The Elliott Family

Kacey is so cute.  Whenever she wants comfort, she sticks her finger in her mouth and then… grabs my hair!  Ouch! 

So I’m trying to teach her to grab her OWN hair, lol.  She does like her own hair, but there just isn’t as much of it, I guess. 

What a kid…
~Anne

Hi, everyone,
For those of you who couldn’t see Arik’s robot, try now.  The settings were set so only I could view it.    It should work now.

Our kitty died late Wednesday night.  She was just too dehydrated. 

Our close friends (and our church’s associate pastor), the Thompson family, moved away yesterday.  Conrad is taking a senior pastorate in Andrews, Indiana.  We will miss ALL of them.  Kaitlyn was best friends with Olivia, Caleb was a year younger than Arik, and their little Claire was the same age as Kandice.  Stef was one of the closest friends I’ve had in a long time.  The youth group had a farewell party last night, and at the end, they drove out and headed on their way.  They were hoping to make it to at least Peoria, IL, last night.  Ug!  Their kids spent a lot of time at our house this weekend, so it would be easier to pack the truck.  So yesterday was full of tears.  We will sure miss them!  It leaves such a hole to have friends go. 

Well, this is our last week of school.  Kraig finishes on Wednesday.  Yippee… summer!

Hugs to all,
~Anne

It was a big day at the Elliott house.  Kacey has had a good few days, getting good sleep and being sweet.  She started sitting up all by herself on the floor a few days ago, and she’s been crawling like crazy a few days before Mother’s Day.  She’s learned how to push the buttons on my computer and pull out cords.  (Ohhhh… some parts of babyhood I wish we could just skip!)

But today she was so fussy!  I figured it was because no one in our house was really feeling so great today.  Maybe that was it, but tonight, as we were cuddling before bed, I heard a grinding noise coming from her little mouth.  Sure enough, she has a new tooth!  It’s her third, and it’s her top right middle tooth. 

But that’s not all that happened today! 

We have a new cat!  Actually, she’s approximately 8-10 weeks old.  We saw her for the first time almost a week ago.  She was in our yard the day we mowed the lawn.  But she was very afraid, and she finally escaped back into the weeds.  We decided she must have returned to her mother. 

But we’ve been watching for her.  Our neighbor mowed today, and in the freshly clipped grass, there was a tiny kitten again.  She’s much weaker today and not nearly as spunky.  So we’ve assumed that she’s been on her own and has no mother.  She’s very, very tiny… very, very hungry… very, very sleepy. 

Kraig brought her inside.  She was shivering, so after we cuddled awhile and warmed her up, we gave her some warm milk.  She’s already learning to use the litter box, but she spent most of the day sleeping on my tummy.  (Since I wasn’t feeling so hot today, that was just fine with me!) 

Yes, that’s where she is right now, too.  The kids and Daddy have been having a "name-the-kitty" conference.  I’ll have to tell you later what they decide.  Do you think this many people can ever agree on a kitty name?  I have my doubts…

Hugs,
~Anne
P.S.  Kitty is yellow with white patches all over, plus white rings on her tail.  If you have an opinion on an appropriate name, leave it in the comments.  But knowing Kraig, he’ll make an "executive decision" soon.  After he chooses between one of the thirteen names already listed on the white board.  Seriously…

Well, Arik has entered a contest with Lego Mindstorm, where he had to make a robot of the future.  We had a lot of fun doing it!  He has mounted his picture and essay, and they are inside a cool-looking folder from Wal-mart.  They’re going into the mailbox!  This really made a good school project.  I know he learned a lot.

Here are pictures so you can see.  The text of his essay is below, in case it’s hard to read:

Robo Rescue is a robot prototype that enters buildings, locates people, and evacuates them.  It enters and moves around buildings with claw fire extinguishers, four magnetic treads, each with independent steering, state-of-the-art programming, and a size of only 1.5 feet high, 3 feet long, and 1.5 feet wide, making it very maneuverable.  It locates people with ten types of scanners.  It evacuates people with a radar beacon and can carry them out because it can lift twenty tons.  Considering the technology, I think it could be made by the year 2040.

In August, we all need to go to www.LegoMindstorms.com and see if he is a winner!  The prize is a Mindstorm NXT set.  He would love that!

Love,
~Anne