Flip Flops,Sunglasses, & Swimming Pools

Ella and I treated ourselves to new flip flops and sunglasses recently. The weather was warm and it seemed like a good excuse to do some shopping. Ella picked out this particular pair of sunglasses because they had stripes like a tiger (raaaar). I picked out mine because they had little rhinestones (bling). We also started cleaning out the swimming pool. I thought about putting up before and after pics, but the before is just to gross, so I'll post soon about our first swim of the season.

Redneck Pictures

NOTE: You'll have to forgive my neglectful blogging lately. Now that I have gotten back to it I found alot of things I meant to blog about of the last couple of months, so again sorry about the silence. I will try to be more regular.

March 2 and 3:
In an effort to continue Ella's redneck education we went to the Kyle racetrack to watch our friends Bryon and Cody participate in the Endurance Race, (it is longer than the races they generally take part in). Ella and I missed most of the race, but we were there when it counted... The End. The kids loved playing in the car after the race. Unfortunatley, Bryon wrecked fairly early on in the race and I think that particular car has seen its last race.



(L-R) Ella, Maddy, Beck, Bristol and Beau






That same week Holly, Brandy, Julie and I all went to see Gretchen Wilson at the Rodeo. Thanks to Holly for getting us the tickets and VIP lounge accesss. It was a good time. Before the show we got to watch the rodeo, which provided us with some good laughs. It was a great girls night and I have to say a actually like some of Gretchen Wilsons stuff, and I didn't even know it.

Child Labor

Ella went to work with her Daddy the weekend before last. Some of her duties included, riding around making sure the properties looked good, dropping off invoices, shopping for trees and planting trees. She had lots of fun, got dirty and even got paid. Two whole dollars and a Gatorade. She probably would have preferred a handful of change to the paper money because in her opinion only coins are money. Please don't forget to appreciate her work clothes. It was very important to wear her "boy shirt" and boots. She calls it a boy shirt because of the colors of the camouflage (pink camo is not a boy shirt, just so you know the difference), it is not really a boys shirt. In fact, the lettering which says "you can't see me" is glittery. And one must always wear pink goulashes when working on a soggy day.

Easter

We had a enjoyble Easter with our family and friends. Ella is still enjoying her Easter candy, and still tells me quite regularly that she does not like the Easter Bunny. He came to visit her school, and Ella kept her distance as she does with any costumed individual. (I googled this as a phobia, but was unable to find anything specific, just that some people still fear them as older children and adults.) She also did not like the fact that he would not talk.

We went to a community egg hunt in Kyle on Saturday, all our friends came out to enjoy the festivities as well. Ella managed to pick up about five eggs before the swarms of people overran the field. It was a sight to see. She also got to play in a bounce house, always a favorite of hers.

The Easter Bunny left Ella a nice basket of goodies (minus the large chocolate bunny, apparently they were hard to come by when the Easter Bunny got to Ella's basket.) He also hid eggs for her outside. Our dog Minnie managed to eat the M &M's out of the eggs before Ella got outside. They were the only ones that had loose candy inside (the others were prepackaged inside the eggs) She was able to sniff them all out, so poor Ella hunted some empty eggs. (The dog is fine, by the way, after eating all the chocolate.)

The Easter Bunny wanted to make sure Ella didn't get missed so he also left her a basket at Grandma and Papa's and Amos and Kristens. We also hunted eggs again. So, anyone who was feeling sorry for her after I told you that the dog ate her M&M's, can rest assured that she recieved more that her fair share of candy.

We also colored some Easter eggs Saturday evening. Ella was having fun at first but got very tired, see picture below. The finished product turned out quite well.

Funny Things Ella Says

NOTE: This is a post a I wrote a while back and forgot to publish.


While we were watching American Idol the other night, Ella decided she wanted to watch something else*. I like American Idol so I tried to talk her out of it. I said, "but Ella you have that singer** don't you want to grow up and be an American Idol?" Ella said, "No. I don't." So of course I asked what do you want to be when you grow up. She immediatley responded, "A Tiger".

*-something else- Doodlebops AGAIN!!!

**-singer- a toy microphone that turns your voice into a weird echo. Ella sings Twinkle Twinkle little star into it alot, but we are also working on Alicia Keys- No One and Amy Whinehose- Rehab (she really likes singing no no no)



Ella had her first official week of Big Girl panties. She refuses diapers and pull-ups, and we have even ventured out in public wearing big girl panties. (I try not to freak out tooo much when my precious little baby is using dirty public restrooms. Its is funny I never really thought of myself as a germ freak, but this has brought out the crazy in me.) To say the least she is doing very well and we are proud and amazed.


During the training process at school I got this note from her teacher:

Ella found a BM ball in her panties today. I asked her how that got there and she said, "I don't know, I think Daddy did it."

Quiet Weekend

We did not do much this weekend, Ella has quite the case of Terrible Two's, so I try to limit our public appearances. We did attempt our weekly breakfast at Cracker Barrel, but the service was exceptionally non-existent. Ella decided to entertain herself and all of the other diners by getting out of her chair and making a mad dash for the "country store", causing me to have to abandon our table (and belongings) to RUN after her. When I caught her, and was as mad as I could be she just giggled and laughed like we were playing a fun game. As we were checking out, she told me, "you can put me down now I won't run away anymore". I told her I didn't believe her, the cashier thought we were so funny. My only saving grace has been the portable DVD player she (I) got for Christmas. She becomes, so engrossed in what ever the selection of the day is, I can usually get somethings done. I took this picture on the way home from school one day (I know, its only a twenty minute drive, but it keeps her from begging for bug juice* all the way home). She looks so cute with her monkey head phones.




*Bug Juice- I don't know how they get away with calling it juice. It doesn't have juice in it- just sugar, water, coloring, artificial flavors, oh and they toss in some vitamins and minerals so they can write that on the packaging. Ella once drank one so fast she threw up, you would think that would quell her desire for the stuff.