"I am the Mom" Hilarious!!!!

I take no credit for this, but it is very funny.

Going to the chapel....

Ellie found this tulle in the insanity that is my craft supplies and wanted to make a "wedding hat" so of sourse I obliged. She has a bear that you can change the outfits on and it has a wedding gown and veil. She kept saying, "I am getting SO married." Brandon asked her who she was marrying and she answered, "Becca and Zoe". It was so funny. (That's my cousin that's getting married in November for those of you who don't know.) We've been talking about the wedding a lot and telling her that she's going to have a pretty dress and it will be a big party, etc...

Oktoberfest (in September)

Last night we went to Oktoberfest on Ft Rucker. It was fun. I don't know how Oktoberfest-y it really was, (especially since I've never been to any Oktobterfest activities before) but we enjoyed it. Ellie had the most fun because as usual the whole night was about her. (It's ok, we like it that way.)


She got to eat giant roasted (German) corn.

Then she rode a (German)pony.

But the thing she wanted most (which of course had the longest, nonmoving line ever) was to get her face painted. We finally got almost to the front and she had to go to the bathroom. Brandon held our place in line (with the floral diaper bag). He's really a good sport when it comes to Ellie and her whims. And I ran faster than I have ever run before to the fabulous portable facilities. we got back in plenty of time and the nice lady painted a special design on Ellie's arm instead of her face so she could really see it and admire it and show it off to everyone.


She painstakingly (for a 2 year old) looked over the choices for (German)face painting.


She finally chose a (German) heart with sparkles to go on one cheek.


But the lady convinced her to get a (German) flower vine on her arm instead and she loved it!


After that we finally got some German food (bratwurst and schnitzel) because the lines were not so long by then. We never did get any beer because by the time those lines were short, it was time to come home.

The only other part that was German was the music. Ellie loved that too. She danced all around. When I asked her what her favorite part of the night was, she said "The music...and the ponies, and the painting and the corn and Spiderman." (There was a Spiderman jumpy thing which she did not go in. She is terrified of those things when there's other kids in them.)

But the funniest thing of all was actually yesterday morning before any of this even happened. We had been talking about going to the "festival" (pronounced "bestibal" ) since Thursday. So on the way to eat lunch with Brandon yesterday Ellie started asking me all about vegetables, or so I thought. I launched into a whole discussion with her about what kinds of foods are vegetables and what are fruits, etc... By the way, according to her chicken is not meat, it's just chicken! Anyway- we had this whole conversation and then about 3 hours later I realize all she really wanted to know about was the "festival" not "vegetables". Sorry E.

Mermaids, ballerinas and pillowcases.

Yesterday when we were walking around the duck pond, Ellie said, "Mommy- look and see if there's any mermaids in the water." Apparently she actually saw one right before we came home. Only she pronounces it "worm-maids" Not sure why. She is a little obsessed with the Little Mermaid movie. I'm not sure if she's actually watched the whole thing though because she's scared of Ursula the Sea Witch and the "2 mean fishes". When I told her the stamping lady's name (that came over to deliver stamps/ fuel my habit) was Arielle, she said, "yes. like in the ocean." Only when she says it it's more like "Yesh." Hilarious! I just hope it goes away on it's own.


Today Ellie wore one of her pillowcase dresses that Ilene (thanks I!) made her last year. She has grown a lot as you can see......

(November 06 )











Then she had to be
a ballerina for the rest of the day.

Not just for butts

I forgot to share this jewel with everyone. While we were in SC, I was in the shower upstairs and thought Ellie was downstairs with Brandon. He thought she was upstairs with me. Well, she was upstairs, but I had the shower running and the door closed so I didn't hear her. Eventually, he heard the words medicine and leg so he decided to investigate. This is what he found.




"Daddy, I feel my leg better!" She used her soft bristled baby hair brush for an applicator. It was a thick layer from thigh to toe. And even between each toe. Joy! Of course she was already dressed for gymnastics and we didn't have an extra outfit. Butt cream is hard to wash off for a reason. She was slightly greasy all day.

This Little Piggy Reads a Story

Does this bear have a growth?

Nope, it's just a fruit snack. I almost passed out when I first touched/saw this, but now I have deduced that it was once grape flavored. Oh the fun of traveling/living with a two year old.

Fabulous Friday!

We had a really busy day today. Mainly because there was nothing that we HAD to do so it was all fun. We went to the new indoor play area in town called The Playroom. It has a room with playground stuff like slides and a see-saw,



then a dressup and art area with a whole wall of chalkboard paint. Then there is a room made for smaller kids with a toy kitchen, balls, etc... That's the room Ellie likes the best.



And there is also a room for Bear Factory Express where you can make animals and dress them up in silly outfits. We didn't do that today though. It's extra. It was a great day for it because it rained all day. I am so glad to have another option for playtime.
After playing for a while, we went to lunch next door at Euro Bistro where they have a $6.00 Italian food lunch buffet. It was delicious. We ended the day with a trip to Wal-Mart and no fussing all day. So she got to ride the carousel.



Then of course, she didn't take a nap and had an uber-meltdown at supper time/right when Brandon got home. So needless to say, she's fast asleep already. Overall though, it was a great day. Hope everyone else's was too.

One more reason AL is better than LA

OMG!! I just saw on the TV that Kohl's is opening in Dothan October 3rd. There will be a Kohl's only 29 miles from where I lay my head at night. wahooooooo!!! I can't believe it. There wasn't one in the whole state of LA for most of the time I lived there. I think there's one in Baton Rouge now, but that was hours away. Movin' on up!

And I discovered there is a very nice potential babysitter living right next door. She came over with her mom to introduce themselves today. I'm a little worried I might be struck by lightening or something tonight with all this good news. Better sign off so I don't blow up the computer.

Holy Guacamole!

Do you know what this green stuff is?



It's "clockamole". and Ellie loves it! Weird kid. What 2 year old likes guacamole?

Vacation?

So the trip to SC was really fun, but it always exhausts me to travel. Trying to remember everything and get it all packed, the road trip with a thousand pit stops, trying to see everyone and do everything in 7 days (really 5 since the first and last days are driving) and then the return road trip of a thousand stops. We did a lot of playing on the beach- I even rode the boogie board and played frisbee. The weather was great. It only rained at night so no beach time was wasted. Brandon and I had a great night out thanks to Brian. Ellie went to 2 dance and 1 gymnastics class in 3 days. However, she only took 1 nap the whole time we were there. (She did sleep on the way home and then took a good nap today after gymnastics.) We also gave a bridal shower for my cousin Becca and visited the campus of the Citadel.




Oh- and I walked across the Cooper River Bridge with Ashby. It's huge, and STEEP. My calves and shins hurt until yesterday.


I didn't take many pictures. Now I wish I had. We had almost everyone together. We missed Davis and Lori and Forrest. Hopefully over the holidays we'll all be together. For now, we are glad to be home in our own space. But I do miss waking up and seeing the ocean across the street.

We're Baaaaaack

We are back in Al after a great trip to Sc. The week was lots of fun and we got to see almost everyone. I will have more details tomorrow. Right now I am sleepy and need to take a bath. My legs are still sore from walking the bridge.

Nothin could be finer...

We are having a great time in SC. We've been hanging out at the beach, visiting family and throwing a bridal shower. I even bought my bridesmaid dress yesterday for my cousin's wedding in Nov. Went to jazzercise some too and Ellie went to dance class and gymnastics class with my mom. She loved it.


Today the beach is on the schedule and maybe some seafood. That's it!

Lazy Weekend

Ok, so I didn't add the picture of her craft. It's still in the car. Too bad.
Yesterday we stayed around the house mostly. Well, Brandon went hunting early and Ellie and I slept in. Actually, we got up about the same time as always. She has some kind of internal clock. We did go out to the Mellow Mushroom for dinner. It was yummy. They had football on in surround sound so it was a little loud for me. Then we went to Carvel's and all three of us only ate half our ice cream because we were so full. It's just nice to have lots of places to go.

Today we slept in again (8:00) and I made us pancakes. Then this afternoon I went stamping. For FOUR hours. It was great. We made 9 cards for the fall holidays. I had a lot of fun and got lots of ideas (that I will steal and make my own cards with) hahahahahahahahaha Of course, while I was gone, Ellie slept for about 2 hours and then played in the garage with Brandon for the rest of the time. Check out the Ellie says section for a funny.....For everyone in SC, see you THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW!!!

Chopsticks!

Today was pretty busy. Ellie and I went to story time at the library and she made a fabulous craft. I forgot to take a picture, but I'll add it tomorrow. Then we went to lunch with Brandon at a really good Chinese/Korean place. Ellie thought the chopsticks were so cool. And she almost a whole serving of sweet and sour chicken and a bowl of rice.


Then she fell asleep on the way to Wal-Mart so she was less than happy for that whole errand. And of course, she did not take a nap for the rest of the day. I tried. She stayed in the crib forever, just talking and playing babies. Finally she called me to say she had to go potty and when she was done, she said "Mommy, I just can't sleep." It was so funny. She was good all afternoon.

Then this evening we went to the woods with Brandon (after he rode his bike 12 miles home from work) to look around. It was fun. I wore Ellie in the backpack and she loved it. She kept looking for "all the baby animals". When it started to get dark, she was a little concerned because of all the cricket noises and stuff. We told her nothing was going to hurt her. Then she was afraid that all the baby animals would be scared. We had to reassure her that they were all with their families too. She is a riot. Here is my attempt at the sweet picture. But she has learned a new trick so it's hard to get a nice one anymore.



Here is a close up of her new favorite face.

She slept!!!

Finally, Ellie took a nap. I was seriously beginning to consider going back on the whole no pacifier thing, but she slept for and hour and half this afternoon!!! And what did I do with that precious time, you ask? Well, I HAD to finish the book I was reading. Tomorrow is library day after all. So the dishwasher is still unloaded and dinner isn't started, but the &*%$ book is finished. So there!

In other news, there is apparently nothing wrong with my jaw. The x-rays showed no signs of misalignment. I was told to just keep taking the ibuprofen and call back if it doesn't get better. Maybe I'll try to get a job at the hospital here.

I do however have a slight problem with my toe. I think I may have broken or at least jammed the heck out of it. I was gracefully walking into my closet yesterday afternoon and slammed/caught my toe on the door frame. If you heard a loud bang followed by a curse (or six) about 3 yesterday, that was me. It is not pretty. I took a picture for evidence.




It doesn't really show the lovely purple color well on camera. It started between the toes, but now it's spread a little down my foot. Didn't stop me from jazzercising last night or this morning though. I'm glad it's the pinky toe. I've discovered I really don't use it that much anyway. And since I already have the ibuprofen and the other super pills, I'm not even going to the Dr. this time.

Sweet Lucy Brown

Just wanted to show that Lucy is a patient dog and even if she has reverted to puupy ways a few times since we moved, I still love her. (Brandon is less than thrilled with her right now). For those of you who don't know, the very second that we moved in (literally) she walked in and pooped on the carpet in the middle of the empty dining room. Then, 2 nights in one week she peed on the carpet when all 3 of us humans were in the big bedroom and had left her in the living room. So now she has to sleep in the kennel. Which she hates. But I can't afford to buy new carpet and I don't want Lucy to mysteriously "disappear" while I'm at Jazzercise.



And, no, I did not decorate her....

Baby Blue

Ellie's new favorite pastime is coloring- sometimes on paper, but mostly on herself. When she runs through the house yelling, "You can't look at my hands!", then I know I better follow her around and see if she's touched anything. Kind of like King Midas, but more colorful. As you can see, last night she touched her face after coloring her hands with a "Navy Niblet" marker from Crayola. They are little tiny markers called Pipsqueaks and each one has a cute and tiny name. She loves them. And they are washable. Which is good since she likes to tattoo herself with the darker colors at any opportunity. Here is a picute of last night's masterpiece and the resulting face tattoo.





Not really sure why she has the frightened look on her face. I think it was just for effect.

Labor Day Holiday Weekend

WooHoo. The video below is the highlight of our weekend so far. Ellie figured out how to tumble all by herself. She can usually go straighter than in the video. Brandon had a 4 day weekend but we couldn't go anywhere because he's on call. Friday night we stayed home and had a roast I made in the crock pot. Saturday night we went to Ruby Tuesday's and then bowling. I won (of course). I was worried during the first game, because I was not doing so hot. But I just needed to warm up. The second game was much better. I really miss the league I was in last year. But jazzercise is better for me so I'll stick to that. Last night we had pizza and today we have done nothing. We are cooking burgers on the grill tonight for our own Labor Day cook out. We've GOT to make some friends here! Tomorrow will be more of the same except I will go to Jazzercise and Brandon will probably go to the woods. There is something to hunt 365 days of the year here so he has already been out a good bit. Gotta get back to all the fun....

Tumblin' Tumbleweed