Archive for the 'Ella' Category



27
Aug
11

california vacation day 6

Friday was spent at Knott’s Berry Farm!  This was another amusement park that I spent a lot of time at in my childhood.  I wanted to “relive” some memories with my own kids, so off we went!  The park has changed a LOT since my younger days, but the kids still had a blast!  The big difference between Knott’s and Disneyland is the thrill rides.  We discovered Asher loves thrill rides, and Knott’s had a lot of kid friendly thrill rides.  (Disney is magical because of all the characters and fantasy story rides.)  We didn’t stay the whole day (we left at 6) because, well, we were on day 3 of amusement parks and we were tired!  🙂

Snoopy is to Knott’s as Mickey is to Disneyland
quick drops up and down were a thrill for all three!

This next picture is the Sidewinder roller coaster. It is like a normal roller coaster except each “cart” spins around while you are going fast on the tracks. Rilyn wasn’t prepared for the feeling of “falling out” and screamed “MOMMY!!!!!!!!” on the whole ride! 🙂

I am sitting with Rilyn at the very end (in the middle of the picture with a blue shirt on) with my hair flying and Rilyn screaming!
This was another thrill ride.   A giant “skateboard” that teetered back and forth.  Asher loved it as you can tell!  (I like the girl in the

front’s face!)

This was one of my favorite rides at Camp Snoopy when I was little. The “Huff N Puff”. My kids LOVED this ride. Even Rilyn wanted to go on again and again!

You have to pump the handle in order to go!
Asher was the last car on another time that they went and well, he got very left behind!  He really huffed and puffed for sure!
ferris wheel!
wheeeee

Rilyn’s favorite ride was the swings. She said she could take a nap on there! 🙂 (Ella was too small to ride.)

Rilyn in orange and pink with James in the yellow hat

One of my favorite things at Knott’s when I was little was the train ride because a “robber” would come into your cart and harass you. I thought it would be funny to go on and not tell the kids that a robber was coming!

Give me all your money!
Asher, as usual, could care less.
They got a little scared!
this was another thrill ride, the cars would speed around the corners and the kids loved it!
I think Asher likes it!
24
Aug
11

First Day of K!

I’m interrupting these blog posts of our California vacation for a very important milestone!  Ella started Kindergarten yesterday!  She was very excited, and had not one bit of nervousness!  I was so happy for her!  My guess is that she will love school and her teacher!  (She has the same kindergarten teacher as Rilyn had.)  I’ve had 2 kids in preschool for 4 years straight, so I’m entering a new season of life with only one kid left at home!  Wow!!!

August 23rd

Here is the 4th annual “matching outfits” picture of Anna and Ella on their first day of school!

bffs
September 2010
September 2009
September 2008

Love this teacher!

awwwww

Ready for the day!

Ella getting off the school bus for the first time!

Jen made the kids “back to school” cupcakes for an after school treat! Ella got a bus cupcake because it was her first time to ride the bus! So sweet!  When Ella got off the bus, she told me she had the best day of her life!  Wow!!

yummy!
23
Aug
11

California vacation day 4

Day 4 took us back to Disneyland!  This time we took more opportunities to meet characters and see shows.  We hit 16 attractions in 12 hours.

Asher refused to wear a Mickey Ears hat.  So sad for this mommy!

Our first stop was Space Mountain. We made Ella and Rilyn go on it. We had a switch pass so after the first ride, James was going to go on with the girls. Ella hated the ride, so only Rilyn went back with daddy (and that was only because she knew daddy really wanted to go on it! See one of the pictures below.)

this is before the ride started!
during the ride
Both girls look like they’ve been through the washing machine after the ride, but Rilyn

went again just for daddy!

We went on the Nemo Submarine ride!

Ella
We met Fawn!
Peter Pan!
Tow Mater and McQueen
Toy Story Mania ride-James’ favorite!
Woody!
Sully from Monsters Inc.!

We took the girls to a princess show while Asher was napping where they teach you “how to be a princess”.  I think this picture is hilarious because the princesses are teaching the girls how to curtsy, and Ella is pulling out a wedgy.

Ella in plaid shorts, white top
Ella ribbon dancing with Snow White!

We headed to Toon Town in the evening. I love this picture. Check out Rilyn!

This is heavy!

Here is Roger Rabbit Toon Spin ride. Ella did this on pretty much every dark ride. She hates loud noises and surprises.

Our tradition is to end our visit to Disneyland on It’s A Small World. This still is our kid’s favorite ride!

Ella
Small World After All!
22
Aug
11

California vacation day 3

On Tuesday we went to the beach!  The kids had so much fun and could of stayed there all day!  The weather was perfect, and Asher was in heaven with so much sand and water!  When we first saw the beach I asked him what it was and he said, “A big pool and lots of sand boxes!!!”  You can tell he’s not a Californian!
You can also tell he’s not a Californian by the way he rubbed his eyes with sandy fingers. My kids could not figure out how to eat their lunch at the beach without getting sand all over their food. Such rookies!

salt water plus sandy eyes=tantrum
Rilyn running to the beach!
family shot
Ella the mermaid!

Asher could of done this all day. Random people got chunks of sand thrown on them as they were walking by!

building a sand castle!
I’ll “head” to the ocean in a minute!  hehe
one of the many times Asher got knocked down by the tide
future surfer dude?
building with grandpa

That night, me and James went to an Angels baseball game (with my cousin, dad, and uncle) because they were playing the Texas Rangers! How lucky was James? I grew up going to Angels games and so it was fun for me to bring out my old hat and cheer on the home team!

Anaheim stadium

I brought the “past into the present” again with a picture of me and my cousin, John, at an Angels game about 20 years ago.

John and me

The Rangers won so James was happy! I did catch James eyeing the Angels World Series trophy. The Rangers were so close last year!

21
Aug
11

California vacation day 2

Monday we went to Disneyland!  This is the day we made the girls go on Thunder Mountain!  🙂  We had a great day!!  Vacations are definitely a lot more fun now that the kids are getting older.  We spent 13 hours there, did 26 attractions (achievers like to count), and only had 3 meltdowns.  (One for each kid.)  Here is Ella’s meltdown (on Splash Mountain.) She was screaming and crying on the whole ride, even when we were going slow.

we told her she had to sit in the front because she was the smallest (this rule is not true, but I wanted her to experience the thrill!)

Rilyn had a meltdown at the end of the night because she couldn’t walk anymore, and so we doubled up one stroller (we only rented two.)

Asher’s meltdown was after he woke up from his nap. Not a happy boy. I had to hold him while he was thrashing about. No pictures, just lots of frustration for about 30 minutes.

I uploaded this next picture before I realized I hadn’t finished erasing all the people, so you see some headless people on our left.  Sorry, I’m on vacation and I’m blogging, and that’s what you get!

 

 

 

Peter Pan
Dumbo!
Rilyn and grandpa!
my mom, Ella, Asher, and me on the tea cups!
I think Rilyn liked this ride!
Casey Jr. Train
Eeyore!

We made Rilyn go on the Indiana Jones ride. Only Rilyn was tall enough for this ride so Grandma sat out with Ella and Asher. This is a thrill ride and Rilyn decided she didn’t like it at the end. 🙂

Wow, this looks like it could be scary!
Daddy, hold my hand!
frightened!
A bumpy ride!
I don’t want to go on that again! (don’t worry she will one day.)
nap time!

Our goal was to meet characters that we didn’t meet in 2009. (Again, the achiever in me comes out.) My girls even told characters they had met before that they couldn’t sign their autograph book because they already got their signature before. Here was a good find! The Fairy Godmother from Cinderella!

Bippity Boppity Boo!

All Ella wanted was to meet Rapunzel, and she got her wish!

The girls were speechless when Rapunzel asked them questions!
Buzz Lightyear ride!
the new Ariel ride
California Adventure park
A Bug’s Life 3-D  (this was too scary for the kids, they all were crying at the end)
bumper cars
World of Color show at California Adventure
20
Aug
11

California vacation day 1

We flew into California on Sunday and spent the day relaxing with family! We are staying at my grandpa’s house in Huntington Beach. This is the same house I grew up spending holidays at with all my cousins. LOTS of memories!

I took this picture of my grandpa’s pool with an old picture of me in my grandpa’s pool (with my cousin) when I was about Rilyn’s age.  Bringing the past into the present!

my grandpa’s pool
I jumped off this board sooooo many times!

This is the girls with my cousin Shannon on the pier at Huntington Beach. She is getting married tomorrow and that is why we took this vacation! The girls will be flower girls and Asher the ring bearer!

Shannon, Rilyn, Ella
look at the ocean

Family picture on the pier. It was getting chilly. (I know you Texans are jealous!) 😉

16
Aug
11

Big Thunder!

We are in California for the week to celebrate my cousin’s wedding.  We are making a fun-filled family vacation out of it, so yesterday we went to Disneyland.  (We are going back on Wednesday too!)  We told our girls that Disneyland/California Adventure tickets are really expensive and so they WILL go on all the rides if they are tall enough!  😉  Neither of them fussed about going on Thunder Mountain.  I think it was Ella’s first “real” roller coaster and so I had to capture it on film!  If you look at the pictures in sequence, you will see the transition of Ella’s face from happy to terrified!

Rilyn is a little nervous…
This is fun!
Going up is a blast!
I call this the “transition” picture for Ella
not so sure…
what the ?!?
whoa
ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
fear
don’t let her looks fool you, she loved it!  (Splash Mountain was a different story though…)
11
Aug
11

ella bella

Ella went to a birthday party this past weekend, and I was so impressed with the face paint that I just had to post these pictures!  I can’t believe my “baby girl” is about to start kindergarten in 2 weeks!

Ella, Ava (a neighborhood friend and b-day girl), and Anna

And this pic is just for fun. Ella getting in on the gymnastics action at Rilyn’s gym!

woo-hoo!!
04
Aug
11

quips not to forget

I am pretty good at documenting family photos, but I’ve been slacking in the past year with documenting funny things my kids say and/or where I used my cell phone camera.  I’ve used facebook to record these things, and facebook isn’t permanent.  My blog is more permanent to me, so I finally am recording some of past facebook statuses that I don’t want to forget!

Asher’s way to keep cool on this 108 degree day? Spit his milk in a fan to blowback all over his face. Refreshing!
Every once in awhile your windows need a good wet sand scrub, ya know,to get rid of all those unwanted blemishes.
This can’t be my son…trying to potty train him STILL, so leaving him naked today.He pees on our backyard porch and then steps in it?!? Ewww!
Love this. “Mommy, she looks just like me!” Ella saidwhen she got this new doll in her happy meal tonight.

I need to make my oldest bored more often. She told me, “I just want something to organize mom!”

Ella picked out a green wrapped (sour apple) lollipop for dessert tonight and asked me, “Is this flavor called grass or salad?”

Being the younger sister is hard enough, (I wouldn’t know, but I’ve just heard…), but when you pair that with Rilyn having a friend over, and Ella not…you get Ella telling me that Rilyn and her friend are playing “superstars” and Ella is their servant. At least she doesn’t mind. I caught her massaging their feet.

Ella hands me a dime and says, “Here mom, save this so we can go to Disneyland.” (anytime the girls want something, I’ve been telling them we need to save our money for Disneyland this summer)

I’m not sure Rilyn quite understands “magic” shows. I just watched as Ella was stuck in a upside down large clear storage box and then Rilyn told me, “I will make her disappear now. Just close your eyes, plug your ears, and say “blah, blah, blah!” and then I will tell you when to stop.” Sure enough, Ella had “disappeared” when Rilyn let me open my eyes. 😉 pretty magical.

“Here mom. You can eat the rest of my jelly beans.”
“Wow, thanks Ella, that is really nice of you.”
“Some have hair on them because I dropped them on the floor.”

At one of the stores at the Austin rodeo, Rilyn reads a sign for sale that says, “raising children is like being pecked to death by chickens.”  The store clerk looks at me and says “sorry.”

I love this girly girl! Rilyn came home today with this story she wrote at school: “Once upon a time there was a princess named Ariana. Her hair was beautiful as a flower. When she was born her mother gave her a gift and it was love. The princess spent all her time drawing.”

My husband just bought a pull up bar to install in a door and Ella saw the box and said, “So, you have to be naked to do it?” (the man on the box had no shirt on…) 😉

My son walked in the house from the backyard and I just found him ‘cleaning’ his muddy face in the toilet bowl. It looked as gross as it sounds.

After telling the girls that my sour attitude was because of Asher’s behavior, I couldn’t be surprised when Rilyn left this note in my purse later, “Dear Mom, I’m sorry I made you mad. I just didn’t get enough sleep cause Ella woke me up, okay?” I had to apologize to her first on why I shouldn’t of blamed anyone else on my behavior, and then we talked about why she should take responsibility for her own behavior.

Ella’s bedtime prayer tonight: “Dear Jesus, thank you for helping me stay in the lines (coloring).” 🙂

My son really is influenced by his older sisters’ use of language. He just said, “Look at the helicopter mommy. It is beautiful.”

Counselor visit in Rilyn’s class today. She
came home singing a new little diddy, “Stop! Don’t
touch me there! This is my no-no square!” (she makes a square from the
top of her neck to the top of her knees.)

Boys vs. girls. Another example of how different they are! (I’m babysitting a 5 1/2 yr. old boy.) In her room, Rilyn says: “You want to see my diary?” Him: “Ewwww, you have diarrhea!!!!”

My 4 1/2 year old daughter said after getting dressed this morning, “I’m teenager ready!” What?!?!

So maybe I went back to bed after I gave Asher breakfast and maybe he made me pay for it by waking up to black (washable, thank goodness) marker all over our refrigerator, table, chairs, floors, toys, and windows. He really worked hard to show mommy what he thinks of me sleeping in.-October 2010

trying to ‘sleep in’ on this rainy morning! Apparently Asher didn’t get the memo, so he decided it would be a good morning to draw with purple marker all over his sisters’ white bunk beds, sheets, and comforter.-Sept. 2010

Ella talks NON-STOP in the car to me every single time we drive anywhere. It is usually about the most random things. Today was, “Mommy, I look so cute when I’m falling asleep. You should really take a picture next time.” 😉

After Ella told me I was the best mommy ever, I told her she is the best ‘Ella’ ever, to which she replied, “That’s because I can always smell poopy diapers first.”

Materialism rears it’s ugly head. Rilyn: “Mom, just let me die here!!!” We were at Claire’s.

November 2011 from Ella’s K teacher:  We read a book today about a momma bear and a baby bear. We were comparing things that adults can do that children can’t. Ella’s example- “sometimes my mom grows hair on her legs and has to cut off and kids can’t do that.”

E-mail from Ella’s teacher: We were talking about “things we can smell” today and I asked each student to tell me one thing they liked to smell and one thing they do not like to smell. Ella told us she loves the smell of gas stations and does not like the smell of “man stink.”

Random thoughts from Ella today at lunch while eating with her in the cafeteria. “Mama, is that cleaning lady old?” “No, not that old.” “Well, her face is all crumbled.”
“Mama, do ants go to heaven?” “No.” “Awesome! They go to hell!”

oh my Ella bella! She came home from school and told me she got a bloody nose. I looked at the nurse’s note and it said “Advised to not pick her nose.” Proud mommy. 😛

24
Jul
11

fresh, cold lemonade for sale!

I’m pretty sure my 7 year old has a bucket list already (written up in her head).  One of those items on her list is to have a lemonade stand!  Her aunt Mandy graciously offered to have it on her front yard in Fort Worth, so off we went this weekend to visit James’ family and have a lemonade stand!

the upsale: offer them strawberries for only a $1 extra!

The girls with their beloved aunt (James’ little sister)!

Ready for business!

Ella kept trying to give customers lemonade without the ice!  Not good for a 100 degree + day!

These sisters (especially Rilyn), have no fear when it comes to strangers. (They do not get it from us!) They were dancing all along the street, shouting at cars, waving their arms around trying to get attention to their stand!

Come and get it!!!

A customer!

Rilyn’s smile says it all in this picture! Making the sale is a dream for her!

you like her bedazzled fingerless gloves?!?  😉

If you think the girls had red pig tails, you were right. Just another fun aunt thing to do!

It did get busy at one point! They did fairly well, (with much thanks to Papaw Bear who was on the phone calling his friends to come buy a fresh, cold, glass of lemonade!)  I believe they made $50 total in profit!

business is booming!