HE DID IT!!!

THIS MORNING I HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO HEAR JOSH DEFEND HIS DISSERTATION, AND HE DID AWESOME!  I DIDN'T HAVE ANY DOUBTS, BUT HE CALLED ME AT LUNCH TO CONFIRM HE HAD PASSED. (Big Round of Applause and Standing Ovation)  CONGRATULATIONS, DR. PRATT!  WE LOVE YOU AND ARE SO PROUD OF YOUR HARD WORK AND GREAT ACCOMPLISHMENT!

Josh's Graduation Ceremony and Other Happenings

Josh's parents came for a visit and stayed with us for a week.  The main event was Josh's graduation ceremony.  I would probably be posting this in all caps, but unfortunately, the ceremony was sort of anti-climactic.  He's not technically finished yet.  He's scheduled to defend his dissertation on June 19th, so that's the post you don't want to miss.  However, the ceremony was nice (Eli even fell asleep through all of the talks and woke up just in time to see his daddy walk up to get his diploma), and since Josh didn't get to attend the ceremony when he received his optometry degree (we were in Albuquerque), it was good to have him walk.  It was a proud moment for us all, though my eyes are looking forward to June.  We've all been a little stressed around here.  Poor Josh is very sleep deprived, and I think he might go into hibernation on June 20th.

Still, we enjoyed Nana and Bampa's visit.  Eli especially loves for them to come and is always sad to see them go.  We celebrated Nana's birthday with her since she turned 60 (shh...don't tell) the day before they came.  Later we also got to celebrate Mother's Day with her. 

We (all except Josh; he had to stay and work) went out to Brenham, TX (about an hour and twenty minute drive northwest of Houston), to the Blue Bell ice cream factory.  For those of you who don't get Blue Bell in your state, you are missing out.  It's delicious, and the tour of the factory was fun.  At the end of the tour, we got a cup of ice cream, so it was fun and yummy.

Not far from the Blue Bell ice cream factory is Washington-on-the-Brazos, the birthplace of Texas in Washington, TX.  It's the place where a formal Declaration of Independence from Mexico was signed.  Texas became an independent nation (the Republic of Texas) for about 10 years before being annexed to the United States as the 28th state.  We got to see Independence Hall and the Brazos River and read about Texas history.  We also got to tour a living history farm, the home and farm of Anson Jones, the last president of Texas.  

We had lots of good food while Josh's parents were here.  This is a picture of Eli at Five Guys.  He loves that place, mostly because of the peanuts.  Every time we go, he's more excited about the peanuts than the burgers.  It's funny to watch.

Easter Egg Hunts

Much to Eli's delight, he had three Easter egg hunts this year.  The first was two weeks ago--even before his birthday--at the University of Houston.  The second was at playgroup (they do one every year).  The third was here at home.  He loves showing off his egg-finding skills!  And they are improving.  We used to have to show him where to find most of the eggs, and the hunt took a while.  Now he can find most of them by himself, and he does it in a matter of minutes.  I never thought I'd use an Easter egg hunt as proof of my little boy growing up, but I find proof everywhere lately. 

The University of Houston had several egg hunts for different age groups.  Since it was a week before Eli's birthday, we debated about whether to put him in the 0-3 age group or the 4-8 age group.  We were a little worried that the older age group might not give Eli a fair chance of finding eggs, so we put him in the younger.  We should have done the older because it was a little too easy for him. 

Eli was a little scared of this giant bunny and very reluctantly agreed to take a picture.

This one was at playgroup, and Eli did not want to hold still for a picture.  He wanted to see what goodies he had found, of course.

Since Eli is much more into art projects now, he had much more fun decorating the dyed eggs this year.

We only did half a dozen eggs.  There are only so many hard-boiled eggs three people can eat. :-)  I usually end up making potato salad.

Eli was counting his eggs to make sure he found all that we had hidden around the house.

 Whopper's candy robin's eggs!  I couldn't resist teaching Eli about how they make beautiful and tasty lip color.  He loved it!

As if we didn't have enough treats, huh?  Actually, I made these for my nursery kids.

BIRTHDAY BOY!

It has now been four years since Eli joined our family.  What a blessing and a joy he is!  Our BIG birthday boy was a little sick, but he didn't let that stop him from enjoying the day.  In fact, he lets everyone know that he is four now.  He has asked me every morning since, "I'm still four, right?"  And he frequently tells me throughout the day, "Mom, I'm FOUR now."  He is continually reminding me that four-year-olds are BIG boys and can do lots of stuff that one, two, and three-year-olds can't do. :-)

Because his birthday also landed on General Conference Sunday, we had a very pleasant day at home with just the family.  Listening to the prophet and eating birthday cake--it can't get much better than that, right?  We also enjoyed skyping with various family members.

Since Eli loves superheroes, we decided to make a Superman cake, and since it was only in an 8 x 8-inch pan instead of a 9 x 13, we had leftover batter that we made into Spiderman cupcakes.  Eli loved it, as did Josh who has let me know by how much he's eaten that I don't make cakes enough (I really only make them on birthdays...so, three times a year).

Eli wanted a sandbox, so Josh made him one.  Can I just tell you what a blessing it is to have a husband who knows how to fix and build things?  When I was looking online for a patio-type sandbox, I wasn't sure I wanted to spend the money on it, but then Josh told me he would make it.  And he did...for a fraction of the cost.  AND Eli was in heaven.  I, on the other hand, am not thrilled about the sand mess, but sometimes it's better to make a little boy happy, right?

Of course, the thing that would make Eli REALLY happy would be a pet.  Our neighbor's cat became the show-stealer as she jumped our fence and came into our house (we think she also liked the sandbox).  Eli has seen and been able to pet Miss Priss (her name) many times, but this is the first time she has attempted to come into our home.  Eli was all smiles and incredibly willing to kidnap her.  She came when we were talking with Josh's family, so unfortunately, he didn't pay much attention to them or the gifts they sent.  The cat won in the moment, but I can assure you that he enjoys his gifts. :-)