I Know, It's Been Awhile

Well, between illnesses, some home remodeling and numerous other excuses, I took a bit of a break from blogging. I am now back and can update you on how our fall of 2010 went. Most of October the girls and I were all sick, me being the worst. Luckily, Dan was in town more, so he took the girls to G-ma and G-pa F's house for a weekend so I could get well. Here is Ava the artist working on her home crafted easel Grandma made for her.

The girls also got to enjoy one of Ava's favorite fall activities...playing in the leaves. Ella wasn't captured by camera, I think it was short lived before nap time took over.

Before we knew it, it was already the end of October and time for Halloween. Although this may come as a shock to some of you, Ava decided to be a princess this year, specifically Cinderella. To those who know her better, this was no shock at all, she is rarely without gown and crown. Here is our "happy" princess all dressed up!

Poor Ella didn't get to choose her costume, it probably would have been a princess too, instead she got Ava's old pumpkin costume. I was so happy she didn't fight me and kept the hat on!

This was also the year of parties. Ava had a Halloween party at her school where they decorated pumpkins, got candy, and made goo. She also had a party in her dance class. Here they are playing a game.

Another one of Ava's favorite fall activities is carving pumpkins. The slimier her hands get the better for her....not me! Ella would love this too, but slept through it this year. I'm sure next year I'll have two slime balls to clean up.

Her love of getting dirty and slimy makes me wonder how much of me she really has in her....doesn't appear to be much.

We also went to a friend from college's house for an annual Halloween party. It seems like every year the number of kids doubles....scary! Anyway, here are most of the kids lined up to parade around and show off their costumes. Ava is towards the back with all the Buzz Lightyear's(popular costume with the boys). Ella wouldn't stay in line....shocking!

Moving on...after Halloween Dan had to return to his home away from home so the girls and I took a road trip to see G-ma and G-pa C. While there we got the pleasure of eating at Frank's Burger Shop. While known for their burgers...they are not known for their atmosphere. Here is the dining room....I know what you're thinking...nice, quaint, a little different. All I can say is the burger was good:)

I must say, this visit Ella took a little more liking to the tea party hats and apparel. However, they're still a little large for her.

The girls spent a considerable amount of time playing in the jewelry. Ava tried to decorate Ella, but it lasted about a minute, Ella wanted to do it herself.

Whoops...poorly placed picture. Back to Halloween for a minute....here are the girls with their treats at the end of the night. Ella would not take candy out of her mouth long enough for a picture...don't worry she only got two SMALL pieces.

That brings us to mid-November. The girls and I spent most of our time playing and I tried to get as much painting done as I could while Ella slept.....never long enough. (side note: we are repainting the main level, adding crown molding, and switching up the furniture and electronics a bit..yeah!) The girls are playing together a little more now, which is nice. Here they built a very small "house", but managed to lay in there and talk for quite awhile.

In an effort to preserve my memories of what the girls are like right now I want to share some things about Ella. One word to describe Ella right now is STUBBORN. She wants what she wants when she wants it. She wants to do most things on her own and gets very mad if you try to help. And by mad I mean an awful mad/angry face and stomping feet, maybe accompanied by screaming. For example, here she was tired, she wanted nothing to do with anyone or anything, so after showing some frustration she just laid down. I wish I could say she fell asleep.

Ella is trying to talk more. She is sounding things out, but I'm pretty sure I'm the only one that understands her. On the flip side, she is rockin the potty training thing! Around 14 months old she showed an interest so I let her try and now she poohs about 80% of the time on the potty and pees about 50% of the time on the potty. I haven't had the guts to put her in underwear for a day and see how it goes...I don't think they make them small enough? She is a cuddler who gives great hugs and if she thinks someone is upset and/or hurt she is the first one to run to the rescue with a blanket or a hug. Ella is also particular, socks have to be on straight, toys set up a certain way sometimes and only certain songs will do at bedtime. She tells me "no no no" till I start the right song. For awhile it was "You are My Sunshine" then "Ba Ba Black Sheep" and two days ago the only one that worked was the "Happy Birthday" song. There are however those times when she is totally stubborn and no song works. Point in case, below is a picture of the monitor. If you look closely you see Ella standing in her bed, what you may not be able to tell is that she is asleep. She was refusing to lay down, so in protest she tried to sleep standing up. Unfortunately, every time she dosed off her knees would buckle and she would wake up, After about 15 minutes she finally gave up and laid down.

There was one last nice day about two weeks ago so the girls and I finally made it to the Zoo!

It was a lot more fun this time, since Ella was a little more into the animals. She really like the monkeys! I think it was the fact that she could get so close to them.

Ava made it in the hippo's mouth....Ella crawled under the hippo and refused to climb up into the mouth and then refused to climb out at all...fun times!

Ava mastered the walk across the rope bridge.

Ella didn't quite get the concept, but she gave it her all!

The last picture is of Ava who is just taller than a river otter. Not sure how tall Ella is, she wouldn't stand next to the board, to avoid making a scene I dropped it.

Ava is growing by leaps and bounds, both physically and mentally. She is learning so much at her new school and everywhere for that matter. She can write most of her letters now and just this week in addition to her name she can write "mom" and "hi". She is so excited be writing actual words/names. She loves sounding out letters, although we need more practice. The other day she was looking at her letter board picked up the V and said "va va sheep"...not quite darling. She still cracks us up...at dinner she was asking me if I was afraid of different animals, my response to each animal was no and then she'd move to another. Then she asked "Are you afraid of sharks?" and I said "no" and she said "I am sharks are pretty scary". Keep in mind this was after tigers, lions, alligators, and elephants. Then, just today I was putting up the stockings for X-mas and she asked "why are we hanging big socks up on the fireplace?". She is dramatic and a girl in every meaning of the word! She is also sweet and can melt your heart in an instant. She is growing up way too fast and as much as I try to savor it all, I know I am only remembering bits and pieces. Hopefully, this blog will help me remember more in the long run. We had a great Thanksgiving with no pictures to show for it, but we'll make up for it with Christmas, I hope!