Just the two of us!

It seems silly, but for some reason on vacation we just take so many pictures of us together. We mastered the self timer on the new camera by the end of the week. Here are some results. All were taken by us!

(Actually the first was taken by a waiter, but the rest are our own!)

More Jamaica

Jamaica is everything stereotypical that you hear it will be. They constantly tell you "No problem," we heard Bob Marley the moment we stepped off the plane (can't tell you how many times I heard "Don't worry 'bout a thing..."), men in dred locks are walking the beach selling things. It is truly amazing. I have never seen so many long legged women in my life!

Our resort was all inclusive...all the food and drinks you want. All we had to do was lay on the beach and a waiter would come to us offering drinks, snowcones, fruit, cold washcloths. It was the most relaxing place every!

The country is beautiful! The most gorgeous beach on one side and lush mountains on the other.

Here are some more photos.

A view from the balcony of the pool, beach grill, and restaurant.

Our verandah.

Our room from the beach. We are on the top right.

Jamaica...Part 1

We just got back from a 5 day vacation at Couples Swept Away resort in Negril, Jamaica. It was amazing. Here are a few quick photos...more to come!

Jamaica, Mon...No Problem!!!

We just got back from 5 days in Jamaica. We stayed at the Couples Swept Away resort in Negril. It was AMAZING!!! Here are a few photos...I have to get dinner going so this will be short. But as soon as I have time, I will post more and tell you all about it! The first is our view from the room. So beautiful. The first thing I did every morning was drink Jamaican coffee and just look at it. The second photo is us on the beach in the evening. You should've seen the man who took it...an old European man with a very dark tan, a hairy chest, bald on his head, wearing a very tiny speedo...yikes! His wife was topless....so he was the better option.

Blogger Challenge and other stuff

Tag....I'm it. Thank goodness Amy gave me something to do. I am subbing for three days of summer school and I have NOTHING to do. I am so bored. Sadly, I have to leave in 30 minutes for a funeral. The son of one of my fellow teachers hung himself in his room last Friday. He was about to be a junior at my school. It is tragic and sooooo sad. No one seems to understand why. We have had so many tragedies at this school.
Change the subject! Here's my survey response.

I was "tagged" by Amy and here it is!
Four of my favorite jobs:
1. teacher (especially right now during summer vacation)
2. Mommy
3. Party planner
4. Wedding planner

Four of my favorite local places
1. Mikeska's barbecue
2. My back yard, of course!
3. Salado...just walking the streets and shopping
4. My school...I know, it sounds sick, but it's pretty fun here!



Four of my favorite foods
1. chocolate chip cookies- my homemade ones of course
2. stuffed sea bass from Diamondbacks, in Waco
3. anything Italian with a good glass of wine
4. STARBUCKS...not really food, but filling anyway!

Four of my favorite international places
1. Italy
2. Fiji
3. Australia
4. Paris

Four names of people I am tagging:
Everyone's already been tagged! I am at the end of the list!

Testing the new camera

OK, let's try this again. I am trying trying trying to post photos with my new camera and it hasn't worked so far so we'll try this. This photo was an accident. We had an awesome full rainbow the other day. I thought I had panoramic photos on my camera...but apparently you have to take a few photos and it pieces them together into one. So it looks like i have 3 driveways and 3 rainbows!

Happy 2007

Happy New Year! I am sure that sounds odd to everyone, so let me explain. Today the stars must have been aligned or something. Because it was raining, the house was picked up, and both girls took an extra long nap at the same time. So I finally got back to my scrapbook. I finished Christmas and Marcus' birthday and officially put the 2006 book out on the shelf. This probably doesn't mean much to you non-scrappers, but to those of you who are fanatics like me, it is a major accomplishment. All aspects of my life are scrapped

Happy Memorial Day????

It's raining again in Texas, which is almost unheard of! It has rained almost every day for weeks now! The pool even overflowed yesterday!
So today is Memorial Day. We got a call at 8 which we almost didn't answer but are sure glad we did...Scott's friend who lives nearby was at Round Rock Doughnuts and wanted to know if we wanted any. So by 9 we had fresh doughnuts delivered to our front door...can't beat a friend like that! So we got to stay in bed and watch the Today Show, which brings me to my title...Lester wanted to know if you can say "Happy" Memorial Day when it is not really about a vacation day...supposed to be about remembering those who passed. Interesting thought.
We have big plans for our first week of summer vacation. Last night Scott and I went to Olive Garden to dinner. We hadn't been there for years and it was excellent! Marcus watched the girls...they were asleep in bed by the time we got home. Awesome!!!
I had to pay for day care for the girls through June 15 so I am using that time very wisely. Tomorrow Payton is going to school so Marcus, Carsyn and I can go see Shrek 3. Wednesday the carpet cleaners are coming to help with the Carsyn/Hawaiian Punch nightmare. We have high hopes for removal of red vomit even though the cleaners do not.
Thursday the house cleaners are coming so girls are going to school and Marcus and I are headed to IKEA in Austin. We have lots of organization products in mind. As well as redoing Marcus' room. It is currently ranch-style and he wants beach-style.
Friday is open. Hmmm...any suggestions? More than like a mani/pedi will be in order!
Guess I will end this now. Happy summer to those of you who are done!!!

I'm here!!!

Hey everyone! I know I have been a non-blogger for way too long. I got a great new camera for mother's day...it's a kodak 10 mp. the only problem is I can't upload my photos very well. And for some reason I thought no photos-no blogs. So here's a journaling only blog.
Life around here is crazy as usual. Yesterday I thought to myself, how does any woman in her right mind think she can have three children to care for and still work full time? It's crazy! So much to keep up with!
So school is officially done. Yeah! I am soooo happy for an extra long healthy and happy summer. Last year was technically healthy, but for those of you who never heard, I went through quite a bout of post traumatic stress after my heart illness with payton. It took me a year to nearly fall apart before I finally talked to my doctor about it. Right before Thanksgiving he started me in therapy and on some medication. It's so weird...I didn't know how much of a mess I really was til I was out of that fog! I am so happy now, and alive, and have so much energy, patience, love, and compassion for others. I was really lost there for a while and hiding it was really exhausting! So enough of that...just wanted to share my dark secret and move on.
This summer should be amazing...the best ever. We have the pool, which is too cool. I am teaching a few weeks of summer school which means extra pay for me and marcus...he's my hired nanny. Scott and I are going to Jamaica for 5 days in June...thanks in advance to mom and dad for coming down to watch the kids so we can get away for our 5th anniversary! Couldn't have done it without you!!! The kids and I are making a trip to Ohio near the end of July...I hesitated a few days too long on tickets and missed out on a steal of a deal from Southwest airlines. Oh well.
Other than that, we are just going to have fun.
I will send photos soon... as soon as I figure it out. Today I successfully bought a transmitter thingie from Walmart so I can use my laptop at home wireless!!! It is way too cool!
I guess this is too much writing for a blog so I guess I will go. Later!!!

Mamma Mia

I can't believe it took me this long to post this! Last Saturday was a girls' day out. I went to Austin and shopped with a few friends, then went on to PF Chang's in Austin where we had dinner with a few more friends, then on to UT performing arts hall where we watched Mamma Mia with even more friends...17 girls from work total.

It was sooooo much fun! I highly recommend it to anyone if you get a chance! It was all ABBA songs arranged in a story. I love love loved it...the only drawback was that some of the 'younger" girls around me weren't familiar with the music. If I had been there with my fellow blog followers, I know we would've been dancing in the aisles! This is a photo of me and four others from work before dinner...notice our red carpet stance. Very slimming.

Miracles

Here is a photo of a miracle...you all know her as Payton. Now check Amy's blog today and pray for another one. As most of you know, Amy's sister-in-law Becca had heart surgery last Monday. She has had some complications and is still asleep in the ICU. I won't go into detail, but I will ask you all to pray for a miracle. She is very sick, but comes from a family with a lot of love and faith. God does perform Miracles. I know because I have one. Now how about it God, got time for another???

Thanks for the Visit!

Amy, Jacob and Jenna came down for a visit. Even though they really came to meet Mia, I took a few days off and was able to hang out with them. Of course, we took countless photos and shopped a little. But we also just relaxed and let the kids play. Here are some photos of the kids in the pool and hot tub.

Springtime in Texas

Oh so unpredictable, this springtime in Texas. While most around here found it just magical that we had snow, I found it completely annoying. Come on, it's not even supposed to snow in OHIO on Easter! That's the number 1 reason I moved to Texas in 1995! So anyway, photo number 1 is Saturday, March 31. Photo number 2 is exactly one week later...after the temperature dropped a shocking 50 degrees. By the way, northerners, I know it doesn't look like much. This was at the beginning of the snowfall. By the next day we had a few inches, I was just too mad to capture it!

Easter at the Elliott's

Hey everyone! I am back, after a bout with Strep...the doctor didn't even have to do a culture, she just said "yuck" and gave me an antibiotic. I felt awful Sunday through yesterday but finally feel alive again...just can't swallow solid food yet.

Anyway, here are some Easter photos. No Easter dresses...due to weather and illness we didn't make it to church so those will have to wait til next weekend!

The first few are of the girls at an easter egg hunt my school put on for the kids. The girls had their faces painted to look like bunnies and were soooo cute!

The others are the baskets.

A Bluebonnet Preview

Bluebonnet season is officially here...and this is the best season I can remember seeing since I've lived here! For those of you who don't get it, bluebonnets are a wildflower that grow everywhere in Texas this time of year. The big thing it to plop your kid down in the middle of them and take photos. Since Amy is coming next week to visit, I have been scouting out locations for photos. Carsyn happily posed for a few samples today. Payton was asleep in the car.

Bu-Bulz!

Payton is a girl of few words. Thanks to numerous ear infections in her first year, her speech was delayed. She is coming out of her shell now and saying several words, that only a mommy can understand. However, she finally has a new word...Bubbles. She says it perfectly in two syllables. And she is obsessed with them. She hasn't quite figured out how to blow them instead of eating them, but she loves them. She will seriously chase us down with anything that resembles a jar of bubbles and say bubbles at least 25 times. Here are some photos of her with her bubbles. It's times like this I wish I was Amy so I could capture it with a decent camera!

Purple..."Why did the turtle cross the road?"

Last week on Thursday, we were driving home and saw a turtle crossing the road. Carsyn and I circled around, went back and picked him up. We put him on the floorboard and brought him home. HE lived in a box for a few hours, then we let him hang out in the grass. He stayed there for a day. Carsyn decided to name him Purple and we started to get attached to the fella....he was a big big turtle! Every time I picked him up he hissed at me! Sadly, on Friday morning Purple the turtle made a run for it. Just another day in the life of the Elliott's on the farm.

My favorite 3 yr. old girl

These are a few photos of carsyn showing off her bubbly personality. She is wildly creative and has energy beyond belief. The first one is at the circus, enjoying her souvenir hat and a handful of popcorn. The second one is in our driveway, testing out her roller skates.

We had a family night out last Sunday and went to the Ringling Brothers circus in Waco. We had seats on the floor which would have been awesome had it not been for the gigantic family two rows in front of us. But we discovered that we could move to the floor and watch, and had a great time. Carsyn even got to go down front and dance with the clowns. She asked Marcus to go with her, but he had to decline! Guess how much a box of stale popcorn and a bag of cotton candy costs these days? Give up? $16. Wow! But it's the circus...you gotta go all out.

She's Here!!!

Jill had her baby this morning around 9:30. Sorry I don't have all the specifics but she was a little over 8 pounds and around 20 inches long. She is so tiny and so sweet! Here are some photos. She doesn't have a name yet...they are still thinking. Check back for more photos and a name!!!

The final product

So the pool is done! Of course now we have a mess to fix...landscaping, fencing for safety, furniture and moving the swingset and trampoline. And at some point the portapotty needs to go. But it is officially done. We have tried out the hot tub and fire pit several times at night. But today it is 83 degrees and sunny so the kids are playing. How do you like our pool boy? Just kidding...that's dad working on landscaping.

Waiting for Bella

We are all anxiously awaiting the arrival of Baby Bella (as the Elliotts prefer to name her) and are practicing holding a baby. Tonight we worked on swaddling a newborn and then holding her by supporting the head and neck. As you can see, one child is ready, the other probably is not. What do you think Jill, can Baby Bella's cousins hold her in a week or so???

The GOOD news and the BAD news

So I have some good news and bad news to share on this Tuesday, which is actually more like a Monday since I didn't have to work yesterday because of President's Day.
So the bad news is I had a horrible stomach bug on Scott's birthday. I woke up at 6 am violently ill and it stayed with me all day. We had plans to take the kids to school and spend the day together...IHOP, massage, the works! Instead I was ill and he kept the girls away from me.
The good news is I discovered a new favorite artist. KT Tunstall. For all of my Ipod friends, download her. I love love love the song at the beginning of the Devil WEars Prada and it led me to her (Suddenly I see.) Turns out she also sings Black Horse in a Cherry Tree and some other really cool stuff. Just thought I'd share.

Updates on the Pool

I keep going outside at the wrong time to take photos...right when the sun is going down. So the pictures aren't too good. But as you can see, the backyard is an absolute disaster, but they are definitely making progress. You can see the hottub...it has the rock all the way around it. What do you think??

Oops, What happened to the photos???

Happy Birthday, Superdad!!!

Here's some photos of our birthday party for scott. It was just the five of us and all planned out by Carsyn. She put on her party dress, made Payton wear one too, and waited outside to lead him in with his eyes closed for the surprise.

Random Sunday afternoon thoughts

This all comes in response to my sister Amy's recent blog.

Grey's Anatomy: I am a huge fan and have been glued for several weeks now and crying every time! The drill thing with Izzie didn't bother me at all. Nor did it bother Carsyn. She is the only faithful watcher in the family besides me. She thinks dead things are cool. I suppose I should not let her watch, but she doesn't mind. I am hoping that she will be a future surgeon or trauma doctor, not a future serial killer. Just kidding.

I scrapped!!! I scrapped a lot this weekend. Yeah for the new scrappin' space. I have been searching through my new favorite magazine that Amy got me for Christmas...Scrapbooks, Etc. I got lots of inspiration and cranked out 5 pages that I am proud of!

So Aunt Nancy wants to know what I think about our governor mandating the vaccination that will protect against cervical cancer. Don't know what I think about it yet, but I do think Perry is gearing up to run for Vice President. We got a big pay raise last summer and the last time that happened was the summer before Bush ran for president. Funny how that happens. On a girlie note, I have heard from several who have met him that in person he is extremely handsome. Just thought you'd like to know in case that's how you decide on the presidential ticket.

Happy Birthday, Scott!!! Scott's birthday is tomorrow. Carsyn came up with the brilliant idea of having a Superman party. He is not a fan, she just figured that was a good fit for daddy. We got him a superdad shirt, a superman cake, party plates and horns, and lots of "babloons" as Carsyn calls them. I think it's cute that she thought it all out and kept it a secret. She has been telling him all week "Shh daddy, don't tell what your birthday is."

So naptimes are over and it's time to make another fantastic steak. We bought some ribeyes from a meat market last night and they were the best we've ever had. And the Elliotts have had a lot of rib-eyes at a lot of restaurants. So we saved another giant 2 inch thick ribeye for tonight. Yum.