We have a FOUR year old!

Tuesday our sweet girl turned four.  My goodness how did that happen?  What joy Ella brings to us.  She's smart, sweet, curious, sneaky, girly, loving, caring, funny, meticulous, friendly and can even be a tad bit bratty and/or bossy from time to time (but we are forgiving).  She loves school, her teachers and her friends - friends at school, neighborhood, and the ones she's known since she was a baby.  Every year her teachers tell me how wonderful she is in class and they'd like to take her home with them.  What mom doesn't want to hear good things about their child?  This year I've already been told she's the leader of the girls.  They look up to her and look to her for direction!  Clearly she gets that from her daddy, as I was more of a shy girl. :)  Bennett loves his big sister and wants to do whatever she's doing and probably wants to do it better.  She likes to remind us that she's bigger and stronger, but I keep telling her that it won't be long before he catches up to her.  I mean have you seen him lately?

I love my little girl so much.  I hope that she knows how much I love her despite the moments of frustration from time to time.  Hopefully in this next year I'll teach her many new things just like she's teaching me new things. 

Happy Birthday, Ella!

One day old

One year old

Two years old

Three years old

Last day as a three year old

Four years old!

I think she liked the cupcakes we made to celebrate her and my mom's birthday!

Ella’s 4th Princess Birthday Party

On Sunday we celebrated Ella’s birthday.  She chose to have a princess dress-up party.  I found a lady that rents themed party costumes and she just so happens to have a princess and knight party.  I picked up the trunk on Friday and as soon as Ella got home from pre-school she started digging through the shoes and dresses.  Thankfully the weekend was dry after a week of rain but it was HOT.  Of course by Tuesday (her actual birthday) it was in the 60s.  Ella had a wonderful time at her party and I think her friends did too!

 

Getting the party set up

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ella & her cousin Caylee

 

 

 

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The kids getting dressed and accessorized.

 

                                 Dance party - Party in the U.S.A.

Piñata Time! 

We had our first piñata.   It was the pull string kind but we went ahead and let the kids hit it with a bat.  It didn’t really workout so we just let them break it open.  Candy for all!

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Ella’s cake matched her invitations.  You can’t have a princess party without a castle!

 

After all of Ella’s sweet friends left and we were able to catch our breath and put little brother down for a nap, Ella finally got to open presents!

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Lastly, a few pictures of Ella and her favorite peeps!

Ella got two of the best presents from BB…a pettiskirt and Pinocchio!!

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We were exhausted by the end of the day but it was a great day!  I’m so glad she enjoyed it and will never forget her princess party.

Ella sings Love Story!

I finally figured out how to sync up the video camera to the computer. It was so easy. I think the last time I tried I didn't turn the video camera on which is why it wouldn't work. :) After at least two years of no videos I'll start posting videos of the kids. To kick start the videos of 2009, here's Ella singing Taylor Swift's Love Story (taken earlier this summer). Turn up your volume and give her a few seconds to get a little louder.

More videos to follow...

Bennett is 15 months!

Wow, does time fly! I can't believe my little guy is already 15 months. What a blessing he is to us. He is on the go, go, go! He makes me smile everyday and I just love him to pieces. This week he started going to a sitter once a week. He's not old enough to attend MDO at Ella's school. He missed the cut off by four months. My friend, Ivy, told me about a friend of hers that watches a few kids during the week. She is so sweet and will be watching him one day that Ella is in school. I'm able to get some things done around the house, go to the doctor kid-free and run a few errands while he plays. Works out nicely for both of us!

New things in Bennett's world:

*says Da (dad)

*says Ma (mom)

*outside (he stands at the back door and says it until we take him out to play)

*says "I want that"

*says "What this"

*can shake his head YES when you ask him a question...it's pretty darn cute!

*can make the "Gig 'em thumbs up when you say Aggies....sometimes ;)

*raises his arms when you say "Touchdown"

*uses a crayon properly...and then proceeds to eat it after he's tried of coloring

*can hold a bat and try to hit the ball on the T-ball stand

*successfully throws a ball, any size

*eat likes there's no tomorrow and feed Sadie if we're not looking and then put the remaining food in his hand back in his mouth - GROSS

*pull Ella's hair - HARD...Ouch!

*discovered that cars and trucks are fun to play with

*bounce around and dance to music

*continues to light up the room with his smiles and chuckles

We love you, Bennett!!

First day of Pre-school!!!!

Ella started pre-school on Friday!  No more MDO for her.  She was very excited to start school.  She loves school and was ready to get back to her routine.  On Wednesday we went to Meet the Teacher.  She had a warm welcome from Mrs. Sumrow, “I know you.”  She recognized Ella from last year.  That was so nice for both of us.  Her other teacher Mrs. Blake is very nice also.  This year they call their teachers by their last names rather than Ms. “first name”.  I like that.  I think that is a great way to prepare them for not only kindergarten but for society.  It seems like we have gotten out of the habit of calling adults by their last names and maybe it’s time to get back to it!  We were a little disappointed that none of her friends are in her class this year.  I think a lot of them stayed in the T/Th class one more year.  Ella needs three days though as I think she gets bored at home and they say three years old means three days a week.  After we met her teachers we walked down to the technology classroom and said hi to Mrs. Morgan.  Her room is right across the hall from her classroom from last year so we know Mrs. Morgan.  She’s so sweet and often would help me with Bennett in the mornings.  Ella will go to her class once a week and learn how to use the computer!  Friday morning I had to wake her up and get her going.  She was excited about the first day!  She walked right in and gave me a kiss good-bye and went straight to the dress-up corner.  She was right at home!  I arrived a few minutes early to pick her up and low and behold my daughter that NEVER naps at home (unless it’s in the car) was sound asleep on her nap mat clutching Gloria, of course.  I wish I had my camera at pick-up.  I had to stroke her hair and rub her back to wake her up.  It even took a minute or two.  Such a sweetheart!  She was so happy to see me and tell me all about her day.  When Mrs. Sumrow said she’d see her on Wednesday Ella was perplexed and then I told her it was a holiday and she could spend the day with daddy.  She perked up. :)  All in all, it was a fantastic day and I’m sure my little girl will have a fabulous year!

Ready to go

Pretty girl

Hugging Bennett bye

In her classroom, with Gloria!

And without Gloria…bye-bye Mommy!

Our mornings

Our little boy loves to play outside.  In fact he loves it so much he’s ready to play the minute he wakes up.  He often wakes up, eats breakfast and is playing out back before his sister wakes up.  Thankfully it’s nice and cool outside in the mornings so I don’t mind sitting outback drinking my coffee while he plays.  This week Ella was out playing as well.  I got out the basketball and she was “teaching” him how to play.  It was quite cute and their daddy would have loved to have seen it since he’s the basketball player.  There’s always next time!

Out for a quick mow

Examining her flowers

Tractor time

CHEESE

First, you roll the ball.

Going for the basket

Almost there!

And, we’re done!

Princess Camp

I never posted pictures from Princess camp.  Shame on me!  Ella had so much fun that week.  I was just uploading her first day of school pictures to the computer and realized I never added these so I will add a few.  She went to camp the week after our trip to California.  They learned a ballet, jazz and tap dance in four days (with the teacher dancing in the front corner :)).  There was a performance on Thursday afternoon.  It was precious!  If I could figure out how to sync the video player to the computer I would upload the video but I can’t figure it out.  I’ve tried different cords and all.  O-well.  She chose her Tinkerbell dress-up dress for the performance.

Shopaholic website

I found a fun website tonight: Tales from a Shopaholic.  If you know me you know I've read every Sophie Kinsella book including all the Shopaholic books so of course this website caught my eye.  In honor of her daughter's 2nd birthday birthday she's throwing a Birthday Bash with lots of giveaways!  Check it out for more details.