Bowling

We headed to Kirksville tonight for an evening of bowling with the Doolin family. They drove over from Unionville and we had dinner and then headed to Leisure World for some pathetic bowling. (I'm speaking for my own score here!)

Gracie is great at Wii bowling, but this was totally different, of course. She did a pretty good job, but couldn't believe how heavy the balls really are. Brent was giving her some pointers before her first attempt.

Brent's sister, Brenda, loves to get her hands on Ella...or any other baby within her radar. That's probably part of the reason why she is so successful at running a daycare!

Mama and Ella watched the gang bowl. They were good cheerleaders.

Ella gave out some encouraging hugs throughout the night. If someone did a good job, they would get some lovin' from her.

Caught in the act of cheering! I hope she was rooting for me.

I thought this was so cute. Gracie, Kalyn and Ella were walking around the bowling alley by our lane, and they were lined up from tallest to shortest. Ella was trying really hard to keep up with everything the big girls were doing.

As usual, the music was blaring loud at the bowling alley. Ella provided much comic relief as she kept dancing and shaking her little body. She was gettin' down in this picture. (That's one of Brent's moves you are looking at!)

Gracie's Long Locks

Gracie has never had an easy time growing her hair out. It doesn't grow very fast, so I think she has only had it cut 3 times in her 5 years of life. When I straighten her hair, it looks so much longer. She loves for me to straighten it, and requested that I take a picture so she could see the back. :-)

What a poser! Gracie can strike a pose faster than anyone I know.

Gracie's reaction when I showed her the picture..."Ooh. Pretty. I'll try to not mess it up." Fat chance of that happening.

Silly Ella Loves Schwan's

We were sitting outside today playing while we waited for the Schwan's man to come by. Ella grabbed the Schwan's magazine and began flipping through the pages. She stopped on the ice cream page and began trying to pick up the ice cream pictures and put them in her mouth. It was SO stinking cute.

Ella...sampling the goods! She was pretty bummed that we had to leave before the Schwan's man ever arrived, so there is no ice cream in our freezer!

Yummy ice cream! I tried flipping to the page of frozen vegetables, but the game couldn't operate on that page. She quickly found her way a more appealing page and tried eating the picture of cookies.

Ella knew she was being funny and got a big laugh out of Gracie which just made her get even sillier! (You will notice her tongue in almost every picture these days. I was the same way at this stage. That might be the only thing about Ella that resembles me!)

And Then There Were Two

Anyone who has known Gracie for very long knows about her pink teddy bear blanket. She has packed it around since she was old enough to walk. This precious teddy bear has been lost and found more times than I care to admit. I even had to sew a pocket on it so that Gracie could put our return address in it in case he was lost again. Most days, teddy bear stays on her bed until bedtime now that she is a very mature 5 year old. Ella has a purple elephant that is the same style as Gracie's bear. Ella packs it around everywhere, in the same way that Gracie used to pack hers around. Well, one day this week I found both of the blankets neglected on the ground, side by side. It was funny to see, so I took a picture to remind myself of the days when my girls needed these items. In the blink of an eye they will be going on dates and denying that they ever had these security blankets.

Gracie's New Clubs

Brent had to go to Lake of the Ozarks for meetings this week. He came home with a nice surprise for Gracie. A pink golf bag with a putter, driver and 7-iron. She was very excited and can't wait to break them in.

It was too cold to go outside and try them out, so she just had to bundle up in the garage to try them on.

Brent and his favorite golf buddy!

Ella's hair is long enough to sport 2 sprouts now. It's really cute, until she pulls them both out.

Gracie LOVES to play Guess Who. It's her favorite game, and we now own it in 3 variations. Ella would enjoy getting her hands on it, but it's a "no, no" for her.

Oh, no! Another Doolin who loves to have their back rubbed!

Rain, Rain Go Away, Little Ella Wants To Play...

This picture is blurry, but was comical. Ella was standing at the window watching the rain as it ruined her chances of getting outside to play today. She would turn around and look at me with regret in her eyes. Her hair is a wreck because she always pulls her hairband out after she wakes up from her nap.

The regret left her eyes long enough to take this picture. I was trying to capture how truly lovely her hair was, but it blends in with the surroundings.

Ella Outdoors

Ella knows how to tell us she wants to go outside. Now that she has really experienced the fun that comes with outdoor play, she will stand at a window and point. If that doesn't work, she will come to you, grunt to be picked up (yes, we respond to grunting) and then keep pointing you in the direction of a door. Today Brent and Gracie were both sick, so Ella and I did a lot of playing and walking by ourselves outside.

It was a very windy day, and Ella kept making really funny faces when the wind would get strong and blow things around. It literally knocked her off her feet once!

I'm so glad that I finally got this picture. This is what Ella does when she wants to be picked up. The arms are straight out, her hands are close together, and she has a needy look on her face. Too cute!

Miss Big Stuff thinks she's big enough to ride Gracie's old Dora bike. She has the basics down, but I don't think she knows how to stop if she gets on a downhill slope.

It really looks like she's riding in this one, but she's just sitting still pushing the buttons to make the music play.

I'm so proud of Ella and her interest in her little broom. She is constantly sweeping at things. The broom is actually part of a whole toy cleaning cart, so maybe she will expand to mopping, vacuuming and washing windows!