New Addition

Tonight, we brought home the two newest members of the Donovan Clan courtesy of the Southern Elementary PTA. Welcome Goldie and Nemo!

Mrs. Know-it-All

Ella is one of a kind and on many occasions "Mrs. Know-it-All." I have always loved her personality and the fact that she is outspoken and curious about everything!!

Well, today when I picked her up from Mary Susan's house, I was informed of an incident at the lunch table. This is me paraphrasing what Mary Susan explained. So here goes:

Mary Susan (to all of the children at the lunch table): You have to eat your green beans in order to get your cookies.

Ella: I am not eating my green beans. I don't like this kind (Mary Susan tried a new kind this week just because Ella didn't like last week's version.).

Mary Susan: It is important for us to eat our green beans. Did you know that there are children who don't have enough money to eat any food at all? We need to be grateful for our green beans.

Ella: Actually, my daddy gives money to those people so that they do have money for green beans.

What a ham!!! Lord help us when she is a teenager :)

To the moon and back!

Dear Ella and Grayson,

Mommy loves taking your pictures. I probably take too many and I'm sure you get tired of me saying "say cheese" all of the time! But, one day in the near future you will understand that these moments we are making are precious and your mommy doesn't ever want to forget them!





If there is anything in life that your mommy is certain about, it is that....


Love,
Mommy

Annual Pumpkin Painting

Well, today was the first day of Fall Break and it was a terrific one! Mom and I had actually planned to take the kids to the zoo, but with the rain, we didn't want to risk making a three hour drive to get rained on. So, since mom had already totally rearranged her schedule, we planned to do something fun.
Every year since Ella was born we have done our Annual Pumpkin Painting, so what better day to do it on than this rainy, gloomy day?!? We headed out for pumpkins and came home for some painting fun. Grayson really enjoyed it this year and Ella took it serious as always!! Thanks mom and Bekah for spending the day with us!

I'm pretty sure he is thinking, "Is she really letting me do this?"

Ella is a little unsure about what Grayson is doing!

Beautiful artist!

Hard at work!

She spent a good 30 minutes or so on her pumpkin :)

Aunt Bekah chipped in on finishing Grayson's pumpkin.

Freshly painted and drying.

An "E" for Ella. A "G" for Grayson. Notice how Ella chose a small pumpkin for her little brother.

Sibling Rivalry or A Case of "I want to be just like my big sister"

Tonight during our picnic, I snapped a few pictures of the kiddos. While looking through them I couldn't help but notice the story they told of how Grayson gravitates toward everything his big sis does.


So, who wants to race to the top? Just because you're bigger doesn't mean you will win!

Shucks... Nevermind. And the winner is.... Ella!

Hold on! I'm not too far behind!

Aww.. the joys of being four! A bag of Spicy Doritos and Sweet Tea makes a perfect pre-picnic snack!

You better pass the tea this way! In fact, I'll just keep it right here in my lap.

Soccer fun with daddy! Look at my skills.

Hey now! I've got skills. You think you can make this face and hold the ball at the same time?

I really wish I could do whatever Ella is doing over there.

Why on Earth did mommy and daddy only buy three caramel apples? Of course I get one too! I'll take Ella's leftovers!

Fallin' For Fall

Everyone here at the Donovan house is fallin' for fall! This past weekend was a prime example of why I love fall and everything it brings.

We started the weekend with a trip to The Festival of the Horse downtown. My kids at school were begging me to come watch them in the parade, so Ella and I went Friday night. One of my new teammates also came who is not from around here which was fun as well!



On Saturday, our friends from Owensboro came up so we took another trip to the Festival and then went out for lunch. It was great getting to see all of our friends and the kids loved every minute of the day!





My parents kept Ella and Grayson on Saturday night so that Kermie and I could go out to see The Help and spend more time with friends. It was a terrific movie and I felt like a rebel staying out past midnight! :)


Sunday was spent at church for Grace Fest. All the kiddos dressed up as princesses or superheroes :)






Oh how I LOVE this time of year! :)

Happy Fourth Birthday Ella Chase!

This past Wednesday, Ella turned four (A little four or so she says. She makes sure to tell people that she is a little four unlike her cousin, Ava, who is a big four.) !

On Saturday, we celebrated her birthday a little early with an ice cream theme. The theme just kind of happened as I was making her invitations. Ella really wanted to have her party at Monkey Joe's, but after adding it all up a Monkey Joe's party was going to be outrageous! So, we settled on a two-part party: the first half was in Georgetown at Fat Katz and the second half was at Monkey Joe's. All of Ella's family and friends came to Fat Katz for pizza, presents, and ice cream cupcakes. It was quite fun!

All the kiddos had a coloring sheet to work on.

I was trying to go along with the ice cream theme and attempted these cupcakes.

Ella had a blast chatting with her friends and family!

After all the Fat Katz fun was over, all the kiddos who wanted to jump headed up to Monkey Joe's. They had a blast and stayed until they closed the doors! :)


Since Ella's actual birthday was the following Wednesday, her daddy promised her a birthday date with just the two of them. They ended up going to see Spy Kids, making a trip to the Aquarium, and lunch at Mitchell's Fish Market.




Of course, I received a picture text while at work of them eating at Mitchell's (no fair)!


After I got off of work, Grayson and I headed to met Ella and Kermie for a Mexican birthday dinner and a trip to the park. It was neat to see how much those two missed each other while they were apart!

We all had a blast celebrating another year of Ella's precious life!