Labor Day

The last few years we've been fortunate to spend Labor Day at the lake, but this year, we hung low at home and were thrilled that our family came to visit!

A Rainy Day

We were so thankful for many many hours of solid rain last weekend!  And it was the perfect excuse to stay in our pajamas all day until we finally ventured outside around 4:30pm!

Late evening swim

The other night after church, Michael and Ella decided to have a cannon ball contest to knock some of the water out of the pool!

Easton was cold so he opted to sit back and watch football.

Hair

We've come a long way from the baby "crazy hair" days that can be remembered here and here, but Ella still gets regular comments on her hair.  

It grows so long and beautiful with the perfect wave and highlights.  She's a lucky girl!

It's crossed my mind at times to cut it, for the sake of ease, but it's really not that hard to take care of and she never complains so I don't think we're ready for any drastic changes.  

For now, we'll just continue our regular trims.

Easton's 4-wheeler

Once Ella got her new BIG 4-wheeler, Easton's small one quickly become much LESS exciting.  

He often had this look on his face as he watched Ella race away...

The family had mentioned getting the same one (in red and black) for Easton for Christmas, and I figured that would be a perfect Christmas gift for him.

BUT....as soon as Grandpa heard how much Easton was loving Ella's, he couldn't stand it any longer.  Within a week, they pulled up to our house with this brand new 4-wheeler for Easton, surprising us all!  

To say Easton was excited, is an understatement.  He loves this thing more than anything!  Even though he certainly didn't need it now, he is very thankful for it.  And I guess it's okay for my kids to be spoiled by their grandparents now and then! ;)

Everyday after school the kids don't even come inside.  They stay outside riding their bikes and 

4-wheelers and they love getting to do it together!  I often see them park right next to each other in the driveway while they go off for a "show" or to "Target" or something else.  They are having so much fun with their new toys.

Earrings for Ella!!

On Sunday after Ella woke up from her nap, all four of us were laying in my bed, watching golf with Daddy, and Ella randomly said, "Mommy, I want to get my ears pierced today!"  I was surprised since we hadn't even talked about it in a couple of weeks.  She has been talking about it here and there so I knew she was interested, but I haven't brought it up at all.  It was always my intention to let her get her ears pierced whenever she wanted and I knew one day she would ask me.  To my surprise, Sunday ended up being that day!

It worked out well since Daddy was home from work, and we could all four go with her.  I didn't make a big deal out of it...she told me that she knew it would hurt a little bit and that's all that was said. 

So we made her first ever visit to Claire's... 

First she had the big task of choosing her new earrings...she chose small pink rhinestones.

And then she was all smiles, not one ounce of nerves! She asked me a couple of times how they would do it and I just brushed it off as if I didn't really know.  

She listened very intently as the lady told her how to take care of them.

When the two girls were right up on her just about to pierce the ears, her face looked a bit nervous but she just stared at me and before she knew it, it was over!  She immediately started crying...it hurt worse than she expected.

But less than a minute and the pain was quickly gone and she was thrilled to see her new earrings!

The whole experience happened so fast and it was so unexpected that we just did it without thinking much about it, which was a good thing!  Afterwards I actually got a little emotional thinking about what a big girl she is becoming.  I was so proud of her for wanting to do it and for handling it so well!  And ever since she has done such an amazing job reminding me to clean them 2-3 times a day and she hasn't complained once.

Afterwards we celebrated at Ella's favorite restaurant!