What kind of moron buys nonwashable markers?!

That would be me. I left her alone for 3 seconds and when I came back she had scribbled "InfraRed" marker on herself, her mouth (because she was eating it) and of course my carpet. No biggie I think, it's washable. Nope. Just plain old Crayola. Thank goodness I had an economy size bucket of Quick n Brite. So I smeared that plus some color safe bleach on the carpet and scrubbed the heck out of it and we're good as new. I'm sure it was the first of many art supply related incidents to come.

A Table For Two

Ela had her friend Dean over for dinner tonight. They had their own little table and chairs to sit at and they looked adorable eating their chicken nuggets together. I couldn't believe they actually sat in their chairs and ate. I really expected them to turn the table upside down after 30 seconds. Plus once they finished eating the chairs became perfect for pushing around and playing bumper cars.

My Little Wedding Crasher

Tonight we went to a wedding reception at an old schoolhouse in San Marcos and Ela was crazy! She was running all over everywhere, climbing on the stage during the speeches trying to get the decorations and candles, dancing, taking off her shoes, rolling on the floor, attempting to climb on the dinner table and trying to escape to the outside. She even kept influencing the other kids to make a break for it with her! The only way I could get her to sit on my lap was by feeding her cake. I guess she has her father's energy and her mother's love of cake.

Bye Bye Bushie

Hilarious...I'm going to miss these.

To Grandmothers House We Go

Grandma Shel & Grandpa Dave do a great job spoiling Ela and fulfilling their grandparently duties. Ela's Saturday with them consisted of feeding the fish, going to the park, playing with dogs, eating honey sticks, Baby Einstein videos, chocolate, riding in a wheelbarrow and finished off with some Souplantation ice cream. She's gonna sleep well tonight!

3 Baths by 1 pm

Sometimes I think I am single handedly responsible for San Diego's water shortage. Yogurt for lunch was the reason for Ela's third bath today. Thanks for not letting me get bored Ela darling.

Misty Water-Colored Memories

Today Ela & I went to visit Grandpa Duck & Bamma Ree (as Ela calls Chuck & Jerre). They currently live in Montana while renting out their house in Pacific Beach. They are so cute and drove all the way down to fix the roof so that Grandpa doesn't have to pay "some charlatan" to do it. While the men worked my mom, sister & I went through our old boxes of stuff stored in their garage. Some of the highlights were my She-Ra Princess of Power castle, old costumes my mom had made (one of them also She-Ra), my Easy Bake oven (which I hardly used since I liked to eat the mixes raw - Salmonella anyone!) and Kelly's massive stuffed animal collection. Kelly also found a bunch of other random collections plus a box of old notes & papers from high school which I though was funny considering I only had one box and it was all books. Hi, my name is Lauren and I like to throw things away. Many times Todd will ask me where things are and the answer is often "in the trash". Its not that I have no sentimentality...its just that I'm practical and I like things neat so there you go.

Meeeow.

Kelly with her pile. I couldn't even get all of it in the picture...

Ela in my Tweedle Dum hat from 8th grade Halloween.


Grandpa Dave passed the time by clothes pinning my child. She loved it.

Being in their house also took me back in time. The little table in the breakfast nook where I used to eat my Great-Grandma Wynn's sour cream cookies was still there. Plus I had forgotten how much time I actually spent in that city. The little bagel shop where I first discovered sprouts & tomato on a bagel with cream cheese is pretty tasty, driving to In-N-Out with my old Rabbit convertible spewing coolant and heaven only knows what else while everyone honks & points, riding bikes at the bay and excessively honking my horn. Good times. It was really fun to reminisce and Ela always enjoys her grandparents.

Its a Sunshine Day

This morning started out a bit rough. My sweet little Ela is currently teething which makes her a bit grouchy. Although a bit chilly it was a beautiful day so we decided to walk to the park with our friends. As soon as we stepped outside Ela did a complete 180. Its amazing what a difference a bit of sunshine can do for her mood. We got to the park and she was riding the bouncy horse and smiling and laughing. I couldn't believe she was the same little girl who had screamed at me for not letting her jump on the dishwasher door less than an hour earlier. I'm so grateful to live in San Diego where my little outdoor lover can play outside in the sunshine.

Dean chasing Ela around the tree

They lined up about 10 chairs at lunch & played train

Entering the Blogosphere

One of my resolutions this year is to record more of our family goings on and the Interweb is the perfect way to do it. I'm also excited to keep our family & friends updated without having to call anybody (another thing I'm not very good at). Plus I figure it will force me to do more exciting things so that I can have more to post. So get ready for lots of Ela and maybe a bit of Todd & Lauren!