Preschool "Howdy Day"

dine-o-round

Every year I say we are going to take advantage of Restaurant Week, and every year October 1st comes and goes without us dining o' round. If we make it downtown this year you may find me here, here, or here.

apple picking

Amelia and I went apple picking today in Heber. We scored nearly 100 lbs of organic apples. Now we just have to figure out what to do with them...


*post edit

We made 21 quarts of applesauce, 9 quarts of apple juice and lots of dehydrated apples. Kind of wishing we had picked more apples :)

lotoja 2011

Ryan decided to do Lotoja again this year. He convinced me to do support, so Amelia and I made a road trip out of the infamous Logan to Jackson. We had a great time. Stopped at local gardens, the Oregon Trail Museum, chatted it up, and ate tons of bad-for-you snacks. Oh yeah, we handed the boys water bottles and gels, too. The riders did great. All had their best times and Justin even made it on the podium. Ryan felt strong, but had really bad luck and got not one, but two flat tires. He ended up stopped on the side of the road for nearly 20 minutes. But still, he did great and we had fun together. We stayed in these cool cabins--"glamping" they called it. Sweet.

Ryan's already planning next year...maybe someday I'll join him. Or maybe not. 206 miles in a car might be more fun than 206 on a bike.

Thanks to Drama and Drampa for watching the girls. You know you've got it good when the worst behavior is when your child sobs for 10 minutes when she discovers it's time to go home. Love those grandparents.

wolka dots

The other day Ella and I were driving in the car and I heard her say, "No, no no. You don't say 'wolka dots.' It's 'polka dots!'" "Ella, what did you say?" I ask. "Ah keeps saying 'wolkadots' and I am just telling her that they are 'polkadots.' She always calls them 'wolka dots'."


Nice work, El. Nice work. Way to keep that Ah in line.

preschool

Big day today. Real preschool. With real artwork. Artwork that can really clutter my already cluttered home. So I'm going to do this.

Source: remodelista.com via Alissa on Pinterest

Scan in her artwork, save it digitally, and toss the original. When I have enough we will make a cool piece of art to hang in her room.

Day 1:

Ella turns 3

Some things about my darling Ella Jane

• She has a remarkable memory. She gets it from the Packer side, that's for sure. 
• The imaginary friend thing is evolving. She now has Ah, Va, Da, Sa, Na and Eda-pho-Eda (who knows where she came up with that one). They are her "kids." She converses with them on a regular basis. And today she took it to a whole new level when she told me that she had to crawl on the table because Ah wanted the balloon. 
• Potty training, oh the joy. Here's where we are at: She feels the urge to go. She tells me. We take off her panties and...put on a diaper. She relieves herself, we remove the diaper and put the panties back on. She can't figure out how to go sitting down. She can sit on the potty and hold it for HOURS. She's not stubborn, she honestly can't figure out how to control the muscles while sitting down. Yesterday I asked her to practice sitting in her diaper and going and she told me, "I can't. That's not how my diaper works." Preschool starts in 5 days. Don't think we'll make it.
• She is very very thoughtful. She loves her friends and her sister. She remembers what everyone's favorite color is, and then tries to match their popsicle/balloon/cookie/toy/napkin to it
• The only food she wanted for her birthday dinner was strawberry soup. She hadn't ever had it before, but that's what she she wanted.
• The morning of her combined birthday party 2/2 guests called in sick. We managed to have a great time anyway. Lots of hand sanitizer was involved. 
• She has nearly given up her nap. She needs it every third to fourth day. Shed a little tear. 
• She is fun, smart and sweet. Love you, Ella Jane.