Finally from Georgia...again!!

Ever feel like you're just throwing money out of the window? Well, that is how I feel right now.
Let me start from the beginning...
Last weekend we were headed to Sharptop (a YL camp in North Georgia). I had to drive my car because Liam was going with us..and I asked 3 of my high school girls to ride with me.
All is well as we are driving along, singing, talking..when we pass a cop. I knew I wasn't speeding. The speed limit was 65, and I was going 73. Well, I guess that's speeding, but it only matters if you're going 10 over, right?
Anyway...my heart sinks when I see the cop's taillights come on and he pulls onto the road. I knew immediately he was coming for me. Sure enough he was.
I knew as soon as he walked up to my window that this wasn't one of those cops you were going to talk your way out of..."Ma'am, I stopped you for your excessive rate of speed"...I was doomed. The girls all wanted me to start crying. This has never worked for me in the past, and I could tell it wasn't going to work with this guy.
He disappears for a while and finally returns, "Ma'am, are you from Alabama or Georgia?" I say "Georgia. I just haven't gotten a new license yet". ( Although we have lived here for almost 3 years..I did not say this however). He proceeds, "Ma'am, you have 30 days to get a new license when you move to a new state. AND this license is expired."
WHAT!! I had no idea. Well, I knew the part about needing a new license in 30 days, but I did not know my Alabama license had expired. So, he proceeded to give me 2 tickets..one for speeding (turns out the speed limit has just changed to 55 when he clocked me) and one for an expired license. He then wouldn't let me drive away since my license had expired. One of the girls had to drive. He said if I was caught driving I would be arrested immediately.
I then faced a dilemma. Do I follow the law and let one of the girls drive or do I follow YL rules, which say that a teenager isn't supposed to drive? I chose to follow the law until we got right outside of Sharptop..i drove into camp.
So, when we got home I went to get a new license...as you can see. It only took 2 1/2 years to get to the DMV...I mean how am I supposed to get there with 2 kids? I haven't even had my teeth cleaned since Emma was born. She's 3, by the way.
I am officially from Georgia again...and I would say that sadly it took getting 2 tickets to make me go get a license. And that part about throwing money out of the window...this whole ordeal ending up costing $272.00 If anyone would like to contribute, let me know.

Still lovin' it

This summer it will have been 14 years since I first went to Frontier Ranch. Brad and I have both been YL leaders for 10+years. And we just got back from our umptenth trip to Sharptop Cove.
Things have changed over the years of being involved in Young Life. College, Marriage, YL Staff, many many moves, lots of high schoolers, numerous YL camps, kids of our own...but through each different stage one thing has remained constant...a burning desire to love high schoolers. It may be a little different than when we began..Liam has been to Sharptop twice in the last month, we're toting toddlers and strollers when we go to do contact work...but we both still love it. It brings us life and joy. We know without a doubt that it's a "calling", and the Lord has clearly called us. And we are so grateful for the chance to share Christ with kids that are living in a screwed up world and need to know His amazing love. Here's to 14 more years!!

Happy Birthday Emma!!

The last few weeks have seemed crazy. From Christmas to New Years to Emma's birthday, it's been sort of a whirlwind. I'm happy to say that we had an incredible birthday party yesterday. The weather was perfect..and we actually pulled off an outdoor party in January. We rented a jumpy house..which Emma has been talking about for weeks and there may be a major meltdown when it is picked up tomorrow. Cupcakes and ice cream were had by everyone (although we have 30 cupcakes left over that I feel obligated to eat as quickly as possible).
Emma got her first bike and lots of other great toys. Sadly, they've already all been taken away several times. I think it's just too much of an overload for a 3 year old to process that many toys at once. I think they cause some sort of craziness that she can't really control. So, we've decided to give them to her slowly. That way her birthday will last for months!
I am glad to sit down and take a deep breath. I couldn't have asked for a better day, but it took a lot to get ready for it. It'll be nice to have nothing to do for a while...except play with a lot of toys:)

Emma modeling some of her new stuff!

Ahh..the way kids' minds work

Emma never quite fully understood the "Santa" idea. We got to see him at the mall and at parties, but you have to be asleep on Christmas when he comes. The one time he comes to your house and you've got to be in bed or else he won't leave any presents. That makes no sense to a 3 year old.
"But I want to hug him, Mommy."
"I want to tell him thank you."
"If I stand up in my bed I can see him."
But I'm convinced the greatest part of Santa is the ability to scare your child to death with threats that she won't get any presents if she isn't good.

Here's my favorite conversation from Christmas Eve:
(Brad and emma are on the way home from church on christmas eve)
brad: emma, if you keep acting ugly i'm going to have to call santa and tell him not to come
emma: do it, daddy. call him.
brad: OK. (brad calls santa) santa, please don't come. emma isn't been good. (brad hangs up)
if you're good, i'll call santa back later and tell him to come.
(later than night as brad puts emma to bed)
emma: daddy, don't forget to call santa back and tell him i've been good.

gosh, i wish santa were year-round!

Sadly, both kids were sick on Christmas...


Poor Liam had (has) bronchitis, which big sister brought home from school.
It was pitiful to watch him. It just made you want to take all of the pain away from him and put it on yourself. Both kids had fevers and felt terrible. But even with them feeling terrible, I felt blessed to know that it would pass. We've had so many friends lately whose kids have been diagnosed with extremely difficult illnesses...just knowing that Liam and Emma would be well very soon made it so much easier to handle.
And it really didn't put a damper on the day.



Emma still loved getting her kitchen, pots and pans and all...and Liam had a blast climbing on boxes, eating paper and ribbon (all the usual things 8 month olds do on Christmas).

Now, it's time to take down all of the Christmas decorations and get ready for a new year...2007 has been a great year. I can't wait to see what's in store for 2008.

Tis' the season

Our days have been filled with Christmas shopping, Christmas parties, sending out Christmas cards...all of the usual stuff that goes along with the season. Today was Emma's Christmas party at school. She had a great time playing and getting away with some things I'm pretty sure they don't let her do normally..or at least I hope they don't let her do.

I'm happy to say that I'm done with all of my shopping...not sure Brad can say the same. Now it's time to start planning Emma's birthday party. She can't seem to decide who's birthday it is..somedays it's her's, somedays it Jesus'...all she cares about is that there will be a big jumpy house!
So, we're anxiously awaiting Christmas day and can hardly believe it's less than a week away.
We know Liam has no idea what's going on, but it's still so exciting to watch him soak in all of the new things around him during this time..Emma loves pointing out the lights and decorations on everyone's house..her favorite seems to be the blown-up Grinch down the street. As much as I have loved every Christmas with Brad and Emma, it is just so much fun to have Liam to share it with this year, as well. I couldn't ask for a more incredible family. Hope you feel just as blessed!

Everybody's doing it!

Ok. So, I guess we're giving into the usual idea of "everybody's doing it." It seems that everyone we know has a blog right now, so we thought we'd join in the fun. I'm not exactly sure who will read this, but I think it will be fun to share all of the exciting things going on in our lives. With an almost 3 year old and an 8 month old there is definitely a lot going on in the Elliott home. Liam is crawling everywhere, and Emma loves telling me everything he's "getting into". I don't think she's quite used to the idea that he's not stationary anymore and can go wherever he pleases.