Elliot will be a Big Brother

This Christmas, we will have another addition to our family. Elliot is getting ready to teach his new baby brother all the ways of being a little boy in this day and age. Train tracks are the first order of business.

The little feller's set to arrive Christmas day, which we have mixed feelings about. Our friend Shannon (who has that birthday) says it's great because you have the whole family together every birthday. We'll see!

Anyway, we're all super excited to have a family of four soon!!!

Peacock Face!

After seeing the peacocks at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas and also going to a farm with a few, Elliot has been obsessed with peacocks. Apparently, we have one living under the kitchen table right now.

One day, Elliot came into the dining room, sat down on a chair and declared "peacock face!" (see picture above). This persona is now used when he is being mischievous or feeling frisky.

We're not sure what gave him this idea, except in order to get him to eat his (fill in the blank with food he doesn't like) we say "peacocks love to eat that". So I suppose we're encouraging this peacock behavior. And what kid has never had an alternate persona they can blame naughty things on?

Monster Trucks!!!!

Our county is completely engulfed in flames right now. There are billows of smoke pouring over the mountains with winds unprecedentedly (is that a word?) blowing west. We are quite literally the only part of the county that is not burning.

Last week we had a major thunder storm that left about 150 fires burning. We were sitting outside eating popsicles when all of the sudden a tiny black cloud rolled in and started to hail on us. Hail a half inch in diameter! It lasted only a minute or two and then rolled on, but it was crazy! Elliot is still saying "ice fell from the sky!"

But before this crazy natural occurrence, we went over the hill to watch Monster Trucks. It was very loud, very dusty and very much redneck heaven. We had a blast!!!

The best part of the night was surprisingly not the monster trucks, but what they called "sliders". The back wheels were removed from these old junkers and replaced with a steel plate. This meant the car had to pull itself with its front tires and its back slid around like it was on ice. They bumped and rammed each other and cheered for themselves. It was hilarious.

Here are a few pictures before it got dark.

Lots of News

First things first. Last month, we had a visit from my parents.

Elephant kisses for Grandma.

It happened to be VERY hot that week. We nearly broke records when it reached 95 one day. Getting over 70 is a big feat for this windy ocean town, so we took advantage of it.

Last weekend, we spent the day at the Fair! A cute annual event created to raise money for the local school district. Family fun everywhere...

Elliot and the giant slide.

The pony ride.

Go Fish. (an assured winner!)

And what day at the fair would be complete without cotton candy (which he didn't like)...

and strawberry ice cream (which he did very much)?!

Just a few days ago, we were in a nearby town at the local Buddhist community. The grounds were peaceful, relaxing and filled with peacocks! They are screamers, those birds, but look how beautiful. Elliot tried to get close, but neither was sure it was such a good idea.

Snakes, Snails and Puppydog Tails (that's what little boys are made of)

Elliot has been up to a lot over the last few weeks. We've had lots of company, sunshine and mud puddles.

The biggest news this week is that he's started potty training! The last few days have been hit and miss, but more has gone in the potty than on the floor, so I guess that's all a Mommy can ask for. He's very proud of his accomplishments, as are we. Maybe we'll be able to have no diapers at all soon?!

A few nights ago, our neat new friends Anaswara, Jason and Malia (age 4) came to visit. We have never seen Elliot so compliant and utterly taken with another child.

Here's "Strong Man" Malia carrying Elliot around the dining room.

Here's "Baby Elliot" being craddled in her arms. Yes, we couldn't believe it either. He won't even let ME do that anymore! Haha.

Also this week, as you can see in the picture above, Elliot got his own bed. We weren't sure how the transition would go and if he would miss the secure bars of his crib. Alas, he did not! He sleeps better now than ever before and hasn't fallen out once.

One day, Elliot decided his toys (and shoes) were too messy and they needed to park by the door.

Lately, I've been into making my own bread. Elliot loves bread. I walked into the kitchen just in time to see...

Grandma and Auntie Come to Town

Jeremy's mom and sister made the trek from Missouri out west to visit...They made it sound as if they wanted to see us all, but we know they only cared about seeing Elliot!! And boy, did he have fun with them. Nancy and Elliot bonded immediately and were joined at the hip the whole week. "Where'd Gamma go?" was a common question around here for a week after they left.

Elliot and Grandma share a joke.

"What is it?"

"A purple vroom-vroom!" (Purple is his favorite color right now)

We spent a few lovely days at the beach. The weather was warm and sunny the whole time.

They took Elliot on a train ride through the redwoods. "Choo choo!"

Here are the three generations.

Pottery Class 2008

This year, I am experimenting with low fire clay and glazes; inspired by the shelves of gorgeous pottery we saw in Italy. The idea is to get those vivid colors (with high fire you can only achieve earth tones) and to explore painting subjects rather than plain glaze colors. Below are two I have created so far.

This bowl was inspired by 17th C French porcelain design. Intricate patterns and a limited palette. This is one of the first pieces I've made for myself.

This bowl is for Elliot, of course! His favorite animals are painted inside and out and since he's learning his ABCs, I thought a daily dose of them on his morning cereal bowl would do him some good! (In addition to these, there's a pig and a butterfly painted under their respective letters)

W is for Whale

G is for Goose

Life in the Country

Here is the 62 year old redwood in our back yard. It was planted (supposedly) by my great grandparents. (notice the shade it cast)

Here is our yard without the tree! Yay sun! For all of you cringing out there (why cut down a redwood?!), there was no sun in the backyard and the roots were snaking all over the yard, not to mention the debris it shed.

We got nearly a cord and a half of fire wood out of the top 30 feet or so. The bottom 12 feet will go to replacing the back fence. So the tree will always be a part of our household.

Here's the stump ground out, leaving me with about 8 tons of mulch! Yay tree!

Easter egg hunt! Easter is my favorite holiday. We don't celebrate it in the religious sense, but the jellybean and baby chick beginning of spring celebration abounds at our house. Elliot had a good time finding the little plastic eggs and immediately devouring the jellybeans inside. There are only a few days a year when Elliot can eat sugar with abandon...and he really took advantage of it.

Elliot Turns 2

March 20, 2008 Elliot had his second birthday (well, third, depending on how you define "birth" day). This year, he has a group of little buddies that we wanted to celebrate with so our great friend Allison opened up her home and we partied!

The "last us for a month" sized ice cream cake was enjoyed by all.

There was an Easter egg hunt

And the most joyous time in a kids life: PRESENTS!

Time for a much needed sun bathe... What a day!