School's Out For Summer!!

There's really no excuse for my blogging negligence this time! It's completely because we have been having SO much fun since school let out, that in the evenings after Ella goes to bed (and after getting everything tidied up after partying hard inside and out throughout the day), Adam and I are so tired as well that it's nice to just relax!...BUT we have been busy taking pictures!

We finished up our last week of school last week, and had a few projects at the beginning of this week (we had to put in one summer work day at school that we wanted to get out of the way, and then Adam and I were asked to develop a curriculum for the Life Skills classes we teach - kind of like 'home ec' - that turned out great!). We started our official 'summer' Wednesday because we had all of that done - plus our first TRUE summer day (Monday) began with a busted water heater in our house, so it was too hectic to really feel like the first day of break!
But we have had SUCH a great time spending our days playing! After we finished everything up on Wednesday we spent some time with Adam's grandparents who have been SO great to us with helping to babysit Ella! I've said it before and I'll say it again that we are SO lucky to have them! On Friday we had a 'pool play date' with some friends who live in a neighborhood that has a really nice swimming pool. Then today, we got some things done around here - washed the car, recycling, etc. - and then went over to another friend's house to play!

One of our favorite things to do during the day (when we are not at other people's houses having play dates :-)) - is to SWIM! We have turned the heat completely off in our hot tub, and it makes for a perfect swimming pool for Ella! She LOVES the water as you can see in the pictures above and below! The other day she saw her swim robe hanging in her room, and gave it to me (asking if I would put it on her) and after she had it on, she headed straight out the door and said 'pool'! AND - if that's not enough - she saw me with my bathing suit on as we were getting ready to go to the pool play date and immediately started saying 'pool, pool'!

In the evening (just about every evening) before bedtime (which for Ella is 8 - with the 'routine' starting at 7:30) we get out the stroller and stroll around the neighborhood through the alleyways on a 'dog hunt' as Ella and I call it. Ella really enjoys being pushed in her stroller to go through the neighborhood looking for dogs! Of course, they always come up and bark, and the louder they bark and higher they jump the more she laughs - one would think she may get scared but NO WAY!! We love doing this as a family - the evenings have been so beautiful with awesome temperatures!

And finally, we have been influenced (and inspired I should say because children's toy are SO expensive if to buy from the store) by our friends who are frequent yard salers! (I posted about them a few weeks ago when Ella was playing with her baby doll stroller that came from a yard sale) Adam was out and about this morning and saw that a house down the street was having a yard sale with some children's toys and this toy kitchen (Little Tykes even!) was a great deal! Ella LOVES playing with it! We have started going through her toys and rearranging everything - putting/giving away things she has outgrown - it's so hard to keep up between her outgrowing clothes and toys so fast!

Next week - a week from today we are headed to the beach!! We are going to Sunset Beach (http://sunsetnc.com/) which is where my family went when I was growing up. We can't wait for our first family vacation! I'm sure we will be taking lots of videos and pictures for me to post when we get back!!

Bonus Pics!

Here are some extras I just thought were really cute!!

She loves playing with her friends!!

This one just show that her hair is curly in the back! SOOO cute!!

Fun Times in West Virginia

So I have more pictures this time! This past weekend we went on a trip to West Virginia and had a great time hanging out with the Fisk side of the family! We spent time with Nana Fisk before she left for her mission trip to the Dominican Republic - which she left for on Sunday and is currently there now!
While we were there Ella got to play at the farm (show in that first picture - she is saying the word 'tractor' and she looks so mature! - my little baby isn't such a little baby any more - SO bitter sweet!), visit her great-grandmothers, and go to her second cousin's 30th birthday party (which was at our family campground by the river - and she had an absolute BLAST!)

The picture above and below show Ella doing some of her favorite things these days...playing in mud puddles and swinging!

I just thought this last picture was particularly sweet - Ella was showing her Nana something in the pond!

I love this beautiful weather! We are finishing up our LAST week of school! Can't wait for more time to spend with Ella and spend as a family!

G Diapers and Small Towns

Everytime we go to any stores Ella ALWAYS picks up sunglasses, so we finally broke down and got her some, and she actually wears them! Isn't she 'stylin'!

I don’t have as many pictures as usual – I’m mad at myself for that because we were out and about on Saturday and I didn’t have my camera! – but I thought I would share some stories (for those of you who actually read the posts and not just look at pics :-))

G Diapers – So as fate may have it, poor Ella has found herself allergic to diapers!!!! I took her to see the doctor last week (even though I truly felt silly taking her to the doc for this reason) about a CHRONIC case of diaper rash she had been having – she was so pitiful with her little bum raw all the time and after taking many different approaches to battle it (including Desitin, corn starch, powder, changing diaper brands, allowing her to go without a diaper as much as possible – thank goodness for the blue berber carpet in the living room and hardwood floors everywhere else, a prescription ointment, and even having the babysitter put her diapers in a separate bag so I could count them when I came to pick her up) I decided that it was time to get some professional help. Thus another trip in to see our Winnie-the-Pooh tie wearing pediatrician that we love so much (only this time it was a crayon tie) and as the Conner luck would have it he said she has developed an allergy to diapers!
So Thursday evening was spent on the Internet researching the best cloth/diaper alternatives out there and with a combination of Seventh Generation disposable (http://www.seventhgeneration.com/Diapers) and G Diapers (http://www.gdiapers.com/) I think we will be set until potty training time. Both of these diaper brands are great (and wonderful for the environment as well for all of you interested in that aspect) and I definitely recommend both of them. I can’t tell you the excitement I have to finally see her (and her little bum) feeling so much better!

Small towns – The fun that we were out having on Saturday was in a little town close to here, and only a few miles from where Adam grew up. After spending time riding bikes and playing in the creek with Ella at Adam’s grandparents, we went with them to a BBQ chicken dinner, carnival and parade – and had a wonderful time. The whole time I was thinking about the movie Sweet Home Alabama and how comforted I am by small towns where seriously everyone knows everyone! I have always lived in small towns and am glad that Ella will get to experience them as well! She had an awesome time getting to go to her first ‘carnival’ and seeing her first parade – which she actually sat there and watched the entire time!

Again – apologies for not having my camera – I’ll do better next weekend!

Happy 1st of June (already!)

YAY - it's June already, which means only 3 - now 2 and 1/2 more weeks of school. We go longer than most teaching jobs because we are in an 11 month position, but we are still gearing up for 6 weeks! off - can't wait! This week is the last week of actual school, and then we do fun activities with the kids for the remainder of the time, so we are definitely on the down hill slide!
Life for us was a little hectic last week, as some type of 'bug' went through all three of us!! Yuck! But we are all better now, and still had a nice weekend!
Ella got a new toy, from our friends who are champion 'yard salers'! They were awesome to think of us when they were out, and they had some 'finds' for Ella - one of which was this baby doll stroller which she LOVES!!

It wasn't enough to go just through the yard - she took her baby on a real walk around the block! I was laughing because I'm sure people were doing a double take when they saw this little person (who barely comes up to my knees) pushing a baby stroller!

Then on Sunday, after church we met our friends at the park to play and feed the ducks! We are so lucky to have such wonderful parks in the area - and of course friends to 'hang out' with!