Hungry Like The Wolf

We were in the car today and 'Hungry Like The Wolf" by Duran Duran was on. Ellie was listening and singing along where she could and then she paused and asked:

"How hungry is a wolf?"

I just started laughing. She is so inquisitive right now and wants to know what each word means and is learning all of the time. Who knew Duran Duran would ever prompt such questions.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lv6Cr5LZStE

Snow

I don't know if I liked the snow as a kid or not. There are two things I can remember liking in the snow - skiing with Cori and Tausha in middle school and high school and playing Fox and Geese with my dad. I doubt in either case it was the snow I liked but rather the people and the time we spent together. Ellie loves the snow. She doesn't care how cold or dirty or cold it is she wants to play in it. She wants it to hit her face and tounge when we walk. She likes to stomp in it, drag her feet in it, dig with her bare hands in it. I want nothing to do with it. We had our first big storm of the season in PG on Tuesday. We are having another one right now and Ellie is dying to go out. Luckily for her, Kevin likes to play in the snow so on Tuesday they had a fun day in the cold. They built a snowman, dug a snow fort, made snow angels, and played human bowling. Ellie gave the snowman a hug because she said she knew he would have to melt one day. It was so cute, but I don't see that happening anytime soon - winter is just beginning!

Whose kid is this?

Every year my family has a Christmas party. It is complete with holiday food, fun and family. Of course no Christmas party would be complete without a visit from good ol' St. Nick. Santa brings his big bag and has a gift for each child. He found a cute red one, called Ellie's name and she went to sit on his knee. She then found a way to show whose daughter she really is.

Santa begins:

"Hello Ellie what a pretty dress, where did you get it?"

Here you would expect your child to say - from my mom, my grandma, or something along those lines. No, not my child, her response?

"The GAP"

I think my face was as red as Santa's suit.

(Although, I was also glad she was my child when she was so excited and thankful for her present - "This is just what I wanted!")

School Stories

Ellie comes home from school and tells me random facts about kids or show and tell or just stuff that happened in the day (like when Isabel threw up in class or when Davis brought a real lizard or when Brady says silly things or when Holland had to sit in the "thinking chair" for not being nice.)

Wednesday after school brought my favorite one so far:

"Mom, Davis' dad is a dentist."

"Oh yeah? That's cool. Do you know what your dad is?"

She thought about it for a second and then said, "He's Korean."

I'm sure being Korean is a full time job.

(I don't have too many recent pictures of Ellie and Garred - but here is a cute one from 2006 I like - both of them being Korean.)

Cramming November

I can not believe that November is over and I hardly posted a thing! I have so many good things to post for November too! I guess it will be a really really long November catch-up blog. Grab a drink and some popcorn - this could take awhile.

Saying goodbye to Lagoon for a season:
November 1st was the last day for Lagoon's 2008 season. We had season passes this year so we decided to use them until the end! The weather couldn't have been more perfect and we had a blast. I don't know about all kids - but Ellie is usally really fun to do things with and take places - but of course some days are better than others. This day was incredible. She really just enjoyed being there and had a great attitude. This trip she discovered and fell in love with the sky ride. We rode it six times across the park. Of course, the carousel is always one of her favorites. She kept getting on rides with other kids and I asked her why she didn't go alone. I knew she just doesn't like to be alone on rides, but her response was - "I am just making friends." So cute!


I love how Ellie plays. She is so creative and so cute to listen to. This was her "birthday party." I love the way she arranges and uses her imagination to make one toy something it is not intended to be. In this picture her baskets are tables and chairs. I love just sitting and listening to her play.


We missed Thursday night bowling in October, so we took it up again in November. Ellie was more interested in the other games than bowling this time. We said we should go again and she said, "it takes too long." I think she may have just been worn out that day.

Sundays at Grandma's in November usually involve a craft. Here is our Sunday craft of the month. We made the turkey bodies with our feet and their feathers with our hands. Ellie was really into it and did all of the gluing herself.


I work from home and during the day Ellie is here a lot and I don't get to do much playing with her. I have been feeling a little bad about it lately, so I've tried to stop in the day a few times or plan something fun at night to do together. She really just likes the simple things and spending time playing with mom. Here are some of our Playdoh creations.


When driving on I-15 south heading toward PeeGee - there is a factory with a smoke stack. Every day the smoke is a little different and honestly, I never used to notice it. Ellie started saying what the smoke looked like. My favorite was when she said it looked like a beanstalk and then created a story to go along with the smoke. This picture is not the beanstalk day - do you know what it is? If not, just ask Ellie.


One day in November, the 12th I think - it rained really hard. We were once again driving in the car and Ellie said, "Look mom, it looks like a shark is coming towards us." I tried and tried to see what she was looking at and just couldn't get it. I finally found it. It was the section in the windshield the wipers miss that form the perfect shark fin. She is so creative!


Madagascar 2: so great - Ellie saw it two times in November. Once with Dad and once with Mom. We laughed in bed one night over and over about Moto Moto and his lines.

"I like 'em big. I like 'em chunky. I like 'em big. I like 'em plumpy."
"Goodness girl, you huge."
"Girl, you as quick as you are hefty."
"The name's so nice, you say it twice."
"I'll see you around girl, it won't be hard because you so plumpy."
http://www.traileraddict.com/clip/madagascar-the-crate-escape/moto-meets-gloria

We are always glad when friends can come over to play. Isabel, Luke and Ellie played on this slide forever. They were climbing up it instead of sliding down and when someone in front would fall they would all get knocked down - laugh - and then do it again. In a few more years, I'll have to have a talk with Luke about that last picture. :)




Disney on Ice:
On our way to Disney on Ice we ran into Ellie's cousin on her dad's side - Analia. You can actually see the resemblance. Ellie enjoyed the show but was quick to point out that Sleepy Beauty was missing. That girl knows her princesses.



Ellie has a Build-a-Bear bear. Her name is Abbie. We decided it was time for Abbie to get some new digs.


Since Ellie and I weren't able to spend Thanksgiving together - we had my family over for Sunday dinner the week before. We spent the morning making our first pumpkin pies. Ellie likes to help in the kitchen. She has wanted to be like mom and do what mom does a lot lately. I love it of course and think it's so dang cute.


It is tradition in my family to put the Christmas tree up the Saturday after Thanksgiving. (Actually, I think I am the only one left that keeps true to this tradition.) So we spent a good part of Saturday finding decorations, a tree, and getting the house all Christmas cute. Friday night Ellie was in charge of putting up the nativity scene. As she was setting out the three wise men she said, "Look - a trophy, a crayon, and a box." I'm sure Christ would be just as happy with those three gifts as he was with gold, frankincense and myrrh.
She also got the job of putting out all of the treats and of course decorating the tree. We are so happy with the finished products and had so much fun getting it done.






The last thing we did in November was send a letter to Santa. Ellie wanted to include on the letter what I wanted. Later Kevin came over so she wanted to add that as well.

It originally read:
Ellie wants
a Little Bear toothpaste
Mom wants
peanut clusters
Ellie Mom

She added Kevin in the blank spaces and it ended up a little crazy. I was trying to teach her how the lines in sentences flow and she thought it was funny that Santa might think we all wanted something we didn't. We decided that Santa was probably smart enough to figure it out.




If you stayed along for the entire ride - I hope you enjoyed November as much as I did!

Phone Calls

Right now I am out of town without Ellie. It is Garred's year for Thanksgiving and so I didn't really get the option to bring her. I miss her when I don't see her every day. Talking to Ellie on the phone is usually hit or miss. And honestly, miss is usually the outcome. In person she doesn't stop talking, but she must be like her mom on the phone - which is - get me off as soon as possible. Anyway, when I'm out of town the phone is my only option. I asked Garred to have her call me when she was free Sunday night. She called and the typical conversation began by me asking her how she is, what she had been doing, etc. and I got the usual one word responses. I try to ask open ended questions that require more than one word, but Ellie finds a way around it. I knew she had been at my mom's for some of the day on Friday so I asked her what fun things her and my mom did. She said, "It's kind-of a long story mom." I couldn't help but crack up.

--redeeming phone call--
I called her yesterday in the day (which is usually a little better because she's not tired) and asked how school was, etc. She gave me a few longer answers so I decided to press my luck and ask about the "long story" - she said it was a long story because they did lots of things - but she did tell me a few of them. The best part of that call was that she kept saying "just a second mom" to tell her friend Luke something that was more urgent than the phone call to mom. How old is this kid anyway?

I posted this picture because it is Ellie doing something for mom that she would rather not do - just like the phone call. At four - sometimes it is hard to smile in front of pupkins and talk on the phone. Actually, I know there are days when I don't want to do those things either.

Shooting Stars

At school Ellie's class was learning about the solar system, comets, stars, etc. Her teacher, Miss Courtney told them that if they saw a shooting star they should wish on it. Since that day Ellie has been in search of shooting stars. When we drive in the car at night, we are on the lookout. We have even been on late night walks to see if we could find one. Nothing so far. I showed her some pictures, but that doesn't satisfy the desire to see a real one or to wish upon it.

I really hope she gets to see one soon.

On our way home from school Monday she said this:

"Mom, if I ever do see a shooting star, a real one, I am going to wish that there are no bugs in PG or in California. None. Ever."

Ellie doesn't like bugs much. Neither do I really. And she can't figure out how they sometimes get in houses when the doors and windows are shut. Those sneaky little bugs find a way. I thought it was cute that she didn't want them in PG where we live, but just as cute that she included California - which is where cousin Mason lives and where we visit often.

October Round Up

Here is a quick round up of fun events and pictures from October.

• Blending Badge - Ellie earned her blending badge at school.
• Cousin Birthday Party – Early in the month Ellie got to put on her costume and go to a Halloween themed birthday party for cousins Isaac and Addie.
• Football Party/Sleepover - Ellie got to have a sleepover with cousin Addie. It was a game night so I made treats and the girls decorated pumpkins and made Halloween cards.
• Crafts - We were almost Martha Stewart crafty this month: mummies, spiders, trees, and ghosts!
• Hee Haw Farms - A must do for every October!
• Girls Night- My fun friends Kaylyn, Caycie, and Kimese came over for dinner and a fun night for Ellie playing with their kids. Come back more often girls!
• Going to Bed by Herself - Ellie has successfully gone to sleep by herself most of October. For this we had a fun trip to Barnes and Noble for a reward.
• Another Trip to Los Angeles - This is our yearly shopping event which includes fun friends, lots of shopping, lots of eating, and of course seeing cousins Mason and Logan.
• Pumpkin Carving– When we were cleaning our pumpkins this year I said that it wasn't the most fun part, just then a seed came up and hit Ellie's face sticking to it which caused us all to laugh - we decided the cleaning is probably the most fun part! While with Garred, Ellie won a pumpkin carving contest. She made her pumpkin look like a cat. She won an itunes gift card, but she promptly traded it for a pez dispenser. What a good dad.
• Halloween Party at Dance - Ellie's dance class got to play fun games, dance, get treats and have a costume contest. Ellie won the cutest costume. Prettiest was taken by Cinderella. :)
• Enjoying the Warm October Weather - We took as much advantage as we could of the nice October weather and went for several walks (mom went golfing) and a few bike rides.
• Costume Hunting for Mom and Kevin - We spent a couple of days dragging from store to store until we all decided on costumes we loved.
• Halloween! At school on Halloween, Ellie's class had a parade and a program. It's so cute to see them all dressed up and singing. Of course our Halloween night was filled with Trick or Treating (we made it up and down one entire street this year!) and then giving treats out at Grandma's house.

Halloween Costumes

Ellie is amazing about knowing what she wants to be for Halloween and never changing her mind. She amazes me all the time. Here are her Halloween costumes from 7 months to 4 years and 7 months. I picked the first two of course (something cute, warm and comfortable), but she picked the last three.

Happy Halloween!