Our Little Couch Potato

1st Birthday Party!!

Saturday, August 20th, we celebrated Eli's 1st birthday with most of the Barnett and Rhodes relatives that live close by. The party ended up being so nice! We rented a gazebo and everyone pitched in with setting up. I had put Auntie Amy in charge and she got everything rolling on the decor. Grandma Marty and Grandpa Bob helped out with the food. Everyone else just lended a hand where needed and everything went so well.

All in all, we had about 20 people there. We started out with cupcakes for the grownups and whipped cream and peaches for Eli. He was so cute. It took quite some time for him to dig in but as the pictures can attest, he did.

Then we had snack and visiting time. Once Eli was done making his mess, we moved on to opening presents. Boy, Eli sure got some fun ones! A couch, a bouncy puppy, a farm, an airplane, a piggy bank, a bouncy bike thing, clothes, books, a truck, the works!

After that, Eli and Cousin Logan played in the splash park. Logan wasn't too keen on getting wet from the fountains, but Eli had a blast! We'll definitely need to take him back before the cold weather hits.

Here are a lot of pictures! And these are just a fraction of what we took. I think there were around 200. Yay, digital cameras! Anyway, these will give you a taste of our party. :)

He Ain't Zero No More!

Our little Mr. Cute Stuff turned one today! We had a low key celebration with just the three of us. It was a special time!


Here's Eli checkin' out his early morning birthday present.

Yay, bouncy and squishy balls!

Water fun in the afternoon with Mommy.

My very own Doggie?!

Not quite sure what to do with this one, Dad.


We are so proud of our son. Such joy he has brought to this household. What fun is in store!

No Words Needed

What's Coming Next

Howdy there, folks!

So I've been thinking for a while about coming up with a more systematic blogging method. I felt a spark of inspiration a few minutes ago and sat down to plunk my thoughts out. And here are the results:

Future LottieB's Life topics of discussion:

Hillbilly Proverbs

Bookworm Bites

Current Occurrences

Buster Brown Updates

Personal Contemplation

These are subject to changes, of course. But those are what popped into my head. I hope you find them interesting and worthy of reading!

That's all, folks!

My Daily Wisdom

The house don't clean itself.

Read them instruction labels.

Don't lock the sliding glass door if yer partner is still outside. (I do this at least once a week.)

Days are shorter'n they otter be, 'cept when they're too long.

A Written Thought

It's easier to write noble thoughts than to think them.

Proverbial Wisdom

I discovered a statement of wisdom today in my devotion time. It struck home on a bad habit of mine.

He who answers before listening--that is his folly and his shame. Proverbs 18:13

Yep, I often find myself forming my response as someone speaks to me rather than focusing on what is being spoken. This happens especially when I feel tension or "know" I'm going to disagree.

I needed a reminder that listening is vital for relationship. And having the best response is no where near as important as weighing and valuing the other person's input. I know I feel frustrated when I'm not listened to. So, I'm going to make a concerted effort to improve my listening skills!

A Smashing Chicken Salad

I threw this salad together this afternoon when I felt starvation setting in. It's based off of the types of salads my mom is great at fixing. I didn't have all the ingredients I would have liked, but it was still smashing!

Here's what's in it:

Lettuce

Chicken (I seasoned it with salt, garlic, and paprika)

Smashed almonds*

Raisins

Italian dressing

I didn't have any hardboiled eggs at the time but have since cooked some up. Next time I'll add the eggs in. Also dried cranberries instead of raisins are great! Any other suggestions?

*The almonds are significantly better when smashed. Hence the name. It's thrilling to smash them with a rubber mallet. It was necessary with mine since they were frozen. ;)

Relative Introductions

We finally ventured over to Canby, Oregon this last weekend to visit with my grandparents and introduce Eli to them. We set out Saturday morning, spent the night, and came back Sunday afternoon. Eli did amazingly well on the trip! We were so proud of him! He wore himself out and slept like a rock at their house. Now to figure out how to get him to do that here. ;)

While we were there, my aunt Elaine and cousin Drew stopped in to see us, too. They also had not met Eli. We all went out to eat at Panda Express which was a little bit of a stretch for my grandparents who have decided over their 90ish years of life what kinds of foods they like and what kinds they don't. But they did alright and we bought a watermelon afterward to eat back at their home. So that made Grandpa happy.

Grandpa and Grandma couldn't get enough of Eli. I haven't seen Grandpa that happy and silly in years. What fun!


Eli being his usual goofball self shortly before we took off from home on Saturday.

Cousin Drew with Eli.

Eli and Grandpa played many duets throughout the visit.

Special Grandma and Great Grandson moment!

Two of my favorite people!