4 Wheeler

My brother's son, Logan, has a Power Wheels 4-Wheeler. Ella thought this was a lot of fun.

Soccer Fun

Ella has been very excited to get her soccer ball out this spring. Here are some action pictures from my brother's house last weekend.

Birthday Party

A few weeks ago, we went to a friend of mine's daughter's birthday party. She turned 3 and had a Fun Bus come to her house. Ella was extremely timid, but here are some pictures from the inside of this bus.

Just like Daddy

One night Charles was ironing a bunch of his clothes - so Ella had to iron her blankets. So funny to watch her trying to iron and watch TV at the same time.

Very thankful today

I learned today at work that I would be experiencing a 7% pay decrease, due to economic conditions. Pay decreases are happening company wide for all employees. At this point, although shocked, I'm just very thankful to have a job and continue to earn a wage to help support our family.

One - offs

A number of one-offs to come.
Ella playing school with her dolls and having apples for snacks.
Doing craft - painting a star (I've done the other one) to hang her artwork from.
Making dessert with me one night.
Getting into the cupboard to pick out a cup.

Hospital Visit

Grandma Anliker had knee surgery replacement in Iowa City a few weeks ago, so we went for a visit. As of now, she seems to be getting along well, although not without a few trips to Iowa City in the interim to make sure everything is ok. The day we visited, Grandma was very tired, so she kept dozing off and on. But it was great to see her and Grandpa and appeared that they were in good hands.

What a helper!

Ella is really getting to be an amazing helper. A few weekends ago, when it was cold, Charles and I were talking about lighting the fireplace. We came downstairs to find this scene!
Ella really likes to help with pushing the air into the fireplace using the bellows. Even if she doesn't have one to actually do it, she just goes through the motions.

Birthday Party

We went over to our friends, Jeff and Nikki's house for their daughter Kaity's 6th birthday party! They had a bounce house in their basement - one from Little Tykes I think. Pictures didnt't turn out, but Ella really enjoyed it. Tacos for dinner along with cake and ice cream afterwards. Here are a few pictures - not that you'd be able to tell they were from the birthday party!

Valentine's Day

Charles & I don't really do anything for each other on Valentine's Day because there isn't usually anything we want/need. But he did get a cake from Cold Stone Creamery. It was good, but probably not worth the $15-$20 spent on it. Oh well....

Note to self

I guess about a month ago now, we (probably more I) decided to get the dogs some beef (cow) elbow to chew on. Good ole Duste had no problem, but little Penny had some stomach issues for about a week - poor thing! But the dogs sure liked them while they were devouring the treat! You can see Duste's birth mark on her tongue really good in the picture of her.