Ella's 4th Birthday

Ella had her 4th Birthday Party at The Jumpy Place ( a warehouse full of inflatable moonwalks, slides and obstacle courses). This was her first indoor party, which was a good thing because we received some much needed rain during the party. So much rain in fact, it was difficult to get the Hannah Montana cake inside safely. Thanks to Kim for all of her hard work on the "best birthday cake ever". We were so happy to have our family and closest friends there to celebrate with us. This was also Ella's first party with friends from school. All in all, we had a great turn out and a great time. Someone even thanked me for the "healthy food" that I served. (notice it pictured below). What isn't picture is all of the ranch and other creamy dips to make that stuff taste good.

Summer Dance Class

Ella finished up her last hip hop dance class yesterday. They put on a mini performance for the parents.

Basketball Season #2

We began Ella's second Season of Basketball a few weeks ago, she is on the Dream team. Unfortunatley, Things didn't work out just right this season, so Holly is not her coach. But she is having a great time with her new coach and teammates. She even remembers a few of the Fundamentals Coach Holly instilled last season. She has really improved. Her attention span is much better, and she loves to rebound.

Conquering Fears

Ella had a lot of firsts and conquered a few fears on our Vacation.

As you may know Ella has a healthy fear of "Big Fuzzy Things". This fear includes dressed up characters (like Mascots), large animals (alive or stuffed) and Santa Claus, among other things. I can't tell you how many pony rides I have shelled out for, only to walk away with bruised arms where she pinched me until we were a safe distance away. (Please don't think I force her, she always says she wants to until the moment I try to actually put her on the horse.)

We spent some time at my Uncle's Cabin on Armenia Mountain when we were in Pennsylvania. This is a hunting cabin by the way. In one of the rooms Ella found this hanging on the wall.

This definitely met the criteria of big and fuzzy. She had to walk right under it to get in the room, not realizing it was there. As you can see by her expression it was not easy to talk her in to leaving the room. We had to run through the doorway.

Ella did take a step in the right direction while were were away. She had her first pony ride. The man at the animal farm even let me lead Sunny around. (Or maybe Sunny was leading me.)

Summer Vacation

My Mom Ella, and I spent the last week and a half in Pennsylvania enjoying the cool weather and lots of Friends and Family. We had a great time. It has been 3 years since we were there last. I am hopeful that Ella may remember some of this trip.

Sum... Sum... Summertime

Ella and I spent last Sunday afternoon hanging out in the front yard. The weather was nice, so we busted out the good old slip and slide. This one is a little fancier than last years, it comes with an inflatable boogie board. She had a ton of fun. Summertime is our favorite time of year, she loves the water and playing outside.

Ella's First Dance Recital

Ella preformed in her first Dance Recital on Saturday. She did a wonderful job and obviously loves the stage. She would have danced on the stage for each preformance if she could have. She also asked when she was going to get to use the microphone. I think we will have many more dance recitals in our future. Her class preformed twice, one ballet and one tap dance. I will post video soon. (I have to figure out how to get it from the camera to the internet)

Ella with her friends, Brenah, Maddy (who preformed 12 times on Saturday), Bristol and Beck.

Ella with her teacher and class backstage.

Maddy and Ella Backstage "warming up".

Hannah Montana

All of my efforts to thwart off the Hannah Montana obsession have failed. It is official, Ella is a fan (has been for a while, I am just begrudgingly admitting it now). We went to see the Hannah Montana Movie on Friday and the Easter Bunny brought her the soundtrack. On Sunday afternoon she spent hours dressed up in various outfits pretending to be Hannah. When I suggested it was bath time, she told me she would take a bath when she was Ella again right now she is Hannah. The best part was when she set up her barbies as an Audience, and then danced and sang for them.

Easter Part III (The Final Chapter)

Easter Sunday started out with lots of rain, but turned out to be a beautiful day. We woke up to find that the Easter Bunny had left Ella a Basket full of Goodies. After Church, we had a pot luck lunch with our Friends and Family and another Easter Egg hunt. It was a very nice Easter.

Easter Part II

It was a little chilly out on Saturday Morning, but we braved with weather and went to The Big Hunt at the Thunder Hill Raceway in Kyle. The Raymonds were there as well. The kids had a good time. Why wouldn't they, there were bounce houses, music, the Easter Bunny, and lots and lots of eggs to hunt (okay pick up off the ground). There were also Firemen and Racecars, truly something for everyone.

Up and Down the Super Slide.

Ella get so excited to see the Firemen at Community Events. She wants to go meet them and then gets scared and hides behind my legs. She really is enamored with them. The picture of her in the truck is funny, because she took off her shoes and got comfy like she was going for a ride.

A couple of pictures of the kids with their loot and silly faces.

And Here it is... The closest Ella's has ever been to the Easter Bunny (or any suited character for that matter). She even hung around long enough for the picture. Thank goodness Maddy was there to buffer. She was still very skittish, but also very brave in facing her fears.

Easter 2009 Part 1

Ella and I made Cupcakes for her class Easter Party. She did a great job helping with frosting the cupcakes and adding the decorations. She was very excited about her party and getting to see the Easter Bunny. She insisted that she would not be scared this year and would sit on his lap. When I picked her up afterschool, I noticed that all of the other kids had pictures of themselves with the Easter Bunny in their Cubbies. Ella's cubby had a picture of all of the kids hunting eggs on the playground. She said his eyes were too big she did not want to sit on his lap. Stay tuned for more Encounters with the Easter Bunny...

First Haircut

A few weekends ago (2/7/09) Ella had her first haircut. She has been asking for one for quite some time now and I finnally decided I should face my fears and just do it. She acted just like a "big girl" sitting very still and following the stylists directions.

Basketball Season #1

Ella just completed her first basketball season this morning. Holly was nice enough to take on a third team this year, so that she could be Ella's coach. I pretended to be her assistant. Ella played on the Monarchs team with a great group of girls aged 3-6. It was definitely a fun experience for us both. I think Ella has started to learn a little bit about team work. When we first started the season she was not sure why she could not just be out there on the court all by herself with everyone watching. She also wasn't sure she needed coaching. By the end of the season she seemed to grasp the concept and even made a few baskets. It was also very exciting for so many of her friends and family to come and see her play. Thank You all very much for making the time.

Christmas (Better Late Than Never)

Ella was a very lucky girl this Christmas. She got to spend some time with her Great Grandma Jo and Great Grandpa (Pa Pa Art), who came to visit from Pennsylvania. We enjoyed spending time with them and Ella has no problem getting spoiled by extra grandparents. Santa weighed down his sleigh with huge presents for Ella. She got a real big girl bed with a bookshelf and drawers and Dora bedding to go with it. She got a Trampoline and a Playhouse*. As if that wasn't enough she also got a bicycle, which she is prepared to ride "all the way to Grandma's House".

Waking Up in a new Big Girl Bed on Christmas Morning and Hopefully for many more mornings to come. It is one of my Resolutions to train Ella to sleep in her own bed all night. Wish me luck!

Everybody took a turn jumping on the Trampoline. I'm the only one who got caught with photographic evidence. It is actually just as much fun as you might remember. Even with all of its safety features Ella has managed to find dangerous stunts to preform on her trampoline. She enjoys walking around the edge on the OUTSIDE of the net, and she has mastered flips.

*Playhouse- formerly Papa's deer blind. As if the yard didn't look white-trashy enough with the trampoline and big blue pool we now have a camouflage playhouse. I have requested that it be painted a nice girly color like yellow or purple.