has two old children that need to be entertained?  Here Bennett is rockin' out a nap while the girls are at their ballet class.

Sleeping with a lighter...oh so snuggly

 Attempting to eat solids at 6 months and he really doesn't do it.  We still got the picture of food smeared all over to at least prove that we tried.  Maybe someday he'll like something other than milk...

Taking a bath hanging on to the letter "I".

Bennett is already 6 months old!  His hair is starting to grow back and much lighter.  My dark hair gene just doesn't pull hard apparently.  We sure love this little man.  He is changing more and more everyday.  Here are some facts about Bennett at 6 months:

*He can sit by himself now

*He will not eat any baby food

*He sleeps through the night but only because I made him cry it out

*He takes a morning and afternoon nap most days

*He loves his sisters and they love him--sometimes too much.  

*He laughs to be tossed in the air-it almost always makes him laugh

*He is in the 90% for his head, 50% for length and 30% for weight

*He is very tolerant of getting passed around from Brinlyn, to Elli, to the neighbor kids and just about anyone

*He loves to be held and makes it hard for me to get much done when he is awake

*Baths are his favorite part of the day

*If I am holding him and walk over to the kitchen sink, he instantly makes himself horizontal so he can stick his hands in the water--this kid loves water!

*He is our buddy and we love him like crazy!

Bennett at the Beach

Transportation with 3

 When you have three kids you are definitely outnumbered so you have to be creative on how to get from point A to point B.  Our good friends gave us this awesome three car wagon before they moved and we LOVE it.  We put the bumbo seat in the back for Bennett (sorry Bennett you get to ride in a pink seat!)

A double stroller becomes a triple stroller so you can get some exercise in.

 

Bennett sporting the pink Bumbo seat.