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 :-)

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 :-)

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!

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!

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.