Before Ella's nap we read a story about Christmas Elves who discovered that some kids didn't need toys but instead needed food so they brought some families a Christmas feast and toys. We talked about how some famlies don't have very much money and they don't have enough food and how it's good to help them. I told her that sometimes Gideon (our adopted Compassion Intl. child) and lots of kids in Africa don't have enough food sometimes too. I didn't know if she'd get it but it was worth mentioning. Then she napped (read: laid in her bed and talked/cried/sang for 45 minutes).
She's been up for a few minutes and was playing. Then, she walked into our bedroom where I was (the furthest point in the house from the kitchen) carrying a whole cantelope. I didn't want to startle her and make her drop it so I tried to remain calm.
Me: Ella! You got the cantelope!
Ella: Yeah! From the refrigerator! (It was in a drawer too-I have no idea how she managed this)
Me: Wow! Well, let's be careful with it so we don't drop it on your feet. Let's go put it back!
Ella: NO! We can't, it's for the children.
Me: Huh?
Ella: The children don't have any food so let's go give it to them ok?
Me: Oooohhh. You're right Ella, some kids need food and that's very nice to want to give it to them. Who should we give it to?
Ella: (still holding the cantelope) How 'bout Miss Jen?
Me: I think they have enough food.
Ella: How 'bout Uncle David and Aunt Jew-ee (Julie)?
Me: Why?
Ella: They can give it to Africa! (Dave and Julie just got back from a missions trip to Cameroon)
Me (laughing): that's a good idea! But maybe we'll keep this cantelope and send some money so they can buy some food in Africa.
Ella: ok. This watermelon is heavy Mom. But I'm strong.
Also, as I'm writing this she was "reading" a nail polish bottle and said "this says dear Ella, you should pray." She said, let's pray and held my hand and said
"Dear God, thank you for the sun and for the Lord. Let's be nice. And I pray for Lexi and Aunt Holly. The End. I mean Amen"
Thursday, July 31, 2008
We DO NOT scream!
Ella was at my parents last week and helping my mom "clean" by wiping everything she could reach with a wipe. At one point my mom turned around and saw her wiping the outlet on the wall...
Mom: ELLA! NO!!!! (Loudly)
Ella (startled, quiet for a minute then walked toward my mom and then in a very serious tone) : Abuela, we do not scream. We talk about it. DO NOT SCREAM. You just talk about it.
I was cracking up when my mom told me this-I can hear myself saying those exact words to her almost daily. I guess in some weird way it's sticking!
She has been a HELLION for the last two days but today is much better so far. Yesterday I lost my temper and really yelled at her for the first time in her life. I've never heard myself say "Come here now" so meanly (is that a word?) EVER, to anyone. I apologized to her later and I hope I don't let her get the best of me like that anymore (or at least only annually or so). As for today going better, the only thing that's different is how much I've been praying for her (and that Holly took her for 2 hrs this morning so I didn't lose my mind). I'm trying to figure out the best way to inspire respect in her and get her to do things the first time I tell her to. I'm open to tips from you blog readers...
Also, at lunch at Holly's today, Holly and I were chatting and eating (thanks for the Chinese food Hol!) and Ella was sitting and eating quietly (yay Ella). If that wasn't good enough, out of nowhere she said "Mom, I love you and you're very pretty." Awwww...she can be so sweet! When I told her I loved her and that she's pretty too she said "I know, I'm is pretty!" Oh well, grammar and humility are definitely skills to worry about another day.
Mom: ELLA! NO!!!! (Loudly)
Ella (startled, quiet for a minute then walked toward my mom and then in a very serious tone) : Abuela, we do not scream. We talk about it. DO NOT SCREAM. You just talk about it.
I was cracking up when my mom told me this-I can hear myself saying those exact words to her almost daily. I guess in some weird way it's sticking!
She has been a HELLION for the last two days but today is much better so far. Yesterday I lost my temper and really yelled at her for the first time in her life. I've never heard myself say "Come here now" so meanly (is that a word?) EVER, to anyone. I apologized to her later and I hope I don't let her get the best of me like that anymore (or at least only annually or so). As for today going better, the only thing that's different is how much I've been praying for her (and that Holly took her for 2 hrs this morning so I didn't lose my mind). I'm trying to figure out the best way to inspire respect in her and get her to do things the first time I tell her to. I'm open to tips from you blog readers...
Also, at lunch at Holly's today, Holly and I were chatting and eating (thanks for the Chinese food Hol!) and Ella was sitting and eating quietly (yay Ella). If that wasn't good enough, out of nowhere she said "Mom, I love you and you're very pretty." Awwww...she can be so sweet! When I told her I loved her and that she's pretty too she said "I know, I'm is pretty!" Oh well, grammar and humility are definitely skills to worry about another day.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Missing Blogger
My blog posting is directly correlated to how much school work I have. This was the last week of summer classes so now I'm free for a whole month! I love school but this last class was somewhat painful at times. I will NEVER take a class from 4pm-8pm two nights a week in the middle of the summer again. Being hungry and thinking about everything you could be doing while staring at power point was torturous. But I'm done :-)
Ella has been pretty good behavior wise this week and continues to sleep like a champ at night-it's kind of creepy that it's been about 6 months since she's made a single noise during the night. It used to be that every month or two she'd wake up for a few minutes during the night, just to keep us on our toes. Since she's stopped napping very faithfully (we're at about 2-3 times a week now) she sleeps SO soundly at night and doesn't make a peep between bedtime and the morning. I'm realizing I kinda liked the random times of waking up with her during the night-it made me feel like I was doing the hard work of a mom, slugging to her room all drowsy and concerned. Now, I just get to do the hard mom-work during the day :-)
Well, off to nurse my second bladder infection of the month. So not fun. I'll try to take some pictures soon and start posting regularly again :-)
PS-Confession-I'm totally hooked on the High School Musical Reality show that started last week on ABC. I'm such a dork but I'm ok with that :-)
Ella has been pretty good behavior wise this week and continues to sleep like a champ at night-it's kind of creepy that it's been about 6 months since she's made a single noise during the night. It used to be that every month or two she'd wake up for a few minutes during the night, just to keep us on our toes. Since she's stopped napping very faithfully (we're at about 2-3 times a week now) she sleeps SO soundly at night and doesn't make a peep between bedtime and the morning. I'm realizing I kinda liked the random times of waking up with her during the night-it made me feel like I was doing the hard work of a mom, slugging to her room all drowsy and concerned. Now, I just get to do the hard mom-work during the day :-)
Well, off to nurse my second bladder infection of the month. So not fun. I'll try to take some pictures soon and start posting regularly again :-)
PS-Confession-I'm totally hooked on the High School Musical Reality show that started last week on ABC. I'm such a dork but I'm ok with that :-)
Friday, July 18, 2008
Marissa rocks
Marissa rocks. She's the coolest sister ever. The newest reason for this is that she has a billboard up in Baltimore!!! (see above) She got the grant for it and the kids she works with helped create it. There's more info at www.buildunitythroughart.com. Also, here's her bio...hope she doesn't mind that I'm bragging about her publicly :-) But, like I said, she rocks.
Marissa Berk-Smith grew up in Columbia, MD. She received her undergraduate degree from Boston College where she studied Sociology and Communications under Dr. Kerry Anne Rockquemore. Her primary focus was finding a way to integrate the sociology of racial identity through photography and qualitative research. The majority of her work has focused on biracial identity. Being biracial, she explored the question “what are you?” Having to reduce her racial and ethnic identity into one box on my college application forms sparked her interest in racial issues and how they affected educational opportunities.
After graduating, she spent a year teaching at-risk, urban elementary school children in Baltimore and Boston. There, she saw that there was a need to expand children’s creativity and imaginations. As a result, Marissa attended Duke’s Center for Documentary Studies, to research alternative teaching methods. Literacy Through Photography, a teaching method she learned while at Duke, encourages students to find their voice through photographs and written text. Her first application of Literacy Through Photography methods was teaching Photography II at Massachusetts College of Art to high school students,
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Update and Pics from Dad
Not a whole lot to report about Ella, she vascillates constantly between super sweet and super disobedient. We had our best trip to the Mall ever, just the two of us on Monday-shopped, had lunch, played, and she was great the entire time. It was wonderful! It felt like a glimpse of the future-a child who I can take places without fear of her running away, whining, crying etc. Then, the next day she played with Aunt Amy while I did school work and proceeded to beat her cousins up and openly defy Amy a million times. AHHHHHHH! The roller coaster of behavior is draining-I never know which Ella I'll have moment to moment. Thank God for all of the good moments though...and that she's so darn cute.
The only other news is that Ella's chipped tooth that was bonded fell off again and we got it re-fixed at the dentist last Tuesday. That night Ella got pushed off a slide, fell on her face, got a HORRIBLE fat lip, and of course, knocked off the bonding in her tooth that was done that morning. Her lip is almost completely healed now and we're trying to decide what to do about her tooth. The dentist has assured us it will continue to fall off every few months. So do we let her have half a front tooth for the next 4 years until it falls out? Or do we keep getting it bonded so she doesn't look funny? I'm up for advice...
Anyway, on a good note, here are some pics my dad took and passed on to me recently :-)
At the pool with Popeye and Abuela
I love this picture of Ella and Aunt Marissa-they look like models!
I love how she's looking at my grandmother with such admiration and interest.
Showing Ella the locket Marissa made me with a picture of us as kids
Dr.Ella! In her words, she currently wants to be "a monkey doctor, so she can help animals to feel better."
The only other news is that Ella's chipped tooth that was bonded fell off again and we got it re-fixed at the dentist last Tuesday. That night Ella got pushed off a slide, fell on her face, got a HORRIBLE fat lip, and of course, knocked off the bonding in her tooth that was done that morning. Her lip is almost completely healed now and we're trying to decide what to do about her tooth. The dentist has assured us it will continue to fall off every few months. So do we let her have half a front tooth for the next 4 years until it falls out? Or do we keep getting it bonded so she doesn't look funny? I'm up for advice...
Anyway, on a good note, here are some pics my dad took and passed on to me recently :-)
At the pool with Popeye and Abuela
I love this picture of Ella and Aunt Marissa-they look like models!
I love how she's looking at my grandmother with such admiration and interest.
Showing Ella the locket Marissa made me with a picture of us as kids
Dr.Ella! In her words, she currently wants to be "a monkey doctor, so she can help animals to feel better."
Some of my favorite things...
I don't really ever do product reviews/recommendations on my blog but there have been a few things lately that I just really LOVE so here ya go...
First is this book: On Top of Spaghetti by Paul Brett Johnson. There aren't that many kids books that I beg to read over and over but this one cracks me up! I can't help but read it with a funny, loud, southern drawl and sing loudly and somewhat off-key when appropriate. It's just a really fun book. Brewster the Rooster is another good one (very clever) we've come across lately :-)
Kenra hair products is the next wonderful thing. I got some of the shine spray at the salon where I get my hair cut because it worked well when the stylist used it and it smells AMAZING. It's hard to describe the scent but I literally get compliments all the time. LOVE it.
Another great beauty product-I discovered this Revlon Custom Creations foundation while I was looking to buy a darker foundation because I've gotten a tan in the last few weeks. I was annoyed that I wasn't sure which color would be right and what if I get even darker as summer goes on? Well, look no further, this thing is SO smart! It has four compartments with different shades and you can set it on one of 5 levels of darkness and it combines the shades all by itself! Right now I'm using shade combo 3 but if I get darker I can kick up to 4 or 5. It's fabulous and I totally recommend it.
Random and last but not least, is my relatively new idea to make lasagna in a loaf pan so it's the perfect size for a small family. We never finish a big lasagna and a smaller one is a much more doable semi-quick meal. The Barilla no-boil lasagna noodles are also the perfect size for a loaf pan!
So, there are my random tips for today. More about Ella soon :-)
First is this book: On Top of Spaghetti by Paul Brett Johnson. There aren't that many kids books that I beg to read over and over but this one cracks me up! I can't help but read it with a funny, loud, southern drawl and sing loudly and somewhat off-key when appropriate. It's just a really fun book. Brewster the Rooster is another good one (very clever) we've come across lately :-)
Kenra hair products is the next wonderful thing. I got some of the shine spray at the salon where I get my hair cut because it worked well when the stylist used it and it smells AMAZING. It's hard to describe the scent but I literally get compliments all the time. LOVE it.
Another great beauty product-I discovered this Revlon Custom Creations foundation while I was looking to buy a darker foundation because I've gotten a tan in the last few weeks. I was annoyed that I wasn't sure which color would be right and what if I get even darker as summer goes on? Well, look no further, this thing is SO smart! It has four compartments with different shades and you can set it on one of 5 levels of darkness and it combines the shades all by itself! Right now I'm using shade combo 3 but if I get darker I can kick up to 4 or 5. It's fabulous and I totally recommend it.
Random and last but not least, is my relatively new idea to make lasagna in a loaf pan so it's the perfect size for a small family. We never finish a big lasagna and a smaller one is a much more doable semi-quick meal. The Barilla no-boil lasagna noodles are also the perfect size for a loaf pan!
So, there are my random tips for today. More about Ella soon :-)
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
The School Bus
Months ago Ella became a big fan of school buses, noticing them everywhere, asking when she can ride on one, and playing with them. So, about 6 weeks ago I was wandering around a teaching supplies store and came up with the idea to get a school bus bulletin board and some paper kids that Ella can earn or lose based on her behavior. When she gets all the kids on her school bus (8) she wins a special prize. I had no idea if it would interest her or be motivation enough to behave but it totally works!!!!! She has worked hard and used lots of restraint to earn kids on her bus and it took 5 weeks but Sunday was the big day! She got all 8 kids on her bus and it was time for a trip to "the ice cweem store." We were SO proud of her. Hopefully we'll get 8 more kids on the bus soon!
A full bus! I left up the little blue sticky things when she lost kids and it helped her learn to count how many more she needed-I saw the foundations of addition and subtraction floating around in her little head :-)
With daddy-so excited for ice cream!
Trying to pick a flavor
She went with Cotton Candy (which is blue) ice cream with MnMs in it and ate about 4 bites before she was all done and ready to run around. You'd think that ice cream you'd worked for 5 weeks to win would get eaten. Nope.
Happy with her blue mustache. She was thrilled about her outing with mommy and daddy and that's what counts :-)
A full bus! I left up the little blue sticky things when she lost kids and it helped her learn to count how many more she needed-I saw the foundations of addition and subtraction floating around in her little head :-)
With daddy-so excited for ice cream!
Trying to pick a flavor
She went with Cotton Candy (which is blue) ice cream with MnMs in it and ate about 4 bites before she was all done and ready to run around. You'd think that ice cream you'd worked for 5 weeks to win would get eaten. Nope.
Happy with her blue mustache. She was thrilled about her outing with mommy and daddy and that's what counts :-)
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Ghetto-Fabulous
We went to the most GHETTTTTTO children's museum ever yesterday but Ella had fun and that's what counts!
dressing up as a little piggy
she was adamant about getting every necklace back into this box and getting the top on exactly right (which was hard because it was broken-I'm telling you this place was super-shabby)
if she becomes a scientist it'll be cute to have a picture of her first look into a microscope
Ella found all kinds of random toys deep inside this play sink. The oven door was broken so you can see that she had to cook our broccoli on the stove instead.
See-sawing with mommy (and a doll she adopted while there).
She touched a turtle!!! I really want her to overcome her fear of touching animals so this was a great step! Yay Ella!
dressing up as a little piggy
she was adamant about getting every necklace back into this box and getting the top on exactly right (which was hard because it was broken-I'm telling you this place was super-shabby)
if she becomes a scientist it'll be cute to have a picture of her first look into a microscope
Ella found all kinds of random toys deep inside this play sink. The oven door was broken so you can see that she had to cook our broccoli on the stove instead.
See-sawing with mommy (and a doll she adopted while there).
She touched a turtle!!! I really want her to overcome her fear of touching animals so this was a great step! Yay Ella!
4th of July!
We had a fun 4th of July! We spent most of the day at a friend's house where the 9 kids there were remarkably well behaved and fun. We decided not to brave the fireworks with Ella yet since they start 2 hours after her bedtime. Maybe next year because it's REALLY not the same on TV-however, we watched the NYC fireworks and it was AMAZING-really the best fireworks display I've ever seen. Ok, now for some pictures.
A GREAT cousins pic!!
In leiu of a nap Ella and Christopher snuggled in to watch a movie while the adults played a game. This sedate pose soon turned into wild dancing...where do they get the energy??!
Ella in her 4th of July dress from Aunt Bobby!
A GREAT cousins pic!!
In leiu of a nap Ella and Christopher snuggled in to watch a movie while the adults played a game. This sedate pose soon turned into wild dancing...where do they get the energy??!
Ella in her 4th of July dress from Aunt Bobby!
Random Happenings
I haven't blogged in a while due to random illnesses and busyness when i was feeling good. Here are some things that have been going on.
Ella "napping" with her rock from the strawberry patch. She STILL loves it!
We got a train table at a yard sale (with all the trains and tracks) for $20!!! They're $150 at the store! I love it when God provides, even little things!
We had a little flour mishap while making banana bread :-)
Ella is into dress-up lately.
Chris fixed the dishwasher! We joke about how we're not "fixers" we're "callers." We're not "growers" we're "buyers". So, we were extra proud of ourselves for fixing this with only a little help from the internet :-) And yes, he really did need the head lamp to do it.
Ella really likes doing puzzles and is getting really good at them, and apparently at putting pieces between her toes.
Ella "napping" with her rock from the strawberry patch. She STILL loves it!
We got a train table at a yard sale (with all the trains and tracks) for $20!!! They're $150 at the store! I love it when God provides, even little things!
We had a little flour mishap while making banana bread :-)
Ella is into dress-up lately.
Chris fixed the dishwasher! We joke about how we're not "fixers" we're "callers." We're not "growers" we're "buyers". So, we were extra proud of ourselves for fixing this with only a little help from the internet :-) And yes, he really did need the head lamp to do it.
Ella really likes doing puzzles and is getting really good at them, and apparently at putting pieces between her toes.
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