Looking cute in a birthday gift from aunt Amy, and riding his new christmas lion, from Grams and Gramps.
Being a big one year old, I guess.
And in other news, Elliot is weened! He is a bottle and whole milk boy now. And he LOVES his milk.
A big one year old indeed.
I just got some new chalk markers, and was excited to use them. I started doodling (I was thinking about turning the chalk board into a family rules sign, just doodling, you know), and then left the room.
I came back to this.
Do you think he is trying to tell me something? And if so, what does that mean?*
*I think Tuckers definition of ‘be good to tucker’ might be: Popsicles for Breakfast, letting me do what I want- when I want to do it, never having to clean my room, or do my chores, not making me do my homework, or take baths, or brush teeth…
Probably not going to happen like that buddy. 🙂 Nice try though.
Nearly 2 weeks after their birthdays, (those holidays get so busy!) We finally got together with the Greene side of the family. Unfortunately, the Great Greene’s were sick (we missed you!), but everyone else was able to make it.
We had a baked potato/salad bar, and it was delicious, then we opened presents, sang happy birthday, and more cake!
Elliot caught on a little quicker this time, and afterwords cleaned up in the sink! He also got some new shoes, that he tried to kick off at first, but now LOVES. When the shoes aren’t on, and he sees them, he’ll crawl to them, and try to put them on.
Thanks everyone!
On this day, I walked into the living room to see this…
Truman explaining the Planet Heroes to Elliot.
He told him about all the characters, about the bad guys, about it all. And Elliot watched, and stared, and then stuck the head of Tune, the hero from the planet Neptune, in his mouth. And watched some more.
For now, Elliot was content to watch Truman fight the battles with his guys, but soon enough, he’ll be joining right in.
And after the explanations received this day, he’s been fully briefed, and be able just to jump right in. 🙂
This year, like so many other people, I have chosen just a single word to remind me of my goals.
I was asked to teach a lesson in Relief Society about goals at the beginning of the month, and it really got my mind a churning! I always set goals, and I think I do pretty good at meeting most of my goals, but there was some great discussion, and I left feeling empowered and excited for this New Year.
I began to record my goals, and in so doing came across my word.
ETERNAL.
The word ties me to my goals..(although these are not specifically them, you get the idea…)
Keeping the Eternal Perspective,
Helping my family seek Eternal Principals.
Making choices that will lead me and my family to Eternal Life.
It’s going to be a great year.
I believe it’s been said, that each of us experience a few minutes of fame. For Tuck, I believe a few of his minutes of fame are beginning. It all started here, then about a month later, a special note arrived in the mail, and invitation to be honored for the creation of his quilt. It seems that his quilt had been chosen as an area representative for the reflection program.
The big night arrived, we celebrated with a dinner out at ‘bishop’s restaurant’ then headed to a local Junior High, where the ceremony began.
As it progressed, his name was called,
He walked to receive his trophy,
And a slide was shown of his quilt (the actual quilt can not be displayed, apparently per reflection rules), and he returned to us,
The ceremony continued, Gramps and Truman thought the trophy was awesome,
Elliot thought it was awesome,
And Tucker? He thought it was pretty awesome too.
And his parents think he is pretty awesome.
And although I can’t speak for them, I’m pretty sure his grandparents, and great grandparents think it’s pretty awesome too!
Thanks Grandma Hunsaker and Grams and Gramps for making the trip to support our sweet Tucker. We sure appreciate you!
Again, as a parent it is so fun to see your child succeed, and be proud of something they have done. We love you Tuck, and are so proud of you!
Elliot’s 1st Birthday was on a Sunday, we’d kind of already celebrated as a family at Krispy Kreme and Nicklecade, as well as with the Phillips side of the family, a few days earlier. But you only really turn one once, so of course we did do a little bit of celebrating!
A messy french toast and powdered sugar breakfast before church…
Later opening presents (A new favorite friend…the glow worm)
and more little people.
Which the boys preceded to show Elliot how to play with 🙂
A lunch birthday popsicle
Of course every birthday, needs a cake, we sang to Elliot, the older boys insisted that it would be best if they had candles too,
And of course, he needed his own birthday cake, a first birthday tradition.
He was a little hesitant at first, what’s this thing in front of me??
but eventually after getting a little taste of it,
He dug right in.
Then in an attempt to get the whole cake in his mouth, he dumped it on himself…
But that didn’t stop him from enjoying the cakey goodness!
To be honest, I am not sure that Elliot really got the whole concept of a birthday, his big brothers helped him open his presents, helped him eat his cake, and helped him play with his new toys. And he loved the constant attention that he received from his big brothers, but was a little confused by all of it.
Man we sure do love this little guy….
Lately I’ve been moving furniture around my house, and trying to dejunk and freshen up every room. It’s not happening as fast as I would like, but slowly, slowly, slowly, it will get done!
With all the moving, one of our favorite (and might I add well loved) chairs found a new home in the office. I thought it would be fun to take a picture of how much Toph loves this chair here, often in the evenings, I will find him there, and love to come and cuddle with him there. Because I love it so much, I wanted to take a picture of him in it. This is what I got.
The ‘seriously sweetheart?’ look,
Then a little sillyness,
And then this. Much better.
Love that handsome face, and of course I do love the little sillyness too.
Always begin with one of the most delicious dinners of the year. (Bad picture, sorry!)
Toph was ready! He talked about the meal for most of the ride up!
The kids table this year, was full of excitement, as always…
And the dinner ended with a little birthday song for Tuck and Eli.
But the night was still young, and shortly thereafter the Dancing Party Began. A family dance off!
My SIL Cat is going to send me the video, but really you should go check out the footage on her site. ‘Cause my sweethearts got the moves! 🙂 And guess what? My father in law won that round, followed closely behind by my brother in law, who was dancing with a hurt foot. 🙂 What does that say about Toph and my dancing skills?