Annual Gingerbread House

Every year in September, Costco starts selling Gingerbread houses. Since we make a trip there at least once a week, Carson begs for it each time he sees it. I refuse to purchase it until at least November, but then he drools over it for a whole month as I make him wait until December before we build it. This year Connor contributed to the eating of most of the candy (and was in his bed still playing four hours after bed time...coincidence?) Carson, however, was very careful and exact in his placement of each piece of candy. We had a great time and the finished house has actually lasted for a couple of days in tact (I predict it won't be much longer before Connor has the whole thing consumed).

Connor's one contribution. The rest of the time he was eating.

Need I explain?

The finished house.

FHE at Grandma E's

Grandpa and Grandma Ellsworth had a special Family
Home Evening about Christmas and taught the boys
what each symbol of Christmas represented. We had
a wonderful time and enjoyed popcorn balls afterward.

The Polar Express

We ventured up to Williams, Az last week and had a great time riding the "Polar Express." We were served hot chocolate and cookies and then Santa came and gave each of the children a bell. Carson loved it and as soon as we got off the train he asked when we were coming back to ride it again. I had to inform him that tickets were gone and they had to be purchased at least the summer before. The next night he hadn't forgotten, so in his prayer he asked to be blessed with "tickets to the polar express so we can go again." How sweet is that?

Conner Cecil is famous!

Famous to us anyway!
Kevin's cousin (and our little Connor's namesake), Conner, has been discovered as an awesome country music singer. We are so excited for him and we think he sounds great (even though it IS country music..) ;0)
Check out his link to hear his latest songs:
http://www.myspace.com/connercecilmusic
Congratulations, Conner!

Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving last week and we have so much to be thankful for. Carson and Connor were so excited to see their cousins and uncles. We had a nice and quiet dinner and then the boys played with Uncle Marc and Matt outside (actually, Marc refers to it as babysitting) but they had fun no matter what it was.

Halloween - READ THIS FIRST!

Okay, so I have to start this post with a preface: I have sacrificed my personal and family pride this year for Halloween in order to secure my oldest child's happiness. After you see the pictures of Carson's Halloween costume, you will realize that I should win "Mother of the Year." Here's the story:

Back in September, Carson and I were discussing options for Halloween. He just didn't love any of my suggestions so we poured over every costume catalog and website we could find in search of this year's disguise. After a brief run through Target I finally had him convinced to be a tough-looking firefighter: very manly. Victory! I had a costume.


We were walking through the isle to make our purchase and that is when he saw it. THE costume. In the TODDLER isle, no less - Pablo the penguin from the Backyardigans. Anyone who has been around Carson this past month knows that he refers to himself as Pablo (the old ladies in the grocery stores probably think I am crazy naming my toe-head son Pablo, but he continues to respond as such to any question of "what's your name?")


So, being the fabulous mother that I am (no comments, please), I have sacrificed my own personal feelings and have happily let my sweetheart jump for joy at wearing Pablo, the-too-tight-because-it-was-meant-for-toddlers, the penguin costume.


Connor had no say in his costume whatsoever, so he was happy to be a spider.


Now, enjoy the photos!


Pablo, the Penguin.

Not all spiders are scary!

He actually wore the hat!

Our first family photo since Connor was born. How sad!

Goal!

It was another great game on Saturday and Carson was on fire! He scored the first goal of the game and was totally focused on winning! Way to go Pablo!

Running hard and looking good!

Water break with Mommy.

High five to the winning team!

Who wants a kitten?

So we came home from our Utah trip and heard something crying in the backyard. Since Kevin was too scared to go check it out, I donned the gloves and a flashlight and found the cutest, tiniest kitten stuck in the bushes. I assume the mother accidentally dropped it as it was passing the fence because it was just a newborn. Unfortunately, the boys fell in love with it instantly (Carson even named her "Honey") so we now have a temporary pet. If anyone is interested, she is super cute, but with the boys' asthma as bad as it has been, the doctor said "no way." So, she is free for the taking....

The kitten is climbing up the screen as Connor and Carson try to pet it.

It's a miracle...seriously!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
M e d i c a l C o l l e g e o f V i r g i n i a C a m p u s

VCU School of Medicine

A D M I S S I O N S

Name: Ellsworth, Kevin Ryan
App. Year: 2008

Application Status

The Admissions Committee of the School of Medicine of the Virginia Commonwealth University, is pleased to inform you that you have been selected for admission to the Freshman Class beginning in August, 2008.

This action expresses our confidence in your ability to complete satisfactorily the requirements of medical school, to reflect favorably the ideals and objectives of the Virginia Commonwealth University, and eventually, to contribute effectively to the health and welfare of society and your community.

We congratulate you on this achievement and assure you a very cordial welcome to this institution.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tonight we jumped on the beds and screamed "Hurray for Daddy" when Kevin came in and announced his acceptance into VCU Medical School. He loved the school when he toured it during his interviews and is eager to look into it more fully as we make decisions. We truly feel like this has been a direct miracle for our family. Thank you to all who have prayed and fasted on our behalf! The Lord really works in mysterious ways, but thankfully we have been blessed to move forward!Congratulations, Kevin! We are so proud of you and we love you "infinity and beyond!"'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Road Trip

The boys and I ventured up to Utah this week and we had a fabulous time! We stayed at Aunt Tiffany's in Nevada for the Conference weekend, then headed up to visit Uncle Matt and their friends Jace and Braxton. The boys had a great time playing and they even went to the pumpkin patch and picked out pumpkins! We had a great visit and then came back home, stopping by Aunt Afton's on the way. Carson helped bake some Halloween cookies and then we drove the rest of the way home. It was a fun trip but the boys were sure happy to be back home in their own beds!

An answer for everything

Here are some of Carson's answers after I asked him a series of questions. He is such a goof ball, but I love him to pieces! Thanks Crystal for the great idea!

How old are you? "4"
How old will you be when you grown up? "5"
Who is the funniest person in your family? "ME!" (with no hesitation)
What is your favorite food? "cheese"
What is your favorite color? "blue" (what happened to red?)
What is your favorite animal? "elephant"
How strong are you? "this..."(lifts a cookie sheet over his head)
When you are sick who takes care of you? "You!" (with a "duh" expression)
Who is your best friend? "AJ" (of course)
What is your favorite toy? "Lightening McQueen and Mack"
What are you really good at? "Light Bright" (and Connor is good at eating them)
What do you want to be when you grow up? "Lightening McQueen"
How tall are you? "this..." (he stands up tall)
How much do you weigh? "I weigh like this..."(takes a deep breath)
What is special about you? "I play soccer"
What is your favorite place to go? "Grandma's house"
What is the best thing about school? "Bringing Show & Tell"
Do you have a girlfriend? "Yes! Kelsey" (he is probably just excited to go visit her this weekend)
What is your favorite sport? "soccer"
What color are your eyes? "Blue"
How many teeth do you have? "...(counts quickly) ...Ten"
How old is mom? "I don't know?!"
How old is dad? "I don't know?!"
What is your favorite movie? "Backyardigans"
What is your favorite shape? "circle"
What is your favorite treat? "pink bubble gum in a colored wrapper"
What do you like? "watching Word World"
How many brothers and sisters do you want? "two brothers" (oh great...)
What do you like most about your mom? "you play soccer with me at the 'Big Race' " (the retention area by our house is known as the "Big Race" because that is where he pretends to be Lightening McQueen, racing fast)
What do you like most about your dad? "I throw a ball at him and he does funnies"

Which Twilight character are you?

Which Twilight character are you? Take the quiz and find out
then let me know your results! If you have no idea what this
is, then you need to read Twilight, by Stepheniw Meyer.
Here was my result:



You're Esme Cullen - Your maternal instinct to take care of people and be kind draw people towards you. You're compassionate and loving, yet firm when you need to be. You appreciate hard work and value the beautiful results of your dedication to any project. (Take this quiz!)

Game Highlights

Due to an unpopular music selection in the last video, I have tried again. Hopefully Sum 41 will appease the picky viewers! If not, you may thank Marc and then simply turn off your speakers! :0)

GOAL!

Carson's first soccer game was a hit (or a goal)!
He had a great time and almost scored! He has
never even seen a soccer ball until last week,
so it was pretty awesome to see him go at it
today! Great job Carson!

Birthday Week!

Good Morning, Sunshine! Grandpa & Gramdma Ellsworth took Carson to breakfast on his birthday, but we had to wake him up to get there on time!

Whose party is this? Connor thought it was his celebration too; he kept trying to open Carson's presents!

We copied Kristy and got a "jump-a-line"-type water slide so he could use it for his birthday and party. What a great investment since he has had a blast with it on multiple occasions!

Safeway Pool

Carson and Connor enjoyed swimming at the Stapley Jr. Pool. Carson gets confused by the name and calls it the "Safeway" Pool

Birthday Boy!

Connor is now one! He didn't want his cake at first, but after tasting it he dove right in!

Lake Trip!

Carson and Connor (and Kevin and I) had a great time with Grandma Ellsworth at the lake! It was too cold to swim but we enjoyed the sun and scenery!

Camping in the Mountains!

Grandpa Ellsworth gave Carson a new tent and it has been set up in the music room ever since! He slept more soundly in that tent than he ever has in his bed! He even got out the "s'mores" supplies and camping gear and put them in the tent so he would be ready to go "camping in the mountains!"

Perfect Reader!

Carson started reading officially about six months ago (at age 3). He picks out his pile of books and just reads and reads and reads!

Easter fun!

Carson and Connor had a great time coloring eggs on Friday before Easter. The Easter bunny came on Saturday morning, just in time for the big egg hunt at Grandma & Grandpa Kuzdas' house! Carson was a great egg-finder, while Connor enjoyed chewing on the plastic eggs.