Ella's New Glasses

Please excuse the fact that we took this picture this morning after Ella at her breakfast (hence the jelly on her face) and we both have some fantastic bedhead! Matching glasses!!

Ella posing outside of the glasses store with her new glasses that she has to wear now for her astigmatism. How cute is she???

Baby Ava Was Born!!

On May 14th, baby Ava Dianne Bissoon made her entrance into the world. She was 9lbs. 2 oz. and 22 inches long!! She is super sweet and Ethan adores her! I am happy to have a new niece and can't wait for little Emory to be born in July!
*For those of you that don't know, Ava is Chad's sister, Kristin's baby:o)

Weston's field trip the National Museum of Natural History 5/14/09

On Thursday, i went with Weston's Kindergarten class as a chaperone (turns out i only had weston b/c so many parents signed up to come) to the National Museum of Natural History in Washington D.C. We had been as a family back in the fall, but were unable to make it into the butterfly pavilion because the line was so long. This was the main purpose of this field trip b/c the kids have been studying butterflies and even have a few chrysallises in their classroom ready to hatch. I have to say, it was a pretty neat experience being that close to the butterflies and really being able to study them. Weston had a great time and it was so nice to be able to spend some time alone with him exploring the museum.

This poor little guy was injured and definitely on his last leg:(

The chrysallis of a Swallowtail butterfly.

The butterfly's tongue is curled up in this picture, but unrolls straight out when it is sucking nectar from a flower. It was so cool to watch them drink the nectar!

Weston looking very scared in the dinosaur room...

Weston, Ahilleas, and Aiden...the 3 Musketeers!

Weston is trying to kill the bear like King David (his favorite Bible character:).

Fish in the Ocean life exhibit.

Weston pretending to get eaten by the shark.

Don't you love the awesome red headbands they all had to wear so we could keep track of them???

Mother's Day in Williamsburg-5/10/09

For Mother's Day this year, Chad decided to take the kids and i to Williamsburg. The weather was completely ideal! I hadn't been to the Colonial part since i was on a retreat in the 6th grade!! We walked the streets and enjoyed seeing the men and women in costume. Weston kept thanking us for taking him to "this magical place." He said it was even more fun than Kings Dominion!! How funny is that?! We didn't even have to spend a dime, and the kids had so much fun! We all can't wait to go back!

Weston in the gardens...

Ella and Weston thought it was great running through the gardens and trying to hide from each other. It was like one big maze for them!

Don't i wish i had some of these at home!! ;)

Do you realize how much i could get done if i did??

Ella Riding Her Big Girl Bike

Ella's Birthday Presents...

Here is Ella on her big girl bike!! She loves it and is learning how to pedal without falling over:o)

Thanks to my friend, Danielle's, blog (i'm not sure how you make a link here???) Ella has been able to see pictures and videos of her girls without ever meeting them. She adores Cambelle and Chloe and especially loves that they have their ears pierced. For her birthday she asked for a dog and to get her ears pierced. We said, "no" to the dog...so...

Since Ella is 3 now, we cut her gigantic "night-night" in half. She was actually okay with it and now keeps half in the car and the other half in her bed or in her mouth while she watches Curious George.

She picked out some cute little colorful diamond daisies. Two girls pierced them at the same time and she never even cried!! All she said was, "That really hurt." So brave!

A Few More Pics...

Brooke, the fabulous photographer and friend:o)

Ella blowing out her candle...

Eating her parfait...

Opening her Fancy Nancy doll from Granny...

Weston enjoyed the party just as much as Ella! I think we might do a dress-up fancy party for his 6th birthday:o) hahahaha!

A Few Pics From Ella's Fancy Nancy Party-April 25th

On Saturday, the 25th, we had Ella's 3rd birthday party here at the house (my favorite parties). She had a Fancy Nancy party and all the girls dressed up. We made posh purses (idea courtesy of Martha Stewart http://www.marthastewart.com/article/no-sew-fancy-kids-pocketbook) and parfaits (that's a fancy word for ice cream sundae:o). The girls had so much fun playing together and being fancy. Ironically enough, my little Ella, who wears tutus to the gym or to roll around in the dirt, refused to wear anything fancy at her party! The only thing she kept on the entire time was her dress! She was the only girl at the party not wearing her fancy accessories that i got all the girls! It just figures...Thank you, Brooke for taking such great pictures of Ella's special day!! Here is a link to view all of the pictures taken from the party: Some of the girls enjoying their party food.

Ella was tired during her party and kept going back to her "night-night" (which we cut in half on her birthday).

Brooke mangaged to capture the 5 seconds Ella actually wore her fancy attire!

Already undressing...

Cupcake bites (courtesy of Bakerella http://bakerella.blogspot.com/2008/05/cupcake-bites-made-easy.html .)

Ella's vanilla cupcakes...

All of the girls went home with a tutu, wand, wings, and a boa (not pictured). I found them all at http://www.haloheaven.com/ for an unbelievable deal!The party room...

Ella Dancing at the Wedding

Andrea's Wedding in Emporia- April 18th

This past weekend after Weston's first t-ball game (scroll down to next post for pics of that:o), we packed up the car and headed south to Emporia for Chad's cousin, Andrea's wedding. It was the most gorgeous day! The got married in a church and had their reception on the lawn of this really cool super old house that they opened up and let people tour all night. I didn't get an "official" tour, so i'm not sure why it's special, but i did take ella around it for a looksy. Chad's uncle Bobby's band played at the reception and did a great job. However, the only people that danced most of the night were all of the kids! Our kids danced the entire night until Ella danced herself to sleep! She, of course, perked right up as soon as we got back to the hotel:o) It was a fun night for all of us and the band told us at the end of the night that they really loved watching our kids dance. I'll try and post a video.

Ella's scraped up elbow. Read on to find out how it happened...

Ella breaking out some moves that Daddy taught her...

Weston gets nose bleeds about once a week when the weather is dry. Well, for whatever reason he got 1 on the way to the hotel, and 3 at the wedding!! So much for looking cute! He sported blood down the front of his shirt for half the night!

Ella all pooped out!

When we first got to the reception...

So, i wanted to get a good picture of the kids in their cute outfits before they got all sweaty and dropped food all over themselves...so i tell them to go over to this concrete bench and sit down. Ella walks over, climbs up on the bench and sits down, falls backward off the bench and scrapes her elbow! After i got her to calm down, this is her showing Weston her elbow.

Weston trying to make ella feel better with a flower he picked for her...

A little smile...

and then she remembered her elbow again:o)