One of Life's Greatest Mysteries

This photo is pretty dark, but it is a shot of Ella getting into the DVD player and all of the DVD's surrounding it. Why is it that as soon as every baby learns to crawl, they all head for the TV components? I need to get a shot of the sweet little devilish grin Ella gives me every time I say, "Ella! No, no!"

Parents As Teachers Program

Tonight our Parents as Teachers coordinator had a group meeting to celebrate Fall. It was really fun, but I wish Brent could have come to help me with the girls activities. Actually it wasn't really geared towards babies, but Gracie had a good time. Ella enjoyed trying to eat the construction paper leaves they had scattered around the floor. Every time I turned around Ella had one in her mouth.
Here is Gracie with her turkey she made by spreading paint on her hand. Messy? Yes!
Gracie really loved decorating her tiny pumpkin with markers. She would have decorated 10 more if they would have let her!
We thought Ella needed a pumpkin too, so I made Ella one while Gracie made hers.
Meanwhile, Ella is still trying to figure out how she can eat these leaves without Mommy noticing!

Fall Fun

I can't believe how cute Ella looks in her elephant outfit my cousin found for her. It's a perfect fit for Ella the Elephant. I guess we know what Ella will be for Halloween this year!
Only my little elephant could look this sweet with her big toothy grin!
Gracie wanted in on some Fall photos as well. At 4 and 1/2 (that half is important to her) she is still a good poser.

Good Times at the Park

After church today we were trying to decide where to go eat lunch since we had a pretty large group. We finally settled on everyone going to any fast food place they wanted and meeting up at the park to eat our food. It was a beautiful day, and the kids loved being free to play. Vian spent some time swinging with Ella.
Gracie loves to swing these days. She used to be timid about going too high, but now she wants to go high and jump off the swing.
This is my friend Tara. She is a wonderfully kind person who is a lot of fun to be around. We stay in touch through our blogs and Facebook. We had a lot in common when we lived in Kahoka because we were both wives to football coaches, so we had compassion for each other. One widow can comfort another! :-) Gracie is watching me type this and she wants to know why I'm not mentioning her in this paragraph. (She didn't see her name listed. Isn't that funny?) I reminded her that she didn't want her picture taken that day, and she said I needed to share that with you all.

Kathy's Pumpkin Patch

This weekend we were able to get back to Keokuk and spend some time with friends. Brent went golfing on Saturday afternoon, so the girls and I went to Kathy's Pumpkin Patch near Donnellson, IA. We went with Joel and Vian and two of their grandsons, Gavin and Gunner. This was by far the nicest pumpkin patch I have ever been too. There were so many fun activities for kids, including these huge areas of corn you could scoop, lay in, jump in etc. Gracie and Gavin would have stayed here all day!
The pumpkins out front were huge! We saw a lot still out in the patch, but these were great for climbing on!
This picture is a little hard to see, but I wanted to show how large the area was that was filled with corn. This is all corn piled up and kids playing in the corn.
We took a nice horse driven wagon ride which the kids enjoyed. It took us all around the pumpkin patches.
Hard to believe there can still be so many pumpkins in the patch when there were a ton up at Kathy's store to buy.

Kathy's had several small buildings kids could play in. This one was set up to be a home, and you could pretend to cook and play house. This picture shows Gracie and Gavin (orange shirt) playing in the house.
This building was set up to be a store, and you could put food in your basket and take it to a register to pretend to buy it. Again, Gavin and Gracie got a kick out of "shopping."
This picture shows Gunner getting in on the action in the pretend store.
I just couldn't end this post without another picture of Gracie playing in the corn! It was sure fun to watch. Thanks for inviting us to go with you guys, Joel and V! Thanks also for taking pictures for me, Vian. I can't believe I couldn't find my camera. There were so many great photo opportunities, and there I was without my camera.

What does believe mean?

There is a commercial before one of Gracie's movies where little kids say, "I believe in ______." They each say something different they believe in. Well, one day this week Brent and Gracie were picking up Ella from the baby sitter's house and that movie was playing in the van. Gracie asked Brent what believe meant. He said, "It means that you think something is true even if sometimes you can't see it or prove it." He went on to say, "I believe in God and Jesus, and I believe Jesus died for my sins." Gracie replied with a generic, "Oh." Brent continued by saying, "I also believe you are a pretty sweet little girl." Gracie smiled and said, "Well, I believe that I love you."

Has it been 8 months already?

This is kind of a strange set of pictures to post for Ella's 8 month picture, but it kind of showcases how much she has changed recently. She is crawling, but usually not forward. She crawls backward most of the time, and this was one of those times. We have a bookcase laying on it's side and we use the sections kind of like cubbies for toys. Well, Ella crawled backwards until she was sitting in the cubby with the toys. She couldn't figure out how to get out for quite a while.

Sweet little Ella is such a joy. She has a much more laid back attitude than Gracie ever had at this age. I am thankful for that most days. She is a very curious baby who sometimes has a look of orneriness that makes me wonder if she will be giving me a run for my money in future years. Gracie continues to love her sister and still thinks she is the "cutest baby she has ever seen." We assure her that she was equally as cute as Ella and share funny stories of Gracie's baby days with her. Happy 8 month birthday, Ella!