Dare I Say It???

I may regret this post, but here goes....

I think Ella is officially potty-trained. Whew! I said it. This is one of those statements that I hesitate to say because I could jinx the whole operation and she might revert to old habits. I don't even remember when Ella's last accident was, so I think I can now say she is potty-trained. She went from hiding behind furniture to take care of business, to wearing big girl pants and having lots of accidents, to doing pretty good on #1, to telling me when she has to go and actually going. It is a wonderful thing to not have to buy diapers anymore. I will still buy wipes because they are handy for so many things and I would miss them if we didn't have any!

Ella is very proud of herself and eagerly calls any family member after she has done a particularly good job so she can brag a little. She gets an M&M after each successful trip to the bathroom. Actually, she hasn't even remembered to get an M&M for a week or so now, so again I say, "I think Ella is potty-trained!"

Hooray for Ella! Gracie didn't get completely potty-trained until she was 3 1/2 years old. I remember being so embarrassed in public restrooms when I had to put her on those changing tables and she looked so big. She would hang off the end of the table. Gracie was always tall for her age anyway, and I figured people thought she was a 5 year old who couldn't control her bladder.

It was a goal of mine to get Ella potty-trained before we headed to Disney World in July, so now my new goal is to get Ella to warn me of her need to potty before it's a pure emergency. Wish me luck!

A Pretty Princess

I went to a garage sale a few weeks ago and bought Gracie a game called 'Pretty Pretty Princess.' There are dress-up accessories with the game and you earn them as the game is played. The winner is the first person to have all of their accessories, including the crown. For some reason, Gracie usually loses this game and it has made her sad, but she is old enough that she understands what a good sport is, so she tries to put on a good face. Well, today Gracie won! She legitimately won and is was so exciting. She even had on a pretty new outfit, so she really did look like a pretty princess!

A Rainy Sunday

After church today we had to head over to the Methodist Church for their annual Family Fun Day. It's usually an outdoor event, but it was pouring down rain, so most things were moved indoors. There is a constant supply of entertainment during the day, and Gracie's dance class got to perform one of their dance routines. It was nice to watch them again, and Brent really enjoyed it since he had to miss her dance recital.

Gracie got a small dragonfly painted on her cheek after she was done dancing, but the rain washed a lot of it off, so when we got home I dug out some old Halloween face paint and we had some fun. Yes, I said, "we" had some fun. She saw a fish painted on a sample page at the church, so I did my best to recreate it with old worn out paints.

After I got done with Gracie, she had a little too much fun with me.

Gracie drew a baseball diamond on Brent's face. What a sport!

Ella painted her own face. Yikes! She's quite independent these days!

What a crazy girl! It may look like a bad idea, but it was pretty fun to get so messy. Gracie thought it was a riot since it's not exactly our normal Sunday afternoon routine!

Oh Ella, where is that pretty little face? I hid the face paints shortly after this because they wanted to continue painting for hours after we were done.

Back at the Beach

Today Sydney and Kalyn stayed with us for a few hours while Mama and Aunt B headed to Columbia. We took advantage of the opportunity to show them Macon's beach. They really enjoyed it even though it was an overcast and slightly cool day. We virtually had the beach to ourselves for quite a while, so that was fun.

Silly face pose!!!

Gracie is still a little too brave and was trying to coax Sydney out into the deep water. Sydney is a great swimmer, so it was no problem for her!

Kalyn was pretty timid at first, but she loved playing in the sand and stepping into the lake up to her ankles!

Ella was trying to get Kalyn to swim with her, but Kalyn needed to slowly adjust. She finally got in up to her belly button, so that was good enough for the first visit. It probably does look like an awful lot of water to a 5 year old.

Gracie and Kalyn dug in the sand for a long time pretending they were fixing food for us to eat.

Cheese!

Ella was in "Baywatch" mode running down the sandy beach. She LOVES going to the lake! It's nice to have it so close to our house, but I still have to say that it's a lot of work to go to the beach. There is much planning involved before you go and then much clean-up when you get home.

Just a Fun Day

The girls had been begging to get the bounce house out, so today was their lucky day. It always draws the neighbor kids over, so they ended up having an unscheduled playdate, which they enjoyed very much!

Ella loves to wear Brent's hats...and apparently she likes to eat them, too. Whenever she has the chance to snatch a hat from him, she will do so and then wears it proudly. I guess maybe she needs a hat!

What one child does, the other has to. This time it was a case of Gracie needing to do what Ella does. That's a bit of a role reversal for our household.

Ta-dah! Do you like my hat?

Our First Trip to the Lake

Since Gracie is now out of school, we headed out to Longbranch Lake for a little swimming fun. Ella really loves the beach. Isn't she a bathing beauty?!

Ella insisted on called the lake and ocean. She kept saying, "You want to get in the ocean with me, Mommy?"

I was playing with the settings on the camera and this ended up in black and white, but that's okay. The girls were having such a good time playing in the sand together.

Ella spent a lot of time trying to fill up her bucket with that tiny scoop!

This little hole full of water was pretty entertaining for quite a while.

Ella would lay in the shallow part of the lake and pretend she was swimming in the deep end like her big sister. Gracie wears her life jacket and takes off in the lake. If she gets out too deep, I just yell for her to come closer, but she is pretty much fearless. She would go all the way out to the farthest point if I would allow it.

The Kindergarten Graduate

Wow! Where did this school year go? Gracie looked pretty big as she headed off to her last day of school. She only had to be there a few hours so that she could graduate.

I think the principal was glad to see the last day of school arrive as well!

This was hanging on the bulletin board outside Gracie's classroom.

It's a pretty long walk across the gymnasium to receive your "diploma" but it helps when you are walking toward your daddy!

By the way, Gracie was the only student who gave Brent a kiss and hug.

Every student in Gracie's class was given a special award. Gracie's award was for being a Star Reader.

After the graduation there was a reception in the classroom. Grandpa kept his eye on Ella while I helped with the punch. The kids were all very excited to be 1st graders! I know I took home one wound-up little girl who was so glad to be done with school for a few months. However, a few short hours later Gracie was asking me, "Now what should I do?" Typical!