So, what have we been up to...
Ella:
-Camp!! Ella started off signd up for 1 week of Grace Adventures Day Camp (where I am friends/related to 3 of the 5 people on the leadership team) and ended up going for 3 weeks! She LOVED it and Chris and I LOVED reliving all our memories of christian summer camps in our youth :-) The Silly Songs she learned were probably my favorite part! Check this out...
-Reading!!
Ella was reading short words and sounding some other words out in the spring but somehow, this summer, she is FULL ON reading. I'm seriously shocked when she reads to me. The "sight words" she knows and can read without sounding anything out has grown a TON. Since when does she know how to read?? It really just clicked and she's loving it!
It's been funny to see how this opens up new things for her-she can read the remote control and the tivo onscreen prompts and now starts her own shows and is very proud of herself. She reads menus, cereal boxes, signs, and of course books.
It's probably my favorite thing right now to snuggle up with both girls all clean from a bath and have Ella read Sadie's bedtime book to her. So sweet! Trying to treasure up all these wonderful moments with these girls.
-Ella is into...
*Hello Kitty anything
*Wild Kratts (a cartoon that highlights a different animal in each episode-I'm pretty into it too)
*Having us read her Babysitter Club books. I loved these growing up and have saved some and collected others when i see them for Ella to read (I thought) in middle school. But, she loves them! Chris and I read them at bed time and we're on our 5th one! She's totally into the stories and characters and it's fun to share something I loved as a kid with her.
*Ella still would like to eat next to nothing. If she could, she'd live on ritz crackers, fruit snacks, ice cream and if she had to pick a vegetable, olives. She likes fish quite a bit but has been quite fickle even with that. It's a struggle to get her to eat anything substantial or healthy. Sadie on the other hand, is eating us out of house and home.
*Ella is usually helpful and thoughtful and hilariously clever. She has a sassy side and definitely can be too much of a disciplinarian with Sadie. I remind her often to not yell at her sister (usually for crawling toward something she might try to eat) and leave the discipline to me. She has good intentions but is in a LOUD phase and enjoys being the one to "save" Sadie by shrieking if she seems to be doing something she shouldn't. She also likes to be sneaky and hates sitting in time out which when combined have turned into some moments where Chris and I are trying not to crack up while disciplining her. The other night she went to time out during dinner (I don't remember why) and then was suddenly not sitting in time out in the hallway anymore. As we're looking for her we suddenly hear laughter. She had somehow, crawled under the dining room table, while we're sitting there having dinner, and we didn't see or hear her at all! She's got the sneaky thing down pat!
She came out of her room a few weeks ago at about 9pm to tell us she discovered something.
Me: What did you discover?
Ella: I was laying in bed, and I was thinking about why I have trouble with obeying sometimes. And I realized the problem! See, sometimes I forget what I'm supposed to do. But, if I remember and do it right, then I remember the next time and I obey! So, I just have to remember and I'll be good all the time! Ok. Good night. (and she trotted back to bed)
Chris and I were overwhelmed with the sweetness of her laying in bed thinking about how to obey more. She really has a good heart. Her tendency to try things she sees other kids do (like pulling hair or saying "stupid") gets her in trouble but she does tend to not try again after being scolded. I love her so, so much and it's exciting to see her genuinely interested in learning about how to love people and please God.
*Spiritually, Ella has been asking questions about truth, the Bible, why some people believe different things, and whether God tells me if she does bad things ;-) She's been really interested in doing a devotional book we got her, listening to the Jesus storybook Bible Audio book (which is amazingly narrated), and overall seems very interested in spiritual things. We're just trying to live out our faith in front of her all the time and letting her make choices about her own faith in her time. So thankful for the opportunity to introduce her to the deep joys of having a relationship with God.
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| A Tutti Frutti date with Ana and Daniel Franca-Koh. Ella LOVES this place and always has 2 or 3 kinds of frozen yogurt with gummy bears on top :-) |
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| Blurry for some reason but cute pic of Ella at camp! |
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| Ella and Hannah had a lot of fun at camp together and were in the same group all 3 weeks. |
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| Playing at Annie's House. Lucy who is 2 calls Ella "Miss Ella" ha! |
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| On a mommy-Ella date at Panera. My girl is a clown. |
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| Before: Ella got her 3rd haircut a couple weeks ago! Cut 4 inches and it's still pretty crazy long. But beautiful. I LOVE her hair. I dread the day she starts wearing it straight :-( |
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| After! |
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| Sister Love! |
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| Hannah and Ella have had 1 1/2 sleepovers at our house this summer. The first one went pretty well but the second time they were almost asleep and Hannah changed her mind about not seeing mommy until the next day and wanted to go home around 9:30pm :-( Ella cried when she left but such things are inevitable with little girls! |
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| Matching Pajamas has made Ella SO excited! I love that she thinks this is SO cool! |
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| Did you know 4 cousins can fit in a baby play canopy? |
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| Yes, that is Chris' head peeking out inside the crib! What can I say, it's been a FUN summer! |
