JourneyLeaf: Life a Page at a Time

Reaves Farm

The Reaves place isn't a working farm anymore, but Cousin Michelle loves animals.  She has a chicken yard filled with hens and a rooster or two.  (There's nothing like very fresh eggs.  Michelle made me breakfast...mmmm!)  She has a couple of guinea hens that run around making their constant, distinct clucking sound.  (That's the bird hanging around in the shade with Michelle and Eli.)  

She recently got some ducklings that were dyed various colors for Easter!  They are growing up and their colors are fading, but they still look like living Beanie Babies.

Last but not least, the Reaves farm currently has two batches of kittens.  Here's Eli discovering what kitties are all about.  

Photos and Phone Calls

Just some quick notes.  First, I changed the photo albums on the right side of the weblog.  Here are some silly baby photos to hopefully bring a smile.  Second, my cell phone went dead and I just got a new one.  I think some messages may have gotten lost plus I have a learning curve.  I hope to be up to speed soon. 

Reaves

My father's family has always been a source of strength and love for me.  I can honestly say I wouldn't be who I am without them.  I'm using my maiden name as my pen name with the books I write to honor my beloved paternal grandfather and his legacy.  So we used Grandma's maiden name for Eli's middle name.  It may seem a little strange to take a picture of a baby with a tombstone, but I wanted for Eli to someday see a picture of himself touching family history when he was still tiny.  The stone marks the resting place of Reuben Reaves (born 1813), Eli's great great great great grandfather.  (Family lore holds that the stone was ordered special and to be delivered by train, but during the Civil War all transport was tied up in the war effort and the grave marker sat patiently waiting in the depot throughout the war.)

My cousin Jim and his wife Michelle still live on the family land.  It's been in the Reaves family since 1839!  Jim did the honors of helping Eli walk the land of his ancestors for the first time.  (The dogs, chickens, guinea hens, ducks, and cats served as an audience.)

We're Back!

Whew!  Just after the news of a breaking flu epidemic is not the time you want to be traveling through multiple airports with a baby.  I'd be curious to know how much hand sanitizer we went through yesterday.  We'll be staying home for a little while.  But we had a wonderful trip to see family!  Eli was a great little traveler and is happy and healthy.  He now has nine flights under his belt, which is pretty good for a little guy not yet five months old.  He's spent time in four states (California, Georgia, Arizona, Arkansas) and has touched down in three more (New Mexico, Texas, Nevada).

We flew Southwest Airlines this trip.  Their pick-your-own-seat policy allowed me to take Eli's car seat on with us to put next to me whenever there was a flight that wasn't completely full.  The other nice thing is that if people don't want to sit next to a baby, they can pick another seat.  On the trip out, there was an older guy coming down the aisle and making a bee line for the row of three seats where I was sitting.  When he saw Eli, however, he made a face and went for the row behind me.  Now, I can't blame anybody for not wanting to sit next to a baby on an airplane, but I could have done without the look of disgust.  We ended up with a nice nurse sitting next to us who loved babies and dangled her sparkly bracelets to make Eli giggle until he blinked a few slow blinks and drifted off to sleep the whole flight.  The grumpy man ended up sharing a row with a squirmy toddler and a man who got airsick five times.  Bet that seat next to Eli was looking pretty good about then!

 Eli in front of cousin Norma's house.  Eli's great-grandfather (my paternal grandpa) built this house in the mid-1950s.  I think it is one of the most wonderful and peaceful places anywhere.

Norma and Tully pulled out their granddaughter's little red wagon for Eli's amusement.  I gave him a tour of the pasture and 1800s barn on a lovely spring evening.

Off We Go...Again!

Our pediatrician mentioned earlier this week that traveling is easiest with babies Eli's age.  We're taking her up on it!  Sadly, Brian has to stay and work, but Eli and I are off to south-central Arkansas so he can visit family and see the land of his maternal ancestors!  I will try to blog while we are gone, but I won't be taking my laptop so I can't be sure I'll have access.  If you don't hear from me for a little while, I'll be back early next week.

Cheerio!

Farmer's Market

One favorite thing about California is all the farmer's markets.  Fresh produce!  Most towns have one on the weekends.  In San Francisco, the area called Ferry Market has a wonderful one on Saturday mornings.  You can get fresh fruits and vegetables, but also baked goods, dairy products, just-laid eggs, and such.  Jenny and I ventured there with Eli this past weekend.  Jenny got a cinnamon bun and I got a cinnamon scone.  Eli ate a carrot.  Or at least he chewed on his pretend carrot.

Flat Stanley

Hello, Jasmine and the Kids of Pinehurst Elementary School!  Here is Flat Stanley on the Internet (along with Baby Eli).  Thanks for sending Stanley for a visit!

(In 1964, author Jeff Brown wrote a book to amuse his sons about a boy named Stanley who woke up one morning to discover that a bulletin board fell on him in the middle of the night and flattened him.  Cheerful Stanley soon discovered that being practically two-dimensional gave him opportunities for many adventures.  For instance, his parents could slide him in an envelope and mail him to relatives for a vacation.  A smart school teacher realized the story was a great opportunity for students to learn about social studies.  Kids draw and cut out a Flat Stanley and then mail him to various places.  "Hosts" send Stanley back with information about where he's been.  An old friend who teaches at an elementary school in Idaho gave my name to a student so she could mail me a Flat Stanley.  Good ol' Stanley went to work with Brian, had his photo taken atop the hill in Berkeley with San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge in the distance, and visited an elementary school in Hayward, California (with a little help from my friend Tracy).  He went home via the mail accompanied by a letter about his adventures, the photos, and a pile of bay area postcards.  To learn more about the Flat Stanley project, just use Google.  Flat Stanley has even been on a space shuttle!)

Playtime

Apparently a schoolteacher came into our bedroom last night and rang the bell for recess and playtime around 3:30 am.  I didn't hear or see her and neither did Brian, but Eli did.  Some thumping and gurgling from the corner of the room finally permeated my dreams and woke me up.  When I stumbled over bleary-eyed to check, Eli was happily chewing on his toes, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.  I received a most enthusiastic smile and a chuckle as if to say, "Hey, Mom!  Come on in!  The party is swinging!"  Even with the wee hour, I couldn't help but smile at the little stinkbug.  He seemed a little surprised and disappointed to be swaddled up and returned to bed with just a binky and a few kisses.  Some more loud peeps and a bottle later, he finally conked out again.  

Although there were no bunny ears involved last night, this is the face that greeted me looooooong before dawn:

Web Back!

Woo hoo!  Our Internet is back up and running!  But at the moment I'm not home much.  My good buddy Jenny (from my Tennessee days in the late 1990s) is here visiting from Washington DC!  We're all out on the town...  

Eli floating along in space enjoying his toes.  Mmmm.

Beam Me Up, Scotty

The Internet is down at our house and a repairman can't come until Thursday evening.  Sigh!  You can take away the television and I won't make a peep, but don't take away my web!  Right now I'm sitting in Peet's Coffee House with a warm cup of peppermint tea, Eli asleep in his stroller beside me.  

We left Phoenix on Monday, happy with the trip but glad to get home.  One of the last things I did was go to the Arizona Science Museum with Eli to see the traveling Star Trek exhibit.  Eli took command of the Enterprise for a short time, but instead of traveling somewhere via light speed, he did some drooling.  And you think your ears are cool, Mr. Spock?  Check out mine!

As you can see, the museum sells visitors' photos taken in the television show sets.  My favorite is the one of Eli below, sitting in his car seat in the transporter room.  "Beam me up, Scotty!"  It is a lenticular print.  Remember those little plastic pictures with ridges that you used to get in Cracker Jacks -- wiggle them up and down so that figures move?  In the photo below, if you tilt it up and down, Eli appears and vanishes.