Tonight Cole, Ella and I took Accalia to her swimming lesson since Cory had to see a client at the same time. Other than saying the water was too cold, Accalia had fun. She seems to have a really nice instructor who takes the time to be with each child and help when he sees them struggling. Accalia is probably one of the weakest swimmers in her class - weak as in having the stamina to swim, not weak in being able to do the different strokes - but she doesn't seem discouraged by that, which I'm so happy to see. Accalia has always loved going to different lessons or classes, and so far she's really had a great time with all of it because the instructors are so great about just making sure the kids are enjoying themselves and exploring the subject matter.

We actually had Cory home with us for much of the day. His meeting in Sioux Falls was over right away this morning, and he was home by 11:30 a.m. We went to McDonald's for lunch so the kids could run around and we could sit and talk. Poor Ella was injured by another little girl, though. Ella and this girl were standing by each other, and Ella leans over to give her a hug. When Ella stepped back, though, the little girl stepped forward and scratched her cheek. Ouch!

After that, we went to Wal-Mart to pick up supplies to actually get our vegetable garden started for the year. We even planted everything this afternoon while Ella took a two hour nap. Since we've gotten a late start, we did buy a few plants rather than starting everything from seed. We bought green, yellow and red pepper plants, a few tomato plants, and a cucumber plant. Accalia and Cole asked for the cucumber plant, although I'm not sure why since I'm the only one in the family who likes them. Then we planted radishes, carrots, the rainbow variety of swiss chard, pumpkins and watermelon.

Our various flowers are starting to pop up. We have 4 o'clocks in the front and back, and Accalia's garden of butterfly and hummingbird friendly flowers such as bee balm and lavender hyssop (something else, too) are starting to spring up.

Cole had fun this morning using his Thing hands as feet.


Someone gave me an amazing compliment yesterday. You know how someone will tell you something that just makes you feel in awe that they think you're capable of a task? It was one of those compliments, and it was especially nice because the entire event that started it out was something I felt completely incapable of taking on. How's that for incredibly vague?

Accalia, Cole and I were hoping to do a little sky watching tonight since it's a blue moon and Jupiter is right up there by the moon, but it's too cloudy to see anything.

Tomorrow Chloe and Alexia will be coming over to spend the evening. I think the kids are looking forward to that. We haven't seen them for a couple weeks. As for the rest of the weekend, I do believe we'll spend time at the rec center in the pool. Cory and I want to catch up on a bunch of season finales of our favorite tv shows that we taped, too.

Found the cord for the camera! Actually, Cory uncovered it.





Tried out piggy tails in Ella's hair. Quite cute while she allowed them to stay in!



We have to head off to Accalia's swimming lesson now. Be back later!

Still no camera cord in sight. I didn't actually look for it today, though. It's been a day filled with too much noise, one quite cranky 19-month-old, and more messes than usual. I also ended up spending too much time on the computer, so all of this might be related. Sigh.

Can't life ever slow down? I just want to wake up one morning and find myself in a Corona commercial, sitting on a white sand beach with my only job holding that bottle of beer.

Here's to tomorrow!

I was going to post a couple pictures today, but I can't find the cord I need to download the pictures onto the computer. Shoot! I have a feeling Ella found it and stuffed it away somewhere. I'll have to start looking...

It's been a cloudy, rainy day, although it didn't rain very hard most of the day. We did make it to the Gavins Point National Fish Hatchery this morning, and the kids had a fun time looking around at the fish, snakes, turtles, etc. Ella and I would stand in front of one of the tanks, and she'd point and babble on and on. Ella still usually says just one word at a time that I can actually understand, but she loves to talk to me in her baby speak and it's just fascinating to watch and listen to her as she mimics word and sentence patterns. Can't wait until she joins her brother and sister in talking nonstop!

We went to the library this afternoon since we had a few books due and I had to make a copy of something for Accalia's fall soccer registration. We loaded up on a few more books, too. After Accalia picked out the books she wanted, she decided she wanted to organize the children's area: putting away toys in the bins, straightening the little plastic chairs, etc. That is totally something that I would have done at her age, too! I remember just loving to be able to tidy up other people's spaces. It's too bad that love didn't always overflow to my own space, huh?

Cory had a cancellation tonight, so he was home in time to eat supper with us before taking Accalia to her swimming lesson. Accalia had a good time and is already talking about being able to go again in a couple days.

I've been listening to the Indigo Girls' Shaming of the Sun cd quite a bit lately. To me, it always feels like such a summery album.

We often get junk mail urging us to try out a children's club, activity, etc. for free with just a few dollars shipping. If Accalia's interested in it, we'll often sign up to get that initial shipment for $3 or $4 and then cancel afterwards. We did that with Top Secret Adventures from Highlights, and Accalia absolutely loved that first mystery that took place in Mexico. Today she received her second one - this time in Australia - and has been working on it on and off since this afternoon. Actually, we both have fun doing it. I imagine this is one thing we'll keep getting.

No clue what we'll do tomorrow. Cory will be gone for his staff meeting.

We're back...Again! I don't believe we're going out of town this coming weekend, and I'm very happy about the prospect of staying right here in Yankton for two weeks. I brought along our camera but didn't take a single picture. Oh well.

Accalia, Cole and I just got back inside from lying on a blanket outside in our front yard and looking at the stars. The stars aren't very bright tonight, but the moon is bright and beautiful. Cole is very excited about one day going to the moon and bouncing around.

We had another good visit to Mankato and once again saw lots of family. We saw sister-in-law Kathy, nephew Elijah and niece Lizzy for about an hour Friday evening. Then both of my brothers and their families, my parents and ourselves went to a park outside of Mankato - Seven Mile for those who live in the area - and spent a couple hours walking around on the trails, playing on the playground, etc. On Sunday we got together for a non potluck at my uncle Norman's house and saw lots of other relatives, including Rachel and her family. We don't get to see Norman and Elizabeth and their five boys (and families for two), so that was really nice. Then we had church in the evening. When we weren't visiting with family or at parks, Cole was very happy to be Grandpa's shadow. Accalia decided to spend a lot of time hanging out with Grandma, too, when Cory and I wanted to run a couple erands. Cole also has taken quite a liking to my parents' neighbors - mostly because of their dog - and when they're outside he'll stand on the fence just talking and talking and watching them.

Cory had three clients tonight from 6-9 p.m., so we didn't have much of an evening together. Tomorrow he'll be gone until around 7, and then he'll take Accalia to swimming lessons (she starts tomorrow and is very excited). Cory will be gone overnight on Wednesday for a staff meeting and be back on Thursday for clients in the evening. Since Accalia's swimming lessons are Tuesdays and Thursdays, that means I'll get to take Accalia and figure out what to do with Cole and Ella so that Ella in particular won't be heading to the pool every chance she gets. We'll have Chloe and Alexia over on Friday for the evening, and that'll bring us to the weekend.

So last Wednesday the neighbor girl Mercedes was still not home two hours after she was supposed to be, and her mom and stepdad took off looking for her. Tonight when I was sweeping out our front entry, she ran past after one of their dogs and stopped to say hello. After we talked for a few minutes, I told her that she'll have to come over tomorrow to play. She informed me that she can't play for five more days because she's grounded for a total of 10 days. Apparently last Wednesday she and another friend went all the way to the duck pond park, which is a couple miles from our house and along and across several very busy streets. So I guess Accalia and Cole won't have her to play with this week.

Tomorrow I'm not so sure what we'll do. I told Cole we could go to the aquarium since we didn't get to it last week when they wanted to because it was closed. Perhaps we'll do that.

We're heading out tomorrow to spend the holiday weekend in Mankato. Today was another busy day of packing, doing laundry, trying to stay caught up with emails and LLL work, etc. I don't feel as if I've caught up from being gone last week yet, so it's been a challenging week in that regard. I guess after this weekend we'll be staying around Yankton for a good chunk of the summer, so I'll hopefully be getting back in the groove.

Tonight after Cory's 7 p.m. intake, we took the kids to the carnival. Last year Accalia and Cole had tried out a small roller coaster right away. Accalia loved it, but Cole was scared. This year he wanted to try it again, and once again he wanted off after the first trip around. It was interesting, though, seeing his "progress." Last year he was almost inconsolable, but this year he kept his cool and just yelled that he wanted off. He's definitely not into rides that go up and down at all. He even changed his mind about the merry go round. He found plenty of other things to do, though: bouncy houses, a big obstacle course set up, a super slide - I went with him on the super slide because he wasn't quite big enough to go on his own. Cory went on the ferris wheel and bumper cars with Accalia. Ella wasn't interested in going on anything but had a blast people watching.

So that was probably the highlight of the day. I should be back here late on Monday or Tuesday.

Another busy day. We picked up Accalia's dance recital pictures from the photographer this morning, made a stop at the store to satisfy Cole's craving for tootsie rolls and otherwise had a fairly quiet start to the day. After Ella's nap, we decided to have a lazy afternoon wandering around town.








We first stopped at this area near the bike/walking path along the Missouri River and right next to the Meridian Bridge. Accalia and Cole wore themselves out rolling down the big hill and running back up. Ella hung out near me and watched all of the vehicles crossing the bridge into Nebraska.

After that we drove out to the lake and drove through the campground that we'll be staying at for our campout in June. We're actually staying in almost the exact same spots we were two years ago, which I think is just fine. There's a play area behind some of the campsites, so the kids can just run back there and play and still be very close.

On our way out, we had to pull off of the road and get out to see the turtle that was in the middle of the road. Unfortunately it had been run over, and we could see the cracked shell. The kids were very reassured to know that I wasn't the one who ran over it. We then headed over to a nearby park and hung out for a while. We spent some time near the water's edge, collecting tiny shells, throwing rocks into the water and watching the little fish that were swimming close to shore.

Back at the playground, Accalia and Cole collected sticks and rocks and opened up their own dinosaur shop specializing in dinosaur bones and eye balls.

Cole was a very attentive shop keeper.



Ella collected rocks.



Then she threw them.



Accalia's wearing her new polka dot outfit that she picked out herself and dearly loves.



Cory had another day of not getting home until after 7 p.m., and after he had supper he mowed the lawn. Tomorrow night his late appointment is at 7 p.m., but after that we're going to the carnival that's set up shop in the mall parking lot. They come twice a year, and the kids have been talking and talking about the next time it will be here.

I have to say that today is not ending up being a very productive day. Lots of interruptions, which is obviously normal in a house full of children, but seems more intense so far this week. We went to the store this morning to pick up a few food necessities. Accalia also wanted to get some knitting needles (thanks for the link, Shannon!) but ended up seeing a new poster kit she'd been hoping to have and went with that instead. She's also decided she wants to crochet and do embroidery or cross stitch. Cole has been asking to get his rice box again (uncooked rice in a plastic container) for play, so we picked up supplies for that. It's one of those things that's much less messy outside since the rice doesn't necessarily stay in the box and you keep finding grains of rice months and months later, but Cole is happiest setting up shop in the kitchen with that.

Right now Mercedes and Accalia are in the living room using Accalia's sewing machine. Mercedes just told me that she knows how to knit, so that will come in very handy once we actually obtain knitting needles!

I just got off the phone helping a nurse in Mobridge with a breastfeeding quandry. I had to wait until Ella went down for her (late) nap before attempting to return that phone call.

Do you know a parent or have a parent who plays favorites? Now that I'm a parent of multiple children, I can't imagine ever favoring one child over the other. Of course there are different things about each child to love, but that doesn't mean one is better than the other. That being said, Ella is at an age where I just can't get enough of her!



I love her hugs and kisses, and she's really a much more cuddly child than Accalia or Cole at this age.

I love kissing her neck and hearing her giggle.

I love watching her dance like she's part of a Riverdance production.

I love how she runs to bring her shoes to me when she wants to go outside and once she's done that she runs to find my shoes.

I love that she's able to open the paint that Accalia wasn't able to open. (I don't love cleaning up the paint she got all over herself and the floor, though).

Those are just a few reasons she's such a blast right now, but there are few things nicer than an exuberant toddler with a squishy belly to zerbert and chubby cheeks to kiss.

Oh my gosh, was this ever one of those days where you don't seem to actually be able to accomplish a task! It seriously took me all day just to unload and load the dishwasher. I'm hoping to feel more productive tomorrow.

Our morning consisted of mailing a few letters, going to the bank, and going to the library. At the library, we picked up another Pippi Longstocking book for Accalia and a stack of Curious George books for Cole. Ella was content to draw with chalk and talk to the other children nearby.

In the afternoon, we had the hose out, and Cole and Ella had a blast completely soaking themselves. This evening Mercedes and Annie were over, and everyone played around in the kiddie pool. I think it would have been much more pleasant, though, if the two girls had not been playing over here together. Mercedes told me that they had a fight and that they fight a lot but that they were friends right now. They weren't really getting along tonight, though. I was outside with them for part of the time but came inside when Cory was close to coming home. It was getting to the point where someone was constantly coming to the back door to tell on the other, so I finally asked them to stop telling on each other - that I had no plans to punish one or the other for their transgression - but that I'd be more than happy to sit with them and talk about what they might do to get along better. They thought that sounded good, but it didn't happen tonight. We'll have to do that tomorrow if both are over and the squabbling continues.

Before they were over, though, the kids and I went to Goodwill to drop off a donation. Then, of course, we had to look around. Accalia picked out a skein of yarn (she's determined to learn how to knit so that means I'm going to have to figure it out, too). Cole picked out a package of Mighty Beanz (they sell them for 50 cents) and a puzzle. I found a pair of khaki pants for Cole (for chruch and other dressy purposes) with the tags still on for less than $2. I even picked up a few books for me - some that were even on my Amazon wish list. If anyone ever looks at my wish list, they'd probably be overwhelmed by the length of it. Sure, there are things on there that I definitely want to get, but I also use it to dump books/cds/etc. that I may be interested in checking out later on and want a place to find them.

Poor Cory is getting hit hard with work right now. The other counselor at the prison has to be up in Huron this week and possibly next week to assist with disaster services because of the flooding and damage from the storms at the beginning of the month. So that means Cory will be flying solo there. His contract work with the local behavioral health center is winding down a bit, but his work with Counseling Associates - the private practice he does with the counselor who was my doula with Ella - is really picking up. The nice thing about that is it's bringing in a few hundred more dollars each week than we previously had and will hopefully help us pay down our debts more quickly. I think he's also genuinely excited about the counseling he gets to do there compared with at the other places.

I have some emails I should answer before bed, but I'm not sure if that will happen.

Here's a little bit of Ella to end the day. She's nursing to sleep in my arms right now after a day of no napping. Oh, a couple times she actually nursed to sleep and I laid her down in bed, but she popped right now. I guess it was just one of those days where the adventures of being awake were far more important than catching some zzz's.

Accalia and I are having a lot of fun doing this 20-minute strength training routine from O Magazine. I'd highly recommend it if you're looking to do something like that yet have trouble figuring out a routine or attending a class or even finding a decent DVD. The nice thing is that each exercise doesn't take very long, so it's pretty simple to stop between exercises to help out one of the kids if needed. It's fun for Accalia, too, because there are a few exercises where the first position in ballet is used. There are also a few exercises that remind us of yoga we've done, too. I do have to say it's rather hard to concentrate when one curly-headed 18-month-old is sticking a piece of licorice in my belly button. Or maybe that's just me.

This coming week is wide open up until we leave for Mankato on Friday to stay there until Monday. All of Accalia's activities are done and won't start up until next week or the next few weeks. I'm definitely going to enjoy this final week where the public schools are still in session and we have the days to ourselves, but I know Accalia and Cole are eager to see Mercedes since they haven't seen her since last Monday. Not sure where she's been this weekend.

So that's about it from here. I need to balance the checkbook, but I'll save that excitement until tomorrow.

Life has been quite full since I posted last Monday. We had a very nice visit to Mankato, and as usual the days filled up quickly. It's always a little harder for the kids since Grandpa usually puts them to work right away. One day Accalia and Cole had to wash out the bed of one of my dad's trucks:

Ella was so exhausted after having to carry buckets of water to Accalia and Cole that she zonked out for a long afternoon nap:


Then, of course, Cole had to figure out how he'd wear the clothes provided for him at my parents' - a pair of shorts much too big for him:


All told tongue in cheek, of course. Please don't call social services on my parents!

Seriously, though, the kids were able to play with their cousins every day and even snuck in a visit with Rachel and her three kiddos. We went to a couple different parks. At the one my dad accompanied us to on Wednesday morning, he pushed Accalia and Cole so much in the tire swing that Accalia ended up getting sick.

It was a really good visit, and we'll be back this coming Memorial Day weekend - this time with Cory along.
Once we made it back to Yankton, we had Chloe and Alexia over Friday evening. The kids ran through their remaining energy by the time Karine came back to pick Chloe and Alexia up around 9:30 p.m.

Saturday was the start of a very active weekend in Yankton. Throughout South Dakota, it's open house weekend for state parks and free fishing, so that draws a lot of people to the lake area. It's also Meridian Trails weekend, which encourages people to take advantage of all of the walking and biking trails around town. To top it all off, it was also Yankton Day. I think this started last year, where different places around Yankton waive fees or hold open houses so you can take a look around at things you might not otherwise do. After Cory tilled up our flower beds and veggie garden (had to rent a tiller because his is not working), we made our first stop at the miniature golf/go cart place out by the lake to take in a free round of golf. Unfortunately, a place that has large numbers of decorative rocks and various water spots is just too tempting for an 18-month-old who enjoys nothing more than throwing objects in water. So I spent the entire time trying to keep Ella from throwing everything she could find in the water. Maybe next year Ella will want to try out the golf course with one of their little plastic kiddie clubs. After that, we decided to take a break for lunch since Ella was getting quite cranky.

Then we headed over to the House of Mary Shrine. While I can't appreciate it the way the Catholics who visit it do, it is a beautiful and very peaceful place. The kids loved hiking all the way up the hill to the three large crosses. Here we are with Lewis & Clark Lake in the background (the bluffs are on the Nebraska side):


After that, we went for a tour of the powerplant at the Gavins Point Dam. It as a pretty short tour, and even the kids thought it was interesting. We drive over the top of the dam so often, so it was neat to see what it's like underneath all of that concrete and water. On our way out, we stopped to look down to where the water spills into the lake, and we could see a bunch of the HUGE paddlefish that draw so many people to fish in this area.

I'd better stop for now. Everyone is up and about and eager for my help.

The kids and I are leaving tomorrow morning (hopefully!) to spend a few days in Mankato. We'll be back on Friday. Most of the day was spent doing laundry, putting away laundry and packing, so there's nothing too exciting to write about. I also took the van in for an oil change this afternoon and found out the front brakes are really bad, so those are going to be replaced tomorrow before we leave.

Have a great week!

Happy Mother's Day, mamas! I hope you're enjoying a day full of joy and peace with your children. The necklace I'm wearing was made by Accalia and works extremely well as a nursing necklace to entertain those busy little hands of Ella.

My day started out good although too early for my liking (even though it was 8 a.m.) I went to bed at 2 a.m., so I guess I have no one but myself to blame for being tired. Everyone was up within a half hour of me, and I was quickly presented with cards and gifts. I received a small box of yummy dark chocolate truffles, Arcade Fire's latest cd and a new wind chime to add to my small collection on the back porch. It's the first one with a green leaf (if you can tell that) in the picture below.



It's a fairly hot and very windy day, and we got out our wading pool and filled it up. The kids have been having a blast with it, and I couldn't resist taking a picture of Ella in her swimsuit (an old one of Accalia's purchased at Old Navy). Don't ya just love that belly?



In a previous post I mentioned that Cole is having a hard time right now not being first in a race, losing a game, etc. Sister-in-law Jessica asked how I handle this. First let me say that I'm ALWAYS open to gentle and respectful ideas because I often find myself completely clueless how to handle these things.

Cole usually has the hardest time dealing with these things when he's tired or hungry, so obviously it helps a great deal to stay on top of things and avoid these situations when tiredness or hunger abounds. This usually works with a gentle reminder to Accalia. Of course, feeding Cole and encouraging rest are also helpful.

I also find that the more I'm present with the kids the less likely these things are to happen. Actually, being present with your children is probably just about the best way to prevent a lot of these things from happening.

Obviously, though, you're not always going to be present or able to prevent these things, so I try to lessen the bigness of the competition. If Accalia and Cole race to the van and Cole is upset because he wasn't first, I'll sometimes say something along the lines of, "Hey, you're second! Ella's third! I'm fourth! I've always wanted to be fourth!" Or I use humor: "You're right, Cole. You weren't first. You're actually a blue elephant!" Sometimes those tactics are successful. Other times Cole can't be detracted from the hurtfulness of this indignity. So then I usually use those active listening skills honed by LLL work: "You're upset that you didn't come in first, bud. You wanted to be first, didn't you?" Sometimes all Cole wants is to be acknowledged.

Accalia's at an age, too, where she'll help out to lessen or prevent some situations. For instance, last night we went to Wal-Mart to wander around (and bought five tulips for 10 cents each), and the kids first stopped in the game room so Accalia and Cole could play air hockey. I knew right away that Cole would have a major meltdown if he didn't win, so I quietly asked Accalia if she could let Cole win and she eagerly went along with that.

A book that I've heard is helpful with some of these issues (I've owned it since before Cole was born but have yet to read it) is Siblings Without Rivalry.

Most helpful for our family (since they come from an unschooling perspective) would be the parenting examples and information on sites such as Sandra's and Joyce's. I think the information is definitely helpful for any family, though.

We have relatively few family pictures of us - formal and informal - but my parents snapped this one not long before Accalia's recital, so I though I'd share it. Hmm, it looks like Cory and I are somewhat coordinated. Not planned at all. I guess that's what nearly 10 years of marriage does to a couple.

Cory, Accalia and Cole left around 1 p.m. to see Spiderman 3. Those were three extremely excited people leaving the house. Ella just went down for a nap, so I have possibly two hours of ME time. Whoa (said in Joey from Blossom's voice)... Even if there's still one child in the house I need to care for once she's awake, I haven't had a quiet, empty house like this in such a long time. I don't even remember when that was, to be honest. So I'm going to force myself not to do one bit of work, even though it's very tempting to get a start on my semi-annual reports for LLL. I'm going to sit at the computer and surf to my heart's content. I'm going to sit and read my dirty-little-secret-of-a-magazine. I'm going to think only of me for now, okay?

Last evening Chloe and Alexia came over again, and we had to leave almost right away to get Chloe to the soccer tournament she was playing in. While Chloe played, Ella and I hung out on the sidelines, and Accalia, Cole and Alexia ran around nearby. They spent most of their time collecting pine cones, so I brought my backpack home filled with pine-scented goodness.

All of the kids were exhausted by the end of the evening, but Ella was the only one who fell asleep relatively quickly. Accalia, Cole and I didn't get to bed until around 11:30. Accalia and I have been reading Pippi Longstocking before bed, and last night Cole hung out with us while we did that. I haven't read that book since I was a little girl, but it's amazing how familiar all of it is to me. Accalia adores Pippi.



I tried to sneak out of bed at 7 this morning, but Ella and Cole were up with me (much too early for either of them. Cole was just a tired, emotional mess and spent around an hour crying on and off about me going to the LLL meeting and him missing me. We talked about him coming to the meeting with me, having Jadon at the meeting, too, but he was excited about having Jadon at our house. He just didn't want to be sad and miss me and cry. So we talked about what and who I miss and what we can do when we miss someone or something. Most important, I just let him know I knew he didn't want to miss me and that it might make him sad.

After a while, Cole just wiped his face, asked how long I would be gone and went about his business. When I returned from the meeting (me, my friend Michelle, a newcomer, and at the end a nearby Leader), Cole greeted me at the door with "I didn't miss you at all, Mom!" Ah, isn't that nice to hear? I think he conquered a bit of a fear he was having about being apart from me, so he was without a doubt ready to see Spiderman 3 this afternoon.

Now I shall go about my ME business and look forward to cuddling with this litle sweetie in the not too distant future.

There's my girl minutes after leaving the site of her dance recital. She was happy to be outside knowing our next stop was McDonalds.

Every parent talks about how much their children change, and often those changes seem so insignificant to others that they aren't even noticed.

Accalia, perhaps due in part to hanging out with the slightly-older-than-her neighborhood girls, seems to be developing more and more of an interest in primping. She's also started taking showers rather than baths. She has a particular interest in deodorant and asked me to buy her some deodorant that smells (which I did). That led to a short discussion about why people use deodorant, puberty, etc. Accalia was very excited about the prospect of all of these changes to her body.

Cole is one huge emotion most of the time. He very easily becomes upset (I wanted to get to the van first, Mom! Accalia got to the van first! I wasn't first) and spends a lot of time talking about things that have happened or asking me about things that have happened. He also doesn't want to be separated from me at all. I can't go anywhere - even a quick trip to the post office - without Cole insisting on accompanying me. Cole isn't sure he wants to see Spiderman 3 tomorrow with Cory and Accalia because he doesn't want me to be at home. He also isn't convinced that he'll be able to stay at home tomorrow while I'm at LLL even though his friends Jadon and Sarah are coming over.

Ella continues to develop quite the sense of humor. Earlier today I was trying to type something on the computer, and every time I would take my hand off of the mouse she would grab the mouse and start clicking around, hysterically laughing. She also appears to be a rightie, and at this age we knew both Accalia and Cole were going to be lefties.

Hi! I'll be here again soon!