Eli "The" Mitchell

At the ripe age of 3 years 4 months, Eli has become very literal. A hat is a hat, a net is a net. A net is not a hat or mask. Just like Eli is NOT a jumping bean. Today, I called Eli a jumping bean because he was bouncing on the bed rather than sleeping. He looked up at me with a very serious look on his face and said "I am not a jumping bean, I am a real live little boy named Eli the Mitchell!" I couldn't help but laugh at several of the things he said, one being that he is Eli the Mitchell, as in the one and only. The other is that he really is having a hard time with figures of speech and pretending. Things are very black and white in his world.

Pictures will be coming soon. I am having a little difficulty with my computer that I downloaded my pictures on so I will try and post some soon.

Little Miss Mollie

So my little gummy bear revealed herself to be a girl! We have decided on the name Mollie. Not sure about the middle name yet, but Eli has decided it is "the baby". Her complete name according to Eli is "Mollie the Baby Mitchell". I guess that is better than his first choice of name, Cocoa. When the sonographer told us it was a girl, Eli yelled in excitement "it's Cocoa". He was a little crushed when I told him that would not be her name, but he does like Mollie.

Eli walks the plank....

...well not really, but he did walk the diving board. He was so scared at first. I had to walk him out to the end a couple of times and help drop him in the water. He had decided to do it himself, but then would not go. A girl was waiting, so I went and pushed him off. He got really mad and told me "we don't push Mommy, it is not nice!" After he got out of the water he told me "I brave Mommy, I can do it" and he jumped all by himself! He had the entire pool watching him and several of the lifeguards came up to him and told him he did a great job.

Why-O Why-O Why-O would I ever leave Ohio.....in the summer time

The weather in Ohio is perfect....sunny, low 80's with a nice breeze. Sure beats the heat in Texas! We are having a wonderful time in Ohio visiting my Mom's side of the family. Micah was able to fly up and spend the 4th of July weekend with us. We spent the 4th at my cousin Paul's house on Lake Mohawk. Eli thought his house was the coolest place ever. He had tractors, motorcycles, a gator and a duck boat (a four wheeler that runs on land and in the water). He had so much fun climbing on everything and riding the duck boat. Paul also has a little pond with goldfish in his front yard and Eli went fishing in the pond for goldfish. I felt so bad for the little fish, I am sure some of them were floating belly up the next morning from the shock of Eli catching them. :)

Little Chefs in the Making

We made Fourth of July cupcakes today. The kids did a great job and they actually taste yummy!!! I took a picture of the picture and I have to say for a 6, 5 and 3 year old they did a pretty fantastic job decorating.

Eli caught a big bass!

Bass Pro in the making!

The weather has been so nice in Carterville. The high's have been in the low 90's with a cool breeze during the day and the lows have been in the 60's. We have spent most evenings outside and yesterday the kids played at Castle Park for most of the afternoon. Jonathan and Christie live on a very small lake stocked with fish. Eli talked Jonathan into taking him on a boat (canoe) ride across the water to "take fishies out of the water." Eli loved his boat ride and fishing and he even caught his own bass. As he was reeling in the fish, he got scared because the fish was flopping all around, so he threw the pole down and ran up the hill to me. We got him to go back down so I could take a picture with his fish. Eli has always enjoyed riding on Captain Bill's golf cart around the lake. Today we are going swimming and to a peach festival. The kids will get to pick peaches off the trees and eat peach cobbler...yum! I will try and post pictures tomorrow.

Feeding the ducks waiting on the canoe ride


Fishing with Uncle J

Canoe ride across the lake

Captain Bill's golf cart....go Saluki's

We made it to Carterville!

I survived the first leg of my trip. It took 10 1/2 hours which included three stops but was pretty much uneventful. Eli watched a couple of movies and entertained himself by pretending he was a dinosaur. While at a McDonald's in Lonoke, Arkansas, we were entertained by two bums arguing over who was the baby's daddy. Eli kept asking me why they were yelling and I was not sure what to say so I just avoided the question. When we got back in the car, Eli told me he was so full from his chicken and that it was making him "grow out of my underwear." He is too funny. Eli is having a blast playing with his cousins. The weather is much more pleasant than in Texas, the kids can actually play outside without melting. We will be here until Friday morning and then we will head to Ohio. Check back for more news.

Annie, Eli and Grace

Annie, Chase and Eli

Grace and Eli