Ella the Artist

Ella found a marker during her nap and proceded to use it on herself, her furniture, her bedding, and her doll. That was two days ago and it still hasn't come off...

Recycling

This weekend, mom and I went to a craft show and flea market in Fort Worth. While there, I got inspired to make some pillowcase dresses for Ella and her friends. Here's what I have so far:

Ella kindly models Kate's dress.

Tomo's Tour of the Big D

Tomo's going to Dallas on Friday to see a cat dentist. Seriously. The vet got her knocked out today to do x-rays and didn't like what he saw. He said that not only does he not have the tools to fix Tomo's jaw, but he doesn't have the anesthetic to keep her knocked out long enough to do the procedure. We've been given an emergency slot at a place in Dallas for Friday at 10AM. Road Trip!!! Yeah right...

Why can't cats get Medicaid???

How Much is a Cat Worth?

Tomo, the morbily obsese, lazy-eyed cat is requiring dental surgery. She had a tooth extracted 4 years ago, but there seems to be some root material stuck in there. Now her whole face is swollen and she's running a temperature. The good news is that it hasn't really affected her eating. She is still a whopping 15.5 pounds. That's my girl! She'll be on antibiotics for a week prior to jaw surgery.

Anyhoo, if you were planning on giving us birthday gifts, please send us money so we can pay for cat teeth. Also, if you were not planning on giving us birthday gifts, please hire us to clean things, grade your paper, or take pictures of stuff.

What's Up?

Well... we've been playing outside, playing inside, planting flowers, playing in mud, reinacting Star Wars, playing "chest," drawing sea turtles, counting to 100, and planning future global excursions.

Jacob has been using his monkey hat, pulling it over his face, and saying, "Luke, I am your father." To which one should reply, "NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" He also has the breathing down and everything. This is how he wakes me up at 7AM every morning.

Ella is Princess Leia and wants to have her hair in little buns.

Jacob and Kris play chess every day. They've progressed to Jake having all pieces and Kris having all pawns, a king, and a queen. Kris always loses so he might be awarded a bishop soon.

Ella the Amazing has been drawing circles with a dot in the center and calling them sea turtles. I don't know where she got this idea, but we're going with it. I need to post pictures...

Jacob can count to 100 now, but just so you know, his favorite number is infinity.

Ella's currently into: princesses, ballerinas, the color pink, and monsters.

Jacob is trying to learn all the countries in the world. This is because he thinks that he can speak all languages. He has the They Might be Giants song, "The Alphabet of Nations" memorized so he's constantly asking, "Where is Suriname? Can we go there? Where is Zimbabwe? Can we go there? Where is Pakistan? Can we go there? Where is Egypt? Can we go there?" His favorite places on the map are Antarctica, China, Russia, and America. He is also learning the planets, but he only wants to go to Jupiter.

Ella is just advancing all over. She's quite the little gymnast- she can put one hand on a table, one hand on the couch, lock her elbows, and bring her feet out in front of her like she's doing the rings at the Olympics. She can do somersaults. Her drawing is in the lines and she's started making circles. Her sentences grow more and more complex and her vocab is huge. Her memory is a little too good - since going to the doctor two weeks ago, Ella constantly remarks, "I don't wanna poke a finger!" Sometimes it's the first thing she says in the morning... Other Ellaisms include "Holdja!" when she wants to be held, "Lemme do it!," and "I gota owie." She talks about owies that aren't even there anymore.

Darth Vader

Easter Eggstravaganza!!! Sort of...

Saturday after Ella's nap, we wrangled the kids into the kitchen to dye eggs. Grandma had prepped the eggs earlier so all we had to do was get the dye ready and go. The kids seemed very interested in this strange ritual and we made it out with no spills or major accidents.

Next it was time to make a bunny cake. Jacob and Ella both got to help spread the frosting and put in toothpicks. Each kid was given an ear to color and place on the bunny's head. Ella put it in his back. Next they sprinkled coconut "fur" and added jelly beans for eyes and a nose.

Easter morning, I was so sick that I barely got out of bed. The kids had their Easter baskets waiting and had an egg hunt in the living room. I went back to bed and Kris got the kids ready for church. John and Nikki were in town so everyone but me went to Easter service and then came back to the house for a huge lunch. I stayed in bed hacking my lungs out and reading a book. John was kind enough to make a sign for my door.

3.5 Hours of Our Day

This morning we left the house at 7:30am to head to Wichita Falls to get the kids' check-ups. After much waiting, we ended up with the following stats:

Ella:
28.8 lbs, 34.25 inches

Jacob:
38.3 lbs, 40.25 inches

There was a little trauma when both kids had to have a finger prick, but they calmed down in time to do some developmental tests. Part of Jacob's test required him to draw with a pencil. Once he finished, he continued to draw while the nurse asked us more questions. Then Ella decided she wanted to draw too. She climbed up, grabbed the pencil, and played tug-of-war with Jacob until she ended up getting a scratch right below her eye. This took a total of 5 seconds and was supervised by three adults. Once we had her calmed down from that, she was walking out the door and hit her head on the corner of the exam table. More crying. Then once we got her calmed down AGAIN... she got a shot for Hep A. After all that, Ella was the one calling the shots for lunch. She chose pizza, so we headed over to Double Dave's for the buffet. We tried to get the kids their first snow cone, but the place was closed. We headed back home and Ella fell asleep in the car.

It was too windy to play outside, but once the electricity went out, we went outside to find all the neighbors gathered talking. That's when I found out that everything was on fire. Grandma cam home soon and the power came back on and we spent the rest of the evening finding out whether we needed to evacuate or not. What a day!

Egg Hunt!

Holliday had a city wide egg hunt this morning and we were there bright and early. The fire department delivered the Easter Bunny with sirens blaring and the kids were excited to see their "amigo" (Jake's words). The unfortunate part was that they split up the ages and had all the egg hunts going at once. That meant that Jacob went with Kris and Ella came with me. I'm the one with the camera, so there are no pictures of Jacob hunting eggs-- I'm sure he didn't mind! We regrouped, ate some candy, and went home. Once there, Grandma hid the eggs a couple of more times while Kris sorted the candy. Ella really REALLY wants a Now 'n' Later, but just doesn't have the teeth for them yet. We took some pictures out in front of the house and it looks like it'll be a beautiful day.