The Little Author

Gracie spent a few hours today writing a book. It was written in Crayola marker and has several illustrations. The main character in the book is named Aleena, however Gracie spelled Aleena's name starting with the "Uh" sound. It was neat to see Gracie get excited as we were stapling the finished product to "bind" it. I think her face shows exactly how proud she was of her accomplishment!

A New Sleeping Arrangement?

I found Ella asleep on the floor this morning. She was laying on the pillows that I put on the floor beside her bed in case she falls out. I don't know if she fell and just went back to sleep on the floor or if she crawled out of bed and decided it was cozy on the floor. She has been getting up quite a bit lately to go potty or just to mess with her Mommy. There's nothing like waking up in the middle of the night and discovering your 2 year old is crawling on top of you in bed. It always startles me awake to the point of not being able to go back to sleep after I return her to her room. This too shall pass, right?!

Ponyo

Gracie's Magna Doodle review of the movie "Ponyo" which we borrowed from our library:
"Ponyo a little fish. Ponyo a little girl with a loving family. Made by Gracie Doolin

daughter of Emily."

Fall Kick-Off Celebration

Tonight we headed out to the Macon Fairgrounds where our church was holding their annual kick-off celebration for all of the new fall programs offered at church. This year they rented bounce houses and a ball pit that the kids really enjoyed.
Ella is in those balls somewhere!

Gracie couldn't play in the ball pit, but she got to bounce with the big kids!

Ella with her buddy Reagan!

P.C. Fair - Day 2

We headed back over to the fair bright and early this morning. Everything was pretty wet from the night before, but what kid doesn't enjoy a mud puddle?! Ella practiced her driving skills on Mamaw's golf cart.

Brent went on some of the rides today. Here he is on the Ferris wheel with Gracie and Kalyn.

Kalyn on the carousel. What a cutie!

Gracie enjoyed the carousel as well. I love this picture!

Brent got to supervise Ella on the carousel this time, so I was able to get some good pictures.

All smiles at the fair!

Although the fair was fun, we came home with some sleepy girls. Gracie was asleep 5 minutes after her much needed bath!

Ella on the other hand had a nap today, so she wasn't quite as tired. After a few snuggles she was more than happy to hit the hay, too!

Putnam Couty Fair 2010

This morning we loaded up the van with two excited girls. They couldn't wait to get to Unionville, and more importantly, the fair! The first stop of our day at the fair was the tractor pull. This is the 3rd year that it has been named in Raymond's honor.
It was a very chilly morning, so Gracie was snuggling up with Mama and "sleeping." (wink, wink)

So maybe Gracie wasn't really asleep. But she was enjoying some good snuggle time!

Ella, Kalyn and Gracie just hanging out at the tractor pull.

This is our niece Sydney and a couple of her photographs she entered in the fair. Gracie entered the picture of her sunflower. Sydney got 1st place and Gracie got 3rd place. They were both beautiful pictures.

The best part of the fair was all the rides. (That's my girl's opinion, not mine.) All the kids enjoyed this strawberry ride where you would spin the wheel to make your strawberry spin around. (Mr. Creepy Carney Guy wanted to be in the picture, too.)

Look at those cute little speedboat racers!

Sydney and I rode the vomit-inducing Zipper. It was fun at the time, but it definitely messed up my stomach for a few hours. I felt a little dizzy as well. I guess I'm not as tough as I used to be!

I'm smiling now, but a short while later I started realizing my stomach was not quite right. :-)

Ella enjoyed the carousel, even though it wasn't quite as pretty (or clean) as the one at the mall.

Gracie and Kalyn were brave and rode the roller coaster. Ella was too scared.

Whee! This was us at the top of the Ferris wheel. It's one of Gracie's favorite rides!

Ella didn't have a picture to enter in the fair, but Granny entered a marigold in each of her granddaughter's name. Ella's marigold got second place. She was very excited about her $2.50 prize! You can see it over her right shoulder.

Did I mention she was excited?

As you can see, it was a beaut!

Today's fair fun ended a little early since it decided to rain. Actually, it didn't just rain, it was more of a torrential storm. The booth started to fall apart during the rain. It took several of us to hold the tent up in certain spots and keep the rain flowing off instead of in. We went back to Janice's to dry off and tried to return to the fair, but the rain came back, so we just headed back to Mama's for the night.

What a Big Girl

We took the plunge today and converted Ella's crib into a daybed (a.k.a - big girl bed)! She was oh-so-excited to take her first nap like a big girl. There were no attempts to escape or episodes of falling out of bed. Brent and I both said it will take a while to get used to her having the ability to wake up and get out of bed to find us. She will probably startle me the first few times I see her wandering around after her nap.

Visiting Kahoka

We headed to Kahoka today to visit our old neighbors, the O'Bryants. It had been quite a while since our last visit, but the girls warmed right up to Ray and Mikie.

It's starting to be a tradition to get a picture of the girls on the rocking horse.

Ella was practicing taking pictures, so I helped her take these. Not bad, right?!

When Gracie was just a toddler and we lived in Kahoka we would walk down to Ray and Mikie's house a lot to visit. She loved to play in this little gardening shed area. There were many games of "Follow the Leader," "Hide and Seek," etc. that took place in this area.

Speaking of hide and seek, Gracie hid inside the manure spreader that Mikie has in their yard.

Ella hid behind this tree during hide and seek, but unfortunately she hid long enough that she decided to make a mess in her pants! Shame on you, Ella.

Oh, What a Doll

Ella was extra chipper this morning so I took a couple of pictures to capture the moment. She does not wake up well...at all! In fact she is a certified grump for the first hour of the day the majority of the time. Today was rare, so I wanted to remember it forever! Some of these smiles are so big you can even see her bubble gum.