Sounding Off

Just wanted to write a bit since its been a while. Gavin and Noah both had their first games of soccer today. It's such a fun sport to watch. Both really have a good time playing. I was laying down by Noah earlier in the week and he asked if I could come and watch him play on Saturday. I thought that was very cute of him to make sure I was going.

The addition on the house continues to consume ever free moment of my Saturdays but with each passing day, I move forward with one baby step at a time. Today I installed the plumbing for the water into the bathtub. Usually when I do the plumbing I have to shut off the water to the whole house; the pipes leading to the new bathroom are tied in to the existing pipes. Today, I decided to do things a bit different. I installed shutoff valves for the pipes on the bathtub. Now, I can have the water on for the whole house and the water off while I did the plumbing on the tub. I know, you're saying, "What a concept - shutoff valves - daaah". Don't know why I never thought of this before today but....


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late night adventure

So what do the Ellsworths do at 8pm on a Sunday night???? We discover Gavin has head lice (after casually mentioning he had an itchy head off and on for a week which I attributed to a summer heat and hair too thick and long:)! So unfortunately Russ had to run to the drug store - we'll have to keep some lice shampoo in our medicine cabinets, just in case, so he won't have to break the sabbath for this emergency again. I think Carina had it too but we shampooed everyone because they all sleep together and then Russ and I shampooed our hair because aside from living in the same household Carina calls our bed hers from 4am on. We stripped the sheets, blankets, towels, clothes...off of 5 beds mind you, sprayed some spray in the car on the car seats on the beds, carpets, couches... Because I'm nursing I had to use a natural shampoo that had to sit in my hair under a shower cap for 60 minutes. So here I sit with 15 minutes too go and mountains of laundry that has to be washed on the hot cycle. My questions are; do we have enough hot water to wash so many loads consecutively and should I call everyone that we just associated with at church and before today to give them the heads up? This is so yucky. Gavin thought everything about head lice was really cool how you treat it, how you get it, how stinky the shampoo smells - he and Noah were in hysterics in the bathroom until Russ enlightened them on how it's really not so great. He thought it was almost as cool if not cooler than getting his first cavity this summer - go figure his perspectives . I was laughing the whole time I was shampooing Carina's hair contrasting this experience with my only other exposure to head lice when I was in elementary school. I cried when I learned I had head lice and was so embarrassed about being sent home by the school nurse, who checked everyones hair in my classroom after learning one child had it. While quarantined to the bathroom until Russ got home with the shampoo, Gavin summoned recruits for a go fish game and then all 3 of them enjoyed coloring in there until their shampoo set. The irony is that Russ could hardly see to check the kids hair because his eye is completely red and oozy - he's going to the doctor tomorrow. Sounds like our family is a mess:)

Ocean City

Not that anyone checks the blog these days but I thought I would just jot a bit down since I have the time…

I’m finally united again with my family. It’s been something like two and a half weeks since they flew out to Marmie and Papa. I arrived out here on Friday to only hop into the car on Saturday and book it on down to the Jersey shore as they say out here. We’re staying in Ocean City one block from the boardwalk.

This morning Gavin, Noah, Carina, and I got up and had some breakfast and then walked down to the beach for a couple of hours. The moment we came back up it started to rain and has continued to do so for most of the day. Luckily the house we’re staying in is big enough that the kids can just play. It also helps that there are a bunch of Rebecca’s cousins with their kids staying here too – so everyone has someone to pal around with.

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G-Man's Birthday

Gavin's Birthday is officially over after two weeks of celebration, Ellsworth style. Instead of a birthday party this year, Gavin wanted to go to Medieval Times, "it's a living link to the past where the glory, chivalry and valor of old burst to life in authentic pageantry and thrilling tournament action".

I took Gavin, his friend Nick, and Noah. If you've never been, its worth putting on the calendar and making an evening of it. The night consisted of eating a four course meal all of which is served medieval style - without silverware. You get to use nothing but your bare hands - the boys absolutely loved it. While everyone ate their dinner the knights showed off their skills in games of joist, javelin throw, and the like.

After the dinner the knights actually battle. The boys were completely spellbound. The knights battle one another with swords, axes, maces, and bolas and their not just fake-hitting each other. They're really swinging their weapons. At the end of the show, I bought each of the kids wooden swords. They then proceeded to fake-fight out in the parking lot for 45 minutes and would have continued on had I not had to leave. It was a great time.


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Gavin Turns 8

Now that Gavin is eight he is a cub scout. He was so excited to go to his first meeting and wear his new uniform. They had an olympic theme and the whole family got to compete in different events. Everyone that played was awarded metals. Our kids loved the medals and thought they were real gold (even though they said revlon 5k walk/run). Gavin wasn't shy about bringing his new camera and taking pictures of all of his new friends. Noah's counting the days when he can be a cub scout and has his eye on this special pocket knife we saw at the scout store:)

Happy Mothers Day

To all of you that are moms... Happy Mothers Day.


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Savannah Ainsley Ellsworth

Savannah Ainsley Ellsworth is the official name of our new little princess. She is now four days old and sleepy as a bear in the dead of winter; at least until 11:00 p.m. For the most part though she usually logs sleep in four-hour increments or has at least for the first couple of nights.

Bec took her to the Dr. today and she is back to her birth weight of 8 lbs 7 ozs so she's getting a lot of that yummy-for-the-tummy milk. At one point she was down as low as 7 lbs 15 ozs. She's not too hip on having to nurse for her food -she prefers the umbilical cord over nursing.

Bec is doing really well too. I can't believe she just had a baby. She is such a strong person and and an even more impressive wife and mom. I love that woman!

The kids continue to be completely intrigued and in love with her. When ever she lets out the slightest of a peep, Gavin is right there by her side saying, "It's ok, it's ok, it's ok, it's ok" at a rate of about 100 times a minute while stroking her forehead with the same rhythm.