Who's the Leader of the Club...

This week was fun and different. Mama apparently had to take some type of test in a warm place called Florida, so off we flew on a big "airplane jet" for several days of fun in the sun!

Grammie and Aunt Abbey came with Mama, Z, and me to hang out with us kids while Mama was off doing her work stuff. We had some other friends staying with us too, of which, one was about my age. V and I had a lot of fun playing (and sometimes arguing) together. We spent at least a little bit of time in the pool each day, and as you can see here, at one point, Isaiah got to go for his first swim! He took to the water like the little fishies on his swim diaper!

Someday, when he gets bigger, I will teach him how to swim by himself...but first, I will have to learn how to myself. For the time being, I am liking my floaty ring.

While we were in Florida, Mama took us to a cool place called Magic Kingdom, where I was able to see Mickey and Minnie Mouse, as well as see lots of princesses and Dumbo, the Flying Elephant, who is one of my new favorite Disney characters. I rode on some nifty rides, saw some neat shows, and, overall, had a really good time until the sleep deprivation kicked in from all the excitement and no nap!

I did learn one important lesson from my Disney friends that day, of which I had to remind Mama the next day (completely unprompted)--"Dreams Come True," especially at Disney World!

February News

February is already flying by...it has been a fun month with V-day at school, complete with treats and Valentine's cards and Mama's birthday too. We have been very busy at our house, but I thought I would take a moment to catch you up with all our late winter news.

This month, I got my first "real haircut" by someone other than Mama...and it was way cooler than my mother's efforts because I got to sit on a horse and watch a movie while it was being done. Needless to say, I sat a lot more still for that lady than I do for Mama.

Despite the fact that Daddy has been gone for several weeks, we are getting by...Mama is trying to keep up with me, but not doing such a great job of it. Good thing that Aunt Abbey is around...she is faster and smarter than Mama, so she keeps Z and me on our toes.

We are able to talk with Daddy on the computer fairly often, though I am certainly looking forward to seeing him back at our house as soon as possible. When he Skypes with us, sometimes he can't talk out loud because it is the middle of the night there and his friends are sleeping...so Mama reads his sentences to me that he types and sometimes he whispers to me, "I love you, Ellie!" I miss my Daddy, and I am most vocal about that when Mama is driving me crazy.

In other news, Isaiah and I took our first "dual-kid bath" in the big bath tub--the first one he has had outside of the baby tub. I was very helpful in keeping him upright while Mama documented it for posterity's sake.

I will try to do better to keep you updated going forward, but Mama has been hogging the computer a lot lately and working long hours with it. We should have some exciting events coming up in March, so stay tuned!

Birthday Party!

I turned 3 this week, and to celebrate, we had a huge party at my house last night, complete with lasagna, salad, rolls, and cake with ice cream! I was really excited to have family and friends over to help ring in the beginning of my 4th year of life. True to her promise, Mama made me a giant chocolate cake that had my name on it, with 3 bright candles for me to blow out! Of course, I have known how to spell my name for months, but in case you don't know...it said Happy Birthday, E-L-E-A-N-O-R, which spells "Ellie-nor!" It was a lot of fun, and Daddy got to spend time with us too, watching via video chat. I got some very nice presents, but the ones that rank highest are my Daddy Doll, my photo album of pictures of me and Daddy, and my new backpack (just like 'Dorya the Splorya!') I am already looking forward to my next birthday!

Merry Christmas 2011

Well, all the dreaming of a white Christmas didn't pay off...it was a very green and brown and grey Christmas day this year, but regardless, I had a joyful holiday, celebrating "Jesus' Birthday!" with my family, both at Nana and Grandpa's house and at Grammie and Papa's house!

I was really good at opening presents this year; I didn't really need any help accomplishing this task like last Christmas. I even helped my little brother get into his, since he is still pretty helpless.

We had lots of good food and lots of good fun...though apparently Mama didn't document this very well given the paucity of good photos from our events! I have included a few of the better pictures of: me and Isaiah, on his very first Christmas; Aunt Abbey, Bayley and Max with their new Christmas sweaters we got them; and Z and me with most of my crazy cousins (we missed Kyleigh and Macy this year!) Hope you had a good holiday too!

One week down...51 to go.

"My Daddy is Away, and I Miss Him!"

As most of you know, my Daddy is a part-time soldier...and it is his turn to go help the people "Over There." I have included some photos from his going-away ceremony. I miss him, but as my book, titled above, states, I know that "he is always here in my heart." The last week has been different, but manageable. It is a good thing Aunt Abbey is here, because Mama is a little fuzzy-brained. So, my Daddy is gone now; the count-down has begun; and we girls (plus Baby Isaiah) are getting by.

I was very helpful to my Daddy before he left, helping him pack up his bags. You can see my assistance in this video below. I found a nice spot for me, but decided that it would likely be too long of a trip to stay comfortable in my hide-a-way, especially because my feet didn't quite fit as well as one could hope. I already regret my decision not to go with him...Mama is crazy! Hurry home, Daddy...

In other news, Isaiah is moving up in the dietary world; he had his first taste of something other than Mama Milk right before Daddy left. The jury is still out on whether or not he likes it...he sure made some funny faces! I'll keep you updated on his progress!

Daddy is my Hero!

Celebrating...this special time of year!

Wow, where did November go? Last time I posted, we were raking leaves and carving pumpkins while handing out candy! And, now I have jingle bells ringing in my ears and visions of sugarplums dancing in my head! The events at my house lately have been festive and fun! Just a couple weeks ago, we visited Daddy's Aunt Anne's house for Thanksgiving, along with about a million other people! I didn't realize that I had so many fun and crazy distant cousins in this world! I especially enjoyed playing with Jessa and Emerson, who are both about my age. Isaiah was deservedly admired as the newest baby and most handsome child in the family.

And then, just a few days ago, our immediate family headed out the local Christmas tree farm to chop one down for our living room. We had a great time decorating it beside the "occasionally" blazing fire as Christmas music played in the background and our icicle lights twinkled on the front of the house.

Yesterday, we celebrated our family Christmas with presents, music, fun and Christmas ham loaf! Apparently we enjoyed our revelry early compared to everyone else, because soon Daddy will be going "Over There." It would have been perfect if only it would have snowed instead of the incessant downpour of rain that we received!

On top of all the excitement and festivity, we also managed to squeeze in a family photo session, which went amazingly well. I cooperated magnificently due to the promise of a candy cane at the end, and Z was very cooperative and smiley also. It has been fun, and I am spending extra special time with my Daddy while he is around; I leave you with a photo of Daddy and me painting with my new watercolor paints that I found in my stocking! Merry Christmas...even if it is a little early!

Fall and Family

There is a new sheriff in town, here to keep all the rowdy cowboys and cowgirls...and the cows...in line. That's right, it is me. For Halloween this year, I am the roughest, toughest cowgirl/sheriff there has ever been, and I am, sure enough, keeping Zaiah out of trouble! Here we are at the church's fall festival last weekend in our duo costumes. I got a bag full of goodies, but my favorites are the "stuckers" that turn my mouth bright blue!

I keep telling Isaiah that he is too small for candy, but I see him eyeing my treats sometime! As you can see from this picture, I am fairly fond of the little cow that lives at our house, so far he likes to smile at me and doesn't steal my toys or eat my food--I can live with that, but I have my suspicions that he might not always be so accommodating! For now, he can lay around and smile, but I have important big kid things to do. For example, here I am below with Daddy, helping him carve our "Curious George" pumpkin...it turned out pretty well, we think!

Speaking of pumpkins, when we went to get them from the outdoor farmer's market, we had the most beautiful, perfect autumn day...a far cry from the "wintry mix" that is expected tomorrow for Trick-or-Treating night. There were hundreds and hundreds of pumpkins to pick from--we got one for each family member, five in total counting Aunt Abbey! We got a little one for Z and a huge one for Daddy; the rest were sized in between, but mine, of course, is the best one! Zaiah slept all through the picking of the pumpkins, but I made sure his was pretty good too.

Such an exciting time of year, and I hope you have a wonderful fall also! Enjoy it while it lasts, as soon the snow will be falling...hmmm...bring on the Turkey!