Bubbles and Funny Ella Moments

What kid does not love bubbles?! Cade and Cole are amazed by them and Ella loves making the magic happen!

As our Seattle adventure begins to wind down, I have to share a few moments brought to us by Ella, the bubble maker. Did you really think we would get through five weeks without a few "are you kidding me?" laughs?!

*Ella decided she wanted to ride a small trike that Grandma bought to the park and back. I told her that it was far and since I was pushing the boys in the stroller, she was going to have to ride or walk it both directions. I stressed (more than once) how hard this was going to be but she was determined to do it. So, I let her. She made it to the park and was very proud of herself. But the way home was another story! About two minutes into the journey, she was done. I calmly reminded her about our talk before we left and that she promised she would either ride or walk it home. In that instant, I became the "MEANEST MOM EVER!" (Does anyone else out there hold this endearing title, too?) She rode a little farther and then began to complain again. And again, I reminded her of our agreement. This went on for a little bit and my patience was beginning to run out. When we were half way home, she made yet another complaint and added quite a bit of "sass" to it. Now, I am pretty reasonable most of the time but the one thing I cannot stand is a "sassy" attitude. I told her to lose it and got some more so I told her she would be in time out as soon as we got home. When she started to protest to this, I added a minute to her time. When more protests came, I added another minute and so on and so on. She was up to 11 minutes by the time we finally made it home. We were both exhausted but I told her to park the trike and get up to the room for her time out.

I was in the kitchen explaining our fun adventure to mom when we heard a knocking coming from the hallway. When I went to see what it was, we found a little plant from one of the bedrooms on the floor with a note by it. (Ella is famous for writing us notes when she is upset). I was completely prepared for the "I hate you!" that I was sure was inside. But this is what I found- "For you", with a picture of a girl smiling on the front. Inside, "Mama, I am sorry. Can I please have my three miniss back (referring to the minutes I added to her timeout), please please p-l-e-a-s-e. I am sososo sorry." And on the back, "For you and me, God says I shoad be nice." Yes, she really did add the dashes in the please. Mom and I were beyond hysterical with laughter. I dated it, tucked it away, and cannot wait to someday show it to her daughter.

*I received another note during a similar time out incident - "Mom, you got what you wanted. I am outside on the grass." All words were spelled correctly. When I went outside, and asked what she thought I wanted, she told me she was going to run away and headed down the street. Really?! Put this girl in theatre!!

*And then one night, she really poured on the charm when I asked her to help grandma get things ready for dinner. She set out the placemats and was putting on the napkins and silverware when I thanked her for being such a big help. She smiled and said, "You're welcome. Chores are actually kind of fun, mom. You should try them sometime." Yep, I'll get right on that! :)