Elliot X

10

It was  "Good" Friday 2005 and Elliot Daniel came into the world a week earlier than expected. 

 We didn't find out what we were having with either kid. Some surprises are really great.  My first impression upon holding my new born son was that he looked like his dad, which is funny because one of my first impressions of Jane was that she looked like me.  They are in fact mini versions of their parents. 

Can you take too many photos of a sleeping baby? I don't think so. We switched to a digital camera when Elliot was a baby and lost hundreds of photos from his first few months. We learned our lesson quick and now back up our photos. 

I am not sure he is even playing in this picture we might have given him a controller while Uncle Aaron played for real.
This is him enjoying life. 

He lived three of his years overseas. During that time he used chopsticks and developed a liking to dried seaweed. 

Homemade lanterns for Mid-Autumn Festival. 

I love everything about this picture. 

His comedic timing rivals the greats our time. 

A boy and his father

The life of a catalog model

not sure if his first love is video games or popcorn. 

How did he get a chipped tooth?
Skateboard, soccer, wrestling..
No he was answering a question for Junior Bible Quiz at church and chipped it on a chair. 

A boy and his mother. 

Elliot on a boat, this is how he feels about that. 

I love everything about this photo too.

He has my heart forever.  Happy Birthday Dan!

Wordy Wednesday

We watched a season of Junior Master Chef with the kids. It inspired them to do a little cooking.  I was nervous letting Elliot use a sharp knife, not that mine are really sharp. I am hoping to get a new set soon. Back to the point, after watching a nine year old make three course meals with various potentially dangerous cooking equipment. I decided my kids probably can use a knife. 

He is helping me make chicken noodle soup. 

When I look at this picture I really think he is smiling not so much because he is cooking but because he is getting to use a knife. Elliot loves knives. Once he figured out a machete was a knife and not a gun he knew he had to have one. He believes it is a reality since dad told him the story of having one as a kid. We will see how long we can hold him off.
 All the time he is coming to me and asking how to sharpen his pocket knife.
He told me this morning if he had a shirt with a pocket in the front he could disguise his pocket knife as a pen, then if a robber came into the house and said " hey nice pen" he could whip it out and cut the robbers gun in half.  I am glad he is armed and ready to defend if need be.

Boys should be encouraged to be brave and protect. Our culture is quick to denounce the nature of men, starting from a young age.  Whenever we have the chance we need to validate their masculinity and their desires to be strong and fight.  Not to perpetuate foolishness, or violence, but to direct them to be men who seek God, honor women, value life and pursue integrity. 

The incident

On Wednesday nights at our church the kids have two classes. The first hour they are in Junior Bible Quiz. Kids practice answering Bible questions and eventually get the chance to compete against other kids from different churches.
The next class they take is a separate one for boys and girls.
Elliot attends Royal Rangers.
One of our Wednesday nights became eventful when Elliot chipped one of his front teeth, an adult tooth.  What class would you expect him to chip a tooth in, the class full of rambunctious grade school boys playing in the gym or JBQ where they answer questions?  Yes, he chipped it on a table leg after he answered a question.
Jane commented, he got all the answers right that night mom!

Here it is a few days after we visited the dentist, jut like new. 

Playing in the leaves

Aaron loved throwing the leaves at everyone.
He kept signing more whenever I walked away from him.
Once we went back inside the hotel room,
 he must have found some leaves on his clothes because
 I turned around to find a small amount thrown in my face.

Jane and Ben making sure to get back at Uncle Aaron.

Trying to get an active almost three-year old to pose for a picture can be challenging. 

leaf fight! from outypants on Vimeo.