Art..Art..Art

Ella LOVES art projects!!! She is always creating something for me to display around the house. I enjoy her artwork but I think my house is looking less like it belongs to me all the time.

She is slowly taking over the whole house. It started with the fridge..where she could put her art up by herself with magnets that were supposed to teach her the alphabet. Ella has found that they hold art projects fabulously. Then she moved on to the glass door on the bookshelf and finally the door to the basement. She needs tape to hang her projects in these locations which requires my help but if I refuse she is devastated and I don't want her to think her art isn't beautiful (even though some of it isn't so worth displaying).

But then...I got this great idea. We would color hearts and cut-out letters that would spell "Daddy Rocks" to hang on the sliding glass door for Chris's birthday. Genius right??? I mean, Ella loves art projects and this is an easy gift she can give her Daddy. Well I didn't think about the fact that she would never let me take them down. I would try and she would say "that is so sad, the poor hearts and ABCs".

So, the only way to get rid of them was to hang something else in their place. Which meant that Ella and I spent the day making shamrock streamers for St. Patrick's Day.

Sometimes I wish I had one of those houses that was decorated like in the magazines. It seems like it would be so luxurious and relaxing but then I look at this....

And I am convinced that my home is more beautiful than any picture in any magazine.

So, maybe no interior designer would decorate their house like this...

But at least for today...I don't care!!!!!

A Star is Born!

Why did I say that???

It was so exciting when Ella starting learning words. And then when her words grew to cute little sentences. And then her sentences to whole stories. It was fun, I repeat WAS.....

I say this because lately I have been hearing things come out of her mouth that sound really familiar. They are the kind of things that I say to her because after all, I am in charge here.

Ohh, how I wish I could take them back, seriously!!

And so I proceed with the list of things I wish I would have never said:

1. "Do you understand?"
I asked Ella why she didn't want to do something this morning and she told me "I just don't want to, do you understand?? I just don't want to!!"

2. "Now!!"
Ella frequently tells me, "I want my milky, NOW!" (the fact that she calls it "milky" doesn't make it cute).

3. "I hate this!!"
Ella will randomly tell me something that she hates. "I hate meat!" is one of her favorites.

4. "I can't carry you because my leg hurts."
Ella has a broken leg from time to time now, mostly around the time that she needs to put her clothes in the hamper or put her plate in the kitchen. She says, "Ohh, my leg hurts!"

5. "If you do that one more time!" (with the finger point)
When Ella is frustrated with me she will tell me, "One more time!!" And yes, she has got the finger point down.

6. "We have to leave in 2 more minutes."
In my parenting classes at BYU "they" said to give your kids a warning before it is time to leave a task they are enjoying. Well, either this advice is craziness or I choose my words poorly because now Ella just keep asking for "2 more minutes." And it ends up that I am putting on her coat and boots while she is screaming, "2 MORE MINUTES, 2 MORE MINUTES!!"

7. "What did you like the best?"
I thought it would be a good thing to ask Ella what she liked the best about her day but she picked up on the phrase "the best" and now she uses it all the time. Like for example at dinner she likes to say, "I wanted chocolate the best!"

Isn't parenting funny? I thought I had to teach a little girl how to grow up and be a good adult and now I see that I might need to grow up (just a little) too.

I Have a Question

Why do toddlers ask so many questions? I am tired of them. And it's not just the questions, it's the repetition of them and the fact that if I don't answer immediately they grow in intensity. I have been thinking over the last week and I am now certain that I am asked the exact same questions everyday at the exact same time. And so for all of you who know how truly crazy I am, I now submit to you the reason why I lost it!

Question Number One: "Mommy, where are we going?"
Coming at me at the lovely hour of 7am!! And yes, Ella thinks we should always be going somewhere.

Question Number Two: "Are you going to take a shower?"
She is onto this question by 7:02am.
She then tries to tell me when to take a shower(as in NOW) and even what to wear after I get out. I keep telling her "Mommy chooses Mommy's clothes" but she keeps saying, "Ella chooses Mommy's clothes". And we go round and round until we are both frustrated.
Ella also insists on getting dressed during this time. Wanting to pick out her own clothes which takes a long time because I do prefer that she matches. And then 10 minutes later she is naked (keeping her panties on so as to be "modest').

Question Number Three: "Mommy, will you play puzzle with me?"
She has 6 of these 9 piece puzzles that must all be put together, everyday, multiple times a day (yeah, it's great). Every piece she picks up she asks "Mommy, where does this go?" and I say "I don't know, where do you think it goes?", and then she puts it in the puzzle. Near the end the conversation goes more like, "Mommy, where does this go?" and then I say,"Ella, I am losing my mind. Just put the piece in."

Question Number Four: "Ella, what do you want for lunch?"
This question comes from me. But Ella always responds with a question instead of an answer. She asks,"Is it nap time?" She knows that nap time comes after lunchtime so she never wants to eat lunch.

Now that nap is over it time for Question Number Five (which is a lot like question 1): "Mommy, where are we going?"
Seriously, it is a good thing I had nap time to get refreshed.

And I have to insert Ella's favorite questions that I am asked near a million times a day, "Mommy, what are you doing?"
"What's this called?"
and, "Mommy, what are you making?" You might be surprised all the situations this question works in. Ella uses it while a I am making dinner and also likes to ask me this while I am sitting on the toilet (I have no dignity).

Any questions?????

Why I NEED Chocolate!

We can't keep clothes on this child (she says she has to wear underwear to be modest). So, if you are going to feel awkward about seeing Ella in only underwear then look away.


Here are all the crazy things she is saying:
"I've got to sing stand-up. I've got to sing the Colors song. I wear blue today, all the colors of the world. I'm a rainbow today, I'm a rainbow today. That's silly..let's sing, let's sing...little, little, little, little things. One, One..little, little, little (stop, and clap)."

A bunch of gibberish to the tune of The Farmer and the Dell.

"When I get back is when I... I like to play with, like to run with. I like to run and stomp my feet. And I hurt my...I bonked my toe."

The World of Pure Imagination

Ella has officially entered the world of make believe. It has been nice in so many ways because she is able to entertain herself more.

She likes to imagine "friends" to play with whenever she is lonely. Her friends are not people though, they are animals. The first time one of these animals showed up was a recent evening while she was going to the bathroom. She made a loud announcement (though, all announcements with Ella are loud) that there was a snake in the bathroom. After a brief moment of panic on my behalf, I realized that the snake was only in Ella's mind and told her that there were no make believe snakes allowed in this house and if she saw any we could just pretend to chop of their heads and throw them in the trash (as a side note, I may or may not have an irrational fear of snakes). Ella didn't like this idea and felt the need to protect the snake. So, she pretended to pick him up in her hands and carry him around the rest of the day. Chris took her to the store and she spent the whole drive there, the whole ride in the cart, and the whole ride back with her hands clasped together, holding onto her snake.

Her snake friend shows up on random occasions but more often than not it is a lion that comes to visit. He is a fairly needy lion, always wanting baths and goldfish. He also tends to make messes that Ella swears are not her fault. He likes to wear dress up clothes and sleep in Ella's bed. He showed up at nap time a few days ago and Ella fell asleep with her hands clasped together while sucking her thumb.

I have realized that he is a lot smaller than I previously thought because he fits in one of Ella's hands. She just walks around with her hand out, holding him.

Sometimes he disappears for awhile but Ella can tell you he is only playing peek-a-boo. I keep telling her that our lease won't allow lions but it isn't sinking in because today the lion brought over two more lion friends (boy, did they eat a lot).

Ohh, It is so on!!!

This is my favorite picture from our Christmas Vacation!!!