The Elrod Update

Fall Decorating

I never did much Fall decorating in the past, but this summer I went through several boxes of decorations that Mom used to have and snagged a few things to jazz up my house this year. I've got a few more pumpkins and Halloween-y things to put out in a few weeks.

Breakfast room

Living Room... This dresser once belonged to my Granddad.

Dining Room... My brother, David Lee, took the 2 pictures that are in the silver frames. He's a good photographer. :) The buffet was given to us by Mother and Daddy.

Outside... This was one of 2 wreaths that was sent by someone to Mother's funeral. I took the larger one and my brother, Phillip, has the smaller one.

First Day of School

Well, we are back at Lewisburg Elementary in Olive Branch, MS. The boys attended here 2 school years ago. This year they are in 5th grade and 2nd grade. Matthew's teacher is Mrs. Russell and Grant has Ms. Williams.

On the first day of school, Grant wanted Chris and I to drive him and walk him to his classroom. Matthew?... not so much. He caught the bus early that morning. It's no longer cool for Mom to take his picture in his classroom or, in fact, be anywhere around on the first day of school. I did, however, run by his room and sneak a peek to make sure he was getting settled in. He saw me, but pretended that he didn't. They both did get settled and we went on home. How quiet the house was all day! Nice... :)

Grant standing outside his classroom

This always happens... Grant's first name is Christopher and the teacher inevitably always uses his first name instead of "Grant".

I guess Matthew's teacher had the same "Welcome" idea

Introducing "Lacey"

When we moved to Arkansas last fall, we gave our dog, Stormy, to a very good friend on the condition that once we found our own (bigger) place over there, we would take her back. As time went on, our friend grew very attached to Stormy and wanted to keep her for himself. After some negotiations (Grant and Matthew got a new go-kart out of the deal), Stormy went to live permanently with our friend. We still get to see her occasionally and she loves her new home. When we moved back this summer, we started talking about getting a new dog. A small one. We looked online at what the shelters had for weeks. Last Saturday, we drove to Cordova for a dog adoption event. Several shelters set up spots in a large parking lot to hopefully adopt our their fur friends. We walked around and petted several but nothing really grabbed our attention. As we stopped at the last booth, we found her. We all loved on her immediately. She had to be ours. After convincing the owner of the shelter that we were, in fact, responsible adults even if we didn't have a fenced-in back yard, we were allowed to adopt "Lacey". She is around 2 years old and weighs about 15 pounds. She's a feisty, playful, and lovable Terrier mix. Lucky for us, she was already housetrained, neutered, and up to date on all her shots. After a quick stop at PetCo for some essentials, we brought her home. We all love her!

Mustang Momma

Due to a couple of minor incidents with objects either in the road or somewhere there abouts, my car has been in need of a bit of repair work. No comments, please.

So, on Monday, Chris and I dropped off my VW Passat at the car shop and headed over to Enterprise Rent-A-Car to pick up a car for the week. I jokingly pointed out the red Mustang as we walked across the parking lot and said "That's the one I want!" Lo and behold... it actually was the one that had been reserved for me! Matthew thinks I'm totally cool driving it and tells me we just need to trade mine in for this one. Umm... okay. *heehee* Alas, I must return this sporty lil' car and pick up my refurbished family car on Friday. It's been fun to drive all week, though.

More Randomness

The boys wanted to send a balloon to Grandma.... in Heaven. ;)

The many faces of Grant... HA!

Grant's first lost tooth and the rewards of the Tooth Fairy visit (2/08)

Title: Momma. Medium: Rocks. Artists: Matthew and Grant.

Grant and his very best friend "in the whole universe!", Graydon S. (4/08)

Matthew and the baby bird that he found in the back yard

Matthew's end-of-the-year school program (5/08)

(in both photos, he's the first one to the right of the microphone)

Mother's Day (5/08)

Just a Bunch of Random Pics

I usually like to organize my posts and photos around a certain theme or event. Sometimes, that just can't be done. The following are just a random assortment of pictures that were taken here and there. Enjoy!

Grant and his good friend, Emma

The boys got this from "Uncle" Dean in exchange for allowing "Uncle" Dean to keep our dog, Stormy. Thanks "Uncle" Dean!

Our friends, William, Janet & lil' Will

Matthew, lil' Will, and Grant

Mowing Uncle Phillip's grass

Riding in the White Co. Sheriff's Dept. float with Uncle Phillip for the White Co. Fair Parade (8/07)

Thanksgiving with the Farley's

(from top: Matthew, Blake, Claire, Anna Kate, Grant)

After Grant's Christmas program

(from left: Granddad, Grant, Jewell, Matthew, my dad (PawPaw))

1st and 4th Grade

Since I'm trying to catch everyone up a bit on our time in AR, many of these posts will be out of order date-wise. These are pictures of the boy's first day at school this past year ('07-'08). They attended White County Central school where I began when I was a little girl. Matthew's homeroom teacher was a classmate of mine from kindergarten until I moved in the 3rd grade. His math teacher was my kindergarten teacher! Grant's teacher attended church with our family in Judsonia. The principal has known me since I was a young girl. It was a neat trip down memory lane to have them attend this school. They both had a good year. Grant is quite the reader and mathemetician. Matthew is quite the talker. They each have their own special talents. *heehee* :)