New Year's Eve we got a call from Mr. Ella's youngest sister announcing her engagement! We we're so excited for her but a little bummed that she was getting married in North Carolina the beginning of March. For us that's a busy time at work so the likelihood of being able to get the time off wasn't good. Plus the wedding is in North Carolina and we're in Idaho which meant that we'd have to fly out there with 7 people. That's expensive and we don't have a lot of extra money right now. (Not only did I just have 3 crowns done but Louie needs 8 cavities filled.) So we kindly and regretfully announce we wouldn't be able to make it.
But just last week we got an email from Mr. Ella's aunt offering to help us out with expenses if we would fly out. This was prompted by Mr. Ella's grandfather's poor health and the fact that he's never even met most of our children. We still didn't think that we'd be able to make it happen due to work schedules. So, we prayed and talked it over. Now Mr. Ella is an accountant and the first 6 days of each month is used to close out the accounts of the previous month. Because it's such a critical part of his job, no one takes this time off. Well, Mr Ella went to his boss and explained the situation and was magically given the time off. Next, my work schedule cleared up too. One by one the obstacles in our way were falling away.
With everything falling into place, we spoke to the kids about the situation and we all agreed that we should go. So, we called up Mr. Ella's aunt to accept her offer and to let her know that not only would we be coming out for the wedding but that we'd be expanding our trip to a whole week and traveling up to Washington D.C. after the wedding to spend the rest of our time visiting with her and the rest of the family out there. She was so excited that she babbled for 5 minutes straight all the while crying. Needless to say, everyone else was very excited with our news too.
While I'm excited, this will be our first trip flying with all 7 of us. It's a little intimidating. Not only did we have to buy 6 airplane tickets but we have two layovers each way. I'm a little concerned about making sure all of us and our carry-on luggage makes it with us to each of the planes. Heaven help us if something important like a sippy cup or stuffed toy gets left behind. And during all of this, Mr. Ella and I some how have to keep each child entertained and fed so that no one is grumpy. As an added bonus, Louie and I get motion sick while Mr. Ella has ear issues that we hope won't be aggravated by the pressure inside the cabin.
All I can say is thank goodness for prayer. I will be praying, often, that everything will go smoothly and nothing important will get lost. Then I will plan, plan and plan some more. If anyone has any suggestions on traveling by air with a larger family, I would love to hear from you.
Ella
copyright Ella's Place
January 15, 2013
Bits and Pieces
1. Christmas was horrible and wonderful all at the same time.
2. Teeny brought me breakfast in bed. He is so sweet!
3. I went to the dentist and had no cavities. Yay me! On the flipside, I need 3 crowns.
4. I'm pretty sure O'Henry is left-handed.
5. It's official that Tater Tot and O'Henry are milk intolerant. They can eat ice cream, yogurt or cheese with no issues but give them a glass of milk and we have problems.
6. Sweet Cheeks has decided the she's going to "beat the freak" out of anyone who messes with her siblings again.
7. I'm slightly jealous of Tater Tot. Why? Because O'Henry loves him so much that he's the ONLY one to get hugs and kisses. I'm pretty sure that not even fair.
8. During our holiday vacations, Mr. Ella came to a realization of how much O'Henry gets into everything. In his opinion, O'Henry is worse than all of our other children put together.
9. I was speaking in Church this past Sunday and mentioned how much Mr. Ella hates clutter, at this point Teeny snorted loudly and said "Oh yeah!" The congregation roared with laughter while my son turned red. He thought he said it in his head inside of out loud. It was priceless.
10. Our weather out here is crazy! We stayed warm (40's- 50's) til right before Christmas and then it got cold and we had a white Christmas. Not even a month later, we had to cancel school because the high never got above -1 degrees F. Usually we don't hit temperatures this low til late January. It's insane!
Ella
copyright Ella's Place
2. Teeny brought me breakfast in bed. He is so sweet!
3. I went to the dentist and had no cavities. Yay me! On the flipside, I need 3 crowns.
4. I'm pretty sure O'Henry is left-handed.
5. It's official that Tater Tot and O'Henry are milk intolerant. They can eat ice cream, yogurt or cheese with no issues but give them a glass of milk and we have problems.
6. Sweet Cheeks has decided the she's going to "beat the freak" out of anyone who messes with her siblings again.
7. I'm slightly jealous of Tater Tot. Why? Because O'Henry loves him so much that he's the ONLY one to get hugs and kisses. I'm pretty sure that not even fair.
8. During our holiday vacations, Mr. Ella came to a realization of how much O'Henry gets into everything. In his opinion, O'Henry is worse than all of our other children put together.
9. I was speaking in Church this past Sunday and mentioned how much Mr. Ella hates clutter, at this point Teeny snorted loudly and said "Oh yeah!" The congregation roared with laughter while my son turned red. He thought he said it in his head inside of out loud. It was priceless.
10. Our weather out here is crazy! We stayed warm (40's- 50's) til right before Christmas and then it got cold and we had a white Christmas. Not even a month later, we had to cancel school because the high never got above -1 degrees F. Usually we don't hit temperatures this low til late January. It's insane!
Ella
copyright Ella's Place
November 27, 2012
Christmas To Go
Have I ever mentioned that my brother lives in Scotland? His wife is a Brit. She came over to get her masters in Kinesiology (dance) at the University of Utah and through a round about way met my brother (via mail). He was living in Italy and she just started writing him because my Aunt thought it was a good idea. The hunch turned out well. My brother actually proposed to her before he even met her. Sounds like a love song doesn't it.
Well he came home, they got married and moved over to England right before their little girl was born and eventually migrated over to Scotland. As you can imagine, it's been a while since I last saw them; almost 10 years. I haven't even met 2 nieces and 1 nephew yet. So I was excited when I found out they were coming over for a visit. But due to airline restrictions on pregnant women traveling, their visit will hit in the during Christmas.
I was really excited for them to visit until I realized that meant that we would have to travel down to Utah for Christmas. I mean we have our own traditions that are deeply ingrained in us. This is mainly due to my LOVE of all things Christmas. We have certain music that we listen to and food that I only make at this time of year. My children have already anxiously asked if my family will allow us to make the same food on Christmas Eve. Or if we'll still be able to have our birthday party for Jesus on Christmas day. Add all of this to the fact that we won't even have beds to sleep on and that we'll have to discreetly transport all of the gifts with us. Which also means that I have to coordinate with Santa about our new location so that he and Rudolph can deliver the children's gifts.
I'm a little stressed/depressed/frustrated.
Stressed because I have to figure all of the logistics out for my family while trying to make their experience a good one. Depressed because we don't get to have our beloved Christmas time together. And also because I probably won't get a single good night sleep the whole time. Frustrated that I'm going through all of this effort for a brother I love but don't really like.
I know that going down to spend this time with my family is the right thing to do. Who knows if this opportunity will ever happen again. But to be completely honest the main reason we're doing this is my Grandma. Having all of her kids, most of her grandkids and all of her great-grandkids in the same place for Christmas is her idea of heaven. And I love my Grandma enough to make this happen before she passes away.
There is a silver lining though. I get to see more of my best friend! We're even having a girl's night out; just the 2 of us watching crazy movies, eating junk and talking the night away! I. AM. SO. EXCITED.
Ella
copyright Ella's Place
Well he came home, they got married and moved over to England right before their little girl was born and eventually migrated over to Scotland. As you can imagine, it's been a while since I last saw them; almost 10 years. I haven't even met 2 nieces and 1 nephew yet. So I was excited when I found out they were coming over for a visit. But due to airline restrictions on pregnant women traveling, their visit will hit in the during Christmas.
I was really excited for them to visit until I realized that meant that we would have to travel down to Utah for Christmas. I mean we have our own traditions that are deeply ingrained in us. This is mainly due to my LOVE of all things Christmas. We have certain music that we listen to and food that I only make at this time of year. My children have already anxiously asked if my family will allow us to make the same food on Christmas Eve. Or if we'll still be able to have our birthday party for Jesus on Christmas day. Add all of this to the fact that we won't even have beds to sleep on and that we'll have to discreetly transport all of the gifts with us. Which also means that I have to coordinate with Santa about our new location so that he and Rudolph can deliver the children's gifts.
I'm a little stressed/depressed/frustrated.
Stressed because I have to figure all of the logistics out for my family while trying to make their experience a good one. Depressed because we don't get to have our beloved Christmas time together. And also because I probably won't get a single good night sleep the whole time. Frustrated that I'm going through all of this effort for a brother I love but don't really like.
I know that going down to spend this time with my family is the right thing to do. Who knows if this opportunity will ever happen again. But to be completely honest the main reason we're doing this is my Grandma. Having all of her kids, most of her grandkids and all of her great-grandkids in the same place for Christmas is her idea of heaven. And I love my Grandma enough to make this happen before she passes away.
There is a silver lining though. I get to see more of my best friend! We're even having a girl's night out; just the 2 of us watching crazy movies, eating junk and talking the night away! I. AM. SO. EXCITED.
Ella
copyright Ella's Place
November 15, 2012
We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together
In September Teeny discovered a girl in his class had a crush on him. Which wasn't a bad thing because it turned out that he had a crush on her too. This of course meant that they were "going together" or whatever they're calling it in elementary school these days. Coincidentally, this girl's brother is in the same Cub scout troop as Teeny and the following Thursday was Pack meeting. This meant that I got to meet her. I was excited to see who had caught my son's eye. She was pretty and seemed nice but she was hanging all over my son the entire time. She was obviously twitterpatted. I thought it seemed a tad excessive for the age but I found out later that she's 11, which explains a whole lot about her behavior.
Have I mentioned that Teeny turned 9 at the end of the summer?
Well, a week or so went by and suddenly this girl decided that she no longer liked him. Which is normal for the age. I didn't think anything of it. I consoled my son and moved on. Until he mentioned that she was now being mean to him. I guess she wasn't okay that he wasn't pining for her. I advised him to just ignore her. He replied that it was a little hard to since she now sits by him.
Later we were on a date and Taylor Swift's latest hit came on the radio. Teeny started singing along and then inspiration struck. I teasingly told him that he should sing this song to her to let her know he was so over her and the way she was treating him. We laughed and forgot about. That is until he came home from school the next Monday with a huge grin on his face. Yup, he actually did it. On the walk home from school Graham had started singing "We are never ever getting....." to her. As you can guess, she was ticked.
Let's just say this song came out at the perfect time.
While I find the whole situation funny, I fear that I might have sent the wrong message to my son. Have a taught him to treat his "exes" poorly? Or have I taught him that it's okay to stand up for himself in a non mean way? What do you think?
Ella
copyright Ella's Place
Have I mentioned that Teeny turned 9 at the end of the summer?
Well, a week or so went by and suddenly this girl decided that she no longer liked him. Which is normal for the age. I didn't think anything of it. I consoled my son and moved on. Until he mentioned that she was now being mean to him. I guess she wasn't okay that he wasn't pining for her. I advised him to just ignore her. He replied that it was a little hard to since she now sits by him.
Later we were on a date and Taylor Swift's latest hit came on the radio. Teeny started singing along and then inspiration struck. I teasingly told him that he should sing this song to her to let her know he was so over her and the way she was treating him. We laughed and forgot about. That is until he came home from school the next Monday with a huge grin on his face. Yup, he actually did it. On the walk home from school Graham had started singing "We are never ever getting....." to her. As you can guess, she was ticked.
Let's just say this song came out at the perfect time.
While I find the whole situation funny, I fear that I might have sent the wrong message to my son. Have a taught him to treat his "exes" poorly? Or have I taught him that it's okay to stand up for himself in a non mean way? What do you think?
Ella
copyright Ella's Place
November 6, 2012
I Voted for Mitt Romney
I'm not a particularly political-minded person. Don't get me wrong, I like to keep up on the current issues and exercise my right to vote on a regular basis. I just don't care for the "politics" of politics. I also don't care for the hurt feelings that tend to happen when people have differing opinions on the matter at hand. Because of this, I wasn't going to say anything about the Presidential election that's happening today. But I feel that I must. So here's your warning: political opinions are expressed below.
I voted for Mitt Romney. I stood in line with my two youngest children for 20 minutes, checked in, received my voting ticket and voted. I contemplated waiting to vote til I could go by myself; no children. But as I thought about it, I decided that I wanted my children to see me vote for various reasons. I made the right decision because Tater Tot was quit sad that he didn't get to "bote" too.
I voted for Mitt Romney for several different reasons. I'd like to share those reasons with you on the small off chance that one person might be reading this undecided. I know it's highly unlikely to happen but I'm doing it just the same.
1. I voted for Mitt Romney because I believe that he has a better grasp at how our economy works. While the economy wasn't in the best shape when President Obama came into office, he has shown his lack of understanding by more than doubling our national debt in just a few years. The national debt incurred by President Obama alone is greater than the debt incurred by all of the other 42 Presidents of the United States of America. For some reason he thought it was advisable to put our country into more debt to pull our economy out of the recession than was needed to be incurred to pull our nation's economy out of the Great Depression. I don't believe that the debt President Obama incurred was justifiable based on the current state of our economy at this time. In fact, President Obama's actions goes against all tenants of our free market economy.
2. I voted for Mitt Romney because I believe in the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman. That being said, I do not think people who are homosexual are bad people. I don't. They are like any other socio-economic group of people, they range from amazing to not-nice-at-all. While I believe that marriage should be reserved for a man and a woman, I also believe that those in the LGBT community should be able to have some legal rights in relationships as well. I support civil unions for anyone in the LGBT community who wants to make that long-term commitment. Because of this belief and President Obama's approval of gay marriage, I support Mitt Romney.
These are just two reasons out of several of why I voted for Mitt Romney. If you want to know more, ask me.
If you take nothing else from this post, please vote. Whatever you believe or whoever you think is the best candidate for the job, vote. Voting is a precious gift that we have. Please use it.
Ella
copyright Ella's Place
I voted for Mitt Romney. I stood in line with my two youngest children for 20 minutes, checked in, received my voting ticket and voted. I contemplated waiting to vote til I could go by myself; no children. But as I thought about it, I decided that I wanted my children to see me vote for various reasons. I made the right decision because Tater Tot was quit sad that he didn't get to "bote" too.
I voted for Mitt Romney for several different reasons. I'd like to share those reasons with you on the small off chance that one person might be reading this undecided. I know it's highly unlikely to happen but I'm doing it just the same.
1. I voted for Mitt Romney because I believe that he has a better grasp at how our economy works. While the economy wasn't in the best shape when President Obama came into office, he has shown his lack of understanding by more than doubling our national debt in just a few years. The national debt incurred by President Obama alone is greater than the debt incurred by all of the other 42 Presidents of the United States of America. For some reason he thought it was advisable to put our country into more debt to pull our economy out of the recession than was needed to be incurred to pull our nation's economy out of the Great Depression. I don't believe that the debt President Obama incurred was justifiable based on the current state of our economy at this time. In fact, President Obama's actions goes against all tenants of our free market economy.
2. I voted for Mitt Romney because I believe in the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman. That being said, I do not think people who are homosexual are bad people. I don't. They are like any other socio-economic group of people, they range from amazing to not-nice-at-all. While I believe that marriage should be reserved for a man and a woman, I also believe that those in the LGBT community should be able to have some legal rights in relationships as well. I support civil unions for anyone in the LGBT community who wants to make that long-term commitment. Because of this belief and President Obama's approval of gay marriage, I support Mitt Romney.
These are just two reasons out of several of why I voted for Mitt Romney. If you want to know more, ask me.
If you take nothing else from this post, please vote. Whatever you believe or whoever you think is the best candidate for the job, vote. Voting is a precious gift that we have. Please use it.
Ella
copyright Ella's Place
October 19, 2012
Little Known Facts About Me
1. I randomly break out in dance everywhere I go much to the dismay of Mr. Ella.
2. I got a butter dish the first Christmas I was married. That's it. Don't worry, that's all I asked for.
3. In middle school, I missed my bus and my Dad made me walk to school. It took 2 hours and I had to cross a major highway. I didn't mind though. It was a good walk. I spent the entire time making up and singing silly songs.
4. In high school, I once dressed up as an enormous apple and sang "New York, New York."
5. I've had 5 children but have never been "in labor." All of my children were born via C-section. I blame it on Teeny. He was butt and feet first and refused to budge when they tried to move him externally. With Louie, the hospital insurance refused to cover a v-bac (or vaginal birth after a c-section) so I had another c-section. And after her, we just stuck with it.
6. I still sleep with my blanket from childhold. Not to be confused as my blankie though; that I slept with all the way into high school until my brother took scissors to it in an act of meaness. I deemed it prudent to store it in my cedar chest after that incident. At that point I pulled out my Seasame Street blanket that had been made for me as an infant. I've slept with it ever since. Except for the year that Louie stole it from me but don't worry, I took it back.
7. I love the theatre! I love being in plays. I love going to see plays.
8. I played a french maid a la Comedia de la Arte in college. I'm a natural flirt and shy. It made for some fun times.
9. I get along with guys much better than I do girls.
10. I once was an extra on the tv show "Promised Land." I was on camera for all of 5 seconds. We filmed on a winters day in an abandoned school. It made for a very cold 8 hours.
11. I randomly break out in song too.
Ella
copyright Ella's Place
2. I got a butter dish the first Christmas I was married. That's it. Don't worry, that's all I asked for.
3. In middle school, I missed my bus and my Dad made me walk to school. It took 2 hours and I had to cross a major highway. I didn't mind though. It was a good walk. I spent the entire time making up and singing silly songs.
4. In high school, I once dressed up as an enormous apple and sang "New York, New York."
5. I've had 5 children but have never been "in labor." All of my children were born via C-section. I blame it on Teeny. He was butt and feet first and refused to budge when they tried to move him externally. With Louie, the hospital insurance refused to cover a v-bac (or vaginal birth after a c-section) so I had another c-section. And after her, we just stuck with it.
6. I still sleep with my blanket from childhold. Not to be confused as my blankie though; that I slept with all the way into high school until my brother took scissors to it in an act of meaness. I deemed it prudent to store it in my cedar chest after that incident. At that point I pulled out my Seasame Street blanket that had been made for me as an infant. I've slept with it ever since. Except for the year that Louie stole it from me but don't worry, I took it back.
7. I love the theatre! I love being in plays. I love going to see plays.
8. I played a french maid a la Comedia de la Arte in college. I'm a natural flirt and shy. It made for some fun times.
9. I get along with guys much better than I do girls.
10. I once was an extra on the tv show "Promised Land." I was on camera for all of 5 seconds. We filmed on a winters day in an abandoned school. It made for a very cold 8 hours.
11. I randomly break out in song too.
Ella
copyright Ella's Place
October 11, 2012
Finally!
I finally have a moment to myself and thought that since you've been neglected for far too long, I'd sit down and let you know that I haven't forgotten you. I've been adjusting to our new schedule with school starting (They've been in school for one month now!), O'Henry's I-have-to-touch-climb-eat-everything-now stage and everyone hitting a growth spurt so they're eating all the time. It may not sound like a lot but between getting homework done, hearing about all the drama at school, trying to fit in time to go play with their friends, Cubscouts and getting school stuff set out the night before we hardly have any down time.
And then there's O'Henry.
He went from swaying as he walked one day to climbing up on top of the dining room table and pelting everyone with crackers the next day. He is into absolutely everything! I'm used to all the kids sort of keeping an eye on him but now that they're all at school, it's just me. It's exhausting. Especially since Tater tot seems to be in cahoots with him. The other day I found O'Henry playing in the pot cupboard with Tater tot sitting around him whilst he poured the salt shaker all over him. It looked like he'd been out in a blizzard. And they have this little sensor in their head that tells them when Mommy begins to pull up her blog. Let's just say that there have been many times I've attempted to write but was interrupted with a situation that required my immediate attention.
Can I just say how grateful I am that they've managed to coordinate their nap time today!
The other day I made 36 muffins and 2 loaves of zucchini bread on in addition to all of the regular meals. Within 12 hours we only had 12 muffins left. My mind still has a hard time wrapping around it. Teeny is complaining constantly of being hungry. O'Henry is so hungry that if I don't read his mind quick enough, he goes scrounging in the garbage for food. And since that's gross, I've had to start feeding him every 30 minutes or so just to keep him out.
Have I ever mentioned that Mr. Ella gets super grumpy and mean whenever he's hungry? And have I ever mentioned how he passed this trait on to all of our children? So if anyone is super dramatic or grumpy, we feed them. Within 15 minutes we have a peaceful household again.
On the plus side, the food I make is always appreciated! Which makes me feel special.
Ella
copyright Ella's Place
And then there's O'Henry.
He went from swaying as he walked one day to climbing up on top of the dining room table and pelting everyone with crackers the next day. He is into absolutely everything! I'm used to all the kids sort of keeping an eye on him but now that they're all at school, it's just me. It's exhausting. Especially since Tater tot seems to be in cahoots with him. The other day I found O'Henry playing in the pot cupboard with Tater tot sitting around him whilst he poured the salt shaker all over him. It looked like he'd been out in a blizzard. And they have this little sensor in their head that tells them when Mommy begins to pull up her blog. Let's just say that there have been many times I've attempted to write but was interrupted with a situation that required my immediate attention.
Can I just say how grateful I am that they've managed to coordinate their nap time today!
The other day I made 36 muffins and 2 loaves of zucchini bread on in addition to all of the regular meals. Within 12 hours we only had 12 muffins left. My mind still has a hard time wrapping around it. Teeny is complaining constantly of being hungry. O'Henry is so hungry that if I don't read his mind quick enough, he goes scrounging in the garbage for food. And since that's gross, I've had to start feeding him every 30 minutes or so just to keep him out.
Have I ever mentioned that Mr. Ella gets super grumpy and mean whenever he's hungry? And have I ever mentioned how he passed this trait on to all of our children? So if anyone is super dramatic or grumpy, we feed them. Within 15 minutes we have a peaceful household again.
On the plus side, the food I make is always appreciated! Which makes me feel special.
Ella
copyright Ella's Place
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