Big Momma!

I've been getting very sentimental lately with Ella starting Kindergarten in almost a month! I can't believe how fast she's growing up. I remember people telling us how fast it would go when she was a baby and I almost got sick of hearing the cliche phrase, but it's true...they do grow up fast and she's just starting Kindergarten.

We were at the pool this afternoon and I was watching her swim...

Me: You're getting so big Ella, what am I going to do with you? Put a brick on your head?
Ella: No!
Me: No matter what, you'll always be my little girl.
Ella: And you'll always be my BIG MOMMA. I mean my HUMONGOUS MOMMA!

At this point I was cracking up and trying to quiet her down all at the same time. I guess that's what I get for being sentimental!

An update...

Well, a lot has happened since I last posted. At at the end of April we joined the growing number of families who have been negatively impacted by our country's economic situation. After 8 years working for NCR, Jason was laid off. It's been a rollercoaster ride since then and I will spare you all the details, but we trust that God "is working all thing for good." Please keep us in your prayers. Jason is looking at many different avenues, so pray for clarity, opportunity, and providential relationships.

On a funny note (and totally unrelated), I thought I'd share something that Ella said the other day that gave me a good laugh.

As I was laying down with her at bedtime she kept rubbing her nose. I was trying to figure out if her allergies were bothering her or if she had something stuck up there, so I asked...

Me: "Is your nose just itchy or irritated?"
Ella: Replying in an annoyed tone, "No, my nose isn't irritated it's nositated!" She then went on to explain that irritated was when your ear itched, not your nose. (DUH!).

The Latest...

Isaac is turning into a little boy very quickly. Some of his favorite words are Vroom Vroom, CCCKKKUUCC, Whoa (yes, I know these are all sounds not really words, but they count, right?). All of which he says repeatedly whenever we're in the car. Until his recent obsession with anything that moves, he hasn't been a great traveler, but he's discovered a whole new world right outside the window. We might have to make a road trip sometime soon!!!


We've been enjoying the beautiful weather and went to an Art Festival and a Garden Show this weekend. I bought Ella an African Violet today at the garden show. Was that a smart thing to do? Now I have a pot of soil resting on a plastic saucer with water sitting on my 4-year-old's dresser. How many days will it be before the soil ends up all over the carpet? That might be my next blog post!

Off to do some reading...before I hit the sack! Here are a few pics of Isaac enjoying his dump truck at the beach.

The Tradition Continues

Tonight was the night Ella's been waiting for...the Daddy Daughter Dance. It ranks right up there in importance with her birthday.

She picked out her own outfit from head to toe. The past two years she's worn the same dress and I gave her the option of wearing it again (yes, it still fits) or getting a new outfit and like any girl she opted for the new outfit (why did I even ask?). Anyway, I loved her pick...wish they made it in my size ;).

This was the third year that Jason has taken her and I love that they have this tradition. Ella looks forward to it so much that she was asking me today when the next Daddy Daughter Dance was going to be.

Jason sent a few pictures from his phone from the dance. He said she spent more time eating cake than she did dancing, which would explain the crumb on her lip in the picture below...:).

It's been 3 months...

Sorry, blogging friends, but life got a little crazy and I'm not even going to try and make up for lost time. So, I'll just start fresh! It's a new year, right?!

In glancing back at some of my old posts, I can't believe how big my little guy is getting. He's moved from the baby to the toddler stage. Here are a few recent pics. of both of them...

Ella and Macey

Isaac bundled up on one of our coldest days...I think the high was 50 something...cold for FL! He reminded me of the kid from Christmas Story.

Isaac doing one of his latest tricks...climbing. The only problem is, he doesn't know how to get down. I usually hear "Ma," "Mama," coming from distant parts of the house only to find him 3" up on a box looking out of the window and hanging onto the window sill for dear life.

If I had clicked this picture a second later, you would have seen him falling off the table. He was fine. I was hoping a fall might deter him from climbing...it doesn't seem to have worked.

Bye for now...look for my next post in about two months :).

Halloween Festivities

Halloween has come and gone and now all we're left with is tons of candy and some fun memories. If you haven't noticed, Halloween is becoming as much of a celebration as Christmas (kind of scary, but that's for another post).

We started the week of festivities with visits to the pumpkin patches and the neighborhood Halloween party (see previous posts). Here's a picture taken of our little butterfly and duck before the Halloween party:
One of my favorites of the week was my playgroup Halloween party. There's nothing better than dressing seven unwilling, but helpless toddlers and babies in all sorts of costumes. The reaction is priceless. I took at least three of these pictures and this is probably the best of the bunch. I bribed Isaac with Goldfish to get him to stay on the couch. The back row wasn't so willing, notice the mom's ducking behind their little ones. Oh what we'll do to get a picture!

One of Ella's favorite moments was carving the pumpkin. Jason asked her to draw a few designs and then choose which one she wanted to do. After a few "revisions" this is what they came up with...it actually was pretty close to what Ella drew.

Here's the proof that we were here pictures:
Because our street is loving referred to as the retirement community, we decided to walk a few blocks this year and go to a different section of the neighborhood for Trick or Treating. I'm glad we did, because Ella had a great time running from door to door to get her candy. One of the houses had a bounce house set up for the kids and another had a Monster's Inc. playing on their garage door. There were also lots of liquid beverages for the parents...I tried a pumpkin shot...very yummy...I know, I'm getting wild and crazy!!!Here's proof that Jason was not doing a very good job watching Isaac. Can you see Jason in the background? EXACTLY!!! This is not what I call looking after our 13 month old! He kept trying to tell me he was "watching" him! I guess we have different views of what that means.

It was a fun week and now I have to get back to eating more candy :)!

Recipe for Disaster

1 Tablespoon of way too hot for costumes weather (humid and in the 80s today...yuck)

2 tsp. toddler who does not like costume or anything on his head

3 cups of todder who missed afternoon nap

1/2 cup preschooler freaked out by scary costumes

1 nut of a mom who decides to go to the neighborhood Halloween party by herself with two kids

Mix together and you get a recipe for disaster!

Went to the neighborhood Halloween party tonight, wished I hadn't wasted the $. I'm not knocking the party, just my poor judgment based on the the circumstances. Oh well, I really didn't feel like fixing dinner...next time I think I'll order take out :). The look on Isaac's face pretty much sums up the night.

BTW, it rained this morning so no pumpkin patch! One of these days I'll get the covetted pumpkin patch picture and if I don't I'll just enjoy others!

Pumpkin Patch Visit

I've always loved the photos I've seen of children in pumpkin patches. I don't know what it is, maybe the colors. Ella's preschool class took a visit to the pumpkin patch today. I was hoping for a cute photo of both of them together, but it didn't happen.








Ella's really not a fun kid to take pictures of, because she either makes a really cheesy smile or pretty much refuses to have her picture taken. Her latest tactic seems to be closing her eyes. This combined with the cheesy smile makes it really annoying to get pictures of her. Why do I even try?! Getting a Christmas picture this year should be fun!





I did get one good candid of Isaac. Better luck at tomorrow's pumpkin patch visit (yes, we are going to another pumpkin patch tomorrow for the sole purpose of the covetted pumpkin patch photo...not really, but I'll give it another shot!)

Painting Pumpkins

Here's a little craft Ella did a few weeks ago. I bought these mini pumpkins and was planning to keep them on the table for decoration. Ella really loved them (she has a thing for anything mini). Anyway, I found her sneaking my pumpkins into her room.

So, I decided to let her paint a few...then she decided she wanted to paint all of them for her friends at school. How could I resist, so here are some pictures of her little project. They turned out to be pretty cute and we wrapped them in cellophane and tied them with a ribbon and she wrote each child's name on a label, so it was good practice for her with writing her letters. Maybe I'm more of a teacher than I thought :0!

The only bad thing was that I tried to remember all the kids from her class by memory (bad idea). We ended up forgetting one kid...how terrible is that! Ella didn't take any time letting me know we had forgotten Ryan...oops. I ended up running out that night and buying another pumpkin for him and we brought it to school the next day and of course he wasn't there...oh well!

Funny Things Ella's Said Lately

Ella's Learning Spanish (well maybe)

This afternoon Ella caught a cricket that I saved from drowing in the pool. She held it in captivity for hours in a water bottle. She decided to let it have a bigger place to "live" and transfered it to a large piece of my Tupperware (don't worry those of you who have received meals from me in Tupperware...we have special containers for the insects). I guess we didn't discuss the fact that crickets are really good at jumping. As I was making dinner, I heard a loud scream/cry. I ran outside to find Ella pertrified...she had seen a bee fly by (I wonder what her reaction would have been if it stung her). Anyway, in the midst of the panic attack her cricket escaped. After dinner, I told her she could go and look for the cricket and she didn't find it. She came back inside and told me this...

Ella: A maya wish
Me: You made a wish?
Ella: No, A maya wish.
Me: What did you wish for?
Ella: No, A maya wish. It means I didn't find it...in Spanish.

Now that clears things up doesn't it?!


What Ella Wants to Be When she Grows Up

When my parents were here a few weeks ago, Ella informed us that she wanted to either be a doctor, a vet, or do nails. I like how they all seem to be on level playing ground in her mind!

Bye, Bye Fay!

This past week was a doozie. Not only did we have a tropical storm that wouldn't go away, our entire house beginning with Isaac and ending with Jason ended up with a stomach "bug." It's a week I am glad to leave in the past. Here are a few pictures of the flooding on our street. This was after the water had subsided.

This coming week is a big week. Ella starts pre-K tomorrow. She's going 4 days instead of two, so it's a big jump. I am a little bit sad that she'll be gone so many mornings of the week. She's growing up so fast!

My parents are moving on Thursday and while I know it's a good thing it makes me sad too. It's hard to let go of the house I grew up in. O.K., I'm starting to depress myself, so that's it for now.

First Steps

I've had this little walker out for about a week in the playroom. A few days ago, out of the corner of my eye I noticed Isaac pushing it. He took his first steps and I almost missed it!

I was so excited and so was Ella. She immediately ran to her bedroom and grabbed her pom poms and began cheering him on (notice Ella with the pom poms running behind him). It was too cute! Somedays I wish I had someone running behind me cheering me on!

Tattooed and Riding a Harley!

She's only 4 years old, but she took her first ride on a Harley this weekend (notice the tattoos on her arm...she fits the stereotype!!!). We had some friends over and he took her for a ride around the cul-de-sac and she LOVED it. We could hear here yelling "Whooohooo." That girl is an adrenaline junky!!!

Conversations with Ella

This past week, Ella's been cracking me up. Maybe I find it funny because I'm her mom, but I thought I'd share a few of the funny things she's said. I'm kind of glad to know she's still cracking some good ones, because I was beginning to think that she was getting too old and out growing the "funny" stage. Guess I was wrong.

On Isaac...

The big news for Ella last week was that we're keeping Isaac. Yes, as funny as it sounds, I think she was truly convinced that we had checked him out from the library and he was going to be due back soon!

A few nights ago, I was giving them both a bath and they were having fun splashing around. It was a good sibling moment.

Me: Aren't you glad that you have a brother, Ella
E: Yes. Can we keep him when he gets to be my age?
Me: Can we keep him?
E: Yeah.
Me: Sure!
E: Oh GREAT! (Turning to Isaac) "Did you hear that buddy, we're going to keep you."

I thought that it ended there, but the next morning after breakfast she asked me again. Do we get to keep Isaac when he's my age? I guess for some reason she thought we were giving him back. Maybe it's because we keep telling her if she's bad we're sending her back to where she came from (just joking...I'm totally kidding...Johnny and Judy if you're reading this, I've never said that).

On Starvation...

I was going through the drive through at Boston Market last week and Ella was in the back seat telling me how hungry she was.

E: Can I have something to eat in the car?
Me: No, because everything we're getting is too messy and plus we'll be home soon.
E: (With a loud sigh) You've got to be kidding me. I'm starving!

Can we say DRAMA QUEEN?

On Praise and Worship Music...

Ella went to Vacation Bible School last week and I kept asking her what songs they were learning since they had a little program at the end of the week for the parents. She couldn't really remember anything except for a little "nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah" and waved her hands in the air.

At dinner that night, Jason asked her what she was learning at VBS. She said, "We're learning songs about God." I thought, oh she's finally remembering some of the words and knows the songs are about God. That's wonderful. Then the next thing she says is "It goes like this. Show your underpants, show your underpants." Jason and I both about spit our food across the table.

Budding Photographer

My friend Anne's has a website called Teaching Two http://www.teachingtwo.com/. It's full of creative things to do with your kids. I used an idea from her site and let Ella take pictures of her favorite things around the house. It was fun to see what she took pictures of...

Butterflies hanging in her room

Her pony that she adores (and dresses up in all kinds of get ups)

Macey (looking less than thrilled)

I love this one. She took a picture of herself...one of her favorite things. Don't we all wish we still had the self esteem of a 4-year-old?

Our family photo wall

Ella's Birthday and the Cake Chaos

Well, the day she had been waiting for all year finally arrived May "fourfh." I made the mistake of telling her that her birthday was almost here around the beginning of April, so I spent the rest of April and the beginning of May answering endless questions of "how many more days until it's my birthday." A few days before the "big day" she asked again..."how many more days until my birthday." Excitedly I replied "just two more days...not today, not tomorrow, but next day." With a loud sigh of disappointment she said, "but Mommy that's a long time and I've been waiting all year for my birthday!" (Haven't we all!)

I really tried my best to have a simple, low-key birthday party for her, but the OCD "event planner" in me just can't seem to abide by the old adage K.I.S.S. (keep it simple stupid). We decided to have the party up at our neighborhood pool...that part was easy, but then came the cake. I've always ordered cakes and was on track to do the same this year. Ella had been eyeing the princess or castle cakes for months. So, we went to the store to pick it out and of course she picked the most expensive option, the castle cake. I'm not sure if it was the $50 price tag for the cake that would be devoured by 4-year-olds who could care less or the fact that I can't seem to abide by the K.I.S.S. principle that made me do it. Anyway, as we're checking out I spotted the Betty Crocker Birthday Parties magazine. I scanned it and found the most adorable flip flop cake that looked "so easy." Ella really liked it and decided she wanted the flip flops instead of the castle, which surprised me.

So, I decided to give it a try! No big deal, right? No big deal if all of the ingredients are available. The flip flop straps called for Green Apple Fruit by the Foot. Didn't seem like a hard thing to find, wrong! After buying about 20 boxes of Fruit by the Foot from 5 different stores, I decided to scrap the idea and go for fondant at Michaels. Needless to say, I think I spent more on the "homemade cake" than I would have it I had ordered the "expensive" castle cake.

To top it all off, I had planned on making the cake during Ella and Isaac's naps. Ella was so excited on Friday that she couldn't see straight, so after about 50 min. of coming out of her room ever 5 min. and asking questions, I ended up telling her she didn't have to take a nap. Then all hell broke loose! She started crying about something and I then I heard Isaac wake up. I began to lose it and my poor sister was here to witness the cake making chaos! It ended up turning out cute (thanks to help from my sis) and Ella liked it, but now I'm in cake making therapy, so I'm not sure that it was worth it.

Happy Birthday, Sweetheart! I hope you enjoyed your cake, because I'm not sure I'll be making one next year.

Seriously though, it's not about the cake it's about Ella and I feel so blessed to be her Mommy. She's an amazing little girl with so much enthusiasm, intensity, and a love for life. You are a precious gift!

Redneck Beach...

So we were supposed to go to the beach today with my parents, but they both ended up with colds. Instead of lugging two kids and everything that goes with them to the beach by myself I decided to stay home. Ella was bummed and shot down my offers to go to the pool or the splash park (which suprised me). Instead she decided to create her own beach and flipped the top of the sand box over to create a the "pool" and the sand of course for the beach.

Off to the Races

We went to see the horses again today. It was too windy to enjoy...I can't believe this weather in April! Anyway, when we got home Ella decided to make her own "carriage." She wanted her pony to be like the horses that we were watching race around the track. Of course, I was the one pulling the pony around and the stroller. It ended up being more like bumper cars than horse racing.

MOPS Spring Picnic

Scary clown with Ella


Today was the MOPS Spring Picnic. We had lots of fun...it was a carnival theme (that's why I'm dressed up like a clown).

A Day with Thomas

Waiting for Thomas
Riding on Thomas
Storytime...it has her on the edge of her seat!
Playing with trains
Meeting Sir Tophamhat

My dad took Ella to see Thomas on Friday. She was so excited to go and told Jason that morning before he left for work that "Thomas was real and I'm going to get to ride on him." She's a very well rounded little girl. While she loves dressing up like a princess, she is very much into Thomas the Tank Engine!