Swimming

So far this summer we've only gone swimming twice which stinks, frankly. Not because we haven't had invites, we just haven't been able to take people up on the offer. However, on each trip to Guate, while the group was hiking the volcano, we met Melissa and Madi for a morning at the pool.

There's a pool at Hotel Antigua that's perfect for kids. There's a shallow bridge perfect for babies to sit on and still be in water and then there's a small section of the pool that's ideal for toddlers. So, Madi and Eliot played independently while Mel and I chatted at the edge of the pool. Until Mel anxiously pointed my attention to Eliot who was under water and appeared to be struggling. Like any mom, I jumped in and pulled him above water, trying not to freak out.

Coughing and sputtering, Eliot wiped his eyes and through a big grin said, "Mommy? I swim!"

About an hour later he was standing in the pool close by. He made a squeek of sorts and grabbed himself. I said, "Eliot do you need to go potty?"

His reply? "Nope, all done."

Swim freely this summer, friends, knowing that "potty-trained" children across the world are using their new-found freedoms.

Sorry!

Sorry I've been so MIA lately. This last four weeks have wiped me out. Two Guate trips plus regular life plus a family wedding out of town is probably too much for this short span of time. I'm behind on everything and all I want to do is veg, especially in this heat! There's many posts brewing in my head that will make their way here soon!

I will leave you with this knowledge: in the last few weeks Eliot has been adding to our prayer times with his own ideas. So far besides being thankful for family and friends, he's also listed:

*peanut butter
*that Lightening McQueen is so fast
*marshmallows
*pictures of popsicles

His Debut

As ringbearer:


Oh yeah, and the debut of the Mohrhawk.

Just because he's so cute.

Goldie didn't see it comin', poor thing.

One of the many times Eliot does something that just makes us laugh. We took the group to McD's in Antigua. Eliot left the group to spend a little QT with his buddy. He sat there quietly for more than a solid five minutes, not moving. Both pics are a little grainy because we were all kinda far away. I really wish I knew what happens in Eliot's brain sometimes.


Ana, one of Eliot's babysitters, sent this to me this week! It might be one of my favorite shots of this ridiculous face!

Have a great day! (I promise more content posts are coming soon!)

What makes me happy?

Sneak Peak!

Sorry I've neglected you this week, here's a sneak peak of why! =) It would help though if the internet wasn't crazy slow! I wanted to at least get a few pics up for the GTCC families. The trip is going great!!

They're out of order and with no explanation but here they are:

Trying!

Eliot doesn't love coloring. Or painting. Or play-doh. He will humor me for approximately 6 minutes on all said activities before I hear, "Mommy? Get down?" Sometimes I don't even bother. Then other times I get a burst of motivation to engage Captain Destructo in some creative fine motor activities. This week it came while in the grocery store. 6 sponges for $0.99. There's a craft I can get behind. I cut them into shapes and all the sudden, we're in Montessori school, right? I'm so on my way to home-schooling.


A few months ago, we tried painting with kitchen utensils. That was a really inspiring 6 minutes.



We'll get there, right?

One more link.

Sorry. I've been a tad link-happy this week.

This one is big. And CRAZY FREAKIN' COOL!

GO. now.

Leave some comment love while you're there.

Suspense.

I apologize to those of you who voted for Eliot's Mohrhawk and haven't seen the fruition of your labor. We have one more trip to Guatemala and then there's nothing holding me back. Although, it may wait until after his debut as a ring bearer. Still undecided on that one. Sidenote, but worth your time, he's a ring bearer for Russ's cousin Laura. (Remember she lived w/ us last summer?) Well, she and her fiance, Dane, just did a photoshoot with Jodie and it blew me away!!! You've got to check it out! Click here and see the coolest engagement photo session ever in the history of the world.


And now...the moment you've all been waiting for...
(My random number thingy)




Nicole, if you haven't gotten past the dirty fingernails yet, that's your name! Congrats! Wanna know what you won?
Weird, huh? Isn't that what you said you liked? They are super cute, good call. Amanda will email you soon to set all that up.

I'm off to do something productive with my day!

Your to-do list via links.

1. Send a thank you note/email/tweet to someone who's spent time with you lately. Listening, encouraging, etc. Do it, they need to hear it. You need to say it.

2. Go read/watch this CRAZY story. Consider yourself warned. Oh, and keep an eye out for us while you travel the country.

3. If you haven't already, go to this post and comment so that you are entered in the inaugural give-away! It ends tonight! So exciting!

4. Remember the story of Josh, Deb and Noah? Well, maybe you might want to, oh I don't know, go read their blog post from yesterday. Click here.

5. If you haven't been already, time for a visit to the FE blog. They're doing a really cool weekly feature where they're giving you a VH1-type behind-the-scenes story of each song on the album. This would actually make life easier for me since you all seem to think that every FE song is written about me. Not true, peeps, not true. Read it for yourself.

6. Take a shower, for pete's sake.

Camera Dump Wednesday!

What? You've never heard of Camera Dump Wednesday? Weird, it's all over the blog world...

(I just made it up so I could blog about all the things I haven't blogged about yet all at once. Just go with it.)
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Several weeks ago, my friend Erin was here from Colorado, staying at her sister's house. Eliot and I headed west to meet up with them. While we were there, Erin's nephew G, gave Eliot a few driving lessons. I've never seen anything like it in my life. I've seen the cars for toddlers before but never a child who could drive like that! Eliot held on and laughed.




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Can Agape music festival count as a playdate? Here's my only pic of the day w/ the FundeesUndies.

Eliot, A, and Elle!

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And a trip to the zoo w/ Charlie! (again, several weeks ago...)



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A few weekends ago, Russ was out of town so eliot and I went to the zoo by ourselves. We didn't even call anyone. Just a mommy and me date. I love doing this with him, having him all to myself!

He was playing Peek-A-Boo with the prairie dogs. He was delighted that they fully understood and played along...



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And today we met Erin and Monkeypants at the park!



We actually met to go to the water part but E-beast was 100% not interested. Apparently a sticky 94 degrees is better weather for climbing and swinging.

Who the?

Want to see the Mohr's like you've (and we've) never seen them? Click here to head to Jodie's blog.

Feel free to make fun, but please know, you don't even know the half of it.

I forgot to share.

Getting on the airplane from STL to Dallas before our last trip, Eliot was walking in front of me. You know how close you are to the strangers sitting already as you walk further back in the plane right? Well, we're about to pass a man already settled who happens to have an interesting mustache. Upon seeing him, Eliot stopped walking, slightly gasped and yelled "PIRATE! Mommy, a PIRATE!"

Should have know these stories would happen after this elevator incident.

A Give-Away!

It's my first. Who's excited? I am! I am!

I have a cute friend, Amanda. Among a million reasons why I love her, is her recent venture. She's got this super cute style and creative way with life and now she's SELLING HER CUTENESS ON ETSY! And what's better than Amanda having an etsy shop? Amanda having a give-away on my blog from her etsy shop! Woot-woot! What I love about each of her pieces is the heart behind it. Within the last year, Amanda has stepped out over and over. She's not only crawled out of the box, she's covered it with felt and buttons on her way out. She's taking trips she's always wanted to. She's moving where she's always wanted to live. And she's creating. And it's great!
Here's her cute face:

Yeah, she made her little headband.


Here's her inspiring blog:

http://aprettysimplelife.blogspot.com/

And most importantly to you, here's her etsy shop (prettysimpleart) link:
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=7116422

Step 1: Go to her Etsy shop
Step 2: pick your favorite piece
Step 3: Come back here and leave a comment declaring your favorite little goodie before midnight on Thursday.

I'll do the cool random number thing on Friday and announce the winner of a new piece of Pretty Simple Art!

Amanda's puttin' herself out there and I would love to just lavish her business with encouragement. Feel free to gush. Feel free to love everything. Feel free to buy.