Su-MET-i-mus

I have really enjoyed watching the process of Ella learning to read. Ella was reading to Scott before bed the other night, and she was trying to sound out a word she was unfamiliar with. Su-MET-i-mus known to the rest of us as sometimes. I just think it is precious!

I can't resist the mom brag here either. Ella had a reading assessment done today. We had a conference in October at the end of the first six weeks of school. At that time Ella's teacher wrote, "Goals for Ella: Reading at a level 8-10 by end of year." During her assessment today, Ella passed the level 10 reading assessment. The only reason her teacher didn't test her at an 11 is because she didn't read quite as quickly as she needed to because she takes time to sound out the words. She also doesn't show as much comprehension of details as her teacher would like to see before moving her up a level. She understands the story, but she doesn't remember all the small details because she's concentrating more on figuring out the words. I am SOOOOOO proud of her!

Pudding Face

Couldn't you just eat her up?

SO Proud of Ella

Today at school Ella and a friend were written up during art class for talking and not paying attention. During their evening chat Ella mentioned to Scott that when Mrs. Webster had turned her back the friend had thrown away the write up notice so that her mom wouldn't find out about their behaviour. In contrast to that, Ella walked through the front door, went straight into Scott's office and immediately handed him the note. While we are disappointed that she didn't obey her teacher, we are so proud that she didn't follow the actions of her friend. I told her tonight that I was proud of her for having the courage to make a good decision and for showing a good heart in telling us the truth. She can be a follower, so the fact that she decided to do what was right even when doing the wrong thing was easy really, really impressed me.

Here Baby

I tackled Mt. Washmore today...well almost. I've been doing laundry all day long with only two loads to go. When Ella got home from school we decided to have some friends over to play. It's a great excuse to take a break from laundry! LOL

Brenna spent time with my friend's baby taking her paci in and out of her mouth. Thank goodness the baby was VERY easy going about the whole thing.

Mt. Washmore

It never ceases to amaze me how much work it is to prepare for going on vacation. Can someone please explain to me how the laundry manages to breed while we are gone? Tonight is the beginning and tomorrow is the true excursion. Mt. Washmore will be conquered.

Pig Tails and Dog Ears

Ella asked me to braid her hair before bed tonight. So of course, Brenna had to get in on the fun. You know that for every pretty picture that is taken that has to be at least one (or 10) bad ones taken. Tonight's little picture taking excursion included the beginnings of a fist fight...ahhhh kids.

Swing Sweet Nice 'n Gayle, Swing Sweet Nice 'n Gayle

If you've watched the movie Cinderella, you've seen the scene where she is wearing a kerchief on her head and singing, "Sing sweet nightingale, Sing sweet nightingale." Brenna put this wash cloth one her head and told us it was her "Swing sweet nice 'n gayle" cloth. She proceeded to sing the song with those same lyrics.

Pajama Day

There are some really cool blogs out there where people have made a New Year's Resolution to post a picture every single day and blog about it. So here goes my attempt.

[No, you are not allowed to yell at me, tut-tut at me, or even secretly roll your eyes when I fail to follow through with this!]

We spent New Year's at Wheezer and Popper's house. Wheezer declared New Year's Day as Pajama Day. We spent the day lazing around in our pajamas just hanging out together. I love days like that, but boy does it feel nice to get up and dressed and around the next day. Here are the girl's lounging together in Wheezer's bed. You can see that Ella gave up on Pajama Day and decided to get dressed anyway.