Field Day

Ella’s first field day was such a fun day!  We weren’t really sure what to expect so I gave Ella “the talk” that it’s okay if you don’t get first place ,that everyone is a winner and you should always try your best.  She told me she could run fast and that she would do her best.  I have absolutely ZERO athletic ability so I thought Ella might be the same way.  I was a cheerleader for a while and I did run track once…so maybe I have a little?!?  Anyway, Ella surprised us both and did an awesome job at field day.  All the kids demonstrated remarkable sportsmanship and cheered each other on…I didn’t see anyone get mad once :)

Ella and Lily taking a break from the field day fun

Run, Ella, Run!!!

Waiting for the next event so why not stop for family pics :)

Ready, set…JUMP!

The final results were in and Ella won 8 blue (FIRST PLACE!) ribbons!!!  So proud!

Field day wore us all out…

Tooth Fairy

Ella was so excited to go to bed early in hopes the tooth fairy would be paying her a visit.  Looks like we caught her in the act :)  And what a generous tooth fairy she was…$20 bucks! 

That Wiggly Tooth…

IS GONE!!!!

Ella has been wiggling her “wiggly tooth” for weeks (maybe even months!).  So finally after lots of wiggling, she pulled her very first tooth all by herself!  So proud of my big girl!!  Looks like the tooth fairy is going to be making her first visit to the Taylor House!  Ella told me that a little boy at her school said that the tooth fairy brought $50 bucks.  I hope she’s not disappointed ;)

Butterfly Lifecycle

I saw a recommendation for Insect Lore from a friend on Facebook and thought the kids would really enjoy watching the formation of a butterfly.  Ella loves butterflies so she was super excited when I told her what I ordered.  Everyday for a week she asked when they would be delivering her butterfly garden.  I got an email confirmation one morning and told her it should be here when she got home from school.  That afternoon, I got a phone call from Ella and she was mad!  They delivered the butterfly habitat but no caterpillars.  There was a coupon code for the caterpillars and you had to order them separately.  She’s not the most patient child so waiting another week seemed like an eternity to her.  After the caterpillars finally arrived, she carried them around watching their every move.  I was a little worried at first because they looked dead…but after reading the paperwork that came with them, I learned that they were still in “shock” from their travels.  A couple days later, they finally started to move around.  Poor caterpillars got carried around and shook every chance one of the kids found where I hid them.  It was amazing to watch how quickly they grew.  They more than tripled in size in just a few days!  They entered the chrysalis stage of their lifecycle about a week later.  The instructions said once they were in this stage to leave the container alone and limit movement.  Well…Evan got a hold of them and gave them a couple big shakes and sent a couple of them to the bottom of the container.  This triggered World War III at our house!  Ella cried and fussed thinking they were dead.  I have to admit I wasn’t so sure they were going to make it either.  Once the chrysalis were completely hardened, we transferred them into the habitat.  We watch them for about a week and then one morning Ella found a butterfly in the habitat.  Surprisingly, it was one of the butterflies Evan shook loose from the paper.  A few days later, the kids had 5 butterflies hopping around the habitat.  They fed them and once their wings were ready to fly we set them free.  (Love the motto from the company…Watch them grow then let them go!)  I was a little sad to let them go knowing they only live for a couple weeks :( Ella loved learning about the butterfly lifecycle and having a few new pets for a couple weeks! 

Mother’s Day 2013

This will be a Mother’s Day I will never forget!!  We volunteered to help Mimi in the nursery at church.  Ella was playing with one of the babies when she started screaming!  She immediately grabbed her foot and was crying saying something bit her.  I grabbed Ella and next thing I know Mimi was stomping a spider.  Ella’s foot quickly started to swell, turn bright red, and she continued to cry in pain.  Mimi got Uncle Matt to come take a look and after a few minutes the redness and swelling continued so he said we might want to have someone take a look at it.  We “bagged” the spider (what was left of it) and headed towards Urgent Care.  I called Cory and he told me to stop her by the fire department to have the Paramedic look at it.  He told us it would be a good idea to go ahead and go to the doctor.  Thankfully we were the only ones at Urgent Care so we were in and out quickly.  The doctor gave Ella some antibiotics, advised us to follow up with our Pediatrician, and to keep a close eye on the area for any change in color.  After a dose of Benadryl, Motrin and Septra, Ella’s foot was feeling much better!  Once she was feeling better, we were able to enjoy Mother’s Day!! 

The kids made me the sweetest gifts at school and their Daddy made me the best DVD with videos and pictures of them!   I can’t watch the whole thing without crying!  I also got a beautiful new necklace :)  Sweetest Mother’s Day gifts ever!! 

I am so thankful for a Christian Mother that has always been a great example of what a Mom should be!  I have also been blessed with a great Mother-in-law!  And we can’t forget about all the great-grandmothers that mean so much to us!  We are so blessed to have so many great Mother’s in our lives!!  The best part of Mother’s Day for me is the kiddos that call me Mommy!!!   They are my world and words can’t describe the love I have for them!  Ella apologized because she thought she “ruined” my Mother’s Day but  I told her that was job security and I wouldn’t want any other job in the entire world than to be her Mommy and take care of her!  :)

Happy Mother’s Day to all the wonderful Mother’s!  I hope you’re getting spoiled just like I am :)

Ella’s foot :(

Love them so much!!!

 

Ella wrote this about me…

She ask me how old I was and I told her 33.  She replied “I’m sorry you look older than that”  lol!  She must also think I’m short (4ft 9in) with a big foot!  I guess I need big feet to kick a soccer ball…I’m not sure where she got that from!  I don’t think I’ve ever played soccer before other than kicking the ball around in the yard with the kids.  :)

Cow-N-Around Farm

Cory and Evan went with his preschool class on a field trip to “Cow-n-Around” Farm.  I wasn’t able to go so I sent Cory with my camera and told him to take lots of pictures.  I am proud to say he listened and took lots of good pictures of their fun on the farm!  Everybody that knows Evan knows how much he loves tractors so a farm is one of his favorite places to be (and the Kubota tractor place!).  He was so excited when he called me after his field trip to tell me that he got to DRIVE a tractor!  I think the guys had a great time down on the farm!

They got to ride horses…

And went on a hay ride…

But the highlight of Evan’s day was getting to drive the tractor…

 

Taking a break from all the farm fun to snack on some goldfish!  A farmer needs lots of energy to get all his work done :)