Sharing My Morning Cup of Joe

I am not sure when or why it happened, but I am an avid coffee fan these days. Slowly over the course of the last few years I have grown more and more fond of the stuff. I only drink one cup and it's always first thing in the morning. I try to drink it before the girls wake up so they won't catch on to my bad habit. Ella must be more familiar with my coffee cup than I thought, because she found it (empty) the other day and was mimicking me. She would pretend to drink, then act like it was refreshingly delicious!

This was more than a pretend sip. She actually started talking into the cup and listening to how her voice changed and sounded funny.

The little comedian even got my spoon and pretending to spoon coffee to her mouth.

Fun at the Mall???

We had a photo session this morning at Sears in the Columbia Mall. Despite my best efforts to have Ella rested and well fed before her pictures, she was still not very cooperative. Having said that, I think some of these pictures turned out pretty cute considering the mood both girls were in.

Since she did a pretty good job smiling, Gracie got to ride the carousel at the mall. It is pretty much the highlight of her trip to Columbia.

Trying it On For Size

People are always telling me that Ella looks so big on the blog, but then when you see her in person she is petite. I took this picture because first of all, Ella knows shoes go on your feet, so she was trying to get Brent's shoe on her foot. Isn't that genius?!

Also, having Ella so close to Brent's shoe shows her size a little better. She really isn't all that big. Does anyone have a quick fix for getting her to stop putting everything into her mouth? She uses no discretion regarding what she chews on.

Just Like Gracie

Why do kids like to drink disgusting bathtub water? Gracie was probably the worst about wanting to drink bubbly bathtub water, but Ella has recently caught onto the trend. The Parents as Teachers coordinator we have said Ella needs to practice drinking from a cup without a lid, but I don't think she meant like this!

Maybe it will be a short-lived temptation for Ella since she always gets choked and ends up sputtering it all out. Oh, poor baby. I should be helping her by patting her back instead of taking her picture.

Fun with Ray & Mikie

This weekend we were on the road again. We headed over to Keokuk on Friday afternoon so that we could attend a visitation and funeral for the mother of a good friend. We had a great time visiting with friends and enjoyed staying with Bruce and Missy. Sunday afternoon on our way home, we stopped in Kahoka long enough to go see Ray & Mikie, our Kahoka neighbors.

Gracie, the cheese, was more than happy to pose for a picture or two!

What a good little girl. Gracie has on her Silpada necklace. Her Sunday school teacher said that Gracie told her, "My necklace is Silpada. My mommy sells it, so I get to go to jewelery parties." What a good advertisement.

Gracie loves to play with Mikie's yarn. She makes a huge knotty mess of it and then we get to try and untangle it before we leave. Her favorite thing to do is to tie up Ray. Someday her knots will get stronger and he will never escape!

Brent has made the blog twice in the last few weeks. Someone owes me a thank you!

Ray and Mikie didn't realize someone was trying to sneak into their picture!

It looks like I was beginning to untangle the yarn. What a job! At least Gracie caught me smiling and not snarling about the horrible mess she made of the yarn.

What??? A picture of me and my husband. That probably won't happen for another two years or so.

Ella enjoyed exploring at Ray and Mikie's house. She isn't familiar with it like Gracie was.

This is a tough lesson to learn Ray, but you have to be on guard when Gracie is taking pictures. She has a way of catching a person off guard!

Oh yes, we were still untangling the yarn 15 minutes later.

I think Ray was glad to see us go. Things get a little rowdy when the Doolin's arrive! Bruce and Missy probably took a huge nap after we left their house. It probably made them appreciate having dogs instead of human children.

More of Gracie's Photography

Today Brent had a day out of school due to the cold weather. It was a workday for me though, so the family ventured out at one point to visit me on my lunch break. Gracie got a little bored in the pharmacy break room, so when that happens she gets the camera out of the diaper bag. Behold, her work.

I don't usually strike a pose for the camera, but you have to follow the photographers directions! She gets very testy if you don't listen to her prompts!

This picture is being posted to please Jeff Bozarth, who has complained that he isn't seeing enough of Brent on the blog. Enjoy! :-)

My Helper

Some days Gracie chooses to be such a big girl. Today she wanted to try feeding Ella her supper, which is not the easiest task for anyone to take on. They got along quite well though, so Gracie was quite pleased with herself!

A Future Battle

Gracie sometimes lives in her own little pretend world where she is a "fairy princess ballerina." She dances, prances, talks to pretend people, and pretty much dismisses the real world. Meanwhile, back in reality...

Little sister can be in the same room, Gracie's room, destroying everything she comes in contact with. Do you think Gracie even notices? Never! I'm sure someday this will be something they wage war over, but for now, Gracie doesn't mind Ella getting into her toys. Now her coloring books are another story. Don't even think of touching one of Gracie's coloring books! They are sacred.

While Gracie is living the life of a fairy princess ballerina, Ella is trying out the new vanity Gracie got for Christmas. She spent much time fixing up Aurora.

Ella has recently been picking things up, and showing us she understands their use. For instance, in this picture she found Gracie's brush and put it to her head, trying to brush her hair. It's fun to watch our little ones grow and change. I just wish I had the time to document every cute little thing they have been doing lately.

Gracie's Tri-County Christmas Program

Gracie's school finally got to have their Christmas program tonight, and let me tell you...Gracie was the star of the program. You'll see!

Let me start by saying that it is almost impossible to take a good picture in our church because of the weird lighting, so none of these are very good. That being said, this is Gracie's pre-kindergarten class playing the handbells. It is so cute to watch their little bodies shake as they try to aggressively play their bells. The teacher sits in front and holds up color coded cards so they know when to ring their bells.

I like how Zachery, mister green bell, is ringing his above his head. It didn't rattle Gracie though. She was focused on the teacher!

I told you she was the star of the program. Poor Gracie had to stuff herself into a star costume that was too small. She looked a little uncomfortable, but she was really pleased with herself. She got to stand up higher than everyone else, which made it great for us to see her better. Her class sang Silent Night, Away In A Manger and recited Luke 2. I didn't get a picture of the whole nativity scene, but there were kings, shepherds and sheep lined up beside Mary, Joseph and the angel.

We really were so proud of Gracie. Last year at her school's program she was ushered off to the side of the stage by the principal because she couldn't stop crying. Mrs. Helton held her hand on the end of the stage while her class sang. This year, she was full of spunk and ready to perform.

What do you do when you get bored at a doctor's office?

I know what we do when the doctor makes us wait. Gracie had a dermatology appointment today in Kirksville, and we had to wait over an hour. She was getting very antsy, so she grabbed the camera from the diaper bag. The next 10 minutes were spent taking some very "special" pictures. I would have deleted several of them, but they were just too funny.

Finally, a cute one! Oh, and the end result of the appointment...her treatments seem to be helping, but there were two new warts this time. Very tiny, though. All in all, her hands look much better than a few months ago. She had 6 warts this month. Next month we are hoping for zero!