Back in the Swing of Things

Things have definitely started to pick up around the Logan home! I am glad to be back in a routine. I feel like I get more accomplished when I know what our schedule will be for the week. We have started back with our Tuesday Morning Bible Studies, Mothers' Morning Out on Wednesdays and Fridays, and Ella has started taking dance on Mondays. I will also start tutoring for Sons of the Kings on Thursdays. So, we have something going on every day, which I like.

Ella is doing really well with Mothers' Morning Out. I was kinda nervous about it at first because she is a good bit older than most of the other kids in her class. All of her good friends from last year started pre-school this year. But, she seems to like being one of the big kids, and I think she is a pretty good helper in her class. My class is crazy, as expected. A room of 11 two year olds makes for an interesting day! Most of them are really sweet, but it is pretty exhausting work!

Ella is also doing great with dance...as far as I can tell. At least, she looks precious in her practice clothes! They don't let the moms stay and watch, so I drop her off there and leave for 45 mins. I always ask her what she learned when I pick her up, but usually don't get much feedback. She seems to have lots of fun doing whatever they are doing in there. It does seem to gradually come out through the week. So far, she has learned "bunny ears", "the pizza", "the itsy bitsy spider", and the "hokie pokie", although a few free-style moves show up too!

Happy and Productive Day

It's amazing how a slight drop in the temperatures can motivate a person! It has cooled off to a balmy 90 degrees here, and while it's still warm in the afternoons, the mornings and the evenings have been very perfectly pleasant. It has made the Logan girls happy and productive!
This morning, we went to the park. Ella was so happy to be playing outside. It has been forever since we have done anything outside during the day. There were a whole bunch of other little ones and their moms there too. Everyone seemed relieved to be able to get out of the house.
True to Ella form, she had made her a new best friend within the first minute and a half of being there. I have always been so fascinated with that. All it usually takes to establish a friendship among children is for one child to start following another child around for a few seconds, then have a brief time of staring/sizing each other up that usually is followed by some silly act or time of giggling, and then the question finally comes, "Do you want to play with me?". And, just like that, they are friends. Why can't adults make friends as easily as their children? I mean, we still do the whole "size each other up" thing, but usually that is all there is to it. I will say it has been pretty easy to get to know other moms at the park. I was very intimidated by that whole "stay-at-home mom crowd" at first (still kinda feel uncomfortable going to Target in the middle of the day with the Junior Leaguers in their tennis skirts), but I think most moms crave social interaction with anyone other than their child.
So, it was a good time at the park. Ella made friends, and I chatted with some other adults. We didn't stay too long because it started getting really warm out. And, it had been about 2 hours since I had eaten, so it was time to head home and fix some sandwiches.
After we ate, we worked in the yard some. There was plenty of shade, so it wasn't hot at all. I raked and swept and watered the plants while Ella terrorized Lizzie. You would think that I would make Ella be more kind to Lizzie, but I. LOVE. IT. It is so funny watching Ella boss Lizzie around. Lizzie is so bad, she deserves every second of it. The whole time Ella is out there, she is carrying Lizzie all over the yard, putting different things on her head, and just pestering the stew out of her. Lizzie just stares at me with this look of utter humiliation and disappointment like she can't believe this is what her life has come to.
I say that jokingly. I think Lizzie loves it. Ella gives her more attention than she has had in a long time. And as rough as Ella is with her, Lizzie never growls or snaps at her-which if you know Lizzie, you know this is a big deal. She growled at me just yesterday when I told her and Sam to stop howling at that dang train again.
Yesterday, I went to see Dr. Bush to check up on Baby Logan. We listened to the heartbeat again, and it was much stronger that last time. I was pretty excited! He scheduled me to come back in 4 weeks for my sonogram!! I am so excited to find out if we are having a boy or a girl. I can honestly say that I do not care either way. At first, I was saying I wanted a boy because it seemed like the naturally desire. I have my girl, I want a boy. But recently, I have thought of some really cute girl names and it has gotten me excited about that possibility as well. Either way, I know we have been extremely blessed by God. We have wanted this baby for a long time now!

Redemption!!

Happy Birthday James and Go Arrows!!

Today is a fun day! It's James' bday AND the Arrows' first game! We started the day off bright and early so that we could actually spend some time with James before he rushed off to work. We brought him breakfast and presents in bed, which is always fun. Ella is NEVER up before James leaves and I am usually unable to make coherent sentences at that point in the morning, so I think he enjoyed actually being able to visit with us.
After he left to go to school, Ella and I began getting ready to go to the pep rally at the high school. All these years later, I still get excited about the first pep rally of the year! It's just so much fun! I always have to work hard not to break-out in dances Megan and I made up to all the band songs when we were in high school. It's even harder not to yell "Seniors! Seniors! Seniors!" just because it's such a coveted chant. Something tells me I wasn't cool when I did it in high school, I sure wouldn't be cool if I tried to do it now...
When we got there, I could not believe that those little, bitty children I had taught when they were in 7th/8th grade had turned into big seniors! It's always fun to see how they grow up! It was a really fun pep rally and I think Ella had fun, even though she seemed petrified most of the time we were there. It always surprises me when she goes into "shy mode", but I guess it could be an intimidating thing for a little kid. Scared or not, she was the cutest little Arrow in the room in her cheerleader uniform!
We have lots of plans for the rest of the day. In a little while, we are going to go to the junior high and have lunch with James in the cafeteria. Then, we are going to come home and have a 2nd attempt at baking something for him. I TRIED doing this last night, but it ended in total disaster. I wanted him to have something to take with him to school to share with all the teachers today, and we had most of the ingredients to make a pecan pie, so I figured I would make him one. Disaster. Again. I cannot bake. I don't know what it is, but I ALWAYS end up burning whatever I am cooking, or under-cooking it. This time, I burned it. It is literally so hard that you can't even cut into it. Part of me wants to give up, but I really feel like it's something I should be able to do! So, we are going to try to make a chocolate chip cake this afternoon. Wish me luck...
After we make the cake (and probably throw away the cake), I am going to take Ella to Nana and J's to spend the night because I will be making the trip to Brandon for the game. I shouldn't have told her we were going to do this because now she won't stop asking me when we are leaving!
This whole weekend will be dedicated to celebrating James' 29th bday. Last bday as a twenty-something. Crazy. I am glad I am much younger.

The Beginning of a New Year

We know as Mississippians that when the temperatures rise higher than you ever thought they could, it is time for school to start. I don't know why it has to be like that! I do know that as far as Ella and I are concerned, it means that we are having to think of fun things to do inside.

The beginning of a new school year is always so exciting! New students, new supplies, new lessons, new ideas. When I was teaching, I would always set goals for myself for the upcoming school year. I think it is equally important for me to set goals for myself while I am staying home to take care of my family and my house!

One of my immediate goals is to work with Ella on her alphabet. I know I am more than just a little partial, but I really do think she is very smart! She is always surprising me with some of the great, big words that come out of her mouth. She also remembers everything and talks about things that have happened forever ago! All that being said, for some unknown reason to me, she completely shuts down when I try to get her to recognize letters. She can recognize every Chick-fil-A and every McDonalds sign we ever pass, but when it comes to the letter A, forget it.

So, today we started at the beginning, once again. We worked on tracing the letter A with Play-Doh, we colored the letter A, we talked about words that start with the A sound. We did this for a good 30 mins. To wrap it all up, I pointed to the big A and asked her what letter it was. "It's a T!!" she says. Sigh...

Finally, a 2nd Post!!

Ok, so I appear to be really bad at this blogging this already! It's been so long since I have posted, but only because our computer has been under-the-weather with a mean virus. Two weeks and $100 later, we are back, and better than ever.

Much has happened since the last post, but I will just mention the high points. The highest point would definitely be the arrival of Keaton!! He's now over a week old, and he gets cuter every time I see him. I wish I had tons of pics to post of him, but for some reason, I only have a few.

It has been so hot here, we really haven't done much. It has been over 100 degrees for 4 straight days in a row. We have been working inside some, mainly on cleaning out the office (a.k.a James' Hunter's Haven). Most of the stuff in that room isn't stuff we (he) could part with, so we just had to find a new home for it all. We are definitely having to become very creative with finding a place for it. Soon enough, it will be a nursery, which I just can't imagine! I posted some pictures that I think we should call the "BEFORE PICTURES".

My first blog! and- Southern Miss... To The Top!!

I have often wondered if I would have anything interesting enough to say on a blog. I still don't know that I do. But, there are different reasons to create a blog. One of my friends has told me that she does it for her children, so that one day, years from now they can see what life was like when they were too young to remember. I like that! The Lord has blessed me with being able to stay home with Ella during this time in our lives. It has been such a sweet time-something I never dreamed I would do, or even would want to do. I would love to be able to capture the day-to-day ordinary moments for her because those are the best parts of her growing up.
So, here we go on our very first blogging adventure!

Marie surprised us and said that she wanted to buy us tickets to the Southern Miss Alumni Party they have at the Trademark every year. We had been a few years ago, and had a lot of fun, so we were really excited about going back! We knew that there were fun things for kids and we were really excited about taking Ella. Our day started yesterday in pursuit of the perfect Southern Miss attire for Ella. I really wasn't looking for anything perfect, just a cute little t-shirt would have been fine. Sounds easy enough, but we couldn't find her one anywhere. Everywhere we looked, MSU, OLE MISS, LSU...very frustrating. We finally ended up going to a school uniform place and got her a gold polo shirt. Sounds dorky, but I knew we could make it ok with a cute bow. I think she looked like a little member of Southern Style!

I had told her that morning that we were going to go to a party that night and she could see the Southern Miss Eagle! She was so excited. All day she said that she was going to hug the eagle, kiss the eagle, dance with the eagle, etc. When we finally made it to the party, we made it top priority to see that we found THE EAGLE. Finally, after an afternoon of waiting to see him, and a day of planning the fun that she would have with him, she sees him. She immediately starts screaming, "I don't like the eagle! He's scary! Daddy don't make me hug him!" So, her love for the eagle quickly changes to utter and complete fear. The rest of the night, she runs when she sees him. At one point, she even hides under the table. You can see how frightened she was in the pictures!
She eventually got over her fears when Coach Fedora came out to the Souther Miss Fight Song and began speaking. That will inspire anyone, right? She had a blast dancing with her pom pom, and was sad when she had to go home.
It was a fun night! It got my kinda excited about our own football season. Go Arrows!