Halloween, 2011

Ella and Bea trick or treating (not a great video, but you get the idea).
Best line of the night:
"Sorry tids. We might not have enough tandy for you." (Ella to trick or treaters while holding a huge bowl of candy)

Tuckered out

On the move

Today Anna started crawling. Grandpa Paul noticed it. We gathered around, oohed and awed for a bit, then moved on. Grandpa didn't think Anna was getting her fair due. "When Ella started crawling it got more attention than a Constitutional amendment." 

The second child. 

Loved. 

Without the accolades. 

A star is born

Ella had her preschool Halloween program today. She didn't want to upstage the other kids. You know, she's humble like that.

{excuse the poor video handling. Anna was on my lap and grabbing for the phone}


Mom found out that "bring nine wrapped treats" does not mean let Ella pick out 9 pieces of candy from the Halloween stash. It means make something like this with a chocolate dipped pretzel for the handle, filled with goodies. Even the moms who only gave a single piece of candy gave cool things, like save the forests chocolates, or DIY candy necklaces. Good thing El's not old enough to be embarrassed by her lame offering.

France, 2010

Jamie is a little slow (like, a year late) with her pictures, but they are always great. You can see photos from last year's trip here.

Cousin Camp, part 3

With Ryan gone for 12 days I knew we would need a little distraction to stay sane. So we hopped on a plane and spent the weekend in Texas with Lauren and gang. We had a fantastic time. Never mind that 7/8 people were sick. That mosquitos were in full force. That we had to fit 5 carseats and 3 adults in the Honda Odyssey. We cooked, ate, crafted, movied, zooed, farmed, parked, beached, laughed, played, played and played. The kids got along amazingly well, and the adults didn't do half bad either. 

{Ella's first step into the ocean}

Thanks, Lauren, for making it a great trip.

guy on a buffalo

Don't worry, there are 4 of these little gems. Episode 2 might be my favorite.

And t-shirts.

Love it.

Private/Public Blog

The worst thing about a private blog (in my opinion) is not being able to use your reader. I've tried to get around this by making a duplicate public blog, that only has the title of new posts, with a link to see the full post. You can put the public blog in your reader.


http://ryanandalissapackerpublic.blogspot.com/

Sunday night pics

The girls and I (Ryan is in China for 10 days) went to my parents for Sunday dinner. The fall colors are gorgeous in PC so we took a few pictures.

don't clap

Oh, the many, many, ways you can scar your child's psyche, without even trying.

Ella's potty training has taken off this week (after I told her that we were all out of diapers and her options were to pee on the floor or in the potty). After her first success we hip, hip, hoorayed, clapped and called grandma. The next time she did the potty dance our conversation went something like this:

Mom: Ella, do you have to go potty?
Ella: Don't twap [clap].
Mom: What?
Ella: Don't twap.
Mom: Huh?
Ella: Don't twap when I go potty. Don't say anything.


And pretty much every time I ask her to go she tells me not to clap. The funny thing is my pediatrician told me the same thing, and I pretty much ignored him. Looks like Charlie knew what he was talking about, once again.

it's time

I really, really hate doing this, but I think I'm going to go private for a while. The comments from men all over the world kind of creep me out. So send me an email or leave a comment if you want an invite. I enjoy blogging and suspect I'm not going to like it as much if I think only 3 people are reading...so this may be temporary. We'll see.

alissa.packer@gmail.com

*btw, if you don't know me, or don't know me well I'd be flattered if you want an invite. As long as you're not creepy.

Caramel Apple Cake

I made this last night for book club, and it was delicious. I used pears instead of apples. Great fall recipe.

Ella at 3

We had Ella's three-year-old visit last week. Here's some tidbits about Ella these days:

• She is very precise. Today she told me that she wanted to go to Bajio. I told her it was Sunday and we don't go on Sunday. She told me, "Mom. We don't go to stores on Sunday. This is a restaurant." 
• Still no luck on the potty front. She can hold it but cannot for the life of her figure out how to go while sitting down. We're trying to be patient.
• Loves her imaginary friends. Has conversations and playdates with them on a daily basis.
• Leveled out height and weight. Sadly, I can't remember what her percentages are. around 50th. 
• Loves Anna. My favorite thing lately is she will recount their encounters. "Mom. I went and saw Anna and she made her face go like this [smiles goofily]." Or, "Mom. I tink Anna is twy-ing to say, 'I don't want any more food, I want my binky.'" Or, "Mom. Anna was yike dis, 'Aaahhhhh.'"
• She is from Utah. She has started to say "like." It pains me, but it's my own darn fault.
• She can add and subtract, using her fingers, most single digits. This morning she asked me, "Mom, what's 3+4?" "I don't know, Ella, what is it?" "Come on, mom. You can do it. You know. This is an easy one!" "7?" "Right! Good job." (honestly, I am not pushing this on her...as I write this I realize it looks like I am being a little bit of a Tiger mom). She also wants to know how to spell things. 
• She has given up the nap. Sad, sad, day. She can be quite the grump come 4 o'clock. Not my favorite stage.
• Conversation last night: "Mom. Do you know what Daddy yikes more than oranges? Peaches. Do you know what Daddy yikes more than peaches? Ellas." (she and Ryan must have had this conversation a few weeks ago). 10 minutes later: "I yike this slice of pear." 1 minute later: "Mommy. Guess what I yike better than pears? Daddy." melt. his. heart.