Should I be worried?

Should I be worried that Ella enjoys picking on Audrey? I mean really likes it enough that it makes her HAPPY? Today when I told Ella to stop picking on Audrey and making her cry, Ella looked up at me and said "Mommy it makes me so happy to do that." It is kind of funny, but seriously?

Our Little Cubbie Bear

Ella has started the AWANAs program at our church on Wednesday nights. It is a program designed to teach children scripture while incorporating fun and crafts with it. They are considered "Cubbies" from age 3-5, so each week Cubbie Bear comes to visit us during class--the kids just go wild when they see him. I decided to teach Ella's class mainly because I wanted to have a chance to be with just Ella. My precious little first born and I don't get to always spend as much one on one time as I would like, so each of us treasure the few hours we get together on Wednesday nights. Ella has really impressed us with how well she is memorizing her verses each week. The kids all have little Cubbie vests and they earn patches for the verses they memorize. It is a big commitment for both the teachers and the kids, but I can't think of a better thing to spend my time on then teaching Ella and the other kids about Jesus!

Me Llamo Ella

Part of Ella's curriculum in preschool is Spanish class. She came home today saying "Me llamo Ella" and singing a song with the colors in Spanish. I'm so proud of her learning these new things! Audrey walked around repeating Ella but correctly changing it to "Me llamo Audrey"--she's definitely a genius we think!

Oktoberfest

It wasn't quite October yet, but it was a beautiful day so we decided to take the girls out to Oktoberfest in downtown McKinney. They had fun activities set up for the kids, lots of music and dancing, and plenty of sausage! The weather couldn't have been better and the girls had fun painting pumpkins, riding a train with daddy, and dancing to some German polka music! Daddy bought them both gigantic lollipops--oh the mess and the stickiness.

Checking out the firetruck.

The kids riding with Daddy on the train around the square. Ella riding a pony--her smile was so big the whole time and she wasn't afraid this time around!

Plano Balloon Festival

We decided this year to wake up very early and take the girls out to the Plano Balloon Festival and watch the balloons launch. I've been to the festival a zillion times over the past 15 years, but have usually just gone during the day. We woke the girls up before dawn, ran by the donut store and made the long walk from the Plano Center to find our spot on the hill to watch the balloons take off. It was a gorgeous morning, despite some yucky storms that week, but we were able see the balloons inflate right in front of us. The winds weren't right, so we didn't get to see them take off, but we enjoyed another fun adventure as a family!

Audrey's favorite part was a blueberry donut from Max's.

Mommy and Ella watching the sunrise and the balloons.

The Real First Day of School

We missed the first day due to a few sniffles, but today Ella was ready to head to her first day of preschool. She looked adorable and her backpack was full with all her essentials! Her bags that she got to open from the countdown included nail polish, chapstick, hand sanitizer and lotion, a little notepad, some Tic Tacs, new clips, and a James Avery necklace with the letter "E" on it. She was really excited at home and couldn't stop talking about all the fun stuff she would do "since she was almost 4 years old" and all her friends she would get to see. I was personally thrilled about her teachers, with one of them, Ms. Paula being a friend of mine and someone who I have seen do wonders in the classroom. I know she is going to have a fantastic year!

However, once we arrived, the smiles were gone and she was a little nervous about her big day. Her buddy Micah was at the table next to her so he helped her not be too sad.

These were the teacher gifts we brought. I stuck an apple, orange, water bottle, lotion and hand sanitizer into a basket I picked up. The little note with Ella's picture on it said "Looking forward to a healthy and fun year!" Easy and practical gift for her 2 teachers!

Ella had so much fun the first day that she wanted me to take her picture again for the second day of school!

The first week they had "Crazy Hat" day on Thursday, so Ella was sporting her sombrero!

First Day Delayed

Today was supposed to be Ella's first day of school. We had the backpack ready at the door, teacher gifts in hand and the final gift was yet to be opened. However, the dry cough she's had for a few days that I thought was tied to all the ragweed in the air turned into to a nasty bark this morning. So instead of having a fun first day, we are off to the doctor's office. I think Mommy cried more tears than she did. I'm praying that we will be better by Monday so she can have her first day of preschool--take two!

Professional Beach Pics

We were home in Florida over the summer and got some professional pictures taken on the beach and just got the final files this week. It was not easy trying to get ten people including four kids 3 and under to smile at the same time, but we were happy with the results!

Love this one of our baby girl!

My all time favorite of Ella!

Our little family

Family shot--boy that wind was doing crazy things to our hair!

Melissa, Wes, Wyatt & Jessica

Daddy and his first girl

The whole family

My precious nephew and niece Wyatt and Jessica!

Mimi and Papa J with all the grandkids

Mom and her girls

The Original Warren Family!

Countdown

The beginning of a new preschool year is right around the corner and all of us are counting down the days! I decided to make it a little fun this year and for the week before we start, Ella gets to open a little "must have" gift each day to get her ready for her first day! Today she got to open #7 which contained some fabulously fun pink nail polish--a definite must have for the first day! She seems really excited to count down to school (and to open more presents) and is looking forward to seeing all her old friends. Can't believe she'll be FOUR next month! My baby sure is getting big!