October 2011

Fall is here and we love it!

We took Ellie to several fall festivals, including one at her MDO. She dressed up as a lady bug for several of the events.

Grandmommy and Grandaddy took her on a train ride at the Calera Train Station to the pumpkin patch. She loved it and got to pick out a pumpkin.
On Halloween night Stephen and I took her trick or treating with some friends and she dressed up as Rapunzel. She was very sweet and would say "thank you" each time someone gave her candy. This was her first year walking up to doors alone :).

Grandmommy, Grandaddy, and I also took Ellie to Tuscaloosa this month. Grandad's neice was having a huge tailgating announcement party so we went and hung out all day. Ellie had a lot of fun hanging out outside and eating lots of food. We didn't go to the game though because I didn't think she would make it through after all the celebrating that morning/afternoon.

Ellie also took her first trip to Disney World this month! Stephen, myself, Grandmommy, and Ellie drove down to Orlando and stayed in a resort close to Disney. They had an awesome water slide at the outdoor pool and even though it was a little cool Ellie loved it! She slid down the slides all by herself and someone would be waiting for her at the bottom. She would shoot into the water and then swim to whoever was waiting. She has become such a good swimmer!! There was also a hot tub so she played in that some too.
Ellie loved Magic Kingdom! Grandpa Steve, Mima, and Pamela met us there. The first thing we did was wait in line to meet the princesses. Ellie was "star struck" you could say. She looked at them so lovingly and gave them each a hug. It was the sweetest thing ever! We also met Mickey and Minnie. She rode the teacups about 20 times, flying dumbo, giant carousel, and lots of other rides. We had a wonderful time and I can't wait to take her back again.


We also hung out with Aunt Rachel and the girls one day. Ellie really enjoyed playing with her cousins Mia, Monica, and Gabriella. She remembered the girls from the year before I think :).

OH, and Ellie's new thing is standing on my center console and looking out the sunroof as we are driving up the driveway. Apparently she is practing for when she is a beauty queen :)

September 2011

Ellie started MDO this month. She was going two days a week for 4 hours a day. It started out o.k but didn't last long. She didn't like it and neither did I so she only did it through November. I think one of the main problems was that she was in a 2 year old class (which she should have been) but was socially more advanced than most of the other kids. For example, she was the only kid in the class that was potty trained and had been for a year. The "other problem" was that she had good communication skills which made her seem older than she was. Her teacher seemed to think that because she had the verbal skills of an older child and was potty trained that she should be acting like an older child.

The other thing was that all she did there was worksheets, like writing worksheets. Not exactly what I had in mind when I signed her up. I wanted her to be doing art projects and having fun, not doing worksheet after worksheet. She would cry a lot of times when I dropped her off and they even called me one day to come and pick her up because she was upset. That was very unlike Ellie. So, we tried it for a few months and then decided to pull her out.

Lots of football watching this month. We've been haging out with friends to watch while the kids play :)

Why Hello There!

So, I fell off the blogging horse over a year ago and am just now getting back on. I actually forgot that I had a blog until a few months ago but things have been really busy and I haven't had time to update. So I think I will try to create a few different posts with the months and briefly update.

Trying to stay entertained

It has been such a hot summer that Ellie and I have not been doing anything outside that doesn't involve water, MEANING, we've been indoors trying to stay entertained. We did a lot of swimming at the beginning of the summer but really haven't been much in the past two months. Stephen and I have taken her to Ijump several times, bowling, and tree top but that gets expensive. I've taken her to the book store a few times to play with the dolls and the train table but that is kinda far so that takes that off the list. Entertainment comes down to play dates (which we love), borrowing friends kids, and making stuff. We have jumped on the trampoline on the rare occasion that it isn't sweltering and actually Stephen has jumped out there with her several times with the sprinklers on.

We've baked and cooked like crazy but today I decided we were going to make some crafty stuff. I searched a few blogs, made a list, and then Ellie and I headed to Wal Mart to buy our supplies. We made window paint and painted the double doors going onto the deck and she had so much fun. Who knew? She also used the paint to paint the bathtub during bath time...

While I made lunch, daddy and Ellie made Ice Cream in a bag and it was actually DELICIOUS! It was so good that they immediately made a triple batch after tasting the first batch. Granted, one batch is only enough for one person, if even that :). Ellie enjoyed making it and then putting sprinkles and chocolate chips on hers. YUM

We made one batch of homemade doodle paint and it turned out good so we'll make more tomorrow or one day next week. I have to buy the squirt bottles to put them in first. We still have plans to make play dough, puff paint, bird treats, and several other things. I think a couple of things a day is good for now though :).

Oh, and Ellie and I made a "busy tray". It's basically a cookie sheet covered in scrap book paper. We made letter magnets out of clear stones and card stock that she can put on the cookie sheet to practice her letters/spelling. (No, she isn't spelling, I said practice :) ). It can also be used to put a color sheet on and has a lip all the way around so that her colored pencils don't fall off. I plan to make some cards with different words on them that she can put the corresponding letter magnet on each letter on the card. It could also be used as a snack tray. I'm going to leave it in the car for those times when we have to wait and Ellie is bored :) Anyways, it's so cute and I got the idea off of another blog. The magnet idea is from http://www.our-everyday-art.com/2010/12/alphabet-magnets.html and the busy board is from http://inbetweenlaundry.blogspot.com/2010/10/busy-tray.html

Baking Bread

Ellie and I made bread this morning! She poured all the ingredients and whisked it until it got "too hard" with all the flour in it. Next we sprinkled flour all over the counters and she helped me knead the dough. She did pretty good I must say. After we kneaded the bread for TEN long minutes, we had to let it set for an hour and a half....

Next it was time to punch the dough and make the rolls

All done~all that's left is the baking

I just got these out of the oven and they are YUMMY! Good job Ellie

So thankful for this precious child

I am so thankful that God has blessed us with Ellie. She is such a wonderful girl and brings such joy to everyone she is around. She is always happy and laughing and making the funniest faces. She has the best sense of humor and uses it often. Each night I lay in her bed with her and we read certain books in a certain order. The last two books we read are her Bible (pre school version) and a book of prayers. We read about 8 prayers from the book and the first one we read is The Lords Prayer. Tonight, as I was reading it to her she was kinda mumbling along with me so I said, "lets read it again" and she says "no, I'll read it mommy". This is what she says "Our father who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, they will be done on earth as in Heaven"..."Forgive us of trepasses and lead not to temptation"...and she stumbled through the rest. Now, she got the first five lines PERFECT then skipped a line, said a couple more, then said some of the other phrases. This child is only 27 months old! I felt like my heart was going to come out of my chest, she is so amazing. I cannot thank God enough for this precious gift and I just wanted to share a little bit of why she is so awesome :)

Fingers

Ellie is trying to learn the names of all her fingers. She really likes the pinkie finger and the thumb. Her pronunciation of all her words is getting so so clear. I think it's been clear all along but she's really sounding out each letter now. I love that she can talk. Makes life so much easier :)

Stephen and I took her to the bowling alley today. It was her first trip and she had so much fun. It was the middle of the day but they had cosmic bowling going on so everything was lit up. She liked her bowling shoes and that the shoe laces were lighting up. Of course daddy took her to the arcade section while we waited for our lane and they played games. She likes that game where you throw/roll the ball and try to make it into one of the holes. Daddy lets her walk up to the front and toss the balls in but she still manages to get them into the zero point hole most of the time, lol. We had lots of fun. After bowling we went to Buffalo Wild Wings and then to Target. It was such an awesome family day. I love days like these :).
Stephen and I decided that we want to join a bowling league together so I think we're going to do that in September. Should be lots of fun. It would just be nice to do something as a couple on a regular basis. I just need to talk to grandmommy about watching Ellie for us those nights. It's just one night a week and its close to her bed time. Besides, grandmommy and grandaddy love watching Ellie ( and she LOVES them). Shouldn't be a problem, I'm excited!

Everyone enjoy your weekend~