Star Student

Ella is star student this week.  Each kid in her class is choosen for a week of star treatment.  They have to take a collage to school telling all about themselves and fill out a questionaire.   The poster collage goes on the board and the kids get to learn about each other.  
Ella was so excited it was finally her turn (they went in alphabetical order).  We put her collage together this weekend.  She picked out the pictures she wanted and the buttons.  She loved the stickers!   Here's the finished product:

 Here are some pictures of her before school on Monday...

When I picked her up after school, I asked her what was her favorite part of showing the class her collage.  She said she loved to show them Uncle Joey throwing her up in the air. :)
For more pictures from the collage go to my photography blog: INSPIRE ME PHOTOGRAPHY

The Girls

Ali is about 8 months, but I believe she has no clue she's a dog.  She follows Ella around, and wants in on all the action.  If Ella's on my knee or giving me a hug, the dog tries to jump up on the other knee.  If I'm scolding Ella, Ali will sit loyally next to her and the two of them will look at each other like "this lady is crazy."  Ali goes outside, Ella follows and visa versa.  Ali has her own ball and has learned to play fetch, but if Ella is kicking around the soccer ball, the dog is right there trying to take it away.  It's cute for the most part, but every once in a while, Ali will nip at the soccer ball in excitement and miss...

Today, Ella got a little teeth to the thigh as they were running around.  Accidental and outside the initial shock/cry, they were back at it...

Someone needs to learn how to share... and it's not Ella:

And this looks scarier than it is... Ali is super sweet, my camera just caught her mid-bark.  She wasn't trying to bite, really.

Ella Quotes and Updates

Time is flying by and Ella continues to surprise us.  She's so grown now that we forget that she's understands and takes in EVERYTHING.  Sometimes, when she's telling me a story or a recap of her day I look at her and don't know who this young lady is.  She can be articulate, funny, serious, and will express herself so maturely.  I'm sorry, I thought I had a baby girl.  Who is this kiddo in my house! :)

Some quotes of late:

Ella farted, and I said, "Ella! What do you say?"  

She replied, "Oops, 'scuse my butt."   ... we raise ladies in this house :)

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One morning, after having slept in, Ron told me I apparently taught Ella some new vocabulary.    Ella had told him that the "the damn dog" did something.  Though I admit using this phrase when talking to Ron, I have never used it when talking to Ella.  I must make a mental note that she obviously has bigger ears than I expected...

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In response to ANYTHING I ask her do around the house (i.e.. pick up your clothes, make your bed, etc...)  "Oh, Mommy!"   or "Oh, gosh!" with her hand on her forehead.  I'm getting glimpses of life with a teenager.

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She's also starting a lot of conversations with the word, "actually".  Like, "Actually, I think I'll play outside with Ali."

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"Freakin' out."  This is also a daily phrase when she's happy, mad, or excited.  If she learns something new or she's excited about doing something she will exclaim, "My head is totally freaking out!"   She'll also act so exasperated and throw her hands in the air in frustration and say in all seriousness, "I am freakin' out."   Ahh, more teenage tendencies...

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On the way home from Thanksgiving in Atlanta, Ella developed a rash on her chest, and upper body.  We thought maybe she had caught something.  About a week later, she had a few large splotches on her face.  I figured it might be hives which meant she was allergic to something, but what?  I took her to the doctor for an allergy test and the results came back just before Christmas.  She's developed a mild allergy to milk.  Her congestion was from the amount of dairy in her diet, not the seasonal allergies we first suspected.

Children don't generally develop allergies until around the age of 5.  The milk is something new.  This fall it came in the form of sinus congestion and has developed into possible hives. The doctor isn't concerned about it and said to limit her dairy to 2-3 small servings a day and keep and eye on it.  What I'm concerned with is it getting worse.  It can also get better with more exposure so it's really a crap shoot.

So far so good,  we've switched her to almond milk which is far better than dairy or soy anyway.  Less calories, more calcium and rich in antioxidants that soy and dairy lack.  She loves her new vanilla milk and it's doing more for her body to boot.  This way, her servings of dairy are limited to some yogurt, cheese or ice cream.  ugh!  I would hate to have to take those out of her diet, she loves yogurt and cheese and ice cream?  Who wants to live without ice cream!

It's been pretty rainy and miserable here this past week.  Very cold, gray and drizzly.  Yesterday, she got dressed and wanted to play with my camera.  I gave her my mom's old one and here's our little photographer at work ....

Burrrrr!

It's been a cold start to this new year.  I have been busy with my photography blog and such that I find I never have time to post here... and many pictures of Ella end up on my photography blog anyway...

I've started a 365 project.  Taking a photo each day of the year.  Just a snapshot of my life, which will probably be centered around Ella anyway :)  I have these posted on a number of my photography profiles:

On Facebook HERE
On Flickr  HERE
And of couse on my Inspire Me Photography Blog HERE

Here are some pictures of Ella playing with all her Christmas loot...

 And playing with Ali....

Last weekend, Ron had drill so Ella and I headed to Fort Worth to visit a friend from Korea. Kendall was home visiting her parents before she heads off to London to be with her husband.  They are expecting a little girl in April so it was the perfect opportunity to get a quick visit in before she's back on the other side of the world...

Here's Ella on the beautiful and sunny drive up on Saturday:

And enjoying the candy at the baby shower:

On Sunday morning, we had planned on seeing the Fort Worth Stockyards and mingling with some cowboys.  But we woke up to freezing temperatures and rain.  Ugh!  So we decided to head out early and get back to San Antonio before the predicted snow started. We had just left (and Kendall and her family headed off to church) when my low tire pressure warning light came on.  I know how to check my tire pressure and put air in my tires... IN THEORY.  But I have never had to do it.  Ella and I spent the better part of 45 minutes at a gas station, in the freezing rain.  And when I say us, I meant me.  Ella was toasty warm in the car.  I finally got the tires straight but was soaked to the knees and all down my back... misery!
We head out and my GPS freezes up so I now have no idea how to get back to Kendall's or get to the highway.   I pulled over, in the middle of a country road with cattle on both sides, to gather my wits and figure out what to do next.   Miraculously, after about 5 minutes, the gps started talking.  The screen may have been frozen but it still had my route home programmed.  We made it to the highway but by now the tire monitoring system was acting up.  Aghhhhh!

I drove slow and cautiously but 10 miles down the road, it started to snow.  I was so frustrated by then, I didn't even stop to take any photos (which is sooooo out of character).   Granted still being soaking wet, the thought of stepping out of the heated car and off the seat warmer did not even cross my mind.

Somewhere close to Waco, the skies opened up, the gps came back to life, and the tire monitoring system stopped blinking.  By the time we reached San Antonio, it was sunny and at least 20 degrees warmer.    Seriously, forget the stockyards, next time I'm bringing my own cowboy :)

This week has been cold, freezing cold, and wet.  We've spent a lot of time inside.  Ella has read her Leap Frog books so much that she's earned enought rewards to play the online games... here she is on my computer composing music for Ariel under the sea...

And drinking hot cocoa in the middle of the afternoon.... 

Happy New Year!

We rang in the new year with friends.  What a fabulous start to the new year!

Post Christmas

I took Ella and my Dad down to the empty lots at the end of our street for some photos.  If you click on the link below you can see those pictures :)

Ella and Papa Photo Session

We drove Papa to the airport on Monday moring and then headed to the Riverwalk to meet Mackenzie.  I used to babysit her and her brother from the time they were just babies.  She's traveling around the US, Canada and Central America and happened to be in Texas for a few days.  Ron hates Facebook, but it is how we connected and Ella and I were able to take her for lunch on the Riverwalk before she headed to New Orleans.  I think it's been about 10-11 years!  Amazing!

Of course, it was a gorgeous day so Ella and I walked the Riverwalk and I used it as a great photo op and to practice with my new lens.

And enjoying her new pillow pet from Santa.  She loves reading, I'm just not sure why she was reading on the stairs...