Okay...let's play catch-up

Life has not been terribly busy these days, quite monotonous actually, but I have not blogged and I have not excuse. Well, I have not been feeling great, but things are getting better.

Here are a few quick posts to get up up-to-date and then hopefully I'll get back to my usual once or twice a week routine.

Fall is finally in the air here in Georgia. We have no gas but at least it's cooler.

One morning while enjoying the cooler weather out on the back deck we came across this cool looking fuzzy caterpillar. We had no idea what it was or would become but we all found it fascinating. Of course I wouldn't let Ella touch it because I thought those long black hairs might be some sort of stinging feature. But naturally Matt picked him up anyway. I must say we're enjoying the cool breezes and the cool bugs that come with it.

Club Mommy's Car...

Where there's never a cover, the bouncer's name is Daddy and there's always plenty of stale goldfish crackers and warm juice to go around...

Projects Time!!

It must be what they call it at school...whenever Ella and I play with play-dough or draw or paint or put together princess castles made of foam...Ella excitedly claps her hands and says, "Yay, projects time!"

She's pretty creative and really gets into it. Recently we built the aforementioned princess castle and we made a matching crown, necklace and bracelet. There's something inspiring to me about a crafts store...until I'm actually in the midst of glue and directions and insanity.

They turned out nicely and Ella enjoyed showing them off for the camera. And now...Cinderella and her other figurines have a home.

Yesterday we were playing with her little play-dough factory. I was manufacturing balls while she pressed them into the smiley face mold. When we had easily made 20 of the little grinning globs...Ella picked up two of the blue little faces and proclaimed they were sad and crying. I asked why. "Because they're blue," she said. Really? Does she already get that correlation/meaning? It's amazing to me what they pick up on.

Bye, bye summer!

Well July and August have flown by once again. Why can't January and February go that quickly?

Anyway...we haven't been on any trips or vacations and we're just living the monotonous life. We're trying to go away in late September but I'm not sure if we'll have the cash since the deck project went over budget. But it looks great!! And since Daddy did all of the work (save a few days help from family) ...we did save a bundle.

As for Miss Ella...well we're in full on potty training mode. You may recall we've had a potty since last winter when she first showed an interest but that was short-lived. I tried again in June but she happily peed all over herself and continued to play on the neighbors' swing set.

So...recently she gave us the signs again and I went out and bought a six pack of princess panties. I quickly realized I'd need a lot more than that. One day, when I was trying to make a casserole for a neighbor who's been on bed rest for most of her pregnancy, she pooped in her panties four times in a row. But she's doing much, much better now and I dare say we're almost there. We're into our second or third full week and she went poop in the potty all by herself today. I am eternally grateful.

But it has been a long road and I've put off cleaning the carpets because of the phantom pee spots I find here and there. Now I think we're safe so I started calling around getting quotes. One man started talking, in great detail, about the efforts they make in removing "pet spots". I assured him we do not have a pet, just a toddler. His response: "Well human and pet urine is very similar so we should be able to remove any stains." Swear to the good Lord he was serious.

Ella also served as flower girl in Uncle David and Aunt Brooke's wedding. Cousin Trey was the ring bearer and they both did a great job!!

Discipline: The Necessary Evil

This morning Ella got in trouble. It first began with serious whining because I wouldn't carry her downstairs. This whining is a new and extremely annoying phase which some say she'll never outgrow b/c she's a girl...that sucks. Anyway, the whining escalated to an all out meltdown/temper tantrum which I completely ignored, thanks Supernanny's advice. Eventually she came in the kitchen and sucked down her warmed chocolate milk (I wish I got that treatment) and confessed she was finished crying. Later...another episode and this time I lost my temper a little. I didn't jump off the sanity boat but I was really frustrated. We went through the process again and then finished our breakfast.

We then went outside to enjoy the morning. She started to flip out a little b/c I didn't want her to dry off my rocking chair. I assured her she could dry off her own chair. This episode did not last as long...thank the Holy Lord.

A little while later she was sitting in my lap...whining again. I asked if she was sick. Yes was the answer. What hurts...does your tummy hurt? No. Does your throat hurt? No. Does your head hurt? No. Well then what hurts?

My feelings, she says.

Parenting: Not for Sissies. I'm making t-shirts, who wants one?

A Bird in a Bubbly Plant on My Head!!

Ahhh...bathtime fun....

The Choo-Choo Has Feet

We spent some q.t. with big cousins Alex and Zach on Saturday. Aunt Durene had to work and Uncle Wayne came over to help Daddy with the new deck project, slated for finish sometime this fall by my calculation.

So we played in the playroom and went to the pool. I snapped these shots while Alex and Zach were showing Ella how much more fun the Thomas tent can be if you hoist it up and chug away.

Ella's wearing some flapper princess getup...that's what's hanging out the front of the "train".

In the Spirit of George Carlin...

Okay...so fortunately she's not yet using the seven dirty words but my little peach pie reminded me of the late great ranter of the obvious.

I was cleaning house the other day (okay every day) and I had just finished vacuuming a rug when I turned to see Ella was doing her best Hansel and Gretel, dropping goldfish all across the freshly cleaned area. I did my best not to lose it. But I still lost it a little:

"Ella Caroline. You pick each and every one of those crackers up this instant. Mommy's working very hard to clean this house. You need to help Mommy. Don't go behind me making a mess. Now pick them up. Go pick them up and put them in the trash. You...."

Ella interrupts...sounding like Spicoli...

"O.k. man....hush mommy."

I felt like a windbag...and it was all I could do not to laugh.

Happy July 4th Weekend!

Thumbs up and Happy Birthday, America!!

As we continue on our celebration tour...we celebrated the 4th at a party with Granddad and Babci. We had more food, more fun and more fireworks. Ella now thinks Mommy gets to have a birthday party every day. Let's hope she forgets this when it comes time for her birthday in December.

I thought it would be a great idea to take the girls (Emma and Ella) on the swing ride. After about round #3 I thought I was going to puke. Thankfully I didn't. But the young kid operating he ride finally got it when I yelled out...we better stop soon or this place is going to look like Bourbon street.
Ella, of course, loved the petting zoo the most. She played with everything from some kind of dragon lizard to chickens and goats to a Llama and a big tortoise.

Today...Uncle Rob and Uncle Wayne are here helping Daddy with the new deck project and we're scheduled to go to the pool with Emma and Aunt Stephanie after nap time.

Hope you're all having a wonderful weekend too!!

Happy Birthday to Mommy...

Ella woke me Thursday morning by singing, "Happy Birthday to Mommy!" She doesn't quite get how the song goes so she sang the first verse three times, clapped, kissed me and said she loved me. That was all the gift I needed.



But Daddy had hidden some things behind the couch and after breakfast Ella brought them to me one by one. How sweet.

After gifts we headed to the pool for a while then home. While Ella napped I went for a mani-pedi!!

Is there a star sprinkle of my lip?

Then around 4:30 we headed out to a local park for a Fourth of July event (a day early!) complete with jumpy things, a band, a little choo-choo, sky divers, and magnificent fireworks.

We were joined by friends, family and neighbors. To top it all off...Matt carved a "birthday cake" out of a watermelon and topped it with candles. It truly was a wonderful birthday!!

Now...go and have a happy 4th!!

Looking back, it was quite funny...

This past weekend Ella and I loaded up the car and headed to my friend Gerin's lake house for the weekend. Gerin and her husband, Rick have two kids, Abby 6 and Max 2 and two dogs, Denali and Marley. We were joined by our friend, Shelley and her two girls, Kaelin 6 and Ashlyn 3. I've known Gerin since high school and Shelley and I go way back to 3rd grade and recreational cheerleading.

We all arrived around mid-day on Saturday. We were off to a fantastic start. We had nice weather, the kids were all getting along nicely and we were getting to spend some quality time together, at last.

Saturday evening we threw everyone in the bath or shower, downed some burgers and dogs and loaded up the pontoon for an evening of watching the fireworks on the lake!!

We carried a bunch of juice boxes, snacks and sleeping bags. We convinced ourselves it might get cool enough on the water, in June, in Georgia to need sleeping bags. We had everything...or so we thought.

Once we reached a good spot on the lake, not too close to the dam where the fireworks would launch, but close enough to see the display we dropped anchor. And in my memory it seemed almost instantaneous...the boat lost power. I mean everything was dead. No radio, no engine, no LIGHTS!! And...only one cell phone. My poor excuse for a means of mobile communication was all we had. It's at least two years old and has been chewed on by Ella and dropped so many times by both of us it looks like it's been in the caves of Afghanistan. Plus, since Ella chewed on it so much as a baby, you have to use an ear bud or speaker phone, both of which make hearing and speaking difficult when you're on a boat in the middle of the water with five screaming kids.

Anyway...poor Rick takes my sad device and begins trying to call for help. No luck. Finally the rangers on boat patrol pull up and tell us we need to have our lights on for safety. We explained we would if we could and their faces dropped. They explained they weren't supposed to tow us but as we sat we would be "sitting ducks" once the show was over. Other boats would come whizzing by or at us unable to see us because we had no lights. That's enough to make you want to swim to shore. But the nice gentlemen that they were, they towed us to a nearby shore area that just happened to be part of a park. By now it's getting dark and the fireworks are exploding in colorful glory...but no one's watching.

Finally the rangers take off and we are officially stranded. Gerin jumps off the boat and asks an older couple, on the shore watching the fireworks, if they can give Rick a ride back to their cabin in order to pick up the mini-van and retrieve our helpless selves.

They of course oblige.

So Rick takes off. Meantime, it's dark and we have no flashlights. Ahead on the horizon my friends and I see lightning, and it's coming our way. We quickly and quietly work to devise a plan without frightening the children. We agree we need to get off the boat and away from the water. We further agree the nearby wooded area is probably also a bad idea. But we decide we must voyage to the parking lot which we were told is not too far. But no one is around. Finally we see movement in the darkness. I call out, "are you walking to the parking lot?" Hoping it's not a serial killer who's been stalking us since Rick left. "Yes" responded nice young sounding voices. Suddenly, out of the darkness came a swarm of lcd displays as the bright young people began opening their cell phones and illuminating their way towards us. They helped us off-load bags, children and more bags and held their cell phones out so we could traverse the rocky path avoiding muddied or bloodied toes. O.k. my white flip-flops are a definite casualty of Georgia red clay.

After what seemed like miles we reached a parking lot, which for some reason had no lights. Then we crossed a road, busied by motorists trying to get out of the park and get home before the 11 o'clock news, it's now about 10 or 10:30.

Shelley finally spots a restroom area aglow with fabulous state park yellow lamps. We haul the kids up and drop everything. We make everyone go potty in order to buy more time; Rick is not answering his cell phone and he should have made it back to the cabin by now.

At this point my girlfriends and I agree we were becoming the plot of a Jason Vorheese slasher flick.

Gerin takes my crappy little cell phone down to the road and keeps calling Rick while watching to flag him down should he come whizzing past in a desperate attempt to rescue us from the boat, where we no longer are, but he doesn't know that.

About this time Max, the youngest, starts to lose it. It's waaaay past his bedtime. So we did all we could do...we sang "If You're Happy and You Know It...." That calmed nerves for a little while longer. Then we posed for some "this stinks" photos. Then...another Ranger stopped by to check on us. About that time Rick called. The Ranger was able to tell Rick where we were waiting because we did not know where we were. Then...we were alone again, waiting. What seemed like 15-20 minutes pass and suddenly Rick comes blazing past. We all begin to jump up and down and yell and flail trying to get his attention. He does a u-turn and we are rescued.

We laughed the whole way home. Ella began spontaneously kissing everyone...perhaps signs of a scar that could be with her for life.

At some point during the ordeal Abby, Gerin's oldest, exclaimed, "This is the worst night EVER!" Well I doubt that...but I am sure it's one that even Alzheimer's won't allow us to relinquish...we'll remember that night, and with the removal of time, laugh about it FOREVER.

Note: the boat is now safely back at dock awaiting repairs.

Messy Cousin Fun

When you're a girl and you have a brother or a boy cousin, thing can get fun and messy in a hurry. This week we visited with cousin Trey, Aunt Leshia, Grams and Grandma.

Shootin' the breeze with Grams

The kids played in the dirt (obviously), played hide and seek and then played water guns. After all that we headed over to the Mayfield dairy for some yummy, double-scoop, ultra-fresh, $1.50 cones.

Dirty Faces

I think this may have been one of my favorite afternoons of photographing our child, ever. Messy is cute in my book.

Playing ring around the lamppost at Mayfield

Trey (frightened by the mess) had vanilla, she had chocolate, and so did her face, and legs and arms...

Father's Day #2

No it's not Ella's second Father's day...in fact it's her third. But we celebrated with Granddad on Saturday so Daddy's celebration becomes #2 in the order of things. Who cares, right? That's my OCD kicking in.

Anyway, Daddy got a cute hand, er foot-made card from Ella which she created at school. He also got a new pan and...a three person hammock. We spent most of the morning in that thing, rocking and swaying in the breeze.

After her nap we went to the neighborhood pool with the grandparents, Aunt Stephanie, Uncle Rob and Emma. Then we ate some leftovers and called it a day. A good day.

Ella's New Do!

We're not cutting bangs b/c I want her hair to be all one length. But the process of growing out that hair has often left her looking a bit scraggly. Her hair is thin and fine and wavy and grows very slowly. But recently her bangs reached to just beneath her ear lobes so we decided...it's time for a bob. We couldn't be happier with the adorable results. She loves it too!!

Daddy took her to the kiddy salon and the nice lady sheepishly asked, "Does Mommy know we're cutting off this much hair?" Ha! I bet she's had some people go "Springer" on her.

Father's Day #1

We celebrated Father's Day a day early with Granddad. We all headed over to Granddad and Babci's house for some fun in the sprinkler (shhh...don't tell, we're still in a drought) and some yummy KFC.
The kids had a fun time getting wet and playing in the jumpy thing. They finished the night with messy ice cream cones.

Oh yeah...and Granddad got a new TV and a few other nice gifts. We think he had a good time too.

Friends From Cali

Aimee and her little girl, Caela came to visit from California. They lived a mile or two away from us in Redondo Beach. The funny thing is...Matt and I went to high school with her.

Aimee's mom accompanied them to our house for a late brunch. Susan (Aimee's mom) lived in Cali with them for a while but now she's back here in Georgia. It was so nice seeing all of them.

And...bonus...Aimee's pregnant! I'm sure the next one will be as beautiful and as Blessed as Miss Caela.

Big Girl Room

Okay, it has taken us easily five months and it's still not completely done, but we're nearly there in terms of finishing Ella's big girl room and transitioning her from the nursery, which will remain a nursery while we wait...and wait...for Mr. Stork to flap his wings our way. In case that wasn't clear, we're not yet pregnant.

Anyway...we're very proud of the room. We still need curtains and Babci has to help trim down the size of the quilt b/c we decided to put her in the twin bed we already own instead of buying a full size mattress set. However, we made this decision after I'd purchased the bedding. Anywho!!

Matthew put up the bead board and the little shelf and he painted the entire room. I refinished my little girl furniture and it looks great. I really wasn't sure what to expect when I started in on the old yellowed 1970's stuff. It did take work. I sanded, cleaned, primed, sanded again and then put on several coats of paint. But the end result is good, I think. Now we just need to hang a few pictures, put up some curtains, buy some bed rails and commence the milestone of her first night's sleep in her big girl butterfly room!!