Norah's Art

"Visions of Sugar Plums"

This one was drawn the week of Christmas (yes, I'm that far behind on updating the blog/going through my pictures on my digital camera...am I the only one?) I love that she drew all of us in our beds (since that's when Santa would have made his visit.

"Eli's Birthday"

Eli would be the one on the far left (blonde hair, green eyes), with the big #3 on his shirt (I made him a striped shirt with a number three on it to wear on his birthday). Norah is beside him with blonde hair and blue eyes, and next to her are Helen (brown eyes, blonde hair) and her brother, Isaac (brown eyes, blonde hair), both who celebrated Eli's birthday with us.

"Snow White and a Deer" (Watercolor)

She was in Disney Princess/Watercolor mode this week....

"Ariel and Eric" (Watercolor)

"Norah Misses AA" 

(I love that they are the same height in this picture!)

"Beauty and the Beast"

I LOVE this one.  You can see Belle in the center of the "stage" holding the infamous rose.  The beast is to the right.  Also pictured, Mrs. Pots, the cheeky feather duster, and Lumieer.  All the circles are bubbles, and the round thing in the lower center is a dinner plate.  (She drew this the day after we went to see "Beauty and the Beast" at OPAS, and this is the "Be Our Guest" scene...probably the highlight of the entire show for both of us)

"The Flat Family"

I really love all of Norah's art, but the Flat Family is one of my all-time favorites.   We read "Flat Stanley" (if you're not familiar with it, it's an early reader book about a boy who is flattened by a bulletin board, and as a result is able to be mailed around the country in an envelope, be flown as a kite, and many other adventures.)  Norah was completely facinated with the storyline, and decided that she wanted to make an entire flat family...so she did.  I started her off tracing Flat Stanley from the book...that's the one on the far left...and she added "girl" features like pigtails and  decorations on her shirt.  Then she got adventuresome and free handed the rest of the family.  She even cut them out, paper doll-style (there were a couple of minor limb injuries with the littlest ones, but thankfully, nothing some scotch tape couldn't take care of!)

From the Mouthes of Babes

Overheard last Sunday after church...

 

E: I'm gonna be baptized someday.

N: Me too!  And then we can eat the crackers of God!"

 A recent prayer by Norah (after several conversations about the homeless, and less fortunate)

N: "Dear God, thank you for this wonderful day.  Please bless our food.  And be with the children without mommies or daddies.  And help people who live in boxes not to live in boxes.  Amen."

A recent prayer by Eli (over 2 months post-Christmas)

E: "Dear God, thank you for all our blessings.  Thank you for Mommy and Daddy.  And help Santa to come at nap time.  Amen." 

At the barber shop recently, we were sitting, waiting through a long line for Eli to get his hair cut, when an older gentleman came in and sat down in the seat next to Norah.  (We go to the historic downtown barbershop, where we are almost always the only patrons under 50, so this was a normal occurrence) Without hesitating, Norah turned to the man and had the following exchange.

N: Hi.  I'm a five year old.  (if you've talked to N lately, you know this is how she starts almost every conversation)

Man: Why hello there young lady.

N: Do you know about Jesus? (this on the other hand, I've NEVER heard her say before)

Man: Why yes, I do.  He is my Lord and my Savior.

N: (Smiling, and nodding) Good.  I'm going to the doctor after this to get some shots.

Man: Oh!  Well.  That's not gonna hurt because Jesus is gonna make it not hurt.

A: (Grimaces at Norah as man turns the other way,  and shakes head no, in disagreement with his claim about pain-free shots.  N smiles knowingly and nods her head, as if to tell me she understands)   

I did, however, later talk to N about how proud I was of her for being so bold in talking to a stranger about Jesus.  She said she just wanted to make sure he knew.  Oh, that I might have the effortless faith of a child.

Heart-felt Wreath

While perusing the interwebs (as Jason calls it), I came across a tutorial at The Idea Room for this adorable Valentine's wreath, and decided right away that it was the perfect nap-time project for Norah and me.  (I've been trying to be more deliberate about using Eli's nap time to do things with Norah, at least on the days that she doesn't nap...she still takes one about every 2-3 days)

We had so much fun! The Idea Room's tutorial does a great job explaining it, but basically all you need is a styrofoam heart base (I bought ours for half-price at JoAnn's, so it was about $4), a box of pins, and 3/4 yard of felt. 

I used one of our drinking glasses to trace circles on the felt, and cut them all out. (There were a lot...but the time went by fast, visiting with Norah and laughing together) Meanwhile, as I would cut, she would fold each circle in half, and then half again (so you end up with a "pizza slice"-like shape), and pin it into the styrofoam. Eventually,

I ran out of circles to cut, so we finished assembling the wreath together, and literally, put the last pin in as Eli was walking up the hall, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.  Such a fun project.  We looped a ribbon through the invert at the top of the heart, and hung it proudly from the front door.  (Where N has happily pointed it out to anyone who has stopped in to visit, in the weeks since)

I'm so thankful that N loves crafting/sewing like I do.  I can see us bonding over many more projects in the years to come, and pray that it will help us keep our lines of communications open, and stay close as she continues to grow up (too fast!) before my eyes.  And don't worry...I haven't forgotten about Eli.  I am getting all geared up for some serious mother/son time next year while N is off spreading the wings of her independence in Kindergarten.  It's gonna be a big time! 

Norah's 5th Birthday/Party

Norah's 5th birthday started off with our traditional birthday pancakes.  This year she requested "Butterfly pancakes", complete with a brown m&m body, whipped cream wings, dotted with sprinkles and cherries.  Yeah, we're all about kicking off the day with a healthy breakfast around here.  (On a side note, I wonder how many years before she'll die of embarrassment of my posting genuine "bed head" photos...)

Next, we headed over to U-Paint it, to pick up the plate that Norah had painted the week prior.  (It is a self portrait, and includes her 5 year old signature at the bottom...I will love it forever!) I am secretly hoping that we'll end up with one for every member of our family...wouldn't that make a cute set?

Next we headed over to McDonald's for a play date with Grandma, Grandmother, and Aunt Paige. N requested I take a photo of the birthday shirt I made for her (the hand on the front is traced from her actual handprint...I thought it would be fun to capture it's size and memorialize it on the shirt)  Too bad I cut off her head...it would have been a cute photo!  I love how she is thrusting out her chest, about to explode with all her 5-year-old pride.

Later that week, N helped me bake and decorate cupcakes for her party.  (She requested strawberry butterfly cupcakes)

Some of the finished products...(I piped the butterfly wings onto wax paper, covered them with white sprinkles, and held them together with a chocolate icing body)

They were a big hit at her party...and so much easier to serve than cake!

Speaking of the party...this year, we had her birthday party Michael's (yes, as in the arts and crafts store).  They have a classroom off to the left of the store, that was just the right size for a birthday party.  I LOVED the freedom of being able to do a semi-messy craft, and not have to worry about my carpet!  As soon as her guests arrived, I got them started painting wooden tiles in the color of their choice. 

The week before the party, I whipped up some art smocks for each child, using checkered tablecloth fabric, of all things...the kind with the vinyl surface that wipes clean, and embroidered their names on them, so they could take them home and hopefully reuse them) Even the little guys got in on the action!

I was amazed at how well everyone stayed on task....maybe they were just shocked we were letting them do such a potentially messy project?  But really, even with all that paint, there wasn't much to clean up at the end of the day.

Michael's put brown craft paper down on all of the tables, which made cleaning up a piece of cake.

After all of the painting was done, the kids modge podged scrap book paper to the other side of their wooden tiles, making sure to do a pair of each design.

Which left them with their own, personally crafted Memory tile game.

...Complete with a nifty carrying bag!

Norah was excessively spoiled by her generous friends and family, including a pair of "Twinkle Toes" and a "Unicorn Pillow Pet" (who has been dubbed "Cornelia"), both which she had been BEGGING for for a couple of months prior to her birthday, and an assortment of other fantastical gifts.

Another favorite gift was a homemade, blue satin "Princess" (aka--floor length) night gown from Gramps.  She LIVED in this night gown, day and night for at LEAST a week after her birthday.  It was all I could do to get her to change clothes to leave the house.  And she still favors it over all her other pajamas.

The Twinkle Toes shoes (by Sketchers) are officially the first brand-name purchase request that she has made (and made, and made, and made...to be sure we got the point).  Who knew it would start at 5?  We have always been blessed with amazing, quality, hand-me-downs, so I haven't had much experience in shopping for new clothes/shoes (unless you count my semi-annual stock-up at Target/Walmart for $3 play clothes).  I was taken aback at how much these shoes cost (yes, I know, I'm cheap...but it did make me so much more thankful for the bounty of hand-me-down treasures that sweet Jenny has shared with us these past 5 years)....but I am thankful that Norah loves them and wears them almost every day...and that her feet grow at an alarmingly slow rate in comparison to most kids (including your brother, who now wears just one size smaller than you)...so hopefully they'll last a while!

Sweet Norah, at five years of age, you are such a joy.  You have a tender, compassionate heart for everyone around you.  You wear your heart on your sleeve, but this also allows for you to be sensitive to the needs of others. Your sincere prayers for people you encounter throughout our days (sometimes at the grocery store, other times friends and family) are an encouragement and constant reminder for me to keep my eyes open for others who are hurting or in need.

You still love to cuddle.  

You are a precious, sweet sister to your brother.  You love to tell him he's "so cute", and are always happy to play "princesses and cars" with him (Complete with Lighting McQueen waking Sleeping Beauty with a kiss, at times).  Your favorite color is pink.  Always.  

Your favorite food is "Mommy's Pepperoni Pizza" and your favorite drinks are "Blue Poweraid" and "Milk", but "not together".  

You love art of any kind, but painting is your favorite.  Y

ou can't wait to start kindergarten in the fall, and you love telling everyone we meet that you are "a five year-old." 

You are reading some on your own now, but are still happy to be read to (which, makes mommy happy, because I love reading to you).  

This year you learned how to swing all by yourself (Hallelujah!), and surprised us all with your impressive hula hooping skills (no doubt inherited from your mother, who tied for 1st place Hula Hoop Champion of her 3rd Grade class, which, incidentally, your daddy was there to witness).  

You tried gymnastics for the first time, and loved it.  The night Daddy taught you how to do a cartwheel you would run and hug his neck each time you completed what you deemed to be a "good one". You LOVE to perform, and routinely break into spontaneous performances--everything from dance, to songs (both those you've heard on the radio and hilarious originals that you make up as you go along).  You know all the books of the Old and New Testament (and have sung solos of them in Children's Church, Bible class, CBS class, and any other setting where you are given a "stage"), and continue to excel at memorizing scripture.  

You claim to have conquered your long-standing fear of the dark, but still sleep with a small night light (and prefer us to leave the bathroom light on, too).  

You refer to any weed flowers in our yard as your "garden" and take it personally when Daddy runs over them with the lawn mower or weed eater. 

 You are beautiful, through and through, from the inside out, and I am so proud to be your Mommy.  I can't wait to see the great things that God has in store for you as you continue to grow.  Your Daddy and I love you, dearly.

Twas the Night Before Christmas...(and the Sunday after)

In my previous post, I mentioned that, in addition to celebrating Eli's birthday on December 24th, we also tried to keep with a few Christmas Eve traditions.  Such as....

Cookies and milk (and carrots for the reindeer) by the fireplace at bedtime...

Sometimes, little brother tries to sneak a little something sweet...as if all that birthday cake wasn't enough!

Last year I told the kids about how Mommy, AA, and Uncle Johnny used to all sleep in one room on Christmas Eve, and they asked if they could do the same.  Much to my surprise, Norah remembered this year, and asked if we could do it again, so we hauled Eli's mattress into her room and tucked them...or should I say, "nestled" them all snug in their beds.  We read "The Night Before Christmas", and the "REAL" Christmas story, as Norah refers to it :) Then I told them "Lights out, and don't forget, Santa wont visit until everyone is asleep!"

 We didn't hear a peep out either of them, so I  thought I'd better check them about 30 minutes later.  Fast asleep...guess all the events of our busy day finally caught up with them!

This last photo was one I took of the kids the day after Christmas, after church.  Oh, how I love these sweet kiddos!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Eli!

For those who don't know, I am the proud mother of a Christmas Eve baby...and proud as I am, I'll be the first to admit that I am still working out the kinks in how to pull off making December 24th feel like a special birthday for Eli, while still keeping with the holiday traditions associated with Christmas eve. 

This year, however, I thought we made a pretty go run at it.  For starters, I awoke at 4am (going to sleep stressed about tomorrow's to-do list occasionally has this effect on me, and I truly believe it is a God-send).  First task at hand was to make a "Yellow cake with orange icing" per Eli's request (I know my Aggie friends are cringing...which is why I had to add some blue accents, in hopes of helping mellow the orange a bit) 

Next order of business: Birthday pancakes.  This year we went with snowmen.  Eli wanted green eyes, Norah requested blue (they have recently become very fascinated with their different eye colors, Norah always makes sure she colors them correctly in her drawings) 

We sang our first "Happy Birthday" of the day, and E blew out the candles on his whipped cream-drenched pancakes (a delicacy, I might add, we reserve only for birthdays).

After breakfast, we met up with our good buddies, The Hindmans, for Eli's (and Isaac's) first movie theater movie, "Tangled" (Disney's take on Rapunzel, which HIGHLY recommend.  Jason and I loved it, as did both kids, and it was squeaky clean). The Hindman's came prepared with blankets and candy to share.  We sandwiched the 4 kids in the middle, flanked by the parents on the outsides, and everyone was extremely well-behaved.  So. Much. Fun.

After the show, we let the kids hang out in the arcade (which, since it was Christmas Eve, was totally deserted) for a while. Eli and Isaac, who share a passion for "Cars" were basically glued to the racing games for the duration of our visit.

Norah and Helen, on the other hand, preferred the motorcycles.

Everyone posed for one last photo op in front of the movie poster, to commemorate the occasion.   We felt so blessed to have such sweet friends, who were willing to take some time out of their Christmas Eve day, to celebrate with Eli.

That night, we hosted all four grandparents, both sets of Great-grandparents, Aunt Paige & Uncle Grant, and the Davidson's (N&E's adoptive "extra" grandparents) for burgers and hot dogs.

Have  I mentioned that the weather had turned nasty?  Sweet Jason fired up his pit as the first drizzles started and managed to get everything into a holding pattern in the oven before the  massive downpour that followed. Everyone enjoyed a nice, dry, warm meal.

Finally, it was time to cut into that big, orange cake.

Happy 3rd Birthday, big boy!  You are a joy to your Daddy and me. You almost always wake up with a smile (and usually come climb in bed with us for your last hour of sleep to cuddle, which I love), and seldom complain the rest of the day.  You dress yourself most mornings (preferably in Cars apparel, which you have no qualms about retrieving from the dirty clothes hamper if Mommy has failed to wash it in what you deem a "timely" manner).   You absolutely LOVE your big sister, and would likely do anything she asked you to do, rational or not, and you pride yourself on being a "gentleman".

You  never cease to make us laugh with your made up words (ex: "Pockaticket", which we've determined is a noun, most commonly associated with someone who is  getting on your nerves), endless supply of Cars quotes, and original song lyrics (sure to be future chart toppers like "Chick's All Over the Place"--in reference to Chick Hicks from Cars, not girls, in case you were wondering, and  "I Don't Wanna Go to the Barbershop").

We love you, sweet, "Snazzy","Eli McElierton", "E-mac","E", Eli. 

Norah's Art

It's been so long since I've updated, and I have TONS of photos to blog, so I figured I'd just jump in with a collection of Norah's sketches from this fall.

A few differences I've noticed in her artwork of late is that she has started thinking more about setting of the pictures (hence the grass under the princesses feet) 

This one is a "ballerina and her teacher" (this one was done after reading a few "Angelina Ballerina" books from the library--Angelina's ballet teacher always wears dresses with tiered ruffles, so I'm guessing the "teacher" in Norah's picture is the one in yellow on the right).  The faint square around them is the "stage".

 Two more ballerinas, again, on-stage.

Jesus on the cross (with Mary, his mother, below)

Norah and Eli playing catch (he's been wearing his hair "spiky" a lot lately, so she made sure to give him a few in her drawing)

This is one of my all-time favorites.  It is a jockey and a horse.  I love her attention to details (like the button on the top of the jockey's hat, and the bridle/reins on the horse...granted he's a little stocky, but still...)

She was very proud of this one.  If you can't tell, it is most of the cast from Toy Story 3.  L-R: Jesse, Woody, Bullseye, Barbie, Ken, and Buzz (Again, note the detail--Jesse's cow-print chaps, all of the colored lights and buttons on the front of Buzz's spacesuit, etc).  She worked on it for quite a while, finally dedicating her masterpiece to her Daddy (as you can see in the upper left corner).   As soon as he came home from work, she presented him with her art, and of course he praised it highly, immediately recognizing what/who it was a depiction of.  Not long after that, N was sent to her room (if memory serves, for having a bad attitude at the dinner table.  

After some time passed, I went in to check on her, to find her hard at work on this... While I knew it was done in total defiance, I was slightly amused at the facts that 1) She spelled everything right all by herself, 2) The worst possible "retaliation" she could think of for Jason's sending her to her room was to stop drawing pictures for him.  So funny.  And yet, the parent in me had to focus on the heart of the matter...or should I say the attitude behind it.  The same bad attitude that had gotten her in trouble at the dinner table.  We had a good talk.  And she quickly admitted that she liked drawing pictures for us and didn't really want to stop, and believe me, she hasn't!