women's retreat report

Friday night and Saturday morning, Todd and I attended the Mayfair women's retreat. It was really nice to have some time to get to know more of the lovely ladies we attend church with. The retreat theme was "the balancing act" and focused on practical ways to juggle all the balls we have in the air. One activity we did was to put "ball" stickers above a stick person, which represent what we juggle in our lives. Then put some below the person for things we'd like to juggle. At first I thought I'd only have a few, but once I got started I had a few "aha" moments. Here's what I came up with:

right now I'm juggling:
-housekeeping
-babies
-husband
-dog
-other family
-church
-friends
-bible study
-ossm
-dissertation

what I'd like to juggle:
-swap my dissertation ball for a job ball (something that still allows me to spend most of my time with Elle and Todd, but uses my talents)
-exercise
-swap the ossm ball for a house and a yard ball
-start a crafting club or craft more in general
-get a mentor
-learn to sew
-work with missionaries or other charities

I liked that it got me thinking and motivated. It also helped me realize that I don't have to look at all those balls in a negative way. I wished we could have shared more to hear what others had put down, but we ran out of time. I'm sure my balls were different than the "more experienced" ladies.


Friday night they also aired a story on Fox news about Mayfair. Here's where you can check it out.
KOKH FOX 25 :: Special Reports - New Face of Faith

comparison pics

see a resemblance?

Elle and Chris went to the science museum yesterday while Todd and I were at Mayfair's women's retreat. This is how she came back and it reminded me of the kindergartners on Recess. If you never watched this cartoon the kindergartners are portrayed as savages. I always thought there was some truth in that while I was teaching. Just kidding! I love kindergartners!

hey cuz!

We recently met some new cousins that were also born in 2011.

Owen Jeffery Yeats born Dec. 18th (son of my cousin Jace and his wife Randy)


Weston Cooper Thomason born Oct. 22nd (son of Chris' sister Kathy and her husband Kyle)



It will be so fun to see these little guys growing up together!

movin' up in gymnastics

Elle is still going to gymnastics,but we now go on Wednesdays. The Tuesday before I had Todd we got a call about moving her up to the preschool class. I don't go in with her anymore, which I miss, but it has worked out since sometimes I have to feed Todd. We watch from the lobby. She has three teachers, Ms. Carol, Ms. Darcy, and Ms. Selena. They are very sweet and do such a great job with all the kids. I like Metro because they have a developmental curriculum where they work on letters, shapes, numbers or have special themes that go with their activities. They also have separate classes for competitive and non-competitive so the kids aren't pressured and can enjoy practicing skills while playing.

During Elle's class they usually warm up with some songs, but Elle is slow to join in. Then they break off into three little groups. Elle really enjoys herself once she's into her group. She's so cute to watch running around with the other kids! She seems so big. I've enjoyed meeting and talking with some of the other moms. Elle's favorite parts seem to be the obstacle courses, foam pit, and jumping on the trampoline. If you want to check out Metro without enrolling, once a month they do "Lunch Bunch" for kids 3, 4, and 5 years old. You pay $15 and your child gets an hour and half gymnastics play and a craft. They also have the kids bring a sack lunch to eat with the teacher.

todd @ 2 months, elle @ 34 months

I know I'm a little behind, and it won't be very long until they're another month older, but I wanted to get this one posted.


weight 13 lbs 1 oz, head 16 in, height (didn't get summary when checking out so will have to check next time)

Todd has really changed in the last month. He's getting pretty big and of course there's those cheeks everyone comments about! He sleeps really well most nights going to bed between 10:30 and 11:00 and then sleeping between 4-6 hours before eating again, then usually goes back down for 2-3 more hours. During the day he doesn't have a real schedule yet. He's so sweet and has the best grin! He loves his sister already and she's a big help in keeping him entertained. This month he's been working on holding his head up better, pushing up during tummy time, and getting his hands in his mouth.

Elle is a great big sister. She loves on Todd and enjoys helping give him a bath and changing his diaper. Lately, she's really into Dinosaur Train and her babies. I let Elle watch something a couple of times a day while I'm nursing. That's her limit, but she'd watch all day if I'd let her. She totes at least two dolls, plus a stroller and diaper bag to dinner every night. The babies have descriptive names. There's heavy baby, tiny baby, cry baby, baby doll, boy baby, water baby, and the newest edition Rhonda's baby (who is the cafeteria lady who gave her the doll). Please don't give her anymore babies! She's picking up vocabulary all the time and is starting to act more like a preschooler than a toddler. We've had some issues with tantrums lately, but we're working it out. Hopefully, it's just a phase. She still loves to read and wants to "read" by herself a lot. This means she's memorized the book and can quote it back to you.

todd's first fire alarm

Todd made it through his first fire alarm this afternoon. Thank goodness for the mild weather were having because all his cheeks were exposed. That's right! The alarm went off just as I was changing his clothes and diaper. I wasn't sure how he was going to react to the noise so I just grabbed a blanket and we ran outside with Mops (Elle was still at school). One neighbor called Chris to come get Mops and another neighbor let us borrow a jacket to wrap around Todd. Thankfully, he stayed dry and we weren't outside too long.