I only have about five minutes, but I just had to share some Elliott-isms to make you smile. Saturday morning we were downstairs and she decided to join me while I was using the potty. She said "I will sit right here with you. I want to hear some tinkles now. Let me hear those tinkles." Pause. "Congratulations - you did it!!!" It was hillarious on a couple of different levels - congratulations is a mighty big word for such a little girl, and just the idea of being coaxed to perform on the potty by a two year old is pretty darn funny.

She is definitely coming into her own at the dinner table. She has decided that she is going to be a part of the dinner time conversation - sometimes I think she would prefer to be the whole conversation. She loves to tell us about her boyfriend Esy (Ethan) and what they do during the day. Last night she really cracked me up with a story about when she was a kid. I thought maybe I wasn't quite catching her, but she repeated (as she does) the whole story again for me, "when I was a kid, I couldn't get into that big boat". Funny - you always think your kids will reach at least the ripe old age of three before they start telling stories about when they were a kid :)

We had a great end to the weekend. Chris had to work this afternoon, his company had a condo featured in the home show. Although it wasn't his idea of a good time, he at least got to watch some football. The girls and I hit Burger King for lunch and then went shopping at Walmart. We got some pants for Olivia that fit around the waist and in length - imagine that!! At least she won't have to go to school in her birthday suit now :)

Then we had Jackie over for dinner. I started the beef burgundy simmering early in the afternoon, and then we went for a walk to the school playground. The dogs really liked that and all went down the slide. The beef burgundy was fabulous - almost as good as when mom makes it. Then we had chocolate pudding with m&m's and sprinkles for desert. Yummy stuff - and then Jackie and I both got makeovers from Olivia - what a treat :)

Congratulations to my cousin Becky and her husband Josh on the birth of their baby girl Emily Jo. Girls are good - we can't wait to meet her!!

Let me start by wishing a happy birthday to three very wonderful women in my life. My sister in-law Dani celebrated her birthday yesterday. My mom and my mother in-law Deb both celebrate their birthdays today. We are so blessed to have all of them in our lives, and I hope they all have fabulous birthdays!

I meant to post earlier in the week, but as always, there are so many things to get done. Jackie and I had a lovely shopping weekend. We left a bit early on Friday, and checked into our hotel in Monticello in time to go for a late dinner. After the long drive in the car the hot tub worked wonders. The outlet mall in Albertville opened at 10:00 and we were there within a few minutes of opening time. The rain that they had been predicting for the day held off, and we had a beautiful day. Not that we would have let a little rain stop us!! The outlet mall had something like 102 stores. We didn't count, but I bet we stopped into at least 75. We shopped from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. with a short break for lunch. It sounds like my husbands worst nightmare!!!

Jackie did better on clothes than I did this year, but I did well at the kitchen stores. We weren't even going to stop in the Pfaltzgraff store, but they had some neat Halloween decorations that Jackie wanted to look at. That was where I ended up spending the most money!! They had my dishes - the naturewood series that I registered for when we got married. I ended up getting plastic juice glasses, plastic plates and a rug. I love it all!!! The plastic plates will replace the set that mom bought for me when I was in college. They're more every day and still just as pretty as the heavy stonewear ones.

After all of that shopping and walking, you know that we made good use of the hot tub Saturday night too. And with no worries about going anywhere, there were a few adult beverages consumed. We had good girl talk, sharing our deepest darkest secrets. Okay - we don't have anything real deep, or real dark, but we still had fun and laughed like crazy.

On a sad note, Rogers - the city to the south of Albertville, that I had looked at when selecting a hotel, had an F-2 tornado devestate the town Saturday night. It was a freak storm that materialized very quickly. They didn't have enough warning to even sound the sirens before it hit. There was a lot of damage and a 10 year old girl died when a house collapsed on her. A very somber reminder of the power of nature.

Traffic moved slowly through Rogers on our way back to the Cedar Valley. Some of the slowness due to the scattered debris, but mostly, I believe it was in respect for the city and the enormity of what they had been through over night.

I was happy to see my girls and my husband when we got home on Sunday. Of course they had a perfectly wonderful time without me. Olivia even got to sleep over at Savannah's house. Elliott's rash/boil thing didn't seem to be getting any better or worse, but I ended up taking her to the doctor on Wednesday. He diagnosed ring worm. He must have seen the look of utter disgust/panic on my face, because he was quick to assure me that it was not a worm of any sort, but a fungal infection - like athletes foot, or jock itch, but in a different area. Her spots are on one leg and her chest. He prescribed an anitfungal cream to be applied twice a day. Of course she does not enjoy that in the least - and let me tell you, getting cream on small spots of a very wiggly two year old is not a very happy task. I hope that it gets a little less aggravating because we have to do it for at least two weeks. On the upside though, the spots are all looking considerably better.

My husband did his resarch and went out and got us new phones this week. He is so kind, he splurged and got me the camera phone that I wanted. I don't need it - but I did want it. It's just fun. I can assign pictures to my contacts, so that way when they call their picture will show on my screen. That's too much fun!! He also got me ring tone software and a cable to download the pictures to the computer. I'm beginning to suspect that he really loves me. Oh - and he kept me supplied with wine and popcorn for the Grey's Anatomy season premier - so, yes he must really love me :)

Chris's uncle Neil had his surgery earlier in the week. From the report I've received, he's doing well, although in some pain. I think he has a 3-4 week recovery period to look forward to - so please keep him in your thoughts. Great Grandma Floris had her surgery yesterday, and came through like a trooper. She spent the night at the hospital last night, but should be able to come home today. Perry came down yesterday for her surgery, so we were fortunate to be able to have dinner with him and spend some time visiting. The girls had to sit one on each side of him for dinner and I do believe that he was eating up all of the attention.

Now we're on to regular weekend duties - laundry, mowing, vaccuuming, etc. We also get to work on Olivia's poster board for student of the week. I'm anxious to have fun with this - but will have to really remind myself to let it be her project. I can easily see myself taking over without even meaning to.

Hope y'all are having a wonderful weekend and enjoying the fabulous fall weather :)

Boy, I hope no one is referring back to my initial posting where I said that my goal was going to be to post every day. We can see that hasn't quite worked out... It's been another busy week here - and each day I've had great ideas about things to post to the blog - let's see if I can remember any of them now that I actually have time to sit down to the computer.

It's been a rough week for Elliott. She took a tumble on the sidewalk yesterday when playing with the big girls. She has a good scrape on the side of her face at eye level. She looks pretty rough, but wasn't too phased about the whole thing. It amazes me sometimes, the difference between our girls. Olivia would still be crying today if it had happened to her yesterday, Elliott not so much. She was torked off about it, but even that didn't last too long. She also has a few sores on her legs that we're a little bit concerned about. Hopefully they will start to clear up, they're just odd looking and worrisome. We drew circles around them tonight with a marker so we can see if the spots are getting bigger. I am a worrier, I know this, but you never want to not worry about something that you should have been worried about. Oh the joys of parenthood - you find out just how many things you don't know.


Olivia is quite excited - she gets to go on a field trip to Waterloo tomorrow for Cattle Congress. It's a big deal - they get to take cold lunch and ride the bus! She is finishing up her second week with a substitute teacher, and although she has enjoyed the sub, I think she's ready to have Mrs. Epley back.

Elliott has started referring to us as Chris and Jennie. I remember Olivia going through this phase also. I remember that it used to irritate other people - they seemed pretty insistent that she should call me mom, not Jennie. It doesn't bother me. I'd much rather that they know my name and realize that I have somewhat of a personality not directly tied to my mom role. And anyway, this too shall pass - just one phase among many.


We got news today that Chris's Uncle Neal and his grandma (Great Grandma Floris) are both scheduled to have surgery next week. Neal has had diverticulitis and his surgery is related to that. Great Grandma had a compression fracture in her back around the time of Olivia's birthday, and her surgery will help to alleviate some of the back pain she has been suffering from. We ask that you keep both of them in your thoughts and prayers.

Jackie and I leave tomorrow for our second annual Girls Weekend. We are headed to Albertville to partake in an extreme amount of shopping. I imagine we'll also spend some time imbibing adult beverages and soaking in the hotel hot tub. I feel rejuvenated just thinking about it!

Gosh, I can't believe that it's Friday already!! I could really get used to 4 day work weeks!! I think the reason the week seems to have gone by so quickly is that you're trying to cram five days worth of stuff into four days of working. Regardless, I have blinked at the week is at it's close.

Chris and I went to the Wing Ding last night with Jackie and Jamie. It's an annual wing tasting, beer drinking, live music from the Blue Band in the park event. The first one was the year Olivia was born, I think it was a little bit later in the fall because it was really chilly that year. I think that we all agreed that year was a success. They added a few pizza places, and ice cream and root beer floats, chili and ribs. I think this was the first year that I left feeling like I had eaten enough to constitute a meal. I guess that's why man does not live on wings alone!

I don't think that we have any big plans for the weekend. I do need to change the flag in the front of the house, I think it's safe to say that the barbecue flag has served us well and it's time to put it away for the season. I did get some grief from Olivia this week regarding our lack of autumn decorations. Savannah's mom has a whole bucket full of fall stuff. Yes, and it all looks very nice. I'm sure this is just the beginning of the comparisons!!

Have a fabulous Friday :)

This is Olivia - I got my ears pierced today. I went to the mall with my friend Savannah and my mom. We had lunch at Burger King and then went to get my ears pierced. It hurt a little bit, but not too much. I didn't cry and I didn't scream. Savannah was afraid I was going to scream. I also lost a tooth on Thursday at my Grandma Diane's house. The Tooth Fairy brought me two books and 2 dollars and a pad of jewel stickers. Mom and Dad say they're going to have to start knocking out their teeth to get that kind of loot. I had my first spelling test last Friday, and I got all of them right, and I had my first science test too and I got that right. I also got a prize for completing the summer reading program. I got a $10 gift card to Barnes and Noble and some candy. Today we're going to try the cotton candy machine that I got from Grandma Katie for my birthday. Have a good weekend!!