Preschool

Elli has had a great year at preschool thus far!  She's learning so much and really enjoys being there.  Here are a few pictures from the school year….

I think they were making dough in the picture below.  I had to post this picture of her 'boyfriend,' Carter (the boy in stripes).  I go to MOPS with Carter's mom and apparently he talks about Elli all the time and calls her "My Elliana." Elli is also quite fond of Carter….in fact, when I tried to throw away his Valentine, she hugged it and said "No, you can't throw away this one. I love Carter."

 Elli and her friend, Maddie!  Elli tells me that she plays with Maddie each day.

 Elli with her friends.  Maddie is in the stripes and Kendyl is in the purple (I'm not sure who the other girls is…oops).  Elli really wanted these 2 girls (along with her friend Lilah) to come to her birthday party.  Unfortunately we weren't able to invite them, but I promised her we'd do a playdate with them this summer when school is out (Oh please let us be in a house by then!!).

 Elli and her friend, Lilah.  Lilah's mom told me that Lilah talks about Elli all the time at home.

 Elli loves playing with the dolls at school.  In fact, Elli's teacher commented at her conference that Elli occasionally had difficulty sharing the dolls  (I wasn't the least bit shocked!).

 Elli reading her 'favorite' book in front of her class.  Her teacher, Mrs. Grimm, told me she didn't need any help!

 The class singing 'Happy Birthday' to Elli!

Although our church is opening a preschool next year, we've decided to keep the kids at Elli's current school.  We've been so happy there.  We received an email from Elli's school telling us that they think she would be ready to go to the 5s class next year.  The class meets 4 times a week and would be a step up from the 4s class we had planned on enrolling her in.  Scott was so excited, but I was a little more hesitant, as I don't want her to feel overwhelmed in class with older kids. I think we'll keep her enrolled in the 4s; however after the week we've had, I might reconsider putting her in a 4th day next year (sick kids- one of them being pretty cranky, mom that doesn't feel well, husband that traveled last week and this week and will be gone all night tonight at a dinner….ahhhh please May come soon, so he can only focus on one territory instead of 2).

Disney on Ice

A few weeks ago, we went to see Disney on Ice. After we saw it last year, we knew we'd want to see it again if it came here!  We invited Scott's parents to go along as their birthday present….their birthdays are only a month apart and fell somewhat around this time (or for his dad on the actual day of his birthday). 

Connor with his cotton candy.  I'm starting to notice a trend with this kid….when it comes to sweets, he won't share at all!!!!

 Then, we took them out to dinner for their birthdays!

I was never a Disney kid growing up….I couldn't ever really get into cartoons….but the older I get, the more I enjoy Disney and even some of the movies.  I'm thinking Scott and I will be those people that still go to Disney even after our kids are out of the house and aren't with us! 

Valentine's Day

Elliana with her Valentine's Bag after preschool!  She was so excited to look at all of her Valentine's!

 Ha….the above picture cracked me up, so I had to post both of them!

 Valentine's Day craft that Nana and Papa Brauchler sent us!  Connor is still carrying his around!

 I took the kids to get some ice cream on Valentine's Day after lunch!

 Opening a present from us!  Elli got sandals and a puzzle.  Connor got a football and puzzle.

Connor was pretty excited about his football.  He opened it and immediately said, "I'm Peyton Manning." 

Scott and I even got to have a little date night!  The kids went to the church where Elli attends preschool for a few hours in the evening!  They had a lot of different activities for the kids!  Connor thinks he went to school that night with Elli and was pretty excited about it!

Happy Belated Valentine's Day!!

Connor's First Dentist Appointment

Both kids had dentist appointments today!  It was Connor's first visit and Elli's 3rd!  Connor's 2-year molars on the bottom are completely in and his on top have broken through and are coming in.  They both did great!  No cavities and teeth look wonderful!

Happy Birthday, Elli

It seems crazy that Elliana is four years old!  We definitely see her maturing more each day.  She is becoming much more independent and doing well helping out with things around the house when we ask.  She's so observant and doesn't miss a beat!  

Elli is in the process of dropping her nap.  She is able to go without one some during the week, but still occasionally requires one.  She is still a great eater and will typically eat whatever we put on her plate.  Elli is becoming more vocal about what she likes and doesn't; however, she still will usually eat whatever we give her.

Elli is such a movie lover!  She loves any Disney movie and still loves all the princesses!  Frozen is her current obsession.  Jake and the Neverland Pirates is undoubtedly her favorite cartoon and it's usually the only one we watch around here.  She still loves dressing up, but I'm not seeing her do it as much as she used to a few months ago.  

Elli has been really interested in learning how to write her letters.  Anytime she has scrap paper, she usually writes different letters on it then asks me what it says!  She's been able to write Elli for quite some time, but just recently I've been having her write her full name.  She wrote her name on all of her Valentine's this year….to say it took us some time is an understatement!  She loves working on crafts!!

 Elli is doing great at her preschool.  She goes to school 2 days a week and really enjoys it!  She loves reading books and will often try and memorize them and read them back to herself.  Tonight she said "Maddy (friend at school) doesn't know how to read books, so I taught her how to read today.  And then I sat down and read her a book."  I so wish I could have seen her 'teach' Maddy how to read.  Elli got to bring in a book to her class on Monday and read it in front of her class.  Her teacher said she does well playing with her friends and even said Elli has been trying to include another girl who doesn't like to participate in class.  (That girl's mom told me the other day that her daughter talks about Elli all the time at home).

 Elli is still so full of life and as dramatic as ever!  Like I said, we see her maturing more and more each day!  She is beginning to show remorse for things she's done wrong….usually about 5 to 10 minutes after she's gotten in trouble, she'll say "I'm really sorry for what I did."  She is so into make-up right now and always wants chapstick on.  She'll often ask my mom, "Nana, I want the stuff with color." The other night we caught her putting on waterproof mascara while she was supposed to be in her bed sleeping….it was all over the right side of her face and hair (but she actually did good at putting it on her eyelashes).  She's also constantly wanting to spray stuff in her hair .

Although she can be quite bossy to Connor, she often follows his lead.  She likes to do or have whatever he has.  When we give her a choice between something, she'll often say "what are you going to pick Connor?"  Around the house, they fight like crazy, but when they're out in public, they play nonstop together!  Elli is soooo excited for a new baby to join the family and I'm hoping she's not as bossy to this next kiddo!

Happy Birthday Sweet, Elli!  You are funny, sweet, kind, spunky, silly, and so so dramatic!!  

Elli's 4th Birthday Party

A few weeks ago we had Elli's 4th birthday party at the 'red hotel slide' (as they kids would say).  We booked a few rooms at a hotel about an hour north of where we live.  We told Elli she could only invite her cousins, their parents, and Nana's and Papa's.  As the party got closer she kept asking if she could invite her other friends, but unfortunately we're not made of money and we'd already spent way more than I ever thought we would for one of our kid's birthday parties.  We knew when we sold our house that having a party here would be out of the question, so this worked out really well.  Also, I'm not sure I could have planned a party with the way my morning sickness and exhaustion were!

We made a last minute decision to head up on Friday evening since the weather was supposed to get bad.  We were packing our clothes and Connor was upset that we weren't leaving right then to go…..He was soooo ready to swim (as you can tell!).

Cake and Presents

 All Elli wanted was an 'Elsa' dress and wig for her birthday.  Can you tell how excited she was when she opened it up?

I ended up just ordering a cake from the Wal-Mart by the hotel!  She had to have an Ariel cake with Ursula on it!

 The youngest guest...

 Taking over the hot tub...

 I am continually amazed how Scott has so much energy. We left almost as soon as he walked in the door from being gone for a few days from a trip and he played with all the kids nonstop as soon as we got to the hotel.

Elli, Kensley and Dane riding on Scott down the slide….

 Once again...

We watched a movie in our room on Saturday night….all the kids were huddled around the iPad watching Frozen.

 Elli tried on her new Elsa dress and wig!

 On Sunday, we let the kids swim for a bit then headed to Cracker Barrel for a birthday lunch!  The kids were so exhausted from the weekend….the fell asleep within minutes of getting in to the car!

It was a successful birthday weekend!  And she's already talking about her party for next year….geesh!