Hopscotch...Ella-style

Ella enjoys the cartoon "Max and Ruby." One of the episodes shows Ruby playing hopscotch, so Ella has been requesting that we draw hopscotch squares frequently so she can practice. She's quite skilled, but she plays by her own rules. For instance, she only hops on one foot. No matter what set of squares she's on, she will only hop on her left foot.

Now, this is the important part of her game. When you reach your rock and you bend over to pick it up, you MUST lift your other leg high in the air as you bend over. It's pretty much the most crucial part of her game. If you don't perform the leg lift, she will let you know that you did it "wrong."

The last rule is that when the game is over, you must waste several watering cans full of water to erase the hopscotch squares so that they have to be redrawn the next time.

Game over.

Mother's Day

After a yummy lunch out with my Mom and Grandma, we headed over to Grandpa and Nana's house for a while. Time for a photo shoot!

Tonight we headed to Kirksville to meet up with Janice and the rest of the Doolin gang. We met at Ruby Tuesday's for supper. (Yummy!) Here's a picture of Janice with all of her grandkids!

A big thanks goes out to our moms and grandmas who set such a good example for us! We love you!

Tri County 5K and May Day

This morning I joined my buddy Niki in running the Tri-County May Day 5k. I ran it in 27 minutes and probably 30 seconds. I was okay with that time, because it was a hilly course. Niki did great too. She improved her time from her first 5k so that was good.

My little cousin Callie ran the race and even managed to smile for an "after" picture with her little brother Corbin.

After I got home and cleaned up we headed over to Tri-County for the May Day festivities. First stop...the petting zoo.

May Day wouldn't be nearly as successful without the bounce houses. My kids love them!

Ella tried her hand at the ring toss. She was a little short so...

her teacher/buddy from daycare helped her out!

Gracie managed to ring that big 2 liter of cream soda. She was more than happy to take that home with us!

Of course our girls wanted to try the putt-putt golf.

The huge inflatable basketballs were fun. It was hysterical to watch them trying to lift these balls over their heads!

The Queen of May Day was my cousin Callie. She worked very hard to learn memory verses which helped her earn points toward being the Queen!

I couldn't get Gracie to put her head in the flower cut-out. Ella was game! All in all, it was a great day. We got our first sunburn of the year.

A Little Misunderstanding

One of today's conversations at our house:

Gracie - "Mommy, do you like Cheezits?"
Me - "No. I think they are disgusting."
Gracie - "Ella, did you know Mommy thinks Cheezits are disgusting?"
Ella gives me a piercing look and says, "No he isn't."
Me - "What? Who"
Ella - "Jesus. Jesus is not disgusting."
Me - Laughter, laughter and more laughter. :-)

Easter 2011

After church we went to Moberly to spend the afternoon with my family. Here we are at Todd and Dawn's, salivating over the food we are about to eat.

Dad was feeling a little better, but was still pretty weak.

Ella, Gracie, Lily and Elsie - They were glad to reunite for a fun afternoon!

Ella was my snuggle bug today. I loved her pretty polka dot dress Nana bought her.

After lunch, the little girls went for an egg hunt. It was fun to watch my cousins Amber and Taylor hide the eggs. They are in college now, but I can remember hiding the eggs for them when they were little.

A mad dash to find the remaining eggs. This picture makes me think of Little House on the Prairie when the kids are running down the hill in the theme song.

Gracie Doo, striking a pose!

How did Sadie get in the picture??? She knew Ella was a friend.

Lets see what's in these eggs...

Money! Even better than candy.

After she changed into her play clothes, Ella went outside to see the animals.

Todd spoiled Gracie, Elsie and Lily with a wagon ride. They look forward to this every year.

We went to Grandpa and Nana's before we came back to Macon. They had an Easter egg hunt planned in their house since the weather was a little iffy.

Nice haul, Gracie!

The Doolin Fam 2011