Ella's Princess Day :)

If you follow Ella's caringbridge site, you know that the poor girl needed a fun day just for her. And I kind of needed the time with her too ;) I decided to take her for a day of beauty at a kids salon. When I first told her that we were going she got upset and said, "I don't want a hair trim. I love my hair, don't cut it!" She fought me tooth and nail despite my efforts to get her excited for her 'princess day'. She wanted to go swimming instead but when we got to the salon she started to change her mind.
First, she had a pedicure. Ella was super excited to get to pick out her nail art and lotion for her foot massage. She got to soak her feet in a little bubbly foot bath that had color changing lights in it. After her soak and massage she got her toes painted. She picked to have ladybugs painted on her toes, so cute! After that she was willing to do anything :) She sat in a firetruck and rang a little bell while she had her hair trimmed. Just a teeny tiny bit off the ends. Then, she picked out a hot pink feather extension for her hair. It was so cute I could hardly stand it! She picked out a ladybug waterbottle for herself and a crocodile one for Kaleb and as she buzzed through the door yelled, "This was the best princess day ever!" Lol :)
After that we stopped for a smoothie and a yummy little bundt cake with Granny. She couldn't wait to get home to show the boys her awesome new hair feather, pretty toes, and the treats she picked out for them. She got Daddy a little bundt cake too.
We had a great mother-daughter day and I look forward to the million more we will have :)

Happy Fourth of July!!

We had a fun Fourth of July this year. The kids dressed up in some of Mommy's creations and we celebrated with family, friends, and fireworks :) Kaleb was very excited about the fireworks, as long as he wasn't too close to the super loud ones. He liked to do the smoke bombs himself (with Daddy close by) and was into watching the big ones from a safe distance away. Ella could take it or leave it with the fireworks. I think her favorite parts were swimming at Aunt Sandy's house and wearing her new skirt and shirt that Mommy made. She kept asking everyone, "Do you like my new dress?" She watched Daddy's show for awhile but asked to go in and watch a movie before the boys were finished. It was pretty hot out though :/
I have found out over the years that being creative helps when you are a Mommy. Not only do my kids love when I make them little things but sometimes it can help with a problem. For instance, the last couple of weeks, Kaleb has been telling us that he is afraid of the dark, and of monsters. Ella, of course, needs to repeat what he says and apparently she is also afraid of these things now. I have tried to reason with him over and over but it doesn't help. I tell him that mom and dad are here and that the dark or monsters can't hurt him. That monsters are not real. That he knows his room and that there is nothing in there. But, in his head these things are true. So, I decided to go with it...rather than fight him on his fears, give him a way to feel better. I came up with the idea of giving him a Monster spray, it is a super strong repellent for monsters of any kind. One spray can keep monsters away! Seriously, instantly the problem was solved :) Every night he grabs his spray (which is just water in a properly marked spray bottle) and sprays his closet, his bed, the corners of his room, and his bookshelf. I asked him why his bookshelf and he said, "because little monsters could hide in there mom" (along with a little eye roll that I didn't already know that). He even walks across the hall to give Ella's room a spray. What a thoughtful big brother :) Since he got his monster spray, he has not complained once and isn't scared to go to bed. Yay for us! No arguing, a little spray here, a little spray there, books, hugs, kisses and a little cuddle and that's it. He's sleeping tight :)....and that's where I'm headed now. Goodnight everyone!