Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Thought I'd share some of the things Ella said today that made me smile. Hope they make you smile too. (:

Me: What's that?
Ella: That's a smoke atector.
Me: What is it for?
Ella: That's for daddy's cooking in the kitchen.


A discussion about the bathroom sink:

Ella: What's this hole for?
Me: That's there so that if the sink gets too full of water, it will go down into the hole instead of onto the floor.
Ella: We don't want water to get on the floor....or on our clothes. Clothes are not for swimming (said as she was shaking her head with vigor). They're just for getting dressed.

Saturday, December 15, 2007

Back Home

Well, we've actually been back for almost a week now. So we're getting back into life here in Minnesota.

When we left California, it was cool, fall-like weather. When we got home, we were greeted by freezing temps and tons of snow on the ground. Ella was beside herself with the anticipation of seeing it. On the whole plane trip she kept talking about how she was going to play in the snow - and apparently that would consist of making snow angels and snowballs. We had a little bit of a delay, but eventually made it home and finally into our beds around 3am saturday night/sunday morning.

We had a great time seeing my family in California. Although we were there for three weeks, and ready to come back home, it was still hard to say goodbye. I have lots of pictures to post, but I left my camera-computer cord in California. So you all will just have to suffer through a photo-less blog for a little bit.

On Sunday afternoon, Dave went out to shovel a bit off of the driveway and porch, so we bundled Ella up and let her have at the mound of snow that made up our yard. She had planned on making snowballs, but Dave burst that bubble when he told her that the snow was "too cold" for that. But she had a great time filling up her little saucer-sled with snow, dumping it all out, and filling it up again. But when she was ready to come in, she was READY. I think she all of a sudden realized that her limbs were starting to freeze, and she did not like that one bit. So Dave brought her, crying and complaining she was cold, into the house. We changed her, and snuggled in the chair with a warm blanket and hot chocolate. Welcome back to Minnesota.

Friday, December 7, 2007

Meeting Morgan!

One of the best parts of our trip to California was getting to meet my new little niece - and Ella's new cousin - little Morgan Keli! Up until she was born, Ella was the only grandchild on my side. So it's quite exciting to have this new little member - finally!


I had the absolute pleasure of spending some quality time with her since I watched her a few times while Paul and Dana were working. At first, Ella didn't have much interest, but she soon became such a great little helper, always making sure Morgan had her burp cloth and her blanket - whether she needed them or not. (: Here is a pic of the only time Ella held Morgan - she was so excited to feed her, even if it only lasted for a few seconds. Aren't they cute? (:


My mom (Beppe) and dad (Paake) also were so excited to hold both of their granddaughters at the same time. Here are a couple of pics of each of them with their two little cuties!



It was so much fun having a little baby around to hold and snuggle - she is a "girl on the move" as I like to say, just like Ella was. She's not too fond of staying still or sitting on your lap. She'd much rather be moving, swinging, and bouncing. So I worked out my "Morgan muscles" in my arms and legs as I walked and walked with her, bouncing and swinging to keep her content and put her to sleep.

Morgan LOVED the ornaments on the tree. Who needs a baby gym when you have a Christmas tree with shiny dangling ornaments? She was mezmerized by the colors and reflections - Ella helped by making some of them swing.


It's so much fun to see my brother Paul with his little girl. Ella loves her uncle Paul to pieces since he is always willing and ready to be goofy and play with her. So I can see already what a wonderful dad he is and will continue to be.

Thursday, December 6, 2007

What Dave did with his week off

Okay, so I realize I'm a bit delinquent in posting, but I'm going to try to add a few things that we've been doing the past couple of weeks.

Dave is now back in cold, snowy, and icy Minnesota, after his enjoyable week in sunny California. Since it was so nice when we arrived, Dave really wanted to find something for he and Ella to do outside together - so we went on a mission finding the "perfect" items for some backyard activities. The result? A green ball and a bucket of play-doh fun! Here are a few pics:





So, who was having more fun? Well, I have an opinion, but I'll let you be the judge of that!

We also had a couple of celebrations while Dave was here - on Monday, the 19th was Dave's 37th birthday, and of course on Thursday 22nd was Thanksgiving. So the days were filled with time together and time with family. Mixed in was a trip to Jack in the Box, a few card games of rummy, and some yardwork at my brother Paul's house.

So Dave survived the time with my family and is now back home, being a bachelor, spending quality time with our neglected cat, and surviving the ice and snow.