Early Morning Bargains! (link now working)

My hubby and I got up bright and early this morning, got ourselves and little Eli ready (Jacob's at Mema's for a sleepover with the boy cousins) and headed out to a surplus sale. We wanted a filing cabinet and maybe a bookshelf and toy shelf.

The sale was to begin at 8:00. So, we fueled up at Bruegger's Bagels (YUMMY) and were in the sale's parking lot at 8:00.

So were about a dozen other people. They were already lined up and getting ready. We didn't know what we were in for.

The doors opened and we all went in. Clearly we were surplus-sale-first-timers as I watched people scurrying around and putting return address labels or sticky notes on the items they intended to purchase. We were unprepared to say the least. Unarmed with the name-bearing stickers we went in search for a filing cabinet. We found a nice 5 drawer cabinet with a little ding on the corner. Matt found a discarded marker in one drawer and attempted to scribble our name on a scrap of paper a teacher left taped to the side.

In the meantime, the pros were claiming every good and useful item with their labels and tape. By the time I got over to the book and toy shelves, everything was claimed.

There was nothing left to do, but check out! We headed to the table and due to the ding--which is really minor and will be facing the wall--the 5 drawer filing cabinet (like this one) only cost us $10! Yes, ma'am. I said, "$10!"

We headed out to the van and proceeded to entertain the other shoppers with our lack of knowledge about how to "tumble" the second row seats in our van to make said bargain cabinet fit. After some fun times fighting with the seat, I resorted to the glove compartment. Thanks, Sienna manual! We couldn't have done it without you!

So, tomorrow the filing begins. The teacher in me is about to bust. Nothing sets my heart aflutter like some filing and organization!

A little bounce and a lotta Bible

Here's a video of Jacob reciting the books of the Bible. He attends KCGs (Kids Connect Group) at our church and was challenged to memorize all the books of the Bible. We think he did an awesome job. To top off the feeling of accomplishment, he earned his team 17,000 points!!

Warning: If "The Blair Witch Project" made your tummy feel icky, you might not want to watch the video. Jacob's a bit of a kinesthetic learner (or maybe it was the Mountain Dew and Milky Way)!!!

Two Crazy Guys

A couple of our Next Generation ministers have been producing our church's weekly news video. Our pastor posted the videos on his blog and I thought I'd follow suit. Matt and I have both laughed outloud at these guys' antics.
Check it out and enjoy a laugh!

Dear consistently warm weather...

...please get here soon!

Following 8 years of working with children with disabilities and communication delays, I've become a huge proponent of using total communication (pairing speech with sign language) to develop language. So, I've been teaching Eli some basic signs. He's a bit of a strong-willed child and I was also hoping that providing him a way to express his wants and need might limit some of the screaming and whining. Lord knows, we need to limit the screaming and whining!

I started with the basic "all done" sign and have added a few signs each month. Recently, I taught Eli the sign for "outside." Who knew the obsession that would ultimately ensue? I can't get away from the "outside" sign. 6:30am - Me: "Good morning, little one" Eli: "Siii" (while signing "outside"). 10:45 - Me: "Eli, want to play with blocks?" Eli: "Siii" (while signing "outside"). 11:30 - Me: "Time for lunch. What should we eat today?" Eli: "Siii" (while signing "outside"). I think you get the picture. It's pretty much that. ALL. DAY. LONG.

It's a good thing I like being outside.

So, if you're ever in the neighborhood and you can't find us, just look around "siii." That's where we'll be.

New Look

WE ARE BACK!!

My computer is up and running following a data backup performed by the Geek Squad (since we couldn't even log on to the computer anymore) and then being wiped clean and restored by my multi-talented hubby. We are still restoring some software, but I should be back in full blogging mode very soon. YEAH!! Then, I'll post some pictures and videos to catch everyone up! Can't wait to get back to blogging. Until then, enjoy the spring look the blog is sporting! I just love my scrapbooking software!!!

First Haircut

I'm sitting in our local public library since the Geek Squad is currently trying to save our computer (darn virus)! So, I figured with my 11 minutes left, I'd post a few pictures of Eli's first haircut!! Isn't the internet wonderful. You don't even have to be at home to blog!! Mema and PaPa did an excellent job as a hair salon. We didn't cut the curls off the back (just couldn't do it yet), so Eli's sporting a really awesome baby mullet. I think he makes it look good!! Sorry there's no after picture. I was in charge of the camera and got distracted. But, I assure you he looks great!

Everything else is going wonderfully here at the Sloan house. We are enjoying the spring weather and it's giving us lots of time to play outside! Eli is an outside fanatic. so much so, that when we walk inside he begins to wail. Good thing I like it outside, too! The boys just love "passing the ball" with us! It's great practice since Jacob's baseball season is upon us! We are so thankful to live in NC. Because really, where else can it snow on Monday and on Friday everyone's sporting shorts and t-shirts! Hope the weather is great where you are. Take care!

Birthday Party Fun!

Here's a slideshow with some pictures from Eli's birthday party. Thanks to my dad for the pictures. Unfortunately, our computer is acting up again so I wasn't able to upload the photos and videos off our camera onto the computer. So, PaPa to the rescue. We were able to upload his photos to the web and I'm posting from Matt's work computer! Anything for our fans who read the blog :)

Eli got some great gifts and we are so thankful!

One more update for you: Eli is walking! He started really walking last week, in honor of his birthday! One minute he's pulling up on a piece of furniture and the next minute he's off. Boy, are we busy now! Just as soon as the computer is back up and running, I'll post some video of him on the move. Until then...