what happened to october?

as i type this halfway into november...i'm still trying to figure out how the month of october got away from me.

but it did.

daddy was in santa barbara for a week so ellie belly & i flew out for a little vacation. while we were there, we visited disneyland yet again.

Elle meets Rapunzel. They discussed the pros & cons of maintaining long, shiny hair as well as where to paint Rapunzel's next piece on her castle wall

Elle & Merida (from Brave). At Disneyland, they give "high four" because Mickey only has 4 phalanges.

Elle getting her first ever room service. She officially loves it.

once we got home, it was time to gear up for Halloween. we had so much fun this year! we went trick or treating with our friend josie. as soon as the girls figured out that people told them how cute they were, followed by some candy, they were all over the idea of trick or treating. here's how cute our witch is:

she loved this green eye shadow a bit too much

that purple satin ribbon was a genius idea on my part - she could "silky" the ribbon once she got tired (rather than carry around her old pajama bottoms)

when you feel so mad...

i love this little song.

and the little singer.

Boomer! Sooner!

September

I am embarrassed to say I was not on the ball September 1 when Elle moved into her Pre-K class. I took the photos and downloaded them but that's where it ended.

So now, you get a month in review. But this is what sometimes happens, and you get what you get and you don't get upset (do you think that line is used often in our house?)

So, Elle started Pre-K at the beginning of the month. I would like to say these seemed like a momentous occasion, but I'd be lying if I said that. She already went to the same dayschool, has the exact same classmates. I suppose the big differences were that she got to pick out school supplies, she decided she wanted to take her lunch every day & her day has become much more structured in preparation for kindergarten (we're not talking about that). Elle is learning a lot in school. One day, she came home to tell us our President of the United States of America was Barak Obama. "Did you know that?", she said? And she shares it like she's letting you in on a huge secret. Funny gal.

We also took Elle to her first OU game of the year. We prepped her for the noise, bought her earplugs (Hello Kitty!) and talked to her about all of the fun things that would happen. I think she brought a new perspective to our section - excited to see the ponies, the cheerleaders, the Ruf Neks, the fireworks and excited to yell. This game wasn't about winning or losing; it was about everything else that happens at the game. Despite the loss (oy vey), she had the best time and is SUPER excited for the next game (for which I'm fully prepared for us to lose...but that's another story for another day).

Here is what we learned from Elle at the game:

"dat big TV is super cool!" (the south end zone scoreboard...which is pretty cool).

"do you know in football it is ok to push people down!? but only in football"

"can you believe duh purple team does not want us to win!?" (our QB & O-line didn't want us to win, either!)

by the way, we're not saying we're #1. that's the whole OU thing..."there's only one Oklahoma".

she really wanted to see the classrooms. this was the best we could do...an auditorium in the student union.

Elleisms 4.2

If you follow my status updates on Facebook, these will sound familiar. If you don't, enjoy these little nuggets. I mean really, this little girl is hilarious!
*****

Bohemian Rhapsody comes on the radio & Elle says "heeeyy! Dis is duh Muppets song! Dat man is singing Beekers's paht!". She then proceeds to share every part of the song as it pertains to The Muppets. We didn't tell her it was Queen.

We've been watching the Olympics quite a bit. The night we watched the first round of women's beach volleyball Elle tells me: "mommy, I can't weally go to bed because I got sand in my eye fwom duh beach volleyball". Nice try, kid!

In the car, Elle says: "daddy, I want to listen to some Girl Power (Heart) rock & roll. Boy Power music is just boring.". This is the same little girl who had a melt.down. when I changed the radio station from RUSH's Tom Sawyer.

It's August so the temperature hasn't dipped below 102 for at least the last two weeks.  Elle decides she wants to wear her skinny jeans & Minnie shirt because "dat would be so cute". This is why I still have veto power over her daily wardrobe choices.

Elle told Michael that she didn't want me to play Memory because I was being "shellfish" (we've been talking about what it means to be selfish). He asked her what selfish means & she said "it's when you want all of duh toys". And I let this kid hijack half my milkshake! But I won that game of Memory. Booyah!

Elle woke up from her nap on Sunday and comes in and says "I had a weally good nap, mommy. I dweamed of dat silly Evelyn (Elle's cousin).  She is SO silly."

As Elle finished ALL of her butterscotch pudding she says "daddy, I don't weally like duh scotch paht of dis but I like duh buddah paht of dis. I just don't like duh scotch in it". 

*****
Lately, Elle has been hiding little chotchkies under her pillow & at bedtime, she'll pull something out & say "someone left me a pwiiiize!". Last night, as we were going to bed, we discovered these under our pillows:

mommy's "prize" is on the left; daddy's on the right

We could not stop laughing. We were still laughing this morning. When she woke up, we thanked her for our prizes under our pillows. She was so proud & said "mommy, I gave you doze tings because I knew you weally liked the color red". Such a thoughtful little gal!

singer

Elle is a singer. She sings A LOT. She makes up songs - sweet songs and funny songs (with lyrics like "we don't touch anything in this bathroom" or "duh tundah ah going to win. and dey're owh favwite team because DEY AH GOING TO WIN!!!!") and covers songs. The singing should come as no surprise to those of you who know our background. When she was born, I (mommy) was hell-bent on never singing mushy lullabies to her. And for the most part, I've stuck to my guns. Daddy tends to sing a rotation of James Taylor (since he has that stuff locked and loaded in memory at all times). Mommy tends to sing a mix. And if daddy sings a "mommy night to song" (or vice versa), well, be prepared to defend yourself in front of judge & jury.  Some of these songs have been in the rotation her entire life, like Blackbird. I never really knew (and still don't know) if she was (is) listening to me (let's face it, there is a serious case of selective hearing going on in this house). Anyway, these videos are proof that she does listen - when she wants. And that she has a talent ready to take mommy & daddy into early retirement.

The first, is video & sound and an in-car performance of JT's Sweet Potato Pie. It is, what I'm told (by two weirdos named Michael & Mitch), a Live version, based on a lyric tweak that no one in their right mind should commit to memory.

The second, is sound only. I couldn't sing her a bedtime song so she said "well, how 'bout I sing YOU one?". And I got it on video...in her dark (ready for bed) room.

Both, are for you to enjoy.

4

Can you believe Elle is four? I cannot. It seems like just yesterday I was hopped up on hydrocodone post-delivery. I'm kidding. Sort of. Don't worry. It was totally legit.

I've always said Elle keeps us on our toes. And that's still true, only now, it's more with what she's going to say than where she is. She's never far from mommy or daddy - her choice. She's definitely going through the fearsome fours. Did you know those exist? I didn't - but I do now! She's very sensitive and likes for peace to be kept. She loves: music and art, getting her High Five in the mail (Highlights for the 5 & under crowd), books & reading, puzzles, her dolls & "friends" (stuffed animals), playing in her kitchen or her new little Calico Critters Townhouse. She loves to shop, clothes & shoes (Daddy is in trouble!). Elle is also very opinionated. I know, that's a shock to many of you. She has her idea of how things should happen and gets very upset when things go differently. She's very cautious (let's hope that continues well into adulthood) and she is very concerned when she hears someone being called a name. I tried to call her Sensitive Sally the other day & got called before judge & jury. At least we know she has a moral compass!

waiting for her gift from mommy & daddy

birthday gift! Calico Critters home!

SuperElle!

Party Favors: Superhero masks & Oreo Pops