Life With Ella

Ella woke up with no fever this morning.  She still has a little cold but she was fever free all day – tonight, it came back a little so I guess she’s fighting an infection.  Ella and I went to Crossroads and had breakfast, then we hopped on the train and went to the Hyatt on the Embarcadero.  We checked out the lights and some very large nutcrackers and other stuff.  We also watched the people ice skating.  We came home, Ella made Stella a card for her birthday (Stella’s actual birthday is today) and then Ella tied a beautiful bow on Stella’s gift.  Brickelle taught Ella how to tie a bow last month and Ella has pretty much mastered it.  The video at the end is of Ella tying a bow.  Tonight, we went next door to celebrate Stella’s birthday with the whole family.  The kids broke up a piñata and we had delicious ice cream cake.  All of a sudden, Ella began to fade fast so we took her home and straight to bed.  Grandma and papa are coming in the afternoon.  We can’t wait to see them! Riding the train down the Embarcadero. Ella and the huge decorations. Check out these beautiful lights. A little “fall” scene in San Francisco. Piñata time! Ella found her way into this beautiful family shot. I think this is one of the first times that we have all been photographed together!  Juliet doesn’t look too happy here but she was just acting…

I had a tooth pulled today and prepped for an implant so we sent Ella to CDS camp.  She is going to go tomorrow also and then she is officially on waking up in the morning vacation.  The other night I forgot to write this really funny story.  When Emmi was sleeping over, we were joking around with them before they went to bed. The girls were laughing and having a fun time.  When Emmi and Ella were just about to fall asleep, Emmi said, “Ella – your mom and dad are kooky.”  Ella then turned to Emmi and said, “I don’t have a dad!  He’s not even dead.  I just don’t have a dad.  Do you understand me?”  That made them both laugh even more.   Ella told us that story the next morning.  Tonight, we were having dinner and Ella was stalling and stalling and finally Sunny said, “Fine, if you don’t eat your dinner, I am going to eat your rice krispie treat.”  First, Ella was like, “NOOOOO”.  Then Sunny said, “I was just saying that to get you to eat your dinner.”  Ella turned around and said, “Well that’s obvious.”  She sort of repeated the story in the video below.  Ella also gave a fact that she learned at camp today.  Well I hope she got her numbers wrong…her regular teacher Alicia is not teaching at the camp – the teachers for camp are not the lead teachers.  Ella was very sure about her new fact – you’ll see it on the video.  The last thing on the video is Ella singing a part of a song “Daydream”.  I think the second graders performed this song during the winter performance. Ella has picked up bits and pieces of the songs that were performed during the concert.  She has an amazing memory for music. Beautiful Ella. Building 3-D shapes with Bendaroos.

Today was the big day of Stella’s annual gingerbread house making tea party birthday party.  Stella, Juliet and KJ came over at around 8:00 this morning so that Helen and Ron could make their place fabulous for the party.  We had a great time with the kids and they were so happy and excited for the party.  The party, of course was a great hit.  This was the first year that Ella did the gingerbread house all by herself and it looked terrific.  Ella had a great time and immediately hit it off with some of Stella’s new friends from school.  I played the piano for a little bit and we had a fun sing-along.  It was really a great party.  At around 3:00, Ella and I went and picked up Ella’s friend Emmi for a sleepover.  We came back here and they went straight to the instruments.  Emmi played the drums and Ella was singing.  We left a little while later to go to see Yogi Bear.  I thought it was ok – the kids seemed to really like it.  After the movie, we came back here, and the girls really went at it with the music.  Ella changed into her Hannah Montana dress and Emmi picked a Sleeping Beauty dress.  They were jamming to Hannah Montana.  I put a little video at the end of this entry.  We had dinner, read some books, the girls giggled and giggled and now the whole house is sleeping except me.  I hope everyone sleeps through the night. Good morning beautiful people! The girls getting ready to go to Stella’s party.  Bed jumping is a very important part of getting ready. The process and the product.  Beauty. Juliet, Stella and Ron right before Stella blew out her candle. So much love.ELla and Emmi making beautiful music together.

It’s been a few days – seems like there have been so many things going on.  Friday was Ella’s last day of school until the new year.  On Friday morning, all to the parents were invited into the classroom to see “All About Me” a culminating project.  The kids sang some songs and then presented their portfolios to us.  I am going to take some pictures of Ella’s work and put it on the blog, but for now, I’ll just say that it was a great morning.  Ella was really proud to show us her work and she did a great job showing it to us.  I can’t believe how much Ella has grown up.  A little later on in the morning, the whole school had their Winter Performance.  This is always a sweet event where most of the parents cry because the kids are so cute.  The entire pre school performed “Free To Be You And Me” with a 7th grade soloist.  It was really cute – you’ll see it at the end of the blog.  Ella loved singing the song around the house and she was really excited for the performance but as you will see, she wasn’t so into it during the performance.  She said she loved it but I couldn’t tell!  She looked squished up and unfocused, but as long as she had a good time that’s cool.  On Friday night, Sunny and I helped work a faculty appreciation party at one of the parent’s house.  It was truly a beautiful evening and the teachers and administrators loved it.  Sunny and I did coat check and it was a big job!  Ella slept over at the Kim/Arenas.  Ella had a great time of course and then in the morning, we took the girls to our place.  They played really well all morning and into the afternoon.  They are really wonderful together.  At 1:00 I took Ella to a birthday party, Helen too Juliet to get a hamburger and Sunny hung out with Stella.  After the party, we picked up Sunny and then we went to TaeKnowdo.  Ella is getting it little by little ind it’s so great to watch.  With a little more time, Ella is going to be good!  After all of the activities, we came home.  Sunny and I went out to a holiday/birthday party which was great.  Got to spend some time with people we really love.  Now we’re home and getting some rest for Sunday.  First thing in the morning, we will be taking the kids from next door to our place and entertaining them until their place is ready for Stella’s 6th birthday party!!!  How exciting.  After Stella’s party, Ella’s friend Emmi is going to come over and we’re going to take then to see Yogi Bear and then Emmi will sleep over.  On Tuesday,  I am getting my tooth pulled so Ella is going to go to camp on Tues and Wed.  I’m gonna probably need some rest. Ella presenting her portfolio to us. Here are the 3 of us checking out Ella’s work.  Thanks for the pic Alicia.After lunch having ice cream and chocolate sauce. The morning after the sleepover.  Now back over at our place. Ella and her TaeKwonDo class.  What a great experience for Ella.Now for the Free ToBe You And Me movie.

Ella woke up at around 5:30 this morning complaining that she was congested.  She was a little warm and she had about 100º fever.  We gave her some tylenol and we all went back to sleep.  We took it really easy today – Ella hung out in bed and watched a lot of Spongebob which made her really happy.   I bought the Biggest Loser Wii workout game yesterday so Sunny and I did our work outs at home today.    It’s actually a really good work out!  Ella made a card for Brickelle and was feeling much better.  We asked her if she felt well enough to go to the testing TaeKwonDo and she said that she really wanted to go.  Ella did a great job in class.  All of the kids advanced to the next level.  She was really happy to get her yellow belt with a white stripe.  The video at the end of this shows her instructor giving her the belt – he says that she paid attention better than some 9, 10, and 11 year olds.  She’s really into it and is so cute when she does her thing!  After class, we went over to Phyllis and Michaels to celebrate a late Chanukah with Michael’s grand daughter Zani.  She was supposed to come to our house on Monday night but communication was messed up and she never made it over.  We are officially calling the 11th night of Chanukah “Zanikah”.  Zani is 8 and she is really sweet with Ella.  Ella thinks she is the bomb.  It was a really fun night.  Ella was a trooper.  Tomorrow is Brickelle’s birthday party.  Ella is so excited. Ella and Casi at assembly on Friday. Getting ready to go over to our friend’s house on Friday night. Making a birthday card for Brickelle. The final product! Working on her kicks. Chillin’ at the end of class. Ella and Kyle – the two white belts ab out to move up to the first yellow belt. Getting her yellow belt. Showing respect. THe belt!  It’s very stiff right now – I have to wash it a few times to get it to stay down. Relaxing with Zani watching Toy Story 2. Zani reading a bllk to Ella. Hannah, Zani, Naomi and Ella.

We met the Kim/Arenas this morning for breakfast at the Crossroads Cafe.  We’ve all been so busy lately that we had to actually schedule a date.  It was great to hang out.  The kids loved being around the book section of Crossroads.  I think they all miss living across the street from a book store!  After breakfast, we came back home and Sunny and I got busy doing things around the house.  Ella got busy herself doing art projects and playing games on the iPad.  At around 2, the girls rang the doorbell and the Kim/Arena Chanukah fairy paid a visit.  The 3 girls opened their Chanukah presents at the same time.  Helen and Ron gave the girls fantastic gifts! Each of them now has a toy dog that they can walk and hang out with.  Check out the video.  It’s really funny.  After playing in the hallway for a while (Ella got really frustrated at one point and had a nervous breakdown because her puppy wouldn’t walk straight when she pushed the straight arrow – but she recovered quickly), Ella had to get ready for TaeKwonDo.  The class was pretty hard for Ella today.  They were learning all these moves because they are having testing next week.  When something doesn’t come easily to Ella, she gets frustrated really quickly – something she needs to work on.  Ella did a great job in the class but had her moments of fooling around and wanting to give up.  She’s really little compared to the other kids but keeps up so well.  After class we came home and Ella was super tired and super hyper.  We were going to try to go to a Chanukah party hosted by one of Ella’s classmates but we thought that it was better to stay at home – Ella was way too tired. Stella dn Ella at Crossroads. The girls opening up and getting to know their new pets.  The video really shows these little guys coming to life.  The girls named their “friends” the following names…Stella’s is “Harriet Rose Petal”, Juliet’s is “Bo” and Ella’s is “Izzie”. I’m getting pretty good at capturing the kicks. Ella haing fun with her classmates before class. Steven’s mom helped out with the class today. Ella has fun with everyone in the class – even the 11 year olds! More action shots. Happy Chanukah!

Ella had her first haircut today.  We took Ella to the same guy who cuts my hair.  Ella knows him and she was cool with him cutting her hair.  First he cut off the end of her braid (see video below).  After the initial cutting of the braid, she had her hair washed and then Ash gave her a hair cut.  Ella still has really long hair, but it’s shorter and healthier than it was before.  Ella really likes her haircut.Ella and her buddy Casi at the assembly this morning. The braid before the haircut. Ella seemed to like getting her hair washed.  She was sitting on 2 piles of  towels. Walking to the haircut.  Her hair was already a lot shorter because Ash cut off the end of her braid. Pretty exciting stuff! The haircut! The family after the haircut. Ella and Ash. Lighting the Chanukah candles. We gave Ella her first dictionary tonight. Ella and I took this together. Some of Ella’s latest and greatest dry erase board artwork.  Cool bugs, cactus, angler fish and bees.

Ella had a great trip to the dentist today.  She was a little nervous but she hung in there and made is successfully through x-rays, a deep cleaning and a fluoride treatment.  For the first time, Ella was in the exam chair by herself – not on our laps.  At the end of the appointment she told me that she was older and that she didn’t need to be on our lap.  I thought that was great.  After the dentist, we went home, had lunch, took Towby for a walk and then went to her swimming lesson.  I haven’t been to a lesson in a while and Ella’s progress is incredible.  I filmed some of the lesson but this lifeguard told me that I couldn’t film.  I still did it but not with the determination that I would have if he didn’t come and talk to me.  After the swimming lesson, I took Ella over to her friend Emmi’s house.  Emmi is one of Ella’s friends from school and tonight, Ella is sleeping at her house.  This is the first time that Ella has slept over one of her school friend’s houses.  As soon as we got there, Ella was pretty much like, “See ya mama.”  It was so fantastic to see her so happy and comfortable and excited.  I’ll fill you in more about it tomorrow afternoon when we pick her up.  I have a few pictures from today and then a movie that I made of Ella at ballet on Monday and her swimming lesson today. Ella this morning at breakfast at the Crossroads Cafe.  Ella loves the garden there and usually runs around pretending that she is Tinkerbell. Hanging out in the exam chair.  Ella was watching Shrek 2 on the TV. Getting dry after her swimming lesson.

First the photos – Ella in the pool in Tucson, mommy reading to Ella’s class, and Ella at ballet.  The movies…the crazy pool at HoJo – the 300 gallon tank that got dumped on my head and Ella’s class singing happy birthday to her in English, Español and Chinese.  Too tired to say any more. Very happy child in the pool.Taking a little rest. Borrowing my shirt because Ella doesn’t like to walk around in a wet bathing suit. Mommy reading to Ella’s class on her birthday. Sweet beautiful Ella doing her thing.This is fron Ella’s Tree Frog Treks class,  They brought in a python.