View from my window...

Icicles everywhere
This was before the last big snow

Beautiful...

but cold.

Today is Ella's birthday. She is 3. Every year, on their birthdays, I wake my kids up with a cake, lit candles, and a happy birthday song. Then they are allowed to eat the cake for breakfast.Needless to say, they love it.

Especially this girl.

I am having a hard time believing that my baby is already 3. Ella is a wonder. She has grown up so much in this last year. She talks a mile a minute and I often say that your ears can bleed just from being around her for too long. She is extremely opinionated about everything. My boys never cared what they wore (still don't), what they ate, what their room looked like, etc... My daughter, on the other hand, has very specific ideas about herself and her personal space. She has recently decided that she only likes to wear dresses and she changes clothes about 20 times a day. She can deconstruct a room in seconds if left to her own devices. This year she decided that she no longer wanted to be called "lala" (as she did all of last year) but would like to be called "Ella Bella". In fact, she would not answer you if you didn't call her "Ella Bella" for the longest time. I am so glad that is over now. She has also recently decided that she no longer likes the murals in her room and would like it to be PINK. Lord help me. She asks me every day when we will be painting her room pink and installing the "princess bed" that she would like. I have no idea what that is supposed to be but only that she is sure she will love it. She is her own person in every respect. Totally different from my sons, totally different from me. I love that about her but it is also the source of much frustration sometimes.

So on her actual birthday, we had our morning cake and we took her out to a dinner of her choice (and, let me tell you, she had opinions about this as well) and I forgot the camera. Her actual party won't be until February as we like to separate it from Christmas a little bit. My big girl...

It's a few weeks after Christmas and I am seriously craving a candy cane. I mean...you spend 3 weeks eating candy canes and then, all of a sudden, you are just supposed to quit...cold turkey. So I send my husband to the store for A BOX of candy canes. This is what he returned with. (they were on sale he says) I mean seriously people. I need to send him down to have a talk with my Mii.

Why is it that you cannot send your husband to the store for one thing...EVER.

So, the other day, Ella played "dress up" with Shawn and dressed him in her coat.
I swear this kid has a future in acting. He is so funny.

Then again...she is pretty funny too.

But not as funny as this guy!

Wii Fit

So...this is what I got for Christmas. Oh, I wanted it. At least I thought I did.

Everyone kept telling me how much FUN it was and how you didn't even realize you were working out. That sounded perfect for me since I never wanted to realize I was working out EVER.

Back when we first got the Wii for the boys, they created little Mii's for everyone including me. Of course, they made my Mii a nice petitie Mii (those boys know who holds the purse strings around here). So I sign on and the Wii finds my Mii and I run through the sign in parts up to the weigh in. I get on that blasted board and all of a sudden, my Mii gets a whole lot chunkier...(OK, I know it is more realistic but I like living in denial OK!) Then, as if that weren't bad enough, the Mii makes this sad sound like...WAAA, WAAA, WAAA and shakes it's head. Alrighty then.

Now, every time I get on the thing, which of course is not as often as IT thinks I should, I get to hear that blasted sound and the head shaking thing. Who knew you could get so much guilt from your electronics. Boy am I glad I asked for the Wii!