Mom, just go somewhere!

Elias had his first day of preschool this past Wednesday. Buying school supplies, picking out his lunchbox and getting his backpack ready was a huge deal for all of us!

I stuck around his class for about 10 minutes and Elias finally turned to me and said, "Mom, just go somewhere!" I think he was more ready for this than I was.

Celebrities in the house!

Chase has a new patient named Angelina. She's not just an ordinary patient though... she's a horse! Her leg got caught in a barbed wire fence and so the owner called the clinic where Chase works and asked if it would be possible to make the horse a prosthetic leg. So, Chase agreed to take on the special project.

A couple weeks ago a local news crew came out to film the story. Elias and I met everyone out at the ranch so that Elias could meet the horse. Elias was pretty excited about meeting the horse (and the other 20+ horses, 16 dogs, pigs, and goats). Elias stuck right by Angelina's side the whole time, helped put the leg on, and ended up being in the filming as well.

They filmed for hours but the clip is only a few minutes long. Some of the details are wrong, like the name of the company, Chase's title, and a few other things. But camera shots of the horse (and Elias too) are pretty good.



The organization featured in the YouTube video is Hearts and Hooves. It's a great place and the owner, Veronique, is so creative in the way she uses her horses to bring joy and healing to others. As you may have caught in the video, Veronique's goal is to use Angelina as a therapy horse for children and adults who are amputees. Cool!

Once the horse is walking better and actually being used as a therapy horse, the news station plans to do a follow up story.

I'm stuck!

Chase put in a new cat door and so of course Elias promptly decided to try it out. It was easy to stick his head through the little door, but not so easy to get it out!

He cried for help so we got him unstuck , but not before capturing a few photos of course.

Uh-oh

This is funny but not very funny. Stop taking my picture and get me out of here!

I'm out and never trying that again!

Is it starting already?

I forgot to add this to the earlier post...

Shortly after the poopy comment, I told Elias to go to the bathroom (he still needs reminders). He kept playing with his car so I told him he needed to leave the car with me and go into the bathroom.

He took in a deep breath, let out a long, deep sigh, looked me right in the eyes and said, "Mom, you just don't understand me."

Deep Thoughts

Not much going on here that's really blog worthy. The last couple of weeks we've had visits from grandparents and old friends and also got to reconnect with friends we haven't seen in years. It's been fun! Elias of course remembers everyone's name and asks about them constantly.

So early this morning I was trying to create some intentional, sweet moments with Elias before our day rushed by us. We read a little Bible story together and then I was holding him. I felt a little sappy I guess, wooed by his big eyes and soft curls. 

"Elias", I said, "you are so special and God has a very special plan for you. What do you think that is?"

Elias thinks for a split second.... "Um... poopy?"

Perfect, three-year-old boy response!

Birfday Message

Interviewer: Today is your Daddy's birthday. Tell me some things about your daddy.

Elias: I like to give him some hugs. I like to give him, um, little hugs. And I like some BIG hugs. And Happy Birfday Daddy! He is a guy and he is a nice guy. And he is a big guy. And I like to work on the workshop with my Daddy. Daddy is a good boy and he is REALLY tall.

Interviewer: Anything else you'd like to say?

Elias: Nah. That's all I have.

Sideways Birfday Message from Elias

Not only is it Chase's 33rd birthday today (our ages are now all 3s- 33, 33, 3), but history was made.... Elias fell asleep on his own. I know, not shocking to most, but he has never ever ever just fallen asleep outside of a required nap time or bed time (except for in the car). Elias just fights sleep as much as he can. Today though the Tour de France had him asleep in 5 minutes...

Summer Pickin'

We've been in East Texas for the last week, keeping Lulo and Papi company as they each recover from major surgeries. It's good to come and spend time where the grass is greener, trees are taller, air is cooler, and time moves a little slower. Most of all it's good to spend time with family.

I took Elias out to pick blackberries one day and then we went back again today. We picked over 15 pounds of berries and are getting ready to enjoy our second cobbler. Yum.

It was the perfect time for picking berries. They were huge, black, juicy and just fell off in your hand. Makes me love summer!