On Tuesday, Ella yelled out, “Oh no – I just saw my shadow. That means 6 more weeks of winter!” I told her that I thought that applied to a groundhog, not Ella! Then we asked her where she heard about groundhog day. She said that Alicia taught the class about it. This morning (Wednesday) Ella woke up at 6:30 on her own (I usually have to wake her up at 7:00) and she said that she was very excited to find out if the groundhog saw his shadow or not. Tonight Ella told us that when Alicia told the class that he didn’t see his shadow, she got very excited and jumped up and down on her knees. I don’t know how much of this is true, but I think it’s great that she’s paying attention and is retaining so much information. Ella also told me about a part of a movie about bees that she saw today. She said, “Did you know that bees only live for 1 month? That’s sad. A month is very short.” I told her that she had every right to be sad and then I told her that maybe in the bee world, a month felt like 100 years for us. Ella hung out with Stella today while I gave Juliet her piano lesson and then Juliet joined them. Ella loves Wednesday afternoons.
Today before I went over to Juliet’s, Ella came running into my room, curtsied and said, “Your majesty”. She is one funny kid!
Buddies watching Madeline.
Ella loves practicing!
Constantly learning…
February 3rd, 2011Super fun afternoon playdate
February 2nd, 2011Ella’s swimming lesson was cancelled today so Ella and Brickelle had a playdate after school. Needless to say, they had a blast!
Ella and Brickelle exploring all the different instruments that we have.
These guys crack each other up!
Ella was teaching Brickelle how to maneuver those little squirmie things. They were practicing in front of the big mirror upstairs.
beautiful ballet
February 1st, 2011Ella has a full Monday again. First she goes to school and after school she does Tree Frog Treks and then I pick her up and take her to ballet. The ballet class was very small today. The teacher likes it that way because she then has time to really teach all of he kids. One of the kids was totally new and the other one has been around but she has some issues. For example, she growled during some of the class. Ella did a great job and she loves her teacher Laura so much. Here are some pictures and video.
Before ballet!
Everything is beautiful at the ballet.
Friday and Saturday
January 31st, 2011A warning – I have taken my Ambien so it may look a little like last night’s which I did edit a little today when I wasn’t sleep typing. On Friday night, we went to an event put on by the CDS Middle School. They did a series of short plays. Ella loved being there hanging with the older girls. She didn’t seem like she was getting too much in the way. She loved watching them on stage. I’m sure most of it went right over her head, but she still loved it. On Saturday, I went to a workshop at SFSU and Ella and mommy hung out. At 3:00, Ella went to TaeKwonDo and SUnny and I worked out A little later, Juliet and KJ came over for dinner and a movie. Stella was at a sleepover. Ron and Helen were out earlier in the evening and then came home at about 8:30 and then we swapped kids. ELla and Juliet had a sleepover and then they got to have some good buddy time together. They spent a good part of the day with each other today and then when Stella come home, they all played. There was a lot of love this weekend.
Fun at Taeknowdo.
So much fun with bubbles and movies.Here is a video of Ella’s latest piano lesson. She played Old MacDonald and Control Freak (one of AJ’s songs).
Leaping Lizard Friday Assembly
January 30th, 2011The Leaping Lizards did a great job on Friday. They were all adorable, they looked so sweet, they worked really hard and it paid off. Alicia – you picked the perfect thing to do. It was short and adorable. As a few parents who are not in our class commented…it was almost TOO much cuteness. The video is of Ella and the job that she had. Her friend Emmi hogged the mic, but instead of Ella pouting or crying, she hung in there and just let it all happen. When her friend Clark came up to the mic late and tried to talk to Ella, notice Ella’s hand gestures. Priceless. So much more to report from the weekend but I’m so tired so I’ll just leave it at the assembly. Hope you are all having a beautiful weekend.
Ella walking out with her buddy Cassi.
Ella probably finding mommy in the audience.
Ella and Emmi causing trouble.
Ella seems to think that something is funny.Here’s a video of the announcement and song.
Happy days
January 28th, 2011Today I spent some time in Ella’s classroom filming the kids as they were talking about what they knew about bees. Ella said, “ I know about bees that they could only make honey if they collect nectar from the flowers.” I was wondering if she meant pollen but we looked it up at home and bees do collect nectar and use it for food. Ella is great in the classroom. She’s interested in just about everything and she works really well alone as well as with her friends. After school today we hung around with Brickelle and her family, having fun on the street in front of the school. Ella saw lots of friends leaving the school and she was talking away with all of them. What a difference 2 1/2 years makes. When we came home, mommy was home so we all took a walk outside – Ella was on her bike and we were walking Towby. We made a few stops – went to the little park and then came home. Sunny had to go to a celebration for Leadership SF, so Ella and I had a date at Nama. On the way out, we bumped into the Kim/Arena clan in the hallway and they all did a few laps and Ella had an amazing appetite for dinner. Ella and I had a really sweet dinner. She fell asleep at about 8:15 which is super early for her. Tomorrow morning is the Leaping Lizard hosted assembly. Be prepared for a lot of video.
Ella cruising down the cove. Yes – it was another beautiful day today.
Playing with some kids on the merry go round.
Listening to Stella singing “How do you solve a problem like Maria?”
Ella is mastering the chop sticks with one hand.
Ella took this one of us. Check out how well her nose is finally healing!
Improvisation
January 27th, 2011Ella has been having a great week. The Leaping Lizards are practicing hard for their assembly that they are hosting on Friday. I’m sure I will catch it all on video. The kids are doing a song about bees. It should be really cute. Ella is excited about her part in the assembly. Can’t wait to see it! I am posting a video from the other night where Ella and I were improvising on the piano. I think some parts sound beautiful. Ella is not afraid to explore. That is even more beautiful. My beautiful east coast family – I hope you guys are all safe and staying warm.
Sweet beautiful ballet recital
January 25th, 2011Today was Ella’s ballet recital. It was a small recital – just for parents/caregivers/friends/ family. Ella was very excited about it. She also had a fantastic day at school. Alicia was out for the whole week last week and Gladys was out for 2 days. Today Alicia and Gladys were back and all was good in Ella’s world. She was wearing a Hannah Montana brand shirt that Aunt Heather had given to her, and Ella couldn’t wait to show it to Alicia. Ella gets so goofy with Hannah Montana. Maybe one day she’ll be able to really explain it. After school, Ella started Tree Frog Treks again and met a bearded dragon named Pablo. After the recital, we went to Pier 39 and had dinner at the Crab House. It was delicious and Ella remained excited and happy throughout the meal. We all need to hold onto the love and sweetness in life. There are too many crazy things going on around us all. Love and peace is where it’s at.
Ella right before ballet class.
Getting a pep talk from Laura the ballet teacher.
Stretching…
Getting excited.
Listening to directions.
Ella is leading the marching line.
The scenic shots! Heading over to the crab house.
Gorgeous sunset.
Another beautiful day
January 24th, 2011Today was another gorgeous day here. Ella and I went over to the ballpark to go on the slide and play in the little ballpark. Ella hit the ball so well! Time really makes a difference. I did some pitching to her and she was able to really hit the ball! Sunny met us over there and then we had lunch at the Crossroads Cafe. All day, Ella kept saying, “I need to go to Stella’s knitting club”. I guess Stella told Ella that she was having a knitting club today. We checked it out with Helen and she said that they were having company today so there was no “knitting club” but Stella has been trying to do finger knitting lately so it wasn’t so far fetched that she would have told Ella that there was a knitting club at her place – it sounds like she wants one. Ella kept wanting to see Stella and Juliet this evening but they were out. Ella left a note on their door but I guess they got home too late to come over. I hope they have their knitting club sometime this week.
Walking over to the slide.
They are slowly turning the field back to a baseball field. There was a football game there a few weeks ago. We’re ready for baseball.
Totally tall enough for this slide and about 1/2 inch to go for the big slide.
Miss Thing at the Crossroads Cafe.
The face of a child who just had some delicious hot fudge on her ice cream.
More practicing on her own.
Beautiful day
January 23rd, 2011Sorry to my East coast friends and family who are freezing over there. It has been beautiful here. We started the day taking a nice walk along the water and ended up at the Java House. Ella was running and playing and having lots of fun. Becca joined us for lunch and we just hung out in the sun. In the afternoon, Ella had a birthday party to do to at a place called Terra Mia. The kids got to paint different pieces of pottery. Ella painted a bud vase and this round little disc. She had a great time with some of her friends from school. Tonight, we had Saturday night movie night with Ron, KJ, Stella and Juliet. Helen went out to the movies. The kids loved their weekend movie nights together. We watched the Incredibles.
I snuck up on these guys and took this shot from the little field in front of the restaurant.
Ella has been really into running and seeing how far she can jump.
Talking with her buddy Harry at the party.
Ella and Luke – the birthday boy.
Ella with Luke and his big brother Leo. Ella has a lot of fun with these guys – especially around baseball.
Ella practicing the piano without being bothered by us.
The whole gang. Ella decided that it was a fancy night for her.
The three musketeers.