Enjoying summer

Wow!  Summer is here and in full swing!  Even though it is HOT, we have still tried to spend as much time outside as possible.  Ellie is so lucky to have been given so many nice outdoor toys to play with and loves every single one of them!

The Cozy Coupe...always a hit!

The 4-wheeler is always fun.  She has really gotten the hang of it!

The sand/water table is a great way to cool off...

 And even quench your thirst!

Miss fearless LOVES to slide, and climb!

And the playhouse is a great way to get some shade and play peek-a-boo with Mommy!

Another one of my favorite things about summer...grilling out!  We had my favorite summer meal last night.  It was so good I just had to snap a picture.  Marinated grilled chicken, fresh corn on the cob, marinated tomatoes, onions and cucumbers (DeDe's recipe) and baked potatoes.  Yummo!

We are looking forward to many more days spent outside.  After splashing with her in the tiny baby pool from last year, I did decide I think it's time for an upgrade!  We may put that on the list for this weekend.  I love the water as much as she does!

Memorial Day weekend

Our long weekend was great!  It started off with Don attending his last May term class of the month.  It has been a long, hard month for us but it sure did pay off!  He got an A in each class and we are SO proud!  He really worked hard and he deserves all the credit.  He spent countless hours in the computer labs and at home working on projects, assignments, presentations and e-portfolios galore.  We are glad to have that month behind us!

Ellie and I spent most of the day Saturday outside.  I am ghostly pale and she loves to be outside, so we were both happy to be playing in the sun!  And please don't worry...she was soaked with SPF 50 Water Babies and wore a hat.  I promise this baby will not get burned!

We made a Wal-Mart run later that afternoon and I picked up this little Ladybug sprinkler.  We had our own little water park going!  She loved splashing in the water.

Sunday we made it to church after 2 weeks of sickness!  It was nice to be back and Don made it before he went in to work.  Mammie and Aunt B joined us and even picked up lunch!  It was a special treat and we enjoyed our time with them:)  This dress was originally intended for the 4th...but now I am glad she was able to wear it on Sunday, too!

After a loooooong nap Sunday, we headed out for pool day #2!

Monday, Don was OFF ALL DAY!  I had been looking forward to it all weekend.  We stayed home all day, played outside, worked in the yard and grilled for dinner.  It was a great, relaxing day.  I didn't even take a single picture!

Today, it's back to the grind and June term starts.  As long as May seemed at times...I can't believe it's over!

16 months!

Ellie, today you are 16 months old!  You are quickly becoming such a little girl, and less and less my little baby.  You have developed quite the personality lately and you know exactly what you want.  You like to test my patience quite a bit, but I have to keep reminding myself that this is just a stage and it will be over before I know it.  I am trying to enjoy every age and cherish each moment!

You wear a size 4 shoe and 4 diaper, and 18 month clothes.  You did so well at MDO this year and I know you are really going to love the summer session when that begins.

Your eating habits are still touch and go.  Tonight you ate 2 big helpings of a chicken casserole, but no breakfast.  I am learning to be patient and not worry about this too much.  You will eat when you are hungry!

You are such the little mommy!  You adore your baby dolls.  They are pretty much the only thing you play with anymore.  The other day you decided your babies needed to nap so you went over to the hearth and laid them in the log holder and covered them with a blanket.  I was SO impressed that you thought of this all on your own!  Luckily, Peeps built me a baby bed when I was little and passed it down to you.  It is now in your playroom, I just need to snap a picture of it.

You dance all over the living room and can even "drop it like it's hot" on command!  It is HILARIOUS!  You are such the ham:)  You LOVE animals, especially Minnie.  You two are getting along better every day.  We went to visit Aunt Jenny's cats today and you were amazed!  You cried when we left.  You have no fear of animals!

You are a silly, wild, energetic little thing and we couldn't love you more!

Teacher treats

Ellie's MDO teachers have been SO sweet to us this year, so I wanted to make them a little "happy" to say thank you for such a great year!  It is always nice to know you are leaving your baby in good hands and that she is being loved on and well cared for.  I saw the idea of making homemade turtles on another blog and thought it sounded like a fairly easy and inexpensive treat to make!

Here is the recipe I used:
1 bag caramels
1 stick butter
3 cups pecans, chopped (I only used 2 and it was PLENTY!  Thanks, Peeps!)
2 large Hershey bars
1/4 stick parrafin (I left this out)

Melt butter, add caramels and melt.  Stir in pecans.  Drop by teaspoon on waxed paper.  Cool.  (I stuck mine in the freezer).  Melt Hershey bars and dip candy into chocolate.  Let cool.

This was before I dipped them in the chocolate.

I love wrapping treats and gifts up in cute packaging and found these cupcake boxes at Hobby Lobby.  I have a set of label tags for gifts, recipes, and dinners so I used those on each box.  I thought they turned out pretty cute!

Here is Ellie on her first day of MDO back in August:

And this morning on her last day.  She is SO BIG!

She will still be going to their Summer program once a week in June and July, but today was the end of the official "school year".  They have water days, bounce houses and all kinds of activities planned for this summer!

Girls Day

Ellie and I have had a little "girls day" today.  Don mowed a yard, went to school to work on a project and is now at work...at 11pm (I don't know how he does it) so we've had the day to ourselves.

After I got home from work yesterday, I needed to do a little grocery run.  This child can spot a balloon in the floral department from the parking lot.  I did not buy it, but it sure did make my shopping trip more pleasant!

I woke up this morning thinking E had given me her bronchitis/sinus junk.  She is constantly grabbing my glass and eating after me so we have swapped germs back and forth all week long.  I decided to push through and get out of the house today since it was so pretty.  We ran a few errands and I stopped at my new favorite store...Essex Bargain Hunt.  If you are familiar with Big Lots, it is similar but SO much better.  They sell name brand everything cheap cheap cheap! (Britax car seats, Peg-Perego strollers, diapers, TV's, toys, home stuff etc...).  I had been eyeing those Baby Stella dolls on Amazon and around town but couldn't justify spending $35 on ANOTHER baby doll.  They are pretty popular and super cute, but it just seemed silly.

Good news, Essex had one today  for $13.99!  I snatched that baby up!  I was tempted to put it back on the shelf when E started acting TERRIBLE in the store with her screaming, kicking, tears and sweat.  She did not deserve a new baby doll by the way she acted, but I could not pass up that deal!

Needless to say, all was well with the world when we got to the car and I took Stella out of the box.  This girl LOVES her babies!

After a nap (for both of us!) we cooked dinner for Daddy and took it up to him at work.  It gave us something to do and it was a nice distraction for him.

When we got home, we watered the flowers, ate our dinner and did the whole bedtime routine.

 I love simple days like this with my sweet girl, but we sure do miss Daddy!  Hurry up June 30!

What's going on?

You don't even want to know...HA!

Kidding aside, we've had a lot going on.  Don is taking 16 hours of classes to complete his teaching certification to hopefully open up more job opportunities for next school year.  This means that he is in class, M-F from 4:30-9:30 for the whole month of May.  We are hoping June term won't be so demanding so please keep your fingers crossed for us!

On top of that, he is working part-time for the city of Jackson and observing PE classes at a local elementary school.  So yes, life is a tad bit crazy right now but he is doing so well and I am so proud of him!

Since the school year is coming to a close, my work has slowed down a little bit.  I am still out in the schools a few days a week and thankful more and more everyday for my job and its flexibility:)  I swear if I had a regular 9-5 office job, I would have gone crazy a looooong time ago!

And finally, in princess Ellie news...she is just plugging right along!  We did have a little set back this weekend...she ran a constant fever for over 48 hours that peaked at 103.1 and landed us at Physicians Quality Care.  Thankfully it's just a bad case of Bronchitis and the steroids and antibiotics seem to be helping.  

She is still loving MDO and does so well there.  Miss Stephanie told me today that she pointed to a statue at the church and said "JESUS"!  We've been singing Jesus Loves Me for a while now, but I had no idea she had picked up on it so quickly.  Next Tuesday is her last regular day of MDO before Summer term starts.  I can't believe she's already made it through her first year of "school"!  Her sweet teachers even made us this frame full of pictures from the school year.  SOOO sweet!

I have been a terrible photographer lately.  I know...gasp!  It just hasn't been on the agenda lately.  I hope to get better soon.  I have managed to capture a few pretty cute shots on my phone though.

The other night while I was trying to finish dinner, I pulled out a few pots and pans and let her go to town.  This bought me about 5 minutes of time before the novelty wore off.  Five minutes was pretty good!

 Her other new thing is coloring.  She is OBSESSED with pens, markers, highlighters and crayons.  She has to have one in hand at all times.  I have to say, she holds that pen pretty well for a little 15 month old!  Here she was helping Daddy with his homework.

So, that's our life in a nutshell right now.  Nothing too exciting but we are all hanging in there taking everything one day at a time.  We are looking forward to a MUCH needed beach vaca in July.  I am counting down the days already!

Mothers Day and the weekend...

What a weekend!  Wedding season has officially begun, we only have 6 more to go this summer!  I am TOO old for all of those shenanigans, but we had a great time.  Don's cousin Jim tied the knot so we stayed pretty busy all weekend getting ready for his big day.

They were married in the beautiful Lambuth chapel and it was a little bittersweet for me.  That campus is so pretty, and so was the wedding.  The reception was pretty fun too:)

While we were busy with wedding stuff, Ellie was being spoiled in B-town with Peeps and DeDe.  I know she wore them out and we appreciate them keeping her so much.  

My parents drove Ellie back to Jackson for us today and we got to spend a little bit of time with them while they were here. She even managed to talk them in to buying a lawn chair and sand/water table.  Our backyard is now summer ready!

  Becoming a mother has made me appreciate my mom SO much more.  All of the worrying, stress, tears, and joy that I feel on a daily basis make me think of how I must have made my mother feel all those years.  I am so thankful for her wisdom, guidance and most of all support during these last 15 months.  I could not have done it without her!  I know we all think our mothers are awesome...but mine is pretty much a parenting genius.  (Yes, I said it...ha!)  To me, she really does know everything and I value her opinion so much.  The only thing we may disagree on is Ellie's closet.  She thinks she has too many clothes.  I say, NEVER!

I know deep down inside my parents are giggling and thinking "payback" when Ellie starts throwing a fit or slamming her sippy cup onto the floor.  Grandparents get to laugh and think it's cute while I sweat and worry about who is staring me down and judging my parenting skills! Thankfully this is just a stage and it will be over before I know it...I hope.

Here is a glimpse into my life right now...

And here is how we would all like for it to be...

Life with a toddler is never perfect, but I wouldn't trade mine for the world.  I am so thankful to be this little girl's mommy...fits, temper, and all!