Extras

So, here are some random extra pics that don't really qualify for their own blog post but are too funny/cute/interesting not to post :-)


Ella hanging out on laundry Mountain while watching TV

could our 3 green shirts clash any MORE??? Cute pic nonetheless

Ella made this little bed for herself when she got bored during our pseudo-seder for Passover (4 christians, and a few atheists don't make for very good Jews)



Our new playground! Free from Aunt Bobby and Uncle Scott. Just needs the slide now!

More Garden Updates

Well, the plants are making their way from the seed pods to small pots and then into the ground! A few weeks ago Chris and his brother Andrew rented a tiller and took turns creating garden spaces at our house and theirs. Here's the finished product and some updated pics of the plants! We'll see how many survive the big move into the ground!




My sweet husband-turned-gardener

3 and a half !!!

Last week Ella turned 3 1/2! Just like last year, she's SO interested in her birthday it's fun to celebrate the half birthday since a year is a long time to say "no, it's not your birthday yet" and see her sad little face. So, we made cupcakes and a cake (Ella's request) and it got a little wild but what's cooking with a 3 year old, excuse me three and a half, if you don't get some chocolate in your hair?


It started out pretty tame with some mommy-sanctioned licking


Then she started painting her face!




Eating the finished product, one bath and a lot of washed dishes later ;-)


Happy 3 1/2 Ella! We love you so much and cherish celebrating you on any occasion we can find. You are a gift from God!

Last Day of Preschool!

Ella has finished her first year of preschool! We've been really happy with her school and she LOVES the social aspect, the structure, her teachers, everything. She hasn't missed a day and has never been sad to go. I have no idea how we'll make it through the summer with her asking all the time when she gets to go back to school!

Here's her first day of school, September 2009


Her last day, May 2009-she's SO big!!

Mother's Day (numero dos)

After church we went to my grandmother's house for a belated Passover Seder/Mother's Day celebration :-)


My grandmother striking a pose-she is SO hysterical!

Ella was so excited for me to read the card she and Chris gave me.


Finally! A recent pic of Chris and me!

Ella found the "afikoman" (hidden matzo-part of the passover tradition)

It's really fun to do all of the same things I grew up doing and passing on the traditions :-)

Mother's Day (part one)

We had a very full Mother's Day seeing both families in one day with church in between!

Ella painted some wooden flowers for all the moms :-)

We had a huge breakfast feast with Chris' family and Ella got to give Mom-mom a huge card we found that would be easier for her to see! Ella liked it because it also played music :-)

A good pic of the sisters-in-law

All the cousins and their moms :-)

A failed cousin pic but funny nonetheless!

Garden Growth!

Chris' love for gardening has continued to grow-he's become quite the researcher and planner for this project and the plants are doing GREAT!!! He's acclimating them to the outdoors now so they spend some time outside each day now. They go into the ground in the next week so we'll see how well they make the transition. Chris researched their different needs for sun, water, space etc. and has planned out a map of how the garden will be layed out. I'm so impressed with him! He's also added garlic, a korean melon (thanks Ping!), and a new type of tomatoes. I think we're up to about 20 different plants/fruits/vegetables! Here are the latest pics.


Ella helping carry the butternut squash sprouts out

The green beans and sunflowers are 12 inches tall! The garlic grew to 6 inches in a week!

Ella showing off her plants!

Luau!

For Mother's Day all of the moms received hand-made invitations last week to come to a luau! It was a lot of fun and heart-meltingly cute to see all they prepared for us! When we first walked in the kids presented each mom with a lei and showed us where our seats were. Then they "performed" two songs for us.




Then we had our very pretty (and creative!) flower-shaped snack. (And even as a flower stem, Ella wouldn't eat the celery, oh well.)


Then each kid gave their mom a present with Hawaiian-themed wrapping paper the kids made. Inside were these framed hand prints with a little poem. SO cute! They had me make the hand prints last month and I honestly forgot about it so it was a sweet surprise to see that Ella had done hand prints over them. The words on it say "Hand in hand we will be forever, you and me."

We later played limbo and had a dance party until it was time to go. Thank you Ella for a very sweet Mother's Day!

More Conversations

Ella has been saying lots of things I think are really funny lately...I'm sure a lot is lost in translation but here are a few :-)

*We were walking in the mall and I pointed to some mannequins in the Gap kids window
Me: Ella! Look at those clothes! Aren't they cute!
Ella: (in a sad tone) Yes, they are. But we can't by them Mom. They're just pretend.

I guess clothes have to be on real people to be real?

*In the car while Ella's playing with her etch-a-sketch
E: OOOOO Mom look! Look! Look! You have to look at what I made!
Me:Ok, pass it to me. What is it?
E: Just look!! Look!!!
Me (confused, looking at just a straight line down the middle of the screen): Ohhh! What a nice line!
E: No! It's a heinie!!!
Me (laughing): Ella! Who showed you how to do that?
E: Just me! I made it up! Cause it looks just like a heinie!! HEINIE! HEINIE! BOTTOM!!!


*We were in Pier One looking at some rugs on a top shelf. I couldn't reach them so I asked a salesman to come over and help me.
E (to salesman and me): You know, maybe my daddy could reach that for you. He's pretty large ya know.

*Ella saw me washing off our kitchen scissors after we'd used them and was watching pensively then asked "Mom, why are you trying to cut the water?"

*And finally, we were sitting outside on the front lawn on a nice day last week and Ella got really excited all of a sudden and points to herself, then me, then Chris and says "Look Mom and Dad! Look! We're small, medium, and large!!"