Monday, March 2, 2009
Snow Day!!!!
We were all so excited to have a snow day. These are the days that I live for in the winter! The days when Jonathan has to stay home with us and we get to enjoy the day. The kids had a blast sledding and throwing snowballs. It was so cold and windy this morning, that we had to come in after a while...but we plan on heading out later to build a snowman. Hope you were all as lucky to have a beautiful day as well! Enjoy the photos!
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Marine Corps Museum
Yesterday we went to the Marine Corps Museum with Owen's Tiger Cub den. It is a wonderful museum in Quantico, not too far from us. The boys had a good time and Owen wanted to look at everything. That kid (and his father) could spend hours in a museum! After the tour, we ate in the "Mess Hall" restaurant. It was a lot of fun.
Tyler, Joshua, and Owen...Three of the Tigers
Owen and Daddy taking shooting practice...scary!
Owen tried to lift the back pack, but it was a little heavy!
Trying a few pull ups!
Logan gives it a shot!
I think Logan has outgrown that shirt.
Emma's turn!
Jonathan and Owen upstairs in the museum.
Owen outside of the museum with Iron Mike.
Owen and Daddy taking shooting practice...scary!
Owen tried to lift the back pack, but it was a little heavy!
Trying a few pull ups!Logan gives it a shot!I think Logan has outgrown that shirt.Emma's turn!Jonathan and Owen upstairs in the museum.Owen outside of the museum with Iron Mike.
New Car
Well, he finally did it...Jonathan got a new car. His VW has been on it's last leg for several months now, so it finally got so bad, that he broke down and we bought a Honda CRV. He wanted something bigger than his Jetta, but smaller than the van. The CRV got excellent reviews and we absolutely love our Oddysey. The scary thing is...as we were sitting there (for four hours), it occured to us that this could be the car that Emma drives in a few years....ug!
Sunday, February 22, 2009
A Little of This and Little of That
Well, it has been a crazy couple of weeks. We have been busy with swimming, school, birthday parties, and scouts! I can't believe it's been so long since I have updated the blog.
Emma has been busy with swimming. It is amazing how far she has come. She started out in level two in October and is now up to level 5. She swims the length of the pool with no problem and can do many different strokes. She is definitely a better swimmer than me now! She is busy with her Girl Scouts and school activities. She recently switched troops and is very happy. She had "Thinking Day" yesterday - where all of the troops from the area get together and have a special theme and activities. She has also been busy with Art Talks. This is a program run by our art teacher for fourth and fifth graders. They made all of the puppets, costumes, and scenery for the show. Emma was on the scenery crew. Thursday was the show and they did great. Emma was a little embarassed when she held her scenery upside down - it was quite funny! Anyways, her social life continues to be busy!
Owen is loving Scouts too! He is extremely proud to earn patches, beads and belt loops. He takes his scouting very seriously! Yesterday was the Blue and Gold Banquet. We ate a lot of great food and had fun hanging out with his friends and their families. We are going camping in a couple of weeks and we're all "really" exited about that! We'll be sleeping in a tent with the entire family - I can't wait! It really should be a lot of fun...I'm sure you'll hear more about it!
Logan is still loving being surrounded by girls at preschool. His favorite girl is still Madelyne. Yesterday he went to his friend Elizabeth's birthday party. It was at a place where they have indoor moon bounces, a ball pit, playground equipment, and a "pretend" room. He had a great time. My baby is really growing up.
Jonathan and I are busy with work. (He is sitting at the kitchen table working as I type.) He has been busy car shopping and hoping to get a new one by next weekend. His Jetta is on it's last leg, so he's looking to buy a Honda CRV. I have a student teacher this semester, so that always adds a little to my work load. You never know what you're going to get, so it could go either way.
Nutmeg the Hamster is still kicking - although his leg still hasn't healed. I'm afraid he's got an infection in it, so who knows if he'll really pull through. He is still eating and drinking and he'll let me hold him. The poor little guy has been through a lot these past few weeks!
Each of the scouts had to pick a state and make a poster about it. Owen had to choose from the west coast, so he picked Washington. He had fun learning about it and did a nice job with his poster. 
Proudly showing off his patches.
Earning his awards from the cubmaster, with Daddy at his side.
Logan flying the plane at the birthday party. Too bad he is color deficient...he'll never be a real pilot.
Bouncing!
Logan and his best girl Madelyne!
Cooking in the kitchen! He'll make a good husband some day!
The ball pit...I love this picture!
Logan was a bit too big for this car, but he gave it a try anyway!
Emma has been busy with swimming. It is amazing how far she has come. She started out in level two in October and is now up to level 5. She swims the length of the pool with no problem and can do many different strokes. She is definitely a better swimmer than me now! She is busy with her Girl Scouts and school activities. She recently switched troops and is very happy. She had "Thinking Day" yesterday - where all of the troops from the area get together and have a special theme and activities. She has also been busy with Art Talks. This is a program run by our art teacher for fourth and fifth graders. They made all of the puppets, costumes, and scenery for the show. Emma was on the scenery crew. Thursday was the show and they did great. Emma was a little embarassed when she held her scenery upside down - it was quite funny! Anyways, her social life continues to be busy!
Owen is loving Scouts too! He is extremely proud to earn patches, beads and belt loops. He takes his scouting very seriously! Yesterday was the Blue and Gold Banquet. We ate a lot of great food and had fun hanging out with his friends and their families. We are going camping in a couple of weeks and we're all "really" exited about that! We'll be sleeping in a tent with the entire family - I can't wait! It really should be a lot of fun...I'm sure you'll hear more about it!
Logan is still loving being surrounded by girls at preschool. His favorite girl is still Madelyne. Yesterday he went to his friend Elizabeth's birthday party. It was at a place where they have indoor moon bounces, a ball pit, playground equipment, and a "pretend" room. He had a great time. My baby is really growing up.
Jonathan and I are busy with work. (He is sitting at the kitchen table working as I type.) He has been busy car shopping and hoping to get a new one by next weekend. His Jetta is on it's last leg, so he's looking to buy a Honda CRV. I have a student teacher this semester, so that always adds a little to my work load. You never know what you're going to get, so it could go either way.
Nutmeg the Hamster is still kicking - although his leg still hasn't healed. I'm afraid he's got an infection in it, so who knows if he'll really pull through. He is still eating and drinking and he'll let me hold him. The poor little guy has been through a lot these past few weeks!
That is about all from the McElwain's for this time. Hope you are all doing well. Talk to you soon!
The Tiger Cubs singing a song at the Blue and Gold.
Each of the scouts had to pick a state and make a poster about it. Owen had to choose from the west coast, so he picked Washington. He had fun learning about it and did a nice job with his poster. 
Proudly showing off his patches.
Earning his awards from the cubmaster, with Daddy at his side.
Logan flying the plane at the birthday party. Too bad he is color deficient...he'll never be a real pilot.
Bouncing!
Logan and his best girl Madelyne!
Cooking in the kitchen! He'll make a good husband some day!
The ball pit...I love this picture!Logan was a bit too big for this car, but he gave it a try anyway!
Emma and her frineds Mary and Amanda - at the puppet show.
Monday, February 9, 2009
My Little Girl is Double Digits!
Emma celebrated her tenth birthday today! It's hard to believe that our little girl is double digits. I scanned a few photos from her first year...seems like just yesterday. Enjoy! I will post birthday pictures later.
Here she was about 7 months old...one of my favorites!
She'll kill me for this one...blackmail someday!
Another favorite...about 4 months old.
She was one messy girl! She still loves sweets. We had to put her in the tub after she ate her cake. I definitely think she was our messiest cake eater!
Here she was about 7 months old...one of my favorites!
She'll kill me for this one...blackmail someday!
Another favorite...about 4 months old.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Trouble with Pets
I'm beginning to wonder if I should ever be allowed to have pets, let alone children!!! We had another disaster with our hamster. For those of you who never heard the first story...sit back and enjoy!
Two summers ago, we had friends who had loads of baby gerbils. We decided to take two and Sugar and Spice became a part of our family. We played with them regularly and they were a lot of fun. We especially liked it when they played on their wheel. One day, Owen had his sweet little friend David over. Owen decided he and David would like to watch the gerbils on the wheel, so he asked me to put it in. So, I did what every good mother would do...I said yes and proceeded to remove the top of the cage to put the wheel in. While Owen and David stood watching carefully, I shut the cage and stood back to watch the kids giggle with amazement. To my horror...I realized that something was not right! It seemed that poor little Sugar tried to go up the tube while I was closing the cage....unfortunately...it mortally wounded him. While Owen screamed and I cried, his little friend stood there with his mouth open. I quickly removed Sugar out of the cage where he took his last breath in my hand. It was the first pet death that I had to deal with as the mom. Our pets always mysteriously "ran away", except for my cat Lucky...mom was supposed to put him inside at night when I was off at my aunt's house - instead she was scraping him off of the road the next morning - NO...I'm still not over it!!! Anyways...it was quite tramautic for all of us. We burried Sugar in the back yard and Emma put a cross over his grave. We eventually got Sugar Junior...and have gotten over the death of Sugar.
Well, this morning....I was awaken by screams of Emma yelling..."Mommy, Mommy, Nutmeg is hanging and bleeding...he's dying!" Of course she had two friends spending the night and they were witnesses to all of this. Poor Nutmeg had gotten tangled up in the fuzz from his nest, jumped off of his jungle gym...and got stuck hanging there. He must have thrashed and twisted all night long trying to get loose. By the time we found him, his little foot looked like it was just hanging on. It was horrible! We got him out and wrapped him in a wash cloth and held him. We were just waiting for him to die...but that little stinker is hanging on. He's eating and drinking and gimping around on his bum leg. I called the vet...just to see what they would say. Turns out...hamsters are exotic animals (ha! ha!) and we would have to drive over an hour to pay $120 just for him to be seen. Jonathan of course said he would make him a peg leg out of a dowel rod! How kind of him.
So, we cleaned his wound up - it's not quite as bad as first thought. He must have pulled all of the fur off, so it looks horrible. We put some neosporin on his boo boo and are hoping for the best! Geez...who would have thought rodents would be so much trouble! Keep Nutmeg in your thoughts! (and keep your pets away from us! :)
Two summers ago, we had friends who had loads of baby gerbils. We decided to take two and Sugar and Spice became a part of our family. We played with them regularly and they were a lot of fun. We especially liked it when they played on their wheel. One day, Owen had his sweet little friend David over. Owen decided he and David would like to watch the gerbils on the wheel, so he asked me to put it in. So, I did what every good mother would do...I said yes and proceeded to remove the top of the cage to put the wheel in. While Owen and David stood watching carefully, I shut the cage and stood back to watch the kids giggle with amazement. To my horror...I realized that something was not right! It seemed that poor little Sugar tried to go up the tube while I was closing the cage....unfortunately...it mortally wounded him. While Owen screamed and I cried, his little friend stood there with his mouth open. I quickly removed Sugar out of the cage where he took his last breath in my hand. It was the first pet death that I had to deal with as the mom. Our pets always mysteriously "ran away", except for my cat Lucky...mom was supposed to put him inside at night when I was off at my aunt's house - instead she was scraping him off of the road the next morning - NO...I'm still not over it!!! Anyways...it was quite tramautic for all of us. We burried Sugar in the back yard and Emma put a cross over his grave. We eventually got Sugar Junior...and have gotten over the death of Sugar.
Well, this morning....I was awaken by screams of Emma yelling..."Mommy, Mommy, Nutmeg is hanging and bleeding...he's dying!" Of course she had two friends spending the night and they were witnesses to all of this. Poor Nutmeg had gotten tangled up in the fuzz from his nest, jumped off of his jungle gym...and got stuck hanging there. He must have thrashed and twisted all night long trying to get loose. By the time we found him, his little foot looked like it was just hanging on. It was horrible! We got him out and wrapped him in a wash cloth and held him. We were just waiting for him to die...but that little stinker is hanging on. He's eating and drinking and gimping around on his bum leg. I called the vet...just to see what they would say. Turns out...hamsters are exotic animals (ha! ha!) and we would have to drive over an hour to pay $120 just for him to be seen. Jonathan of course said he would make him a peg leg out of a dowel rod! How kind of him.
So, we cleaned his wound up - it's not quite as bad as first thought. He must have pulled all of the fur off, so it looks horrible. We put some neosporin on his boo boo and are hoping for the best! Geez...who would have thought rodents would be so much trouble! Keep Nutmeg in your thoughts! (and keep your pets away from us! :)
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Emma's Birthday Party
Emma had her birthday party today at Wacky Bear. We met her friends at Cici's for pizza and then headed over to Wacky Bear to make stuffed animals. The girls had a great time, were very well behaved, and it was easy on the parents. Daddy made it home from Venezuela just in time for the party...thank goodness! Here are some pictures from today.
Owen and Pepaw
Owen and his "Crocky"
Maisie with "Meow, Meow" - she wouldn't put it down!
Logan made "Tiddie" - what he was really trying to call it was "Kitty", but the woman helping him had a hard time understanding him and she thought he said "Titty"! I almost died laughing!
The Birthday Girl - wearing her Steelers jersey proudly!
The whole gang!
Emma was the lucky one who got to add stuffing to the machine
How can she be turning ten?!
Boy...Connor needs to see a dentist!
Connor made his fire dog "Blammer" - so creative!
The girls eating pizza at Cici's.
Emma and her cow girl "Miss Milky" - what is wrong with my children?!
Logan and his giant head.
Owen and Pepaw
Owen and his "Crocky"
Maisie with "Meow, Meow" - she wouldn't put it down!
Logan made "Tiddie" - what he was really trying to call it was "Kitty", but the woman helping him had a hard time understanding him and she thought he said "Titty"! I almost died laughing!
The Birthday Girl - wearing her Steelers jersey proudly!
The whole gang!
Emma was the lucky one who got to add stuffing to the machine
How can she be turning ten?!
Boy...Connor needs to see a dentist!
Connor made his fire dog "Blammer" - so creative!
The girls eating pizza at Cici's.
Emma and her cow girl "Miss Milky" - what is wrong with my children?!
Logan and his giant head.
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