Girl Time Fun - The Croods!

Huge display in the theatre lobby

That's a big popcorn and soda for a little girl!

Look Mom, no cavities!!!

Today Ellie had a dentist appointment which meant she was going to miss a field trip with Clubhouse during her Spring Break activities!

So I took the day off .. worked from home in the morning and then off we went to find adventure!  As you can see from the photo, the dentist appointment went off without a hitch.  And no cavities!

Then to lunch at Meatheads, one of Ellie's favorite places to lunch.

And the matinee of The Croods!  Think Flintstones, but 2013.  It was wonderful.  A big bag of popcorn, a huge soda and the afternoon together - the only thing missing was her Daddy!  What a great day together!

The beauty of the (upcoming) season!

Couldn't resist these irises from Fresh Market on Monday!  Even Ellie commented this morning that even more had opened overnight.  Yes, they are a sign of the beauty of spring is soon to arrive!

What a difference a day makes!

Yesterday we enjoyed the warm sunshine in Chicago and today Normal is anything but normal!  Hence the reason we cut our trip short and headed home.  For the adventure of the snow!!

Happy to be in the snow!

Spinning around

Going down the hill (driveway!) laying down

She just loves the snow!

Chicago Weekend

After celebrating Ellie's 7th birthday at home on Friday night with pizza and ice cream cake, phone calls from family and lots of presents ... we headed to Chicago early Sunday morning.  First stop was the Museum of Science and Industry.  We loved so many of the exhibits including the Weather experiments and the major Ball Bounce!

From the museum we were off to check into our hotel and find a good place for lunch.  Our room was actually a suite on the 44th floor of the Marriott on N Michigan Ave.  Corner room with floor to ceiling windows overlooking Lake Michigan!  Ellie thought it was the coolest place ever!

We lunched at Giordano's for Chicago-style pizza!  It was a wonderful 3 block walk to get there.  An hour wait for a table, but you put  your order in when you put your name in so when you're seated your pizza is just moments away!  Ellie entertained herself at the bar with her iPad watching a movie while Bill and I watched the VCU v. Michigan with a couple from Richmond, VA!

After a wonderful lunch with plenty of leftovers we made our way back to the hotel for some pool time!  Ellie's favorite part ... but I think I've said that before.  Get dressed again and head to American Girl Place!  Two stories of dolls, clothes, accessories and lots of girls!!!  What an experience.  She had decided this is where she would spend her birthday money from Papa, Grammy and Uncle Pat.  Such a good decision .. and so much to choose from!

After another walk back to the hotel and it was time for a 30 minute nap before dinner.  And then the fun starts.  We put our name in for a table and Grand Lux Cafe, which was another hour wait and found a high-top table in the bar area.  The postings on Facebook from friends in Bloomington were warning of the 10 inches of snow we were to get overnight ... so Bill and I made an Executive Decision ... pack it in.  Skip dinner, check out of the hotel and head home by 8pm on Saturday night.

Although Ellie was disappointed at first, once we were packed and she was in the car already in her pj's with her movie and cold pizza leftovers and root beer for the ride home - she was just fine.  She slept like a log the last hour in the car and then quickly again once in her bed.

What a terrific day in Chicago we had!  We made a promise on the way  home we'd do it again really soon!

John Deere tire!  On the Farm exhibit.

Say Cheese!  Dairy section of On the Farm.

Who's really the American Girl here?  Ellie or Saige!

Escalator to American Girl heaven!  Such excitement!

Science and Industry Museum

Daddy and Ellie in the Tractor

Shirley Temple for the guest of honor waiting for a table at lunch!

Clean plate and the cherry from her drink!

Full-size LEGO Friends in the LEGO store

Enjoying the sunshine walking on Michigan Avenue

Such a big bed for a little girl!

Size of the room!  Talk about Magnificent ....

View from the room on the 44th floor.

Birthday Celebration

We celebrated Ellie's birthday night with pizza, ice cream cake and lots of presents from family.  She just loved the celebration and the phone calls!

Presents!

From Aunt Maureen .. she tried it on immediately!

What could be in this big box, Aunt Mimi??

from Aunt Lisa -  Justin Beiber cds!!!  All smiles from Ellie!

from Aunt Mimi - American Girl hair stylist chair

Barbie from France from Grammy - just like she wanted!

Ice cream cake - Mint Chocolate Chip - her favorite!

Blowing out that big number "7"

Happy Birthday Ellie!

The celebration has already begun .... I brought lunch to Ellie's school and ate with her class in the cafeteria .. which she thought was pretty cool!  She wanted me to stay for outdoor recess, but I told her the kids wouldn't like it if I hogged a swing on the playground!  So tonight is pizza for dinner with birthday cake, presents and calls from family to mark this grand occasion.

Taking time to remember when this grown-up seven-year-old wasn't such a big girl.  And how very much we have to be thankful for!!

Ellie - age 2

Grove Elementary Family Fun Day

One of Grove's fundraisers is their annual Family Fun Day.  In order to pull it off, the entire event requires a lot of donations and volunteers ... and families showing up to participate.  Last year was mass chaos for me, yet this year we mastered the territory quickly and staked out a spot early in the gym to wait for the announcement of all the prizes.  Silent Auction, BIG Basket Ticket Raffle, Kid's Game Ticket Prize Raffle and the grand prize of the iPad!  We had lots of fun and are glad we participated again this year!  Ellie waits so patiently each year to hear her name called or our name on the big screen for the BIG Basket ticket raffle drawing ... and this year we won a basket!

Snow Day Basket - games, sleds, cocoa, UNO, Snow Brick maker, hats & gloves!

Shooting baskets for tickets to put into the drawing for prizes!

Getting a GLITTER Tatoo

Pink and Black Panda tattoo

Waiting in line to play a game - see all the people??

Ready to find the Leprechauns!

Ellie's class made traps to see if they could catch a Leprechaun.  I'm not quite sure what they planned to do if they actually caught one, but by the looks of things today the Leprechaun came and went!  But he left goodies and a mess behind!

Leprechaun costume~

The Leprechaun moved all the students to OUTSTANDING!!

Ellie's trap

Ellie and Tyler with their 'traps'

If you haven't yet seen this - it's only 3:30minutes!

Kid President to You

Cars and Cards

This weekend brought adventure for the whole family.  As you can see from the picture - Bill got a new car!  Finally that 2006 Ford 500 is gone!  Although last night Ellie said, "I wish I'd had the chance to say good bye to the blue car.  I went places in that car!"

His new ride is a 2010 Ford Taurus.  Lots of bells and whistles and of course, it's white!  White is the new black he tells me.  We took an inaugural ride in it yesterday afternoon after he picked it up.  Nice ride!  So glad he's happy with it.

Sunday brought lots of rain and indoor activities for us.  I made a couple pots of soup and homemade rolls for dinner. Between rounds in the kitchen I taught Ellie a game I loved from my childhood.

Rummy 500!!

Those of you who've known me a long time may recall I would play cards non-stop as a kid with anyone who would sit long enough for me to coerce them into it.  My favorite game was Rummy.  Well I've created a monster now.  Ellie just loves Rummy.  "Daddy I can teach you now since Mommy said she's tired of playing!"

So apparently she's graduated from Uno, and moved onto the big girl cards!  I still say it's a nice change from the t.v. and video games!

Sunday, Sunday

Several things are happening at our house this weekend ... we find ourselves without official 'plans' in place .. which leads us to make our our adventures!

1)  Ellie has made a fort at the bottom on the stairs with blankets and stuffed animals.  This is not the bottom of the stairs into the basement, but the stairs from the first floor up to the second floor.  Even though she has an entire basement, this is the place for her to 'land'!  Makes getting the laundry up and down the stairs a bit of a challenge, but she's happy!

2)  Bill and I shared the kitchen making a couple of our favorites together.  I made a crock pot of pulled pork and a homemade coleslaw to have with crusty rolls.  Bill made his mushroom stuffed artichokes to go with them!  And of course it wouldn't be complete without a little dessert.  Jody passed along a Pear Tart recipe that she made at her book club ... so I swapped the apricot jam that the recipe called for and made a red raspberry glaze instead!  Delicious!!

3)  Ellie also received her very first official pack of baseball cards.  She enjoyed them more than I thought she would!  She can't wait for more!

Genovese-style Artichokes

Pear Tart with Raspberry Glaze

Ellie's new resting place

Between the posts on the stairs

First baseball cards of the season!

Report Card Time!

Ellie brought home her second trimester report card yesterday to mark the first of March.  Rated on a scale of 1 = meets the standard less than 70% of the time; 2 = meets the standard 70-85% of the time; and 3 = meets the standard 100% of the time.

Art = 3
Computer/Media = 3
Math = 3
Language = 3
Music = 3
P.E. = 3
Reading = 3
Science = 3
Social Studies = 3

"Ellie has made some positive gains this trimester.  She is doing a much better job controlling her impulses and is putting more effort in to her classwork.  Keep up the good work and thank you for the support at home!" ~ Mrs. Carlock, Grade 1

"Keep it up, Ellie!" ~ Mrs. Fogal, Grove Elementary Principal

Dr. Seuss is celebrated in March!

Ellie is celebrating the start of the month of March with a tribute to Dr. Seuss.  He is also a March birthday - March 2nd to be exact.

Mrs. Carlock has supplied us with wonderful pictures from the beginning of Dr. Seuss month!  Ironically, she, too, is a March birthday!!!

Here's a few treats!

Ellie as a March Dr. Seuss Birthday!

Ellie learning a game wearing a Cat in the Hat!

Mrs. Carlock

This is Ellie's classroom door! Lorax was today's movie!