She's a Two-ot

Another year has passed, and I would say it was a success. Ella is extremely headstrong, mischevious, fears nothing, and has a mind of her own. Quite frankly, I still do not know how to parent that type of kid. I foresee a lot of nights reading The Strong-Willed Child. She is so opinionated for a two year old. Her favorite thing to say is "No!" That's followed by a tantrum and then she usually comes around. I still say that if she'd been born first she'd be an only child. But really the sweetest thing is how much she loves her sister. She goes to her when she's in trouble or gets her feelings hurt. She repeats everything she says. So, here's to another year of learning, growing, and laughing. Unless I pull all of my hair out first.

Trick or Treat

This year we met up with 2 families in our small group to trick or treat, and it was by far the best time we've had on Halloween. The girls raked in tons of candy and ate their way down the street at the end of the night. Full-sized candy bars for the kids were definitely a treat.

Annual Pumpkin Patch Pics

The girls' school had their annual visit to the pumpkin patch today. They loved the longhorns (the only time we as OSU fans like longhorns), the hayride, and eating the animal food (wanna guess which kid sampled that?) By next year, I'm hopeful I can get a picture of both girls together, but it just dawned on me that Amelia will be in kindergarten and won't be able to go with us. Ok, I'm going to sit in a dark corner and rock back and forth now...

Practice makes perfect, I hope

You can tell it's picture day at school when Ella is wearing a bow and Amelia has perfectly straight hair. Say, "Cheese!" Or as Amelia corrected me, say, "Princess!"

90 degrees=Fall in Texas

The girls love our neighborhood park so we've gone a few times in the past couple of weeks. It's still hot but it keeps them from tearing up the house for at least 30 minutes. In other news, I am beyond sick of summer clothes, especially Amelia's since she has worn them for 2 summers. I brought down fall clothes from the attic for Ella hoping that might bring on a cool front but a cool front seems to be upper 80s. Seriously, why are all fall clothes long sleeved? Such a pet peeve of mine. Anyway, the girls love school and Ella hasn't been kicked out yet. In fact, she is so quiet and well behaved. I would think she wasn't my kid but she doesn't eat anything there, so that's normal. She'll be 2 in a month and I've hardly given a thought to planning a party. Oops!

The Day I've Been Looking Forward to Since May 20

It's an exciting day in the Thompson house! And might I add quiet as well. There were tons of smiles, no tears, and just the mention of the word "snack" got Ella in her chair. By the way, for those of you who have read my blog for a while, the little boy in the bottom left corner of Ella's table pic is Asher's little brother. You know, the Asher Amelia used to kiss in this exact same classroom Ella is in now. I told Ella's teacher to keep them apart. I want no issues this year! Hopefully, the rest of the day (and year) will be smooth sailing for these two girls. They were ready, and so was their mama!

End of Summer Soirees

We party when all the big kids are back in school. And by party, I mean Gatti Town and the Aquarium.

We were one of the very few at Gatti Town the day we went. Most of the other people were people on their lunch breaks from work with no kids. Weird.

We love the Aquarium because there is so much more to see than just fish. The girls liked seeing the monkeys, feeding the birds, and of course they liked all the fish as well.

We are all super excited about school starting tomorrow. We successfully met the teachers and Ella didn't hit/shove/bite any other kids during our visit, which is always a good sign. And, Amelia has 3 other girls in her class for a change!

It was the longest summer of my life, and we all almost melted. Here's to cooler temperatures and lots of learning!