As if...

As if my husband needed another reason to be totally in love with this little girl...

He's already calling her sweetheart...

He already cries when he hears things about daddies and their little girls...

He''s already a mess...and she's not even here.

A friend gave us this onesie...I texted a picture to Eli...the subject read, "Well, at least it's not that horrible UT Orange color!"

He simply wrote back, "That's my girl!"

Reason #122 for Eli to be in love with this baby girl:  She can wear a UT onesie, and I won't totally object because it's pink!

See--she's already stolen her daddy's heart.

Walking with Baby Sister

The boys and I try to walk a couple of miles several days a week.

A few mornings ago, they asked if they could take their baby sister on a walk.  (We have two dolls that we are using as our "baby sister," one of them my mom actually made for me when I was a little girl.)  So, when they asked to take their baby sister, I said, "Well, sure, she always walks with us because she's in my tummy."  Reese said, "No!  I want to take this baby sister" (pointing to the doll).

And so, baby sister joined us for a walk that morning.

The craziness is beginning and she's not even here yet!

Happy Graduation, Eli!

I think it's time I tell the world how brilliant my husband is.

He graduated summa cum laude from the University of Tennessee, where he received his Bachelor's in History.

He graduated with all As (and I think one A-) from Westminster Theological Seminary, where he received his Masters of Divinity (and this program is no typical two year masters...most people do it full-time in four years, while Eli completed his in three).

And most recently, he finished his coursework at Belmont University, where he received his second Masters Degree, which is a Masters of Arts in Teaching, and he also obtained all As.

I think this degree has been the sweetest one yet because our children are old enough to realize that "daddy completing school" is a really significant event.  It's so significant, that we had our own little graduation ceremony in our front yard, complete with Eli and me humming "Pomp and Circumstance" while they paraded around in Eli's cap and hood.

Thank you, Eli, for modeling by example the importance of pursuing educational excellence for our children!  Congratulations!  We are so proud of you.

Family Fishing Day!

Eli LOVES fishing.

I mean, he absolutely loves to go out and fish all day long.  He watches fishing on TV, he talks about fishing with the boys, any gift that I have given to him in the last year has to do with fishing.  I've known this man for 13 years, and he has never woken up early to do anything, and a few days ago, he woke up at 5AM to meet my cousin and my uncle so that they could go out on the boat...to fish!

Well, what better way to spend a day as a family, then to have a (drumroll, please)...Family Fishing Day!  (I know what you are thinking...Wow, did Carmen actually go fishing with them?  I mean, she is a part of the family.  Did they leave her out?  Did she touch any fish?)

Yes, I am a part of the family, so I went fishing.  Someone has to think about packing snacks, packing hand sanitizer, making sure that Reese doesn't fall in, making sure that the boys actually use the hand sanitizer, packing the sunscreen, the bug spray, the water with lemon zest....and, did I mention the hand sanitizer?

It turned out to be a great day for fishing, and we even got to spend some rare one-on-one time with each child.  While Reese and Eli were fishing, Emmanuel and I explored the mill and went for a hike.  Both boys ended up catching one fish each, and Eli caught some, too!  The fish that Emmanuel caught was tiny, and I convinced him to throw the fish back in so that it could go on a playdate with his friends.  

Both boys had fun "fishing," but they mostly played in the water (I did think to myself...hmm...couldn't we play in the water at home), and hugging on their dad (another thing that we could do at home); but there is something about seeing their dad "in the fishing zone" that gets them all excited.  And, seeing the smiles on their excited, little, dirty fishing faces is more than good enough for me.

A Big Cardboard Box

There is a book that we read often to our boys.  It is simply called, "Little Boy."  The book follows around a little boy as he has adventures with his friends, spends time with his dad, and uses his imagination to do all sorts of fun things.  Every section ends with the phrase...Little Boy, so much depends on...your big cardboard box.  The little boy uses the cardboard box as a pirate ship, as a tower, as a fort...and the list goes on.

Well, we don't really keep cardboard boxes around.  I like to think that I am a green minimalist, so we recycle, and I don't keep a whole lot of excess around.  When we lived in Baltimore, recycling was easy.  It was single-stream (everything in the same container) and they picked it up from your curb.  Here in our Bellevue community of Nashville, we actually have to sort it ourselves and physically take it to the recycling center.  So, needless to say, the recycling builds up much more than I want it to.

After purchasing a new lawn mower (long story...Eli mowed lawns last summer since he was off from teaching, and well, our little used mower had mowed one too many lawns...), we had this huge cardboard box in our garage just crying out for little boys to play with it.

And, so, they did.

It was a pirate ship.

It was a rocket, a swimming pool, a bed...you name it...they imagined it!

And, then, it was demolished (and taken promptly to the recycling center.)

Every once in a while, we will create art projects out of our cardboard boxes or the boys will jump in a box and break it into pieces (that's the fun part).   And, for their birthday, I'm going to try my hardest to put a HUGE cardboard box to good, fun use (more about that to come...)

Little boys, so much depends on your big cardboard box!