Happy Birthday Mom!

Happy Birthday to my Mom! We love you so much and hope you have a wonderful day!

We miss you!

Singing a Book

Here's another addition to my last post. The boys love to play the piano while I'm trying to play. Donovan got his own idea and quickly enlisted Elliott.

Whenever we get library books, we read them so much that Dono pretty much has them memorized, so then he takes the book and plays it on the piano. He sings the words that we read and he even sings it in tune with the note that he's playing. At least I know he's not tone deaf. It's kind of fun to watch, and I know they're enjoying themselves.

Don't You Just Love a Child's Imagination!

We go out in the backyard a lot for the kids to play and for me to relax in the nice weather. Today I had to find my camera because the boys had a blast using their imagination.

Using our clothes line pole (which I don't know why it is still in the yard) The boys put their basketball on top and used their play rake/hoe to play baseball.

Donovan has good hand-eye coordination. The ball went sailing numerous times.

Elliott hit it a few times too, just a little gentler.

I guess I know what sport equipment we can get for birthdays this summer.

We also have many sticks laying in the yard. For a typical boy you'd think they'd become swords or weapons of mass destruction.

My boys went fishing off the deck steps. They showed me many "colorful fish" that they "caught".

I love my boys and how creative they are. I'm so glad that they are best friends and enjoy playing with eachother. It takes a lot of stress off of me.

Happy Birthday Alisa!

Happy 33rd Birthday to my big sis Alisa! We love you and miss you lots. We hope you have a wonderful day!

Book Club

I guess I haven't posted what our book club has been reading lately.

Last month we read The 5 Love Languages by Gary Chapman. It is such a great book! I had heard of it before, but it was fun to actually read it. I recommend it to everyone, especially husbands and wives. I know it's not always accurate or doctrinal, but I don't see what can hurt coming from it. It talks about different emotional languages that individuals have and how by learning to communicate with a spouse/child using their individual love language and doing things for them with this language, you can reach them and they can feel your love. That sounds lame, but give the book a try it might be fun. I found out that my love language is 'acts of service' which means that when someone does even the littlest thing of service for me I know that they are showing me love, rather than telling me they love me. Dan's love language is 'physical touch' which can mean anything physical even just massaging his feet, back, holding his hand, or playing with his hair. The other 5 languages are 'words of affirmation', 'receiving gifts', and 'quality time'. It is fun to see what other's languages are and how you can best show someone that you love them.
Tonight we had our latest book club with Gifts My Father Gave Me by Sharon Knutson-Felix. This was also a great book. A little tragic though. It goes through the author's life and her tragic experiences of losing her son and husband and how she used her faith, friends, and family to get through it. It was quite inspiring. I know I haven't lost someone very close to me in a long time, but some of the women in our group have lost husbands and siblings recently and they said that Sharon's insight into her feelings and thoughts of these separate events equally matched their own grief. I know that if something tragic happens that I can reread this book to get a different perspective from my current situation. It also helps those who haven't suffered these great tragedies. I think it helped me better understand what I can do for someone else that is going through a tough time.

Never a Dull Moment

Well, on Tues. I had my doctor's appointment to hear Ross's heartbeat, get my fabulous Rhogham shot (gotta love my O- blood!), and do my hour long glucose tolerance test. I told them of some concerns that I was having of pressure, so they ended up checking me out and gave me another ultrasound where they determined that I needed BEDREST! The concern has to do with my cervex. I won't go into detail, I'm not contracting or dilating yet (thank goodness), but my body is showing signs common in those that have pre-term labor. I've even had to get steroid shots to help Ross's lungs develop incase he does show up early. So for the next 6-8 weeks I will be down for the count. I'm glad that I'm not confined to a bed which some have to do. I can still go places but I have to take it easy. I am restricted in everything physical. No walking, standing for long periods of time, housework, lifting heavy things, and excessive stair usage. That doesn't leave a lot of things to do. I guess I'll be doing a lot of reading, movie watching, crocheting, and sitting outside to enjoy the weather while the boys play. And poor Dan has been so wonderful. He's been doing the dishes, laundry, and every little thing that I have been told not to do on top of his normal job. I really do have the best husband. And our new friends from church (whom I told because I had to cancel our playgroup this week) have been so supportive and offered to help clean and everything. It helps to know that we are loved wherever we go. I wish our family was close by because I know they would love to help us too especially in playing with the boys, but it's nice to know that others are willing to serve too. It's so frustrating not being able to do my normal routine. And I think this will be a humility lesson on my behalf. I'm not usually one to let someone else do something for me (besides family). I'm just gonna have to suck it up and let others help and be grateful. When it's all through, I think I will be even more willing to help others in their time of need. I guess the cycle will continue. So, I'm asking for your help. Have you read any good books or seen a good video lately? I'd love suggestions to help fill my uneventful days ahead.

What's in a Name?

I've seen this blogged on a few friend's sites and thought it would be fun to give you insight into why we have our names.

Daniel A Earl -- There's a tradition (not sure why it started, but neat to continue) in Dan's family that the first male Earl child must have the middle name A (with no period) and the first name starting with D. When I asked Dan why he is Daniel, he shrugged and said that it must have been a name that his parents agreed on. They called him Danny growing up and he thinks they liked the name because it sounded Irish.

Crystal Lynn Elliott -- My name was chosen from a lady who had the same name that worked in the cafeteria at Mesa Community College. I think my dad thought she looked nice and it was a nice name. I don't think he knew her at all. I'm not sure why Lynn, but among my friends who also have the same middle name, it seemed to be quite popular. Not that my parents wanted to choose popular names. (Although there was never a class in Jr. or High school that I didn't share with at least one or two other Crystals, multiple spellings)
Donovan A Earl -- As with Dan's name, we decided to carry on this tradition of a D A Earl. We searched and searched for a D name that we could agree upon. We didn't want a common popular name and I couldn't name our child after some of the choice children I used to teach. Donovan is the only name we could agree upon and it happened to be an Irish name, of which blood runs through his veins. So there it was and we like it a lot. It suits him just right.


Elliott Renin Earl -- You may have noticed, if you didn't know me in my past life, that my maiden name is Elliott (2 l's, 2 t's). We wanted to have a name coming from my side of the family for our second boy. Since I come from a family of only sisters, there was no one to carry on the name of Elliott. My dad always wanted boys so that they could carry on the name. So we decided to do it, in a different way. As for Renin, it's made up. I grew up loving the movie Footloose and I loved Kevin Bacon's character name - Ren. I thought it was cool, but I didn't want to sound like a hippy naming my child after a bird. So we played around with the name and it became Renin. Originally it was going to be his first name, but Dan had issues. He thought every child on the playground would tease him about Ren 'n Stimpy. Who but the parents would remember that cartoon??? So I finally changed the order. I'm glad we did, because my boy is so an Elliott! I can't imagine calling him Renin anymore.

Baby Boy #3
Soon to be - Roswell Harmon Earl -- let me clarify, not (Roz-well) like the alien town in New Mexico, but (Ross-well). His nickname will be Ross. We decided to go back and forth on the family names. It is now Dan's family's turn. Let me see if I can get this right. Roswell is the name of Dan's great-great grandfather and also that Roswell's grandfather. Harmon is the middle name of Dan's great-uncle, great-grandfather, and also great-great-grandfather. Our boy will be the name bearer of many great men. And we can't wait to meet him! Only 11 more weeks! (Or possibly 9 weeks if he follows the path of his brothers.)

Don't Eat Me!

Yesterday we went to our library for storytime/craft and it was all about doughnuts. Anytime Daddy is home (weekends) for breakfast, our kids ask him for doughnuts. We only do this on special occasions because of course they are so not good for you. We have a Tim Hortons (well known in Canada and trickling into the U.S.) down the road a bit and oh so yummy! Almost like a Dunkin Donuts but I think better. Anyway, I thought this storytime ought to be fun. And it was. One of the stories was about a doughnut named Arnie. He didn't realize that the baker made him to be eaten. He was deeply distraught when he was bought and almost bit. So he and his owner worked out a deal to save his life. It's quite a funny story.

So, the boys got to make Arnie for their craft. (Pink of course, with sprinkles.)

Do you think this will keep them from eating doughnuts ever again?

Ya, probably not.

About Me

This is a super fun challenge. You have to find images that describe you. The images have to come from the web and not your own pictures.

My Name:

My Job:

Want to Travel to:

Bad Habit (mine has never looked this bad):

Favorite Author:

Favorite Song:

Favorite Food (I have many, but this is prosciutto wrapped melon)

Favorite Object (what would you do without it?):

Favorite Color:

Pet's name:

Favorite Animal:

Where I Live: