What a BIG girl!

I have been wanting to post a little something about Ellie lately but hadn't gotten around to doing it but today, right now, seems like the PERFECT time! The reason? I think we've made quite the head-way in potty training! A little while ago I was folding laundry when I realized I hadn't seen or heard Ellie in a while which USUALLY means she's off doing something in her panties she's not supposed to. Well, when I went looking for her, I thought I heard her crying so I picked up my pace a little bit. I saw that my bedroom door was closed so I went in, found the bathroom door closed so I went in and there she was on her potty going poop all by herself! I am so happy - I'm still smiling as I write this! :) SO, as a result of this great achievement, she got to have her toenails painted - an incentive I've had for her from the get go (an idea I got from my friend Claire). The other amazing thing about this happening now is that she's actually been under the weather for the last couple of days! (Hence why she's still in her pajamas!)Here she is ready to have them painted:Here are her cute little toes all painted and pretty!

Another picture I've wanted to share was taken the morning before we went to Ian's outdoor hockey game. For whatever reason she decided to put on her princess skirt without anything else but her panties! Then, she decided to play us a little song on the piano! Definitely one to share with her future fiance'!

Other things going on with Ellie - she loves going to her class at church on Wednesday nights. She knows the ABC song quite well (we have her sing it while she washes her hands after going potty so we know she's washed long enough). She can count to 10 perfectly and can keep going after ten not so perfectly! She can recognize the letters E and L in signs and anything else she sees. She can spell her name "E-L-I-A-N-A, Eliana that's me!" She knows her birthday is in June and she knows all her colors and shapes and animals. I'm thinking I'm going to have to seriously consider really working with her on reading because I think she could do it! She's a sweet little girl, smart as a whip and keeps us on our toes!

Life in North Dakota

It's been a while since I've posted anything about unique things we do in North Dakota so I thought I should do so now! As you know, Ian is playing hockey again this year. It's still with the Parks league but he's moved up a league so now he's playing actual games and even gets to travel for some of them! Yesterday was our first "away" game to Northwood, ND, and guess what?! Their rink is OUTSIDE!! We checked before leaving to make sure the game wasn't cancelled because the temp outside here was -1 (before wind chill)! It wasn't cancelled so we made sure we were bundled up and headed out! The sky was clear and it was beautiful out but BOY was it chilly! They paused the game every 6 minutes to let the boys go in to the "warming house". According to Brian, though, it was just out of the wind, not actually WARM! By the end of the game, the boys were ALL pink and Ian started crying in the car because his feet were finally thawing and it hurt. We told him he's a true NoDak now!

After the game, Josh asked if we could go to the Red Pepper - a local favorite. Since he was leaving the next day we decided to go (even though it really was out of the way). We went to the new one and it had some pretty neat items we got pictures of. Their "specialty" is the grinder sandwhich that Brian and Josh really like. Not exactly health food but it hit the spot!

Christmas 2009

Well, I'm very behind (what's new, right?!) but I wanted to share a photo album I made using Stampin' Up! (R) My Digital Studio. I was having problems getting onto the normal site I use to make albums and decided to see if I could use my new software. I did and I think it turned out okay! The only problem is I couldn't figure out how to make it a slideshow AND make it look good...SO I just added each page as a jpeg file so you can look at it individually. Not quite what I was going for but it will have to do. The album doesn't encompass ALL of our holiday fun but definitely hits the hi-lights! Our holidays are officially now over since I took Josh to the airport this morning (at O dark hundred!). For some reason, saying goodbye was a little harder this time - perhaps because I know he's got a tough road ahead. Enjoy the Christmas pictures!