Sunday, July 11, 2010

Beating the Heat

When the weather outside is frightful....



We find creative ways to make the inside delightful!

We wear our winter hats and gloves in hopes of chasing away the summer heat and welcoming an early fall....





....and we dress up in hooded towels as our favorite movie characters (Buzz Lightyear and Jessie)!

















Saturday, July 10, 2010

Getting Closer to Daddy

I'll just come out and say it like it is - we MISS Daddy!

I try to shy away from anything negative on this blog, but sometimes it helps to simply document reality.

It is tough on Ella and Aidan to get so little time with their Daddy these days.  Poor Mike is literally working four jobs just to keep us afloat - yes, that is right - four jobs!!  It is not uncommon at all for us not to see him for days on end...sometimes the kids only see him maybe 4 hours in an entire week until his one day off (less than 24 hours) on each weekend. I know that it is just as hard on him as it is on us.

I cannot even begin to fathom what it is like to be a military family and have a husband deployed for a year!

Needless to say, we do anything we can to keep him on the forefront of our minds at all times.  Even if that means re-creating our own little version of his "home away from home"!

We painted and made signs....




....and before we knew it, we had our very own Fire Station 16!
















Well, in reality, it is Aidan's - Ella is less than impressed as we have yet to attach a bell!




Friday, July 9, 2010

Flashback Friday

Today brought about a combination of flashback emotions from my own childhood.  I don't have any pictures of myself in ballet gear to post, primarily because I just do not have any, but also because I simply despised the art of ballet. So much so that I routinely faked stomach aches to get out of class!

Flashforward many years and I find myself with my own daughter begging to take ballet "school", as she calls it.

So, I found a summer class that meets once a week for the month of July. We will use this class as a tester to see if she really likes ballet, and if so, perhaps continue on from there.

Needless to say, Ella was beside herself with excitement and could not wait to wear her leotard, tights and ballet slippers! So much so that she asked me to take pictures of her twirling!




After a little warming up at home, we were off to class - where she just pranced in like she owned the place and got right down to having fun in ballet "school".

The girls all twirled, jumped and pranced and eventually got around to a bit of tumbling. The pictures are fuzzy because us parents had to watch through a little door window that was was covered in blinds.




And this is when class was over for Ella. 

You see, Ella absolutely hates to be upside down. 

So, as I watched her bravely attempt a somersault, I also watched her scream in terror, cry out for me, and that was the end of ballet "school" for the day.

She managed to recover enough to rejoin class, but now has a hall pass for any future tumbling moves. 

Let's just say that gymnastics is not a likely endeavor anytime in her future! Maye she will take after me and wind up a horse girl after all!

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Watermelon Wordless Wednesday!