Disney 2009

The day after summer vacation started we left for Florida-- eight fabulous days at "the happiest place on Earth"-- despite the oppressive heat and humidity, everyone seemed to have a pretty decent time! The highlight of the trip for all three kids however was swimming at our pool. And the gift shops. And did I mention it was really hot??? Our favorite park? EPCOT, without a doubt.


At Medieval Times, Lindsey got the scarf from the green knight-- we thought for sure he was going to win the final battle, but he was ultimately defeated by some other knight who was nowhere near as cool as the green knight. The kids thoroughly enjoyed what amounted to their thirty dollar garlic bread and diet Coke dinners and we all came home with commemorative DVDs and green flags galore! FUN!!!

Ben's 6 1/2 Party

Ben had his half birthday party at My Gym. The woman who books the parties had to call and find out if he was turning 6 or 7. I said, "Neither. He's turning 6 1/2." I guess it is pretty rare. A few of his guest's parents seemed perplexed, but who cares-- it was fun! Here is a video of his favorite part.

Mutt Strutt

Jason ran in a 5K race this morning-- the rest of us went to cheer him on and have a pancake breakfast at "The Canine Cafe"-- a tent set up at Lilacia Park in downtown Lombard. Unfortunately our mutt, Daisy is too old to strut these days, so we had to leave her at home. Here are some random pictures from this morning.

What the Kids Do When I'm Not Paying Attention

I mean, in addition to wreaking havoc. I found this video and think it's pretty creative. Apparently the kids set up a tripod and wasted half my camera's memory card on silly videos (they mostly all consist of Lauren dancing around with a belt, Ben panning the camera past my dirty kitchen, and Lindsey just kind of prancing around in place while watching cartoons.) Here is a sample of their work-- as you can see, the Elias kids have real STAR potential!!!

Random Pictures

Two "miracles" in one evening-- FIRST, Lauren got this gigantic Chicken McNugget in her Happy Meal. THEN, we had a peaceful, quiet ride home. I just love this picture.

Preschool Visit

I got to go to preschool with Lindsey last Monday. I would have taken more pictures, but I was too busy having fun to stop for pictures!!! Here is a short video of my favorite part of the day-- they call it "motor hall" and today they got to play with balls and scooters.
It was touching to see how far Lindsey and her little friends have come in eight short months. Way to go!!!

School Board Meeting

Last Tuesday we were invited to a District 44 school board meeting so Ben could receive his special recognition for doing so well in the science fair. As you can see from his face in these pictures, he was thrilled to be there!!! Oh well-- I'm a proud mom nevertheless. He has already warned me however that I'd better not try to make him do it again next year OR ELSE!

New Trees

On Good Friday, we spent the day planting trees in our backyard. The kids each got a shovel and helped dig the holes and fill them back in. The reason I decided to add this picture is because the kids went all day-- ALL day long with no arguing or fighting. Unbelievable!!!

Science Fair 2009

Lauren and Ben were both entered in District 44's science fair this year-- Lauren by choice, Ben by force. (Since I was the Pleasant Lane science fair chair this year I told him if I had to do it, so did he...) Lauren and her friend Alex won a first place ribbon for their pop spray experiment, but when we went to table 8 to find out how Ben did with his magnet experiment, his poster was gone! In it's place was a little piece of paper saying "Congratulations-- your project has been selected Best In Show." You have got to be kidding. He must have really charmed the judges or something! Unfortunately (or fortunately) we'll be leaving for Disney World the day they wanted to film him for School Scape. I broke the news to him gently, but he just said, "Nobody watches Channel 6 anyway." Good point.

Grandma and Ben's Epic Light Saber Battle

I had to throw in a few pictures of my mom and Ben dueling. This was hysterical-- once my mom started "playing," it quickly escalated into an all-out battle that lasted for about 15 minutes. Ben used light sabers, a hockey stick, and even a vacuum attachment. He told my mom that he's practicing doing back flips so he can incorporate them into his battle sequence! Now that he's proven himself against Grandma, we plan to enroll him in the Jedi Academy this summer so he can battle his ultimate foe, Darth Maul.

Lauren's 8th Birthday

Lauren had her 8th birthday party at the Lombard Park District. It was a "1/2 Hannah Montana, 1/2 Jonas Brothers, 1/2 Camp Rock" party, making it 1 1/2 times more fun than the typical party! The girls (and Ben) made stuff out of clay, ate cake and Cheetos, and freeze-danced for two hours. It was lots of fun! Lauren picked out a leprechaun cake with a rainbow and extra shamrocks. But next year I think I'll just set out a gigantic bowl of Cheetos puffs, since the kids seemed to enjoy those the most!

Ben's Hockey Picture

Out of fairness to Benjamin, here is a picture of Ben getting ready to go on the ice for his last day of hockey. He advanced to the next level, but he/we decided to take a break for the spring and summer. It is nice to have our Saturdays back, even if it is only until April (when baseball season starts.)

Playing in the Snow

Devon, Sheila, and Max came back to Illinois for a few days last week and Max got to play in the snow with the kids! After having no snow on the ground for the last two weeks, the day he came to Lombard to visit, we got 4 whole inches! While not technically his first time playing in the snow (he got to play in New York and Vermont the week before), it was his first snowfall, so he got to experience things like shoveling, brushing snow off the car windows, and trying to catch snowflakes on his tongue. Some friends came over and also got in on the fun!

Devon's Graduation

Devon graduated from Officer Candidate School on February 13th. I wasn't there, but I thought you might like to see a few pictures. He is now officially an Ensign!

Welcome!

I thought I would finally try making a family blog to make it easier to stay in touch with our friends and family! Rather than sending snapfish links to everyone, if you want to see what's new and "exciting" in our world you can just check here periodically! CAVEAT: If you know me well enough to be checking this out, then you probably are aware that I am not known for my computer skills, nor am I necessarily known for finishing projects. I will try to update this blog as often as possible, but if weeks go by and it seems abandoned, then it probably is. With that being said, here are some pictures from the girls' recent dance recital. It was on February 21 at Glenbard East High School. Lauren danced to Fly on a Wall (Miley Cyrus, of course) and Lindsey buzzed around to Flight of the Bumblebee. (FYI, I forgot to bring Lauren's pom poms to the rehearsal, which is why she is the only girl not using them in the video. Rest assured, she had them at the recital!) Lindsey fell asleep waiting for her turn to go on stage, so one of the stage moms made her a little bed out of someone's coat. Fortunately both girls danced relatively early in the show, so as soon as Lauren finished, Lindsey came and slept on my lap for the rest of the show. I guess it was a little overwhelming!