Ella Goes to Preschool

The day has finally arrived for Ella to go to school. She has been anticipating this day for months. On Thursday, September 9, we had our orientation. Ella was able to go see her classroom, meet her teachers, and meet other children in her class. As a bonus, she made play dough and colored her first of many alphabet posters.

Monday, September 13, was the first day of class. She was expressing some nervous feelings, but as you can see by the smile on her face, she was not about to let a few butterflies keep her from going to school.

Her very own cubby!

Ella with one of her teachers, Mrs. Burton.

Ella was the first child from her class to arrive on Monday, so she was able to take her time in choosing what kind of activity she wanted to do while she waited. Again, you can see she was having no issues with separation (that's more than I can say for Mom).

After the day was done, Ella waited with others from her class and her other teacher, Mrs. Nye, for all the parents to arrive to pick them up.

I'm so excited for Ella and all the wonderful adventures she is going to experience in school. Here's to a great school year!

The Summer of Ella

As our Summer comes to a close, it is amazing to reflect on all the things our girls have done and accomplished. Here are a few snapshots of the things Ella has done.

Ella has been able to sing her ABC's since she was 18 months old. She has been able to recognize letters since she was 3 and now can independently write several of them. Most importantly, she can write her name.

Ella has mastered several physical activities as well. The Summer began with a new two-wheel scooter and instant mastery.

The balance she mastered on the scooter gave her the courage to allow her dad to remove the training wheels from her bicycle. And within moments, she was riding independently.

One of Ella's closest friends learned to do the monkey bars last year at school. From the time she first watched Lauren scale those bars, it has been her goal to do the same. By the time Summer began, she had mastered the activity.

Our Ella has always loved to swing. We have spent many hours at the park swinging. Up until this Summer, either Landon or I had to stand there to push her. Now that she is an independent swinger, she earned a new play structure - one complete with monkey bars.

This is Ella's 4th summer of swimming lessons, and all of her hard work (and love for physical activity) in the water paid off. She can now swim independently! She does, however, need to grow a few more inches because she still can't touch the bottom of the pool; even in the shallow 3 feet end of the pool.

We are so proud of all the things Ella has learned to do. It is obvious that she has high expectations for herself, but she also is courageous and persistent. I love watching her grow.

We Are A Happy Family

I have been having fun with some new photoshop software, and I thought I would share a few of my favorite photos from this summer.