Married already!

Last night we went over to the Koeller's for dinner; Geoff and Jodi are dear friends of ours and the kids, who are close in age, really enjoy each other. Ewan and Anna have been buddies since they were babies and always come up with fun games to play. Well last night the adults and babies were sitting in the living room when those two wander in announcing "We're getting married!". We all laughed in surprise; Anna was wearing her sparkly earrings, princess shoes and a blanket around her shoulders, saying "Look at me". Ewan who was wearing Anna's pink watch showed us and described it as his wedding watch and with that they were off, shouting "C'mon, let's get married".
On the way home, Ewan brought it up again:

Ewan: Guess what, me and Anna got married
Me: Really, what happened at the wedding?
Ewan: Well, she wears a dress and we get married and we take a picture and then she's the Mummy and I'm the Daddy and I'm holding the baby.
Me: Wow, that was fast!
Ewan: Yeah

The happy couple!

Anya and Sammy

Baking Day

Ewan loves to help me in the kitchen, especially if we're making something really yummy that he gets to eat later! We had some pears that needed to be used so we both put on our aprons and made a pear and blackberry crumble. Ewan was actually a good help, although he needed constant reminders not to put his fingers in the bowl!


This is what happens if you tell him to 'say cheese' at the camera, so unless you want an extremely cheesy grin it's best to catch him off guard.


Meanwhile......Anya was fast asleep in a very uncomfortable looking position, but she woke up happy so I guess she was OK.

Balloon Glow

We had a great time at the Forest Park Balloon Glow this year. We spent the evening with good friends, eating a picnic together and watching the balloons inflate. Then when it got dark we saw them glow as they lit up with fire and they looked so pretty. Ewan thought the balloons were really cool but his favourite part was the fireworks at the end, he had been waiting for them all night and was amazed by all the colours. The grand finale was a really loud explosion of fireworks for a couple of minutes and Ewan was just cracking up laughing, I guess it was pretty hilarious!

Rockstar!

Ewan has loved music since he was a baby and was thrilled when he received a guitar for his second birthday. He often entertains us with various instruments and songs and one of his favourite games is putting on his backpack, getting on his bike and going to the church building to 'lead worship'. I guess he thinks that is all Karl does when he goes to work and since Ewan wants to be just like him that's what he does too!
Here is a video of him singing his favourite song, 'Happy Day' which he claims to have written:

He often sings this at the top of his voice in public places, for example Target, and I have to wonder what people think!

Summer Holidays

We had a lovely vacation in Franklin, Tennessee last week. The journey down there was not so fun but once we arrived everybody settled down. Our kids just don't do well in the car, Ewan has flown long-haul a number of times and has done great, even all the way to Australia, but for some reason he hates being trapped in the car and refuses to sleep.
Anyway, we got there in one piece. We were staying with our friends John and Michelle Privett who took good care of us, we feel so at home at their house so it was very relaxing. We really didn't do very much, we spent a lot of time at the local pool, played outside, went for walks, ate a lot of good food, watched movies and enjoyed the company.

Here is Ewan jumping in the pool by himself, you can see his funny expression!

It was good to catch up with old friends, we have spent the last four Thanksgivings down there so we have some great memories and always enjoy getting together. Ewan loved having so many people around, he's a sociable little boy. He entertained us all with his running commentary on events; he and John even made up a rap for us which you can see here.

Here he is sporting an afro wig

Sitting on John's motorbike, he thought it was pretty cool.

Anya settled in nicely, her favourite part was being held and babbling to anyone who would listen. This is a great photo of her having a bath in the kitchen sink!

So it was good to get some time away and now we're back home making the most of the rest of summer!

Anya's first time at the pool

Last weekend Karl and I went away to Rend Lake, IL with John and Pat Donjon and Larry and Vicky Mowrey for a DC leaders retreat. We had a great time eating together, drinking wine, talking and laughing (mostly at Larry). We had left Ewan at home, Jamee came over to hang out with him for the afternoon and then Samantha spent the night with him and he had a lot of fun of course. Anya came with us and she did really well, she was happy being  held by Pat most of the time. We also took her swimming for the first time, there is a lovely pool up there and as soon as we arrived we got changed and headed down there. Anya has a really cute swimsuit that her Grandma sent over from England so we got her ready and slowly carried her into the water. She loves having a bath so I figured she would like it but it was so cold it really took her breath away and she wasn't at all sure about it. I had to wet her with my hands first to get her used to the idea and then started dipping her body in a little at a time. We brought the baby float which is supposed to be from 3 months up but it didn't support her enough and she looked lost in it, all you could see was her head!

 So her first time at the pool went ok, she kind of enjoyed it but she's not keen on the cold water, I think she'll be like her Dad and brother. I always laugh at Karl because when we go to the pool I jump straight in; I think its easier to do it all at once, temporary pain is better then prolonged pain. But he tortures himself by inching in a toe at a time with a pained look on his face, I suppose it's fun cos I get to splash him, it just makes no sense to me doing it that way. Anyway I think the kids are taking after him so we'll have to see what I can do!

The way to a man's heart....

Our conversation over dinner this evening:

Ewan: What can I have now? (This is the recurrent question the second he finishes his last bite of food)

Me: Wait until we have all finished (Our predictable answer, repeated multiple times throughout every meal)

Ewan: Mummy, be happy

Me: I am happy sweetie, I just have a bit of a sore tummy. Are you happy?

Ewan: Yes

Me: Why are you happy?

Ewan: Because I'm going to have something

Me: Well, what is it that makes you happy

Ewan: mmmm, food I think

(Uncontrollable laughter from me and Karl)

Me: What else makes you happy

Ewan: Bananas, that's all I got (rather impatiently). What can I have now?

Me: Well, are there any people that make you happy?

Ewan: No

Me: Are there any places that make you happy?

Ewan: No

Me: (getting desperate) Does Daddy make you happy?

Ewan: Yes

Me: (relieved, and hoping that I will make the list) Who else makes you happy?

Ewan: Maybe Elliott

What can I say.

Boys will be boys

So I'm discovering that it's an interesting learning experience to parent a boy. Ewan doesn't have any guns or other weapon toys (ok, maybe one foam sword he got as a gift) but he still wants to play rough. Now I'm pretty sure that part of the blame lies with the likes of John and David who teach him to wrestle, tackle and do elbow drops!

But I also see an inbuilt desire for mischief and adventure The other day we were walking in the park when Ewan picked up a stick because he always needs to have a stick in his hand when outdoors. Well he yells at me "mummy I'm going to power you'' then looks at his stick ''turn the power on'' presses a 'button' on the stick and charges me shouting ''I'm powering yoooou''. Interesting.

Then today he was trying to catch a fly in our house. Now he has seen me 'squish' bugs before, which is how I refer to it, and of course I am killing them but I haven't actually used that word. Well as he's chasing the fly he shouts "fly, come here I want to kill you", I was quite taken aback and couldn't help laughing.

I guess there's just no way of getting around this innate wildness, it's quite fun really but I'm certainly glad that Karl is here to foster and shape it. 

Belly!

I have been wanting to post these pictures that my very talented friend Jodi Hertz took (go here to see more of her work) during my pregnancy with Anya. My family and friends back in England didn't get to see me pregnant so I thought these would be fun for them.

These shots were taken six days before Anya was born and as you can see my belly got very large, although not quite as large as it did with Ewan if you can believe it! It was a beautiful spring day and we had fun playing around on the back deck. I was 38 weeks pregnant and thinking that I still had a wait ahead of me and then she surprised us by coming early, and very fast. But that's another story!

Let's get started

So here it is....the long awaited first blog entry! At least long awaited by Jodi, who got me into this.

We were hanging out one night and I was telling her that her blog as well as Rachel's had inspired me and I would like to create a collection of memories, but perhaps in a book since I don't have the online time to keep up with a blog. Well, next thing I know she is pressuring me for a name and she has designed me my own blog!

In case you were wondering the KLEA (as in clear) stands for Karl, Louise, Ewan and Anya (wow, I bet you didn't guess that!)

So anyway, I will put every effort into maintaining this space with the everyday happenings of the Scott household and all other sorts of fun. So watch this space.......

I'm sure there will be many funny sayings that the kids come out with, here's one to get us started:

Last Sunday was a special day because our dear friend Jodi was baptized, Ewan stayed in the meeting to watch along with Elliott and then we had a little celebration over lunch at the Mowrey's. Well that night I was getting Ewan ready for bed, he was standing at the sink with no clothes on getting his face washed when he started splashing water on his head and arms and belly and legs, giving me a running commentary of all the body parts. I asked him what he was doing and he said "I'm getting baptized". He then continued to wet his knees and feet and said "There, I'm all baptized". I was laughing so hard.