The Connell Family

Last night, we asked Ethan one more time what he wanted for Christmas. He again said, "Percy and James." Then we told him to ask Grandpa Dave what he wanted for Christmas. Grandpa Dave said, "World Peace." Then Ethan said, "World peace ... what's that?" Now that's funny.

So here's a Christmas update: Santa delivered. Percy and James arrived.

Some other funny things Ethan does: He rides his bike everywhere in the house. Sometimes he'll yell, "Ready, Set, Go" from his room and he'll bike out to the family room and crash into the couch. The back wheels always raise off the ground a few inches when he crashes. If I tell Ethan to go get a pair of pants, he'll hop on his ride.

He's very safety conscious. He always has to have his seatbelt on, especially in a grocery cart.

The kid loves milk - it fills him, nourishes him, and consoles him.

He frequently tells me he wants Santa Claus to bring him Percy and James, and I tell him he has to be good. He also thinks every day should be his birthday complete with a birthday party.

He loves school and asks to go every day - but alas, it's only open on Tues/Thurs. He can't quite understand this. At school, he rides a trike round and round the gym during gym time.

Like all children, he hates to take time to go potty.

He loves to learn. He has loved letters since he turned two; he treats letters like his friends. He loves to learn the names/places of all the United States. He is also really likes learning how to read - right now he's into reading street and store signs like O-P-E-N.

He loves to tell stories, which consist of a few "and thens" and such. The stories are always based on events that occurred a few minutes/hours previous and they're short. They always end with, "That was funny."

Last Christmas Ethan was infatuated with Christmas trees, it still hasn't changed. You can see the magic of Christmas in his eyes.

Around the time Ethan turned ONE he self-fabricated a little hole on the corner of his favorite blue blanket - blankie. Since then, Ethan's pointer finger frequently resides poked through the hole during naps and sleep. His other friends are Girafie, Lightning McQueen Blankie, George, and chicken. He commonly needs all of them.

If you tell Ethan to give you a thumbs up, he'll undoubtedly give you a pointer finger up. He still hasn't quite figured out the thumb.

If I can think of anything else, I'll let you all know!

Who are you more like - a pilgrim or an indian chief?

Ethan and I were talking and learning about money this morning on the bus home from the symphony. We especially were talking about the one dollar bill. I told him the man on the front is George Washington, the first president of the United States. A little later on, Ethan pointed to the dollar bill and said, "That's George Washington Monson." You got it dude. (For those who don't quite understand, the president of our Church is named Thomas Monson.)

We've also been playing a lot of games lately. When I say, "Ethan, you won!" He always say, "No, I'm two." Bwah - ha - ha.

Today Steve is 31. (The birth of Steve and a new president.) Yeehaw. I remember almost four years ago saying, "Steve, when we graduate, you'll be 31." And here we are.

You are the love of my life and I'm eternally grateful I have you. You are my friend, my confidante, and my bebe. Happy Birthday, truly.

So Halloween is supposed to be scary, right? True - little kids just look cute in whatever costume they put on. But I want you to decide, which of the following pictures is more scary ... the one that was a normal day occurence or the one that features the costume actually worn for Halloween?

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Here is Picture One and the scenario:

"Ethan, it's time for a bath."

"NOOOOOOOOOO!!!! I don't want to take a bath - I don't want to get my hair wet - don't touch my hair - NOOOOO!!!!" (Translation - I'd rather die than get in that bath.)

"Okay, I'll just put a shower cap on your head."

Bad look ... mad toddler ... sneaky mom.

Pretty darn scary - normal day occurence.

Scenario TWO: Ethan has been ubducted by Disney and is totally obsessed. All month he decided he wanted to be Lightning McQueen for Halloween, but has refused to wear the costume. Finally, after much explanation and patience, he put the costume on for the Trunk or Treat and decided to be the car. Pretty cute ... not too scary.KACHOW!

Ethan and I have been having some serious fun lately. We purchased 5 Seattle Symphony concerts designed for toddlers and we go about every 6 weeks. We make an adventure out of it and go on the bus. Ethan was excited to go all week. We got on the 9:30 bus - when people are still very quiet and trying to wake up. As soon as we sat down, Ethan yelled, "Let's GOOO!" The whole bus woke up and everyone was laughing. Here's Ethan with his snack.

Before the concert, there are musical instruments in the lobby. We of course tried the violin. What do you think? Does he have a future?We've also been getting a bit more crafty - yeah, hard thing for Krista. Ethan loves to string necklaces of noodles, beads, and fruit loops. I can hardly keep him from eating the fruit loops. He has a play group with two friends on Fridays, and all three of them were lunging for the looptie loops.
Krista is not a big fan of pumpkin guts, so friend Lindsey told me about Potatoe Head Pumpkins. Ethan loved doing this. Every time he goes out the door or comes up to the door he greets Mr. Pirate Pumpkin and yells at the top of his lungs, "Arr Maytee." The neighbors have all told me they have heard him and it cracks them all up. The pumpkin sits next to our door that has been decorated by different things Ethan has done at his little school. He goes to a Tot Time program twice a week for two hours. The kids play, have snacks, have story time/circle time, do a craft, show and tell, and run around in a big gym the whole time. One time we didn't bring show and tell so to compensate, Ethan went and got his coat and said, "This is my coat." Whatever works!

Don't you just want to melt?

In loving memory of Oliver David Connell, born January 7, 2008.It has now been nine long months since Oliver was born. I like to think he does this with the Savior quite often. I'm sure he does.

Ethan's latest in the morning is to say, "I want to put my dress on." Translation: I want to get dressed. Also, if he wants to be held, he'll say, "I want to hold you." Who doesn't want to be held, right? He also hates to get his hair wet ... random.

It has been about a month since we vacationed up on Vancouver Island, B.C. We went with Steve's sister, Jen, and her husband, Tyler, and children. Ethan loves these cousins - Lauren, Brookie, and Bennett. We had a blast with four adults and four children all in a minivan. We took the ferry over and found a place to camp on the Island. We went for some great nature walks and had fun watching the kids run around. Bennett and Ethan both had a piece of bread for lunch. I love that Ethan only ate the crust, and Bennett would only eat the middle. Canada has really nice campgrounds! The next day we toured Victoria. Here we are in front of the Old Boat Festival near the main city center. Isn't this place beautiful?

So Ethan was talking to my dear grandma the other night. She is a serious talker - which is a good thing - she's so fun to talk to. So counting for the fact that she was talking and Ethan talks quite softly, the communication wasn't going so smooth - especially for Ethan. He kept trying to tell her things he had done during the day when he finally got frustrated and yelled in the phone, "Hey --- LISTEN!" Whoa Nellie! I'm not sure what to say right now. (Grandma kept on talking ... love you grandma.)

Look at my hot momma friends! I had a glorious weekend with them in sunny So-Cal. I need these women in my life, and I hope by some chance they need me too. I must say, the weekend could have only been topped off if we would have been complete. My bff and Utah-counterpart was sadly missing due to extreme remoteness in upstate New York's wilderness. A new baby is a really good excuse, but Miss Melissa Hales Bales Carlos was dearly missed. This is the day we shopped all day and all night -- even until Kohl's closed -- sans children. Pictured left to right: Lindz (So-Cal), Moi (Jorgs), Colette (Nudy), Jenns (Fezic), Sandy (Chubbuck), Christy (Star). Dislcaimer: If any of the aforementioned ladies don't like their nicknames or have never liked their nicknames ... all I can say is I'm sorry -- they're storybook names in my head.

We spent all day at the beach on Friday. The weather was So-Cal perfect, so we didn't even get in the water. We just sat, talked, and ate burritos. Thank you Pedro - you'll forever be in my heart.
We went to church on Sunday WITHOUT a bag of Cheerios.
We ate seriously good food on this trip. What cracks me up most is that we ate seriously good BBQ meat - Tri-tip to be exact - without our husbands. They seriously missed out. Seriously. We filled our nights by letting the good times roll. We told stories, shed a few tears, re-lived the glory days, gave each other gifts, and even played Guitar Hero. Fugal 189 + Christy-Star totally rock! May I hear from you all sooner than later and see you all in three long years.

There comes a time in every mother's life when she has a right to boast - no questions asked, no judgments passed. Ethan is Potty-Trained y'all - that's with a capital P. Who's your momma???!

Yes, we look younger and perhaps a bit more glamorous, but the lines under our current eyes that symbolize hard work and flat out determination to keep on keepin' on are irreplaceable. (You'll see those lines in the last picture.) The main thing that hasn't changed is this: I could say it then and I'll say it now - I thank the Lord every day that I married this man and I love him more than words can say. Five years ago when this picture was taken, some said we looked perfect, like we were in the Garden of Eden (notice the branch). Were we perfect then? Of course :) - we were engaged and totally wrapped up in ourselves! Blah! We lived in our perfect world. Is life even more perfect now? I answer with a resounding YES. Now we not only focus on each other, but our children (those here and not here) as well.

This morning (after Steve went golfing), he gave me five roses - one for each year of our lives together. Then he gave me a charm bracelet with five charms.  The first is a gold heart=our first year of marriage (the good ole' days), the second=a small tooth (our second year was all about getting into dental school), the third=ABC blocks (the third year was all about Ethan), the fourth=a small musical note (I started teaching lessons last year, and let's face it: Steve and I were harmonious!), last=a heart with some footprints (Oliver). I thought this was so thoughtful, and I wanted everyone who reads this blog to know that Steve is an incredible person. If you don't know him, you should get to know him!

Ethan has discovered a new hobby - Golf. He loves it. According to Steve, this has been the "Summer of Golf." Aside from Steve's more "professional" trips to the green, Ethan and I have accompanied him to some par-3 courses and the range. Ethan takes his club and stretches just like daddy as he prepares to "putt-putt" around. I love it when he does this; he usually does it everytime before he hits the ball. He is very relaxed and composed; stretching totally helps him bring his A-game. I can't tell you how many times I've heard the E-man say, "I wanna go golfing."

Come on people ... Have you ever seen such concentration?

I love hearing kids try to figure out the English language. Take singular and plural tenses for example ... when Ethan wants some Kix - as in the cereal - he'll say, "Mommy, I want some Kix." If he wants just one piece, he'll say, "Mommy, I want a kick."

Or ... "Mommy, I want some peaches." Perfect, then "Mommy, I want a peach-eh" (without the s). So you might find this to be a boring post, but I find it fascinating, and I had to write it down somewhere.

Lastly, Ethan asked me what I was doing the other day, and I told him I was folding his clean clothes. He paused, put his puppy dog brown eyes into full gear, cocked his head and said, "Thank you Mommy!" Love it.

What can I say ... the Connells love the Olympics. So much for our goal to watch less T.V.

We love Seattle parks. This one has a zip line I love, and Ethan loves this really long, fast slide.

Seattle also has great beaches in the summer. We had a fabulous bonfire with the Taffs and the Louiseaus the other day and the views were spectacular - too bad you can't see them!
Then onto our now-annual (let's see if that can last) trip with our dear friends - Kathryn and Briel Louiseau, and Dave and Jen Stevens. We love these guys and hope we'll be friends forever - seriously! We decided to go camping to the Olympics - as in Washington, National Forest/Park, not Beiijing - and we decided to take the ferry out of Edmunds to get there. Well, two hours later we finally got on the ferry. Gotta love the ferry.
The two hour wait on the ferry must have been indicative of the difficulty we would have in finding a campsite, but we found one and Ethan was in heaven. It was a great spot by the river, and big enough for two very large tents and one average sized tent. Ethan was in heaven of course and all he wanted to do was throw rocks in the river. The boys had several skipping contests, and who knows who won by the end. We had lots of free wood for great tinfoil dinners, smores, banana boats, the works. Oh, and let's not forget the many truths and deep, dark secrets that come out around the fire. Wait a second, most of those secrets were the Connell's - ours! P.S. If you want to know what these are, you'll have to take us camping and start a fire!
I think we look way too innocent to have "secrets" to tell around a campfire.
Well, you would think we would realize we were traveling to the rainforest area of WA, so we should bring rain gear, right? Well, yes it rained, but we didn't name our tent "Trusty" just because we thought it was a nice name! Let's also not forget to mention that two members of our party were "thoughtfully" told in our minds to cover the chairs and DRY wood, but did we listen - NO! Dangit. As soon as the rain started, I couldn't sleep for worry of everything getting wet. What's more interesting is that I didn't do anything about it. Hmmm... Ethan slept great, and we slept okay.
Didn't I tell you the beaches were spectacular here. We decided to go to the coast and we found starfish, crab, shells, etc. Too bad it was overcast. To get to this beach we had to pass through Forks, and I really tried to find some sort of vampire, but sorry folks, no vampires, just Tsunami Evacuation Routes. Hmmm...
We all decided to scale some rocks and explore while the tide was out. We barely made it back to shore because the tide came in so fast. I did not want to get wet!The only adventurer brave enough to go in the water.
Try to look past this beautiful family and see the cool rock formations in the background.
The gang: Steve, E-man, Krista, Briel, Kathryn, Jen, DaveSo it only took me a week to clean up. When we got back Seafair was around the corner. We love the Blue Angels! Can you see them in their formation?