Grace's First Day of Kindergarten

Grace has been so excited to start school. I have been excited, nervous, worried, happy. Grace loves to learn. During her assessment the day before school started, I had to fill out paperwork. One slip of paper asked for a sentence describing Grace that would be put below her picture posted in the classroom. "Grace loves the world around her and is excited to learn about it." I think this describes Grace well. A hit: I made monkey bread as a treat "to keep the monkeys out" so Grace could behave at school. She ate about half the pan.

After a few serious photos, without any prompting, Grace said, "Okay, now a silly school picture" and immediately struck this pose. It is fun to see her so excited and so confident.She can't really be seen, but she is the blur riding her scooter to school in this next pic. We decided to go with the school closer, but not the one we are assigned to attend. I just couldn't let her ride the bus. I don't know why. Maybe because she is my first, maybe I'm over protective... Jake left for school the same time she did and as he left she told him that they would have to do their homework together that night.

Grace's teacher is Mrs. Baumgarten. She has taught at Orem Elementary for 13 years. She has a bunny rabbit and guppies in her room. When we arrived Isaac was distracted by the playground and Sam was crying because I wouldn't let him go play with Isaac. Grace ran into her classroom, put her backpack away, sat down and said, "bye Mom." Some of the other parents were chatting and I thought I might stand there a moment and watch Grace and perhaps join in on the chatting, but Grace said, "Bye Mom" about five more times so I got the hint and let her be.

At school she learned about being an everyday hero. They read a book about filling up your bucket which has provided many a discussion. They also said that if you do some really good things you can earn a yellow slip and take it to the office for a prize. Grace told me she hugged a girl to fill up her bucket and maybe get a yellow slip. I asked Grace if the girl wanted a hug. She said no (but in a way that meant it was of little consequence if she wanted the hug or not). Grace had a great first day, day two was a little rough, but day three was great again. I think like anything else we will have good days and bad days, but Grace will still love learning.

Introducing Samuel

Good bye Sammy, Sam, Sam-bo...

I have someone I'd like to introduce to the world. You may have heard of my baby Sam, but he is gone... with his curls, and in his place is a more serious toddler, Samuel.

He would like to say Hello!

No more party in the back, this boy is ALL business!

Welcome Summer?

Grace's last day of preschool was last Thursday so I considered Monday to be our first day of summer. I was looking forward to running through the sprinklers and catching bugs, but woke up looking at snow. Today has been much better, but I hope our garden (which we planted on Saturday) survives. Due to the poor memory recording on my part, I just can't be satisfied skipping the last few months, but if I want to get to the gym in the morning I need to go to bed soon so I can't cover it all now. I want to share a video I made of Grace's preschool program. It is long. In the middle is Grace's talent that we came up with (all of the kids did a talent). I am mostly sharing this video so Grace can access it easily and my mom has been kindly asking for a few pictures or something for the last few days... weeks... months..... As for everyone else, the Ellis family is alive and kicking!

procrastination cooking

I am determined to get back to blogging because I like it and it doesn't make me feel so isolated from those I love who live farther away. I will not be posting Christmas or any pictures because I have been toooo busy this past week. Cooking. I am really close to finishing my cooking class which I should have finished months ago. I did not so here we are. Cooking. I have made in the past week... blackberry ginger salmon, biscuts, orange cranberry muffins, cinnamon rolls, sesame pork chops, spicy split peas, chile verde chili, shrimp pad thai, carrots with a white sauce, and a few other side dishes to accompany a few previously mentioned dishes. I have one more week of cooking marathon to go and I will be done. I love to cook but it has been alittle out of control. The kids are being wonderful. Grace is fabulous and yesterday she made a special drink for everyone, a cup, a straw, and a strawberry sliced part way and stuck on the side of the cup. She loves garnishes. Isaac is growing so big and is almost potty trained. We have had to use a timer, starburst and sour ropes to motivate him, but he is starting to get it. Isaac is a sensitive soul who barrels in to doors and trips over his fast moving feet but he always calls out, "Fine." before we even have the chance to ask. Sam is adorable with his pony tail length hair. We might chance his name to Sampson because I can't bear to cut his curls. He says "Thank you" for most everything. He also says the word "stuck" alot. He is the most climb-y baby we have. He loves Grace and Isaac.... loves to annoy them. He also loves Kora and shows his affection by sitting on her. Jake is busy with classes and a little work. Our winter is rolling along. I guess no news is good news. Hopefully I will have some good news and pictures to report... next week.

A Singing Telegram

I know to make up for my lack of blogging I needed to produce something amazing. I am satisfied with this. I still need to go back and document Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years, but until I edit the pictures... Have a great Valentine's Day!