Sarah Lynn, 

This is a birthday blog that I have to make. My niece who is turning 22! We are so proud of her!! She is beautiful, talented, smart, funny and looks a little like me if I do say so myself! She is very humble and has a quiet nature although you get her going and she doesn't stay quiet. Let me warn you not to mix her laughing and drinking fruit punch at the same time or else...fountain! 

She is not afraid to stand up for what is right even if it's not the most popular choice. She is one of the most reliable people I know! If you give her a task by golly she is going to get it done come hell or high water (those sayings really apply in this sentence). 

She loves it when Kevin sings Taylor Swift so I told him he has to sing it today in honor of your birthday!!! 

We love you Sarah!!

OH NO!

I have some really bad news if you haven't already seen, heard, or tasted. Propel has changed their look and taste. This is bad news because EVERYONE in my family loves propel. Starting with my Dad. They have added antioxidants so I know that my mother-in-law will be pleased but it just doesn't taste the same. Don't really know what to do but I am going to resist the temptation to run to every grocery store and gas station to retrieve any of the "old" ones. 

Daddy's Girls

After Kevin gets home from work the girls try to talk him into going outside to play. They love to show him all the things they have been playing during the day. 

Liv was showing off her abilities with the sword. 

Check out this lean...only Michael Jackson can do it better! 

She fell and got a bump on her head. She decided some time on the swing would help. 

I love this photo of Ella.  We have been having lots of fun with her lately. She is growing up so fast! 

At the beach with Aunt Janette

Here we go to see the beach after a the girls had been in the car and shopping already. They were ready to run...

Ella can't wait to chase the birds but Liv couldn't keep up!

So she decided to try the sand while she was resting.

Ella didn't wait she kept going 

This girl has energy and kept trying she tried running faster....

She even tried the sneak attack. 

Ella Joy

Today we went to gymnastics class #2. Ella was much more prepared this time. This morning we went and got her an outfit to wear and she looked forward to it all day. 

Her favorite element was the bars. She could of hung there the entire class. Good thing the other kids had to take a turn. Ella kept trying to do a chin-up on the bar. I thought it was hilarious. 

The photo below is the bear crawl. 

She worked really hard on learning a cartwheel but it is much harder than it looks. 

This is her trying to stick her landing. 

The one below is her working on the lower balance beam. I have more of the tall balance beam. She did great - jumped right off the end and even did a spin move! 

She couldn't get the concept of jumping with both feet from the spring board. Sarah (her teacher) worked with her and she got it!

Fancy Dancy?

So Ella got a book and doll from Kevin's mom for her birthday called Fancy Nancy. You see Fancy Nancy likes anything fancy. And Ella loves to read the book and get all dressed up in anything she can find. This day she even got some of my stuff she thought was fancy. When I asked her what she was doing she said, "Being Fancy like Fancy Dancy" 

Fun at the Park

I realized something this trip to the park. I have two really brave girls. I mean Ella had a lot of fun playing and wasn't scared and didn't need any help and Liv wasn't afraid to give anything a try.

So I was amazed that Liv wanted to climb up the slide backwards. She could have just walked up the ramp but she wanted the challenge. 
And she did it! She made it to the top all by herself. 
And she stayed up there for a really long time. She kept and eye on me and Ella from up there but she didn't come down until....
She got tired. And then very, very, very slowly she slid down the slide. In fact she stopped here for a while and got very, very sleepy. I even went and checked on her to see if her eyes were open. After a rest she  got down and played at full speed again. But wasn't interested in the slide anymore. So cute! 
This is a close up of her thoughts about swinging. She didn't cry but looked very concerned. 

You gotta love this face Liv is making. Priceless!!!




Ella loved swinging but Liv wasn't sure. She just wanted to try it since Ella was doing it. 
This is Ella getting Liv for me. Liv kept trying to escape the playground area and all I had to say is "Well Ella I guess we better go" and she would run get Liv and play with her. 

Weekly Update

When I didn't hear Liv playing I went to look for her and here is what I found. She found a powdered donut that Ella had left behind. She was very happy with her findings to say the least.

Ella loves to have Tea Parties. So here is our most recent one. Decaf tea of course. Liv joined in with her propel. 

Happy Birthday Karen!

Ella's Favorite things about Mema: 

1. Ella loves to swing with her in her backyard in Tulsa. 

2. Ella loves to eat popsicles with Mema. 

3. Ella loves to read books with her. 

4. Ella says her most favorite thing about her is, "Because I love her"

My Favorite Things about Karen are:

1. She always thinks of others before herself. 

2. She has loved me and included me in her family. 

3. She is a great person to spend quality time with! I love to have coffee with her!

4. We can talk about anything for hours - actually we haven't ever run out of things to talk about. 

5. I am always amazed at what Kevin talks her into doing - one of my favorites is when he talks her into being in his movies. Favorite scenes: Her playing the harmonica and sings "red river valley" which is from his Tombstone remake. Also, when her and her sister Diane played a scene where they were fighting. Hilarious  

6. She has good taste when it comes to food!!! We love to eat at El Chico! mmmm... I miss good mexican!

7. Her patience and mercy for her son and grandkids ENDURES FOREVER! (the rest of us can't handle all the balls being thrown, wrestling, and running around the couch all at the same time)

8. She is a lovely woman and has a great smile :) 

9. She loves God and is a great example of His kindness to anyone who meets her. 

10. I actually saved the best for last. I can never thank her enough for the time she came to Charleston for the birth of Olivia. Kevin had sprained his ankle or according to Ella his "wrankle" and I had been put on bed rest and was about 6 weeks from my due date. Ella was basically taking care of us getting us drinks and helping with things like the phone and the remote. She was only 2 1/2 at the time but we were in bad shape. My parents couldn't come yet because they were planning on coming for a month when Liv was born so they needed to wait as long as they could. After about 3 days of us being in really bad shape Karen jumped on a plane and came here to help us. She was a great help to us and entertained ella for the first 5 days and she planned to go home on Thursday night so she could go to War Eagle with her sister and daughters but that night I had an overwhelming feeling that she shouldn't leave. Immediately when I began to tell her this she felt it too and changed her ticket to the next Wednesday. It was that Saturday morning when I woke up I knew that something wasn't right. Later that day we went to the hospital and Sunday morning we had Liv. Thank God she was here!!! Through everything I didn't even worry one minute about Ella and we could focus on Liv and everything she was going through!!! So #10 is Thank you Karen for being there for me when I really needed you the most!!! You are the best!!!!

Princess?

So Sunday night Ella begged us to go eat at Moe's. We have been eating at home so much lately to save money and its much easier with the kids. But she was relentless. So we did just for her. Afterwards we went by Blockbuster and rented a movie. We let her pick one and she chose Cinderella III. She watched it a few times now and has been asking me to watch it with her and so finally last night I sat down with her and watched it. Half way through she leaned over to me and said, "Mom, you know I am a princess" I said, "Yeah, I know". She said, "But Mom I have been trying to make friends with the birds and they just run away from me. You know mom princesses can talk to the birds." I didn't know what to say and I was kind of laughing and then she looked at me and said, "Mom, who's going to be my bird?"

So I kind of told her that the movies were pretend but she didn't really buy it. I immediately called her Aunt Karey who loves Cinderella movies too!  

I love Ella's imagination. You never know what she is going to say next!

Guest Post from Ella Harris

This is what she said, " I love all of guys and I want to make funny faces for you to make you laugh." She thought of this all on her own.