SCO Homecoming

Last Friday was Andrew's Schools Annual homecoming dinner. They cater BBQ every year and have lots of inflatables, games, and a rock wall. It was a lot of fun this year and the weather was perfect! They usually just have BBQ for everyone but this year decided to do hot dogs and chips for the kids which was great! That is all Ella wants anyways!

We were able to enjoy our dinner first surrounded by great friends!
Easton enjoyed his mixed vegetables and peaches!

They also have this man come every year. He makes some awesome balloon figures! Ella wasn't to sure about him but was thrilled with the end result! I just threw it away today since she has stopped carrying around the house with her. He is really cute with the kids!

We told him we wanted a Monkey, he asked what color and I said brown and he didn't like that and told me I was boring! We ended up with a Pink Monkey hanging in a banana tree! Ella loved it!

This year was the first year I wasn't pregnant during homecoming so I was able to do more than just waddle and sit! Andrew and I did this running thing together. It was a lot of fun!

Mine was the yellow brick in the middle and Andrew's was the red. We were supposed to put it where we stopped, I chucked mine and this is where it landed!

Then it springs you back!

It was a really fun night and nice to be outside enjoying the first day of fall! It was fun to see all the people Andrew associates with at school both other students and the doctors on staff.

Ella was ready to go and we kept talking so she took matters into her own hands!

Tangled

Ella has a new favorite movie, Tangled or "Tena" as she pronounces it. Thanks to Netflix it is easy to get to whenever we need it. It is nice to have something she can watch while I shower and get ready every morning. I came out the other morning and she was so into it she didn't even look at me while taking her picture. She always get really concerned when all the hair gets cut off, she says hair over and over again. I guess maybe we should put this on the list of things to get Ella for her birthday or Christmas since it won't stay on Netflix forever!

Standing

Easton is standing every chance he gets. He is starting to let go and just stand without holding onto anything. He is more adventurous than Ella ever was. He has figured out standing in the bath this last week. He gets mad at me when I sit him back down but if I don't sit him back down he hits his head on the spout. He loves to throw the toys out of the bath and between him and Ella splashing our bathroom is a complete mess by the time we get done. Easton gets so excited to be in the bath he splashes which then Ella does because if he does it then it is funny. It is crazy during bath time that is for sure!

Conger Park

There is a really fun park about 10 minutes south of us in Hernando. Last Friday we decided to go down and let Ella and Easton play. Andrew gets done with school on Fridays now by noon. It is so nice to have him home to spend the day with us! Last semester he was gone every Friday until past 7 usually so this has been a nice change! Ella has come a long way when it comes to the park! Since the beginning of Spring we have been going with our Mother's group and other times just with us to play at the park. She would just stand by me and whine or she would kind of play but never would just go play and enjoy herself. Well recently she has decided that it isn't all that scary. She loves to go up and go down slides. Not just the little ones anymore but the big ones and the ones that twist! She still has her reservations every now and again but she is getting more enjoyable to take to the park!

I remember playing on things like these as a kid. Ella loved it and would rock when we told her too and she would laugh.

There is one thing at the park that Ella is terrified of still and that is the swings. She CANNOT handle them. We are talking full on shaking and crying and practically hyperventilating hate! Easton on the other hand loves to swing! He laughed and laughed every time we would push him. It is amazing how different they are!

We even let East get in on the sliding action. He isn't to sure about it yet!

This park has this cute train part. Here is Ella driving the train!

When were helping we're happy.....

Ella tries real hard to help me. Sometimes it is actually helpful and usually it ends up being more work for myself in the end. Last Sunday after dinner Easton was a mess and needed a new diaper so he ended up without any clothes on. Ella went and got his sweater and tried to put it on for a good ten minutes! She was so determined to get it on him.

He kept moving around the room and she would follow him and try and try to get it on! The look on her face is so serious she just can't figure it out!

I think at this point he was done!

Play dough

Last Friday morning I thought that while Easton was having his morning nap that Ella and I need to do something special together. She seemed like she was needing more attention she was having a less that stellar week, so I decided to make some play dough with her. She liked to watch me mix it. I made Kool-aid play dough. My mom used to make it and it makes it smell good. We made Orange, Tropical punch, and Grape.

I put her in her chair and put the purple one in front of her. For some strange reason she thought we were going to eat it as a snack. Poor thing leaned right in and took a huge bite out of it. She didn't like it lucky for me I happened to have the camera in my hand. She wasn't happy I was laughing at her. I got her a drink and a snack to get the taste out of her mouth and then about 20 min later she tried to eat it again. Luckily this time she didn't get it in before she realized she didn't want to eat it. I guess we need to do more activities at the table besides eating so she doesn't just think it is for eating.

We made their names and then we went over shapes with all the different colors. She loved putting the glass in it to make a circle!

Lucky for us Easton suddenly thinks that his morning nap only needs to be about 25 min. I personally think he needs to go back to a longer nap! I think Ella's crying woke him up actually. He got to sit and watch. He also tilted his head back so you all can see his top four teeth!

It took her a while to get into it but we ended up having a lot of fun playing with it!

Hair

Since I put up how long Easton's hair has gotten I realized how long Ella's hair really is! It is hard to know since it is so curly. Well in the bath the other night Andrew dumped water on her and it fell so we could see how long it was. I was surprised! If it was straight she would have a mullet and would need a haircut but it is so curly it doesn't matter! Detangler is our new best friend!

Easton's New Seat!!!

Easton was in desperate need of a new seat! His legs were longer than his infant seat was and the straps were getting a little snug so we had to get him a new one. Lucky for us Target had their baby sale and so we went and bought him one! Yes it has purple on it, he will survive! He loves it so far and will love it even more in a few months when he can turn around. There is now no room in the back seat for me or anyone else! Those seats are huge!

Unrelated to the car seat, but this is what happens when you have a big sister! She loves to dress him in her necklaces, and leave it hanging over his ear! He is ready for Mardi Gras!

Ice Cream Social

Every Year the students here in our ward get together with the new ones that moved in and have an ice cream social to get to know them! I remember it our first year here and how much it helped us to get to know everyone else! This year as third years we were in charge of the ice cream. I made some homemade burnt almond fudge ice cream. It is a family recipe and I had never made it before, I am happy to say it turned out really good! It didn't set up on top as well but the bottom was a little better. It is hard to freeze homemade ice cream here it is never the same as it is in Utah. We made it to the park just in time for a down pour. It stopped after about 10 min and we were able to enjoy our evening. It was fun to get to the know the other new students who have just moved here.

I made some Salted Caramel Brownies as well. They were really good!

Sanity!!

I have a feeling the "terrible twos" have hit our house! Ella is becoming quite the challenge! This particular day we had been to two stores where she had cried an uncountable number of times, told every person that talked to her "NO!", and just not being nice! I was beginning to question why I kept going to another store. I just wanted all my errands done in one trip out I guess! We came home had lunch and immediately went down for naps. Later that afternoon after they were up I was making dinner and went to find this sweet scene. She was "reading" to Easton. They looked at at least ten books together! She restored my sanity in her after the grief she had caused me that morning! Like my mom always says, "do you forget how old she is sometimes?" Yes I do forget I feel she should be older since she is an older sister. Some days it is easy to forget. She may make me crazy a lot but I love both of them to death! I just have to tell myself to breath sometimes!

Labor Day!!

For Labor Day we headed down to Lake Arkabutla for a BBQ with a few friends! It was actually really cool that day and windy! The wind was annoying at times but it actually calmed down by the end of the night! It was cool enough for jackets but we didn't have any!

Happy to not be in the stroller! I didn't dare put him down he eats everything!
We can never get Ella to go play by herself or with the other kids but she actually did! She found these two balls and spent a while trying to just carry them both and then throwing them and doing it all over again!

Lucy is always so cute with Ella! She takes care of her very well and keeps her happy!

I don't know what they were doing but Ella kept screaming in excitement!

The guys enjoyed playing Bocce ball and Lasso golf!

While the girls enjoyed chatting around the food! Notice my face, Easton was grabbing the bag of Cheetos and dumped them everywhere right after this was taken!

Roasting Marshmallows for Smores! They were good! Us with the Curtis Family, our new neighbors!

To say Ella was dirty is an understatement. She was so nasty. She had piles of dirt in her hair! I don't do dirt very well! I tried to get a picture of it all but couldn't get a good one! We put them right in the bath and found a tick on Ella's tummy but thankfully it came right out and we were able to smash it and wash it down the drain!