Alumni Band

Daniel took the time off from work this week, so I get to go to my Alumni band reunion! We are heading out today after he takes a nap and should arrive at his parents' house sometime tomorrow. Tomorrow night my high school is having it's homecoming football game. I'm not sure if we get to play at that or not. The next morning we get to join the Old Settler's Day parade. I've been practising playing my trombone this week, but I'm still not sure how well I'll do playing actual sheet music. I'm mostly just excited to see my old friends and my band director, Mr. Taylor. My girls think it's great when I play the trombone and have each taken a turn blowing it. They haven't gotten to do that since I brought my t-bone to Danya's Sunday school class a couple of years ago.

First Foods

I know, it seems crazy. My three month old (okay 12 weeks), is eating baby food. It's my fault. I gave him some applesauce I was eating the other day and he loved it. So Daniel bought him some bananas and sweet potato. He's eating the bananas in this photo.

We've got a video I took on the camera that shows him laughing and cooing and snatching at the food. These last few days he only drinks a little milk first thing in the morning and then ignores me until I give him some baby food. We didn't start our other two kids out on 'solids' until their fourth month, but Kevin seems determined to do everything early.

The New Library

We finally found the local library here in Westminster! It's really big and has a giant playground beside it. The librarian helped Danya find an entire section of "Cam Jansen" mysteries that she hadn't read before. She's been reading them non-stop since we got home.

Gloria got a few beginner reader books. We got Kevin some Usborne books that he can feel, like "That's not my puppy!" (in Spanish). The dogs have fur and paws and ears that you can feel with different textures.

You can see the books I checked out in this photo. I love reading books about homeschooling. I think you can always learn something new. Their section on homeschooling in this library was great, much bigger than the one in Owasso, but the librarian apologized to me for the small selection and said that their sister library at a college a few blocks away has a much larger selection. Whoo hoo!

Daniel found the new Terrby Brooks book. I've read some of his other books and liked them. This one sounds kind of 'dark', but I'm going to try to read it this weekend.

Work Hazzard

I've been reveling in 'girl power' lately and decided to borrow Daniel's tools and take over some of the construction of the new modular shelving, drawers, and cabinets. I've had a lot of fun doing it and was surprised at how easy it all was to assemble. Daniel and I even had a race on one set of shelves that were identical.

Unfortunately, certain hazzards come with the job. You might notice that I am barefoot in this picture. Shortly after this photo was taken I was unpacking boxes of scrapbooking supplies into my newly built storage units when I accidentally knocked a hammer off a desk and onto my foot. Daniel heard the screaming, rushed down the basement stairs, stepped over me (gasping and crying on the floor), started a load of laundry, and then came to help me up. No, he will never live that down.

Big Blue Eyes!

WHAT?! What did you say?! I KNOW you didn't just make fun of these cool glasses my big sister Gloria let me wear.

Admit it! I look like one cool guy. Yes, even in Little Mermaid glasses from McDonald's I am STILL a ladies' man! Why, just the other night in the women's restroom at Woody's Pizza I was flirting with a waitress. I smiled and batted my long eyelashes at her then babbled in smooth cool guy baby talk to her. Yeah, she couldn't get enough. But hey, that's just the way it is. It's not easy being this suave.

Gloria the Locksmith!

Daniel was holding Kevin and I was busy down in the basement, so Gloria got to single handedly replace the doorknob to our room.

Daniel gave her instructions, but she did it all by herself. She removed the old one using Daniel's screwdriver, then put in the new doorknob (that has a lock, yippee!).

She's quite the handy little girl! She and Danya have also gotten to help assemble some furniture. Daniel was so proud of her, he was about to bust! That's why I thought it was so funny when he got annoyed with her the next day for repeatedly breaking and fixing a pair of cheap glasses she got in a Happy Meal. Before she can fix something it has to be broken, right?

Getting Settled

There is so much involved in a move, it feels like we'll never get it all done! This week we finished assembling the new storage cabinets and book shelves. We also found a good bank. We spent a few hours (yes, hours!) getting paper work filled out and setting things up to get debit cards, checks, direct deposit, and making the girls' godmother our beneficiary. What an awful thought, to have to decide who will claim our money, insurance, and property if we should both die at the same time. I'm so glad that we have friends that we can trust to handle everything and take care of our kids. This week we plan to go buy some software to make our will, since we've been neglecting that important step.

We also need to change our insurance to a local State Farm and get new driver's licences and plates for the van. We have to forward our subscriptions and change doctors. The list goes on. Where does it end?!?

James and the Giant Peach

This is what I am reading out loud to the girls right now. We started it just yesterday and they asked me first thing this morning to keep reading. The beginning is a little harsh as the author talks about how horrible James' two aunts are, but the girls are riveted to the story already. I made sure that the first reading time together we read up to the part where James meets the mysterious man and receives the magic bag. That kept them interested to read the rest of James and the Giant Peach.

I plan to have them write about the book, the characters, and what they think will happen next. I'll also have them draw pictures about what we've read and maybe even memorize one of the silly poems in the book. Gloria only has to write one small sentence when we do this, and I help her spell whatever she wants to say. I expect a little bit more from Danya, usually two or three sentences. I want them to practice their handwriting, but I don't want to make them hate writing since it's still hard for them at this age. It may take a while to finish this book since we may only be able to read it when I'm feeding Kevin.

Three Little Monkeys

When I saw the girls being sweet and snuggling Kevin trying to make him laugh in his room the other morning I just had to grab my camera! They were so cute! Kevin just kept smiling away!

Today Daniel held Kevin in front of him, with Kevin sort of sitting on Daniel's belly. Then Daniel would go up and down really fast, bending his knees. Kevin kept chuckling and yelling happily! It was great! We've never gotten him to laugh that many times in a row before. The girls and I were having breakfast and I almost spit milk it was so funny!

Kevin sure does love his daddy! I have to agree. He's a funny guy!

First Day at the Charter School

Danya went to her first day at the homeschool program provided by the Woodrow Wilson Academy charter school last Tuesday. She really liked it and has been counting down the days until next Tuesday. She was excited to get to pack a lunch. Gloria was feeling left out so we got her a lunchbox, too. They are on sale at Target right now for about $2 each. I took Gloria to the apartment playground and we had lunch there. We called it recess so she would feel like she was doing something special just like Danya.

Danya liked the music class. She said she got to sing them her favorite song. She asked me if it was okay that she sang a song about God since public schools aren't allowed to do that. I told her that the students can sing any song they like, it's just the teachers that can't.

She also learned part of the Spanish alphabet which is something I hadn't planned to introduce to the girls yet, so that was good. I'm really hoping that this school covers things that we don't at home. She brought home leaves glued to a piece of paper for science class, which is something she's done plenty of times before, so I hope that class gets a little more interesting for her. Danya also said she was embarrassed in drama class because she had to say her name and then do a motion. I told her that she was learning to be confidant in public and that it was just like the way we practice reciting poems at home. When reciting she has to stand up in front of her Dad or me, look us in the eye, and speak the words clearly and confidantly without fidgeting. Hopefully she'll be so used to this by the end of her school years that she will be an excellent public speaker.

Closet Homeschoolers

Okay, so it's not a closet, but it still feels a little strange that all our homeschool things are in the basement. It sure looks good, though!

We haven't finished it all yet, but it's coming along nicely. Daniel and his dad built the new white storage cabinet and shelves along the back wall. We got them from Lowe's for a good price. The colorful collapsible fabric drawers were only six dollars as opposed to the eight dollar ones at the local scrapbook store, Archiver's. I got the posters, border strip, and dry-erase calendar from Target in the dollar spot. Daniel's parents gave us the desks. We still need to find chairs the right height for them. The wooden drawer unit on the left came from Big Lots.

The girls have been playing down there daily since Grandpa and Daniel installed fluorescent lights in the ceiling. We will officially be starting homeschooling down there tomorrow. We're all looking forward to it. We still need to hang our dry erase boards and we're going to store scraps of construction paper and scrapbooking paper in Gloria's old desk and let them cut and paste to their heart's content.

PT Cruisin' Home

Daniel rented a PT Cruiser from Thrifty to take his parents home in this weekend. He drove down with them on Friday and drove back on Saturday. We found out while calling around trying to rent a car that rental places require you to return it to the same location you rented it from. It's not like a U-Haul truck that you can drop off in another state once you get there.

I'm glad that Daniel and his parents got the opportunity to spend some time together since I know they will miss each other so much now that we live 10-12 hours away. Daniel really liked the car and drove us around in it today. We drove it to the new church we were checking out this morning. It was a nice church, good music, good sermon, okay children's church. We want to try some others though and wait for God to tell us where He wants us.

Visiting the Rockies

Daniel and his parents got the bug this week to get up close and personal with the Colorado Rockies. So Nancy packed sandwich supplies and we headed towards Black Hawk, CO.

It was absolutely beautiful! The mountains were all shades of blue in the distance and covered in changing fall leaves. Our ears popped as we went up and down the twisting mountain roads, taking pictures of the gorgeous scenery. Wayne particularly liked all the little mining areas we passed.

The girls enjoyed a walk collecting colorful leaves and exploring through all the different kinds of trees. We even saw a stooping hawk and buffalo! I took this picture on our way home. Colorado is so pretty in the fall. I think we came in the perfect season despite the rain that comes almost every afternoon.

Woodrow Wilson Academy

We found out about the homeschooling program offered by The Woodrow Wilson Academy when we were researching homeschooling groups online before the move. It's a charter school that offers a one day a week program for homeschoolers practically free. It's $30 for the whole year!

On Wednesday we signed Danya up. Every Tuesday she will go to the Family in Christ church (which hosts the WWA homeschool program) about five miles from our home. She'll be taking Art, Music, Science Lab, Spanish, Creative Writing, and Drama classes. This picture is of Danya in front of the actual charter school, not the church.

The program is for 1st through 6th graders. The sad thing is that even if Danya really likes the program and we like it, too, Gloria misses the age cut off by 27 days. So she wouldn't be old enough to enroll until the year after next. Who knows if we will be here that long. I'm looking forward, though, to spending time with her homeschooling together while Danya is at her extracurricular classes. I think she'll like being the center of attention.

Checking Out the Cuisine

Since we have almost no food in the house and have been to busy to do the grocery shopping we've been exploring all the local restaurants. I finally have a Perkins restaurant near me! We used to only eat there when we got a chance to visit Stillwater.

There are two McDonald's with indoor play lands within about a mile of our home. The girls got to play at each of them already. We also found a Chinese restaurant and a Mexican restaurant that have free delivery! We tried the Chinese place and their food was great! There is a big mall and all the accompanying places to eat right near our house. We're going to have so much fun trying them all out. There is even a Chicago's pizza like the one we went to in Kansas for our anniversary trip!

Making New Friends

I thought that when we moved here we might have to hang out at the playground for the girls to make new friends. HA! We met Rachel (in the blue shirt) the first day we arrived. That day lots of neighborhood kids close to the girls' ages just showed up and started sharing chalk with the girls and riding bikes and scooters with them on the square of sidewalk in front of our house.

So far we've met two brothers; Sean age 6 and Garreth age 10 and their sister Brittany. Also a 4 year old girl named Anna lives across from us and comes over to play almost every day. We have to tell her no after 7:30 pm because our girls are getting ready for bed while she stays up until close to midnight. Then we met Zoe (in the pink shirt in the back of the photo) at the playground.

It's actually a little overwhelming how many kids have already been stopping by almost daily! The girls are loving it! In one week they have more friends than they had in our whole neighborhood before! Grandma Nancy says that these kids might just be our mission field. I think God is definitely giving us an opportunity to be a positive influence in these kids' lives.

Mattress Trouble

We decided to say goodbye to our old mattress and buy a new one when we got to Denver. We got a new mattress and box spring and a new mattress for the new bed we bought Gloria. Hers is the kind with the drawers built in, so it didn't need a boxspring.

The problem began after the guys got the mattress upstairs to our new bedroom. They couldn't get the box spring up the stairs. It was just too awkward of an angle. They tried everything they could think of. I finally asked for help at the office. The manager brought her son over to help us. He couldn't figure it out either, but by now there were gouges in two walls and one had a big hole punched in it, all caused by trying to shove the box spring upstairs.

I suggested they flip the thing over and try it that way, but the guys said that wouldn't work...until the maintenance man came in and said the same thing. Sure enough, that fixed it and it went right up there. At least we had a bed finally! (and I get to tease Daniel mercilessly!)

Unpacking

We got everything unloaded and moved into the house on Monday after filling out all the paper work to make this place ours. Everything you see (of the house) in this picture is ours!

It was raining Monday afternoon so we got everything in as fast as we could. We even had unexpected help from our new neighbor, an 11 year old girl named Rachel. She climbed into our truck, grabbed some stuff and took it into our house. We were a bit surprised.

We've been doing our best to get unpacked while taking lots and lots of little trips to various stores to purchase the myriad things we need for the house. It turns out that this house doesn't have overhead lighting in the bedrooms or living room, so we had to buy lamps among other things. We also got the girls new Disney princess and Tinkerbell bedding. Then we got curtains for all the rooms. We bought and hung our first ever living room drapes!

Wayne and Daniel were amazing. They hung curtain rods, carried the washer and dryer down to the basement, assembled furniture, all in record time! It was really great having Wayne and Nancy here all week. Daniel and I would leave for a couple of hours to buy more house stuff and when we returned a whole room would be put together. Nancy pretty much single handedly unpacked the kitchen and the girls' room! They just made the whole moving process easier and less stressful. Thanks, guys!

Cowboy Kevin!

Kevin got to Cowboy up the other day. This is one of his adorable little outfits that he has pretty much outgrown before he even gets to wear it more than once. He sure has dealt with all these changes well. He didn't even mind letting Grandma and Grandpa sleep in his room all this week. Next week we are going to try to convince him that he'd really much rather sleep in his crib instead of in the little swing in our room. Like his clothes, he is quickly outgrowing his swing.

The Elliotts in 3D!

We're here! Our apartment number is 3D, a fact which Daniel just loves. We hadn't actually seen our house until we arrived. It's a three bedroom, one and a half bath, townhome with a basement. I really like it. It feels like a home, not an apartment. Outside is a different story, though.

The sidewalk makes a square around some bushes right in front of our house. All the neighbors' homes face toward the square and they all like to sit out on their porches. So everyone just sits and looks at each other. Also, they let their kids play out there til all hours of the night. Worst of all, they chain their dogs out front on long chains so that you can't go down the sidwalk without having to go around their dogs.

The house is great, though. I love having an upstairs room. All the bedrooms are upstairs. My room faces the front of the house which has a view all the way down to the pool. The dining area is bigger than our old one. The basement is fantastic. Once I get it finished I'll take a photo and blog about it. We are calling it the "Activity Room". Danya named it. The 21 x 25 square foot basement will be used for homeschooling, a play area, scrapbooking, and of course laundry and storage. It really is a neat home!