Itsy, Bitsy Pider

So Ellie loves to sing - she always has. But lately, she's wanted to get in my lap and go through her repertoire, especially before going to bed. We are onto her - believe me - the girl's got game and we know it! We don't let it get out of hand; but it is really cute. First, we sing "Jesus, I know", which translated means "Jesus Loves Me"! Then "Itsy, Bitsy Pider", "Patty Cake", "Head, Toes" (the poor shoulders and knees always get left out!) and we finish with "Jesus, I know" again! It's so cute. For all of them but "Jesus Loves Me", she sits straight up to do the motions; but for that one, she lays her head on my chest every time. And I just eat it up! We've sung that one since she was a baby - it was the only thing that would calm her sometimes. Recently, due to preschool, "We Give Thanks" and "Happy and you know it" have made the short list of favorite songs by Ellie. We'll let you know when the first CD has been cut!

Go 'Noles!

It was a record crowd for Alltel Stadium - most of them Garnet & Gold; you couldn't tell though, until we started the chop!

It's been a while since I have been able to go to an FSU football game - three years! So, when friends bought a section of tickets back in the Spring and invited us to go, we jumped on it. Brian and I traveled with great friends Mike and Rachel Dasher to my old stomping grounds of Jacksonville to watch FSU roll over Alabama - wahoo! We left Ellie in the expert care of her grandparents and left Saturday morning for a short road trip down I-10. We decided to get our food for the tailgate at a Publix once we got to town, so of course I was excited to try to find the one closest to downtown and help with directions. (me?, help with directions?, no...!) Anyways, I chose the Fort Caroline Road Publix as the closest and easiest to get to. (Mom and Dad, you would not believe how run down University Blvd. approaching Ft. Caroline is.) Well, no sooner had we turned into the shopping center, than I saw a Blue Boy Sandwich shop across the street! We LOVED Blue Boy when we lived there and I'd told Brian before about the legendary size of the sandwiches. So, everyone was in agreement that we had to get our sandwiches there. I was hoping that it was still good! It was - everyone was very happy with their selections. The only problem was that it seemed to be a Gator establishment; but sometimes you have to compromise! Brian and I had a great time enjoying friends, food, fellow Seminole fans and the game. It was definitely worth it and we'll do it again with the Dasher's anytime!

Ellie's Two!

Auntie Steph made this cute apron!

Ellie on her first Birthday - WOW! (Auntie Rachel made this dress!)

Well, we've survived another year! Just kidding - more like Ellie survived us! This year was awesome! We cannot believe how much she's grown up since her first birthday. Who would have known that so much development takes place in one year. I think we're more astounded with the second year than the first. Probably because it feels like more mental growth has happened this year. She's definitely a little girl who can run, climb, talk quite clearly and carry on conversations - somewhat! And think, man does she think about stuff. I think I may have met my match. Her brain is always processing. With the first year, there's more physical growth and changes; but they still seem like a baby at age one. Not so this year. We had a party with all her friends the Monday before her birthday. Everyone had fun playing at a local park. I was too preoccupied to get many pictures - sorry:( Then, I took cupcakes to her class on her birthday. This was a true Mommy moment to me - that I am actually taking cupcakes to my daughter's school for her birthday! I just love it!! That night, we celebrated with my mother in love, Dianne, and Tom since Dianne's birthday is the day before Ellie's. We had yummy dinner and opened more presents. Ellie had the greatest time opening gifts and having 'Happy Birthday' sung to her over and over. There is no doubt that she understands what birthdays are now. To a two year old, birthdays mean singing 'Happy Birthday', getting presents and eating cupcakes - sounds good to me!

To see more pictures, Click Here.

School Girl!

I apologize that this is a little late. Ellie started school almost a month ago and I'm just now showing you pictures:( She goes three days a week to our church's Mother's Morning Out, which at Wildwood is a 2-3 year old preschool. The days she goes are actually the days that I work so we just ride together, I sign her in and then walk down to my office to work. How great is that?! These pictures are from her first day. She loves her backpack and lunchbox (a little pink elephant - gotta love PBKids!). Her teachers, Mrs. Janet and Mrs. Bo love her too. They say she's always happy and very smart. Of course, that makes Brian and I quite proud! Within the first week, she already knew all the kids names in her class (there are 8) and the rest of the teachers from the other classes. Her favorite thing to do in the car is ask where everyone is, by name! So, we now include her classmates and her teachers. "Where's Miss Bo, Mommy?" "Mommy, where's Miss Bo?" "Where's Jeremiah, Mommy?" "Where's Emma Grace?" "Where's Miss Janet?" Of course, she always asks where are daddy, Ryan, Lucy, Auntie Steph, Uncle Jimmy, Uncle Jon, Grandma, Grandpa, Papi, Abuela, the list goes on and on. It gets tiring; but I've learned to ask her where they are and she usually has the right answer! Can you tell I'm a proud Momma??!!! She definitely did not start school a minute too early and we're so thankful for the God-fearing instruction she's getting.

Labor Day in Seagrove Beach

We decided that the Dyster Family needed a good family vacation at the beach. So, we rented a beautiful house in Seagrove Beach, just east of Seaside - like you ride your bike ten minutes and you're there - and spent four wonderful days relaxing and enjoying each other's company. Mom and Brother Jon came on Thursday, followed by Amy & Chris from Atlanta and Brian, me and Ellie. Brother David came late Friday night (and had to leave Sunday Morning) and Dad arrived Saturday morning. I don't think the location could have been any more perfect. We had plenty of room to spread out and do our own thing: go to the pool, beach, fish, ride bikes, kayak, etc. Ellie even got to ride on the back of Daddy's bike - she loved it! We'll have to get one for home. We definitely plan to make this an annual trip. Click here for pics from our camera (which mainly center on Ellie!) or Click here for pics from Amy's camera (which do a much better job of catching the scenery!)

We're Potty Trained!

We (and when I say 'we', I mean 'I' with Brian's full support!) wanted to have Ellie trained by the time she started school on September 4th. I took the week off to do it and she responded quite well. We had and continue to have accidents here and there; but not that much. Her teachers work with her too and we are very proud. Honestly, we just think her little tushie is sooo cute in those panties! You go, girl!

So Proud of Lil' Brother Jon

Gorgeous Kitchen

Wainscoting in Stairs

Dark Wood Finish Kitchen

Ultra Contemporary Bathroom - the 4 panels of the door were cut through one sheet of bamboo and then stained different finishes! Not our taste; but beautiful nonetheless.

I want this bathroom! The floors are either marble or travertine.

After seeing these, we are commissioning him to make us some!

Beautiful craftsmanship on the side of a drawer and an unstained mahogany wardrobe!

Here are some pics of Jon's amazing work that I referenced in a previous post. If anyone knows of work needed in Pensacola, I'll pass on the word! I yanked these of his myspace so hopefully they still look good when you click on them.

Dear Goawd...

Okay, I had to post one more for the night. We've been praying with Ellie at dinner and bedtime for quite some time now. For the past two or three months, we say a prayer and have her repeat it line by line. It almost brings us to tears because it is so cute and so neat to hear her praying to her creator, protector, Father and friend. We've got to get the video before she gets any older. Here's a sample script, though. You have to make all the things Ellie says go up on the end!

Dear God (Dear Goawd)
Thank you (tank u)
For my family (famiwy)
and my friends (fwiends)
and my blessings (bwessings).
Give me a good night's sleep (sweep).
I love you (wuv u)
Thank you (tank u)
for loving me (wuving me).
Amen (Amen - excitedly).

This just melts your heart!

Balloon go Pop!

During Brian's last work trip, Ellie and I packed up and went to Pensacola for a few days to visit Abuela y Popi (mom and dad) and Uncle David & Uncle Jon and Great Grandma & Granddaddy (dad's parents). As we were coming into town, I decided to call brother Jon to see if he could meet us somewhere for dinner since mom & dad were going to be at a banquet. Actually, I texted him and he was quite impressed with me! Anyways, he could and we had a great dinner at Moe's catching up on what's been happening in his world. Jon is my youngest brother (the youngest of 4) - I'm the oldest, so this means a lot to me and I think to him that we are making an effort to establish a good adult relationship. I just love my siblings so much and often still think of them (at least my brothers) as little boys when we were growing up. That's just not the case any more and I'm so proud of them both. Jon does AMAZING work as a custom cabinet (and other wood furniture) builder. He's done this for about 8 years, I think and has really made a name for himself in Pensacola. David (3rd youngest) is about to graduate from UWF with a film degree! Then he'll go out to Colorado (truly God's country) to work on writing and developing his career. He too does AMAZING work. I never would have believed my two brothers would choose such creative careers. Of course, Amy and I are quite close since we're only 18 months apart and both girls! I don't really think of her as my little sister because we've shared so much along the way. She is happily married to Chris and living in ATL. She'll graduate with a master's degree in English Education in May; but plans to teach history as soon as she can.

We also got to see Ellie's Great Grandma and Granddaddy since they too live in Pensacola. We were invited to their house, which Ellie has never been to. They had this chair of stuffed animals and a balloon which they said had been there two years but we're not sure it would have lasted that long. Anyways, Ellie dug right in and since she's always loved balloons, she went straight for it. She was tossing it to Grandma and Granddaddy and they were playing right back. This went on for about 10 minutes until finally the 'Balloon went Pop!' Since it was so weak, it didn't hurt her; but for the rest of the time we were there, she kept saying 'Balloon went Pop', 'Balloon went Pop'. It was so funny. Well, Granddaddy couldn't have her not have anything to play with, so he gave her this stuffed polar bear who was appropriately named 'Pop'! The next day, my very thoughtful and very smitten-with-his-great-granddaughter Granddaddy went and bought her another green balloon. This is the one in the picture above. We had such a great visit.

For more pictures, click here.

Strawberry Shortcake Girl

This hat and bathing suit looked so cute - she's a little tan beach Strawberry Shortcake!

You don't think she knew she looked really cute, do you???

Okay, I can explain! She is covering her legs with wipes like we do with sand at the beach. I have to confess that she has quite the affinity for playing and cleaning with the wipes and diapers. Either I have been a very good example of cleanliness (not so sure about that) or it's time to potty train or she's just got a great imagination! I'll take any of those - she's just so stinkin' cute!

Ellie-isms

So hip in her tye-dye shirt for VBS!

Ellie is such the little talker and has quite a few funny little sayings that we'll call 'Ellie-isms'! I wish I could get them on video; but it's so hard to edit it and everything, I just thought I'd tell you before I forget! She just cracks us up with her propensity to repeat just about anything we say and actually say somewhat clearly. Here are a few:

• Pwease
• Mowah (more)
• 'cuse me (excuse me)
• tank-u (thank you)
• Goawd (God)
• Daddy-o (Brian's mom calls his grandpa this, so we decided to try it and it stuck. Now there's also Mommy-o and Ellie-o)

Okay, so typing them doesn't do her much justice! We'll have to get some video on here. Just use your imagination and say them in a 2 year old voice and you'll have it down!

Little Baker

It's been a while since I blogged last. So sorry about that. We've been quite busy. Well, about a month ago, Brian was traveling quite a bit. In fact, one of his trips was 10 days straight! So, Ellie and I decided to bake Daddy-o (as Ellie has started calling him) some yummy peanut butter cookies to mail to him. This was Ellie's first cooking lesson and she passed! She got to lick the paddle as all good little bakers should!

The Happy McDonald's Man!

For those of you who live in Tallahassee, you have to drive through the McDonald's on Thomasville Rd. one morning just to meet this guy! NO, I am not there all the time! I go on occasion on my way to work to get my standard Egg McMuffin - one of the more healthy options;) Anyways, the guy who takes your money is always so kind and full of complements. I wish I would be that kind all the time. He says, "You're gonna have a wonderful day." or "It's gonna be a great day for you, you know that?" And it's really not like he's saying it just to you. You know he says that to every person who drives through that morning. I've heard him saying it to people in front of me! It just puts a smile on your face and makes you feel special. He might be the manager - I really don't know and in which case I would be even more impressed that he's at the Drive-Thru. I hate that I don't even know his name; but you have to go see him!

July 4th

We were invited to a friend's parents' house this year and it was huge! There was swimming, swinging, and sparklers! You know, it's all about the red, white and blue and last year I had found this cute bubble outfit for Ellie from Target. Well, this year I found this oh-so-patriotic navy fabric with cream-colored stars and just knew I had to make something. Here's the thing...I'm still kind of new at this sewing thing and hadn't looked to see that I had enough fabric until two nights before - and I didn't (go figure). But I was determined. So, off to JoAnn's I went the next day to get more fabric and a new pattern. And yes, mom, I actually looked at the pattern this time and got the notions I needed before leaving the store - I'm learning! So, I was actually quite proud of myself for making her this dress in less than a day! Now I'm anxious to do more. Last year was Ellie's first introduction to fireworks and she loved it; but I wasn't thinking we would HOLD OUR OWN sparkler this year!!! She actually did great and didn't try to shake it at all. We had a great time. Click here for more pictures.

Blueberry Picking

Each year, I await the last weeks of June and first weeks of July with possibly more anticipation than Christmas! And just like Christmas, as soon as blueberry season is over one year, I can't wait for it to come the next! That time is here and yesterday Rachel and I took off to Blueberry Springs to harvest our bounty. This is the third year in a row that some form of the same friends or families have visited the same place to pick the blueberries we will savor the entire year. Last year, we took Ellie, who was 10 months at the time. She was, of course, relegated to her stroller the whole time, where she was quite hot and miserable. I would love to take her this year; but I'm still not sure she'll enjoy an hour or so of mommy and daddy just picking blueberries. Then again, she might - she does love the little blue fruit afterall! Anyways, Rachel and I got there around 8:30 or so, signed in and got our 'gear' - a rope and a gallon milk jug with a hole cut out of the top. You tie the rope through the handle and around your waist so that both hands can pick at the same time - looks kind of funny but it works! I saw one lady this year who had done two jugs all by herself - maybe I'll aspire to that next time. I never thought about doing that - another case of my 'inside the box' thinking. Maybe I'll write on that later. Here's a picture of my beautiful berries (they actually filled two trays like this) - about 18 cups worth! All for just $10. I decided to do some research and found that had I bought that much at Publix, I would have spent $24!! And they taste so much better.

My first blog!

There seems to be a first post for everyone, so I thought long and hard about what my first post would be about! Transparency...that sounds good (or not!). That came to mind because I hope to be somewhat transparent in what I write. It also came to mind because I think we spend a lot of time safeguarding ourselves from being transparent; but when we do allow others to see who we really are (given the right 'others'), it feels so much better.

I was never much for pretend play or Halloween costuming because I just didn't think it was based in reality and who needs an alternate reality?? However, I have a different perspective on that now that I've got a 2 year old (well, not quite; but it's close enough to not say 21 months!). We have tea parties with her Raggedy Ann dolls and I read some stories to the whole host of stuffed animals one day, offering them tea as well. That's pretend play, right? And I found that I discovered a part of me that had been lost - a part I was trying to cover up. So, in my efforts to live in reality, I actually have lived a lot of my recent years in an alternate reality - trying to make life work without being true to who God has made me. And it just doesn't work! Putting on a happy face when you are doing a lot of negative self-talk, doubting you know anything when if you'd just BE TRANSPARENT and ask for advice, all the other women might feel the same way! Why is it that we think "I'm the only one who doesn't know what I'm doing"? I have learned in the past 21 months that I don't know everything and I may not always do it right; but that's okay. I believe that lesson can only be learned and embraced when you allow others to see in and minister to you. And it also keeps you from going down the black hole. So here's to being more transparent and authentic and here's to blogging!