Elias' hair is so long that....

we can put it in a ponytail on top of his head.


Why don't we take Elias for a haircut?

There are two answers to that question and one of them can be seen in the picture above. Elias bumped his head at school the second week of May and busted it open big enough to necessitate a trip to the emergency department. They were able to seal the hole together with mighty dermabond and now Elias has a healing wound on the right (his right)side of his forehead. This healing has delayed the haircut, which was overdue already when he hurt his head.
The second reason we haven't cut Elias' hair is that it is not a fun or joyful process for anyone involved. There is lots of crying and thrashing, even with two adults and a favorite DVD. The last time was better, but it's not an activity any of us look forward to.

I know we are way overdue for a posting, but I just finished uploading pictures to the computer. With my summer semester in full swing, my computer's main purpose involves listening to online lectures and posting for my class discussion boards. Promise to update soon!

Memory Lane

Time for a walk down memory lane. All the way back to April 8, 2009...the last time I blogged! You wouldn't think that we have that many memories to recap in one month, but if you think that, then you haven't met the Ammon family!

But first an update of what's going on right now. I am on a brief break from school, as summer semester starts up again next week. I just finished my spring semester of Healthcare Operations and Research Utilization and made...ahem....A's! I may not have a clean bathroom and my legs are in desperate need of a shave, but I made A's in another semester of grad school! This summer I will take a health program planning class and begin my clinical hours. My "clinical' hours will not exactly be clinical in nature, but rather involve shadowing a high-ranking nurse administrator at Duke. I have made a few executive wardrobe purchases and am getting very excited to dress the part! In order to meet the hour requirements (160 hours total), I am reducing my work hours to 4 days a week. I will continue to do this through December. Fall 2009 will be my last semester, with only the clinical hours left to complete. That's right, folks....I WILL GRADUATE DECEMBER 2009 with an MSN from Duke!!!! Details to follow, of course, on the big day and the big party, Ammon family style!
Christopher is busy completing the displays for the HUGE project he has been working on pretty much since 2007. It involves thousand-dollar displays to showcase the historical house here in the park and the history behind the family that lived there. It has involved some late nights for him, Adobe Photoshop, and Totino's frozen pizzas (okay, that part is my fault, as I often neglect to prepare a healthy dinner for my sweet husband). The end is in sight for him and I think he is ready to be finished with it. We'll be sure to share the fruits of his labor when it is complete!
Elias continues his love affair with Thomas the train and his aversion to the potty. We encourage him to try (on his Thomas potty...what else) here at home and reward with stickers a Thomas train when he earns 10 stickers. Somehow, I think it's going to be a long process. And if we have learned anything from Elias, it is that we can't push him. He'll do it when he's ready.
And now for the catch-up time...starting with a 1 year birthday party for my friend Melissa's baby boy. Can't believe he is already one!

Next: my first canoe trip down the river in the beginning of April. Carol graciously offered to watch Elias and also let me borrow some of her gear, in order to enjoy a beautiful morning on the river. It had rained, so the water level was perfect and the sunshine made the day perfect.

Carol and Elias caught up with us at the end of the ride and took a little video!

Here is one of my favorite pictures from April...Elias is sporting his pink polo and big boy belt, all while sucking his thumb!

We spent Easter here at home and attended a beautiful service at our church. We decorated a cross with flowers, which was my favorite part. It took some significant coaxing to get Elias to take pictures after church...finally the power of the cross prevailed.

We spent the afternoon of Easter in the park enjoying the amazing weather!

In preparation for a s'mores evening with some friends at our house last weekend, Christopher and Elias made a concrete fire square in our back yard. I think the pictures show who did most of the work.

In mid-April, Elias and I went to a local school's Spring carnival and had a blast! There was a "track-less" train (and you can imagine who loved that) and tons of bouncy things.

At the end of April, we spent the weekend in Richmond with Grandpa and Granny. Boats and trains were involved, so it was a great weekend!

We even had some sprinkler time in their backyard!

"April is a promise...

that May is bound to keep!"--Hal Borland

Like everyone else, we have been enjoying April's promise of warm weather and lots of sunshine. Last weekend, we spent most of our time outside...completely ignoring homework and laundry. And speaking of laundry, I wanted to share a very big change in the Ammon house...a new washer and dryer. Thanks to Uncle Sam (i.e. our tax refund) we made the big purchases a few weeks ago. Our old dryer was sounding like something getting ready to blow up!

And it was starting to take a little longer to dry clothes. Since we needed a new dryer, we thought there was no time like the present to upgrade our entire home laundry facility. We went with Kenmore and you can click here and here if you want to see what we chose. Even though we didn't go with a front loading washer, it does not have the agitator that most top loading washers have and is HUGE! Christopher spent his days off last week doing laundry and was remarking on how he kept having to add clothes to make full loads!

A few weeks ago we spent a four-day-weekend at Myrtle Beach and had a blast! I am working on getting all 180 pictures uploaded to our shutterfly site. I will update when I do.
In the meantime, here are a few highlights from our trip:

on the beach...

Jumping in beach puddles...check out my vertical!

at Alligator Adventure

A perfect day on the beach for kite flying and chasing seagulls.

Waiting for rides at Pavilion Nostalgia Park

Bog boy jumping in the pool!

Fireworks at Broadway at the Beach...a nice ending to our trip!

Happy Easter to all....what a beautiful time of year as we celebrate God's gift of hope and redemption in our lives. I pray that the light and love of Jesus will fill us all.