Derby Parade

There has been tons of festivities going on because of the Kentucky Derby.  Since this is our first time being in Kentucky for it, we thought we would try and experience as much as we could.  We decided to go downtown for the big derby parade.  It was so crowded but we had a good time.  Ella loved the big balloons and all of the horses.  She kept trying to escape so she could run out and touch them.  We were clear in the back of all the crowd because we were late (I blame Brad), so the pictures aren't wonderful...

Ella and Dad at the beginning of the parade

Ella and I at the parade

I had to post this guy's shirt.  If you can't see it very well its martini glasses and shakers and olives on toothpicks.  And an occasional girl sitting in a martini glass.  I guess it's his "derby shirt" and pulled it out for the special occasion.  I thought it was funny.    

Crafting :)

The other day my neighbor Brandy...who will be leaving me in the dust in a month :( ... came down to my apartment and said, "We need to do a craft project!"  I have a Cricket machine and some vinyl and have been wanting to do a wall hanging so we set off to a Goodwill store to see what we could find.  Brandy found this awesome frame that was white and had an old ABC's bored in it.  We took out the ABC's, painted the frame, and cut out this cute Dr. Suess saying in vinyl.  I think it turned out just lovely!  I decided that I wanted this saying up on my wall with all of my family pictures.  It's what my wall has been missing!  Thanks Brandy for all your help (She practically came up with the whole idea)!

Dr. Seuss is so clever isn't he!

Although my wall is not yet complete, it is the perfect addition

Corn-Hole Fun

Earlier in the week we played Corn-Hole with some neighbor friends for family night.  I had never heard about this game until a few weeks ago.  I have to admit, I was a sceptic.  I mean, can tossing a bag of corn at a big board with a hole cut out of it really be all that fun?  Well, I am here to tell you that it is!  I am officially hooked on Corn-Hole!  Thanks Shepherd's for letting us come and play :)

Ella, Brad and Mike getting ready to toss!

An action shot of Mike...Nice form!

The Cheerleaders: Kim and Kira, Jamie, Xander and Travis

A Kind Gesture

Well, if you haven't noticed in the past two days, gas has jumped up ridiculously high...$3.68/gallon the last time I checked.  As usual, our car was on empty so Brad went to fill it up on his way home from school yesterday.  For some reason the pumps at the gas station weren't working right and wouldn't read anybody's card to pay at the pump.  Brad went into the gas station to pre-pay (that was the only option).  He went back outside and started filling up.  The total was something like 50 dollars.  He went back inside to finish up paying and apparently his pump was the only one that would work.  One of the managers at the store kept trying to look to see if it had charged our card but he couldn't find it anywhere.  It was pretty crowded in the gas station and some lady came in and was complaining about another problem.  Brad waited patiently and finally the guy said, "Your good, man.  I can't find it anywhere so don't worry about it." He was so surprised but was like, "OK."  Brad said he was so happy he sang all the way home in the car and smiled and waved at everybody.  We were so excited to get a free tank of gas and really grateful to the man at the gas station!    

Spring has Sprung!

We are finally having some beautiful weather and the trees are in bloom.  I am loving it!  I have also been working on my "green thumb."  I wanted to plant something.  For some reason I feel you can get so much satisfaction when you make something grow!  Unfortunately, I have not had much success at gardening in the past.  I am always willing to try though...I don't know why!  Anyway, I went to Target to look at their "dollar spot" (I love this section.  There is always a bunch of fun things for only a dollar!) and found these flower growing kits.  It came with soil, seeds, and the cutest, tiniest pot you've ever seen!  Well, I took it home and planted the seeds and watered it diligently everyday...except for one day that I forgot.  One day, after about a week of watering, I went to check on my seedlings and to my surprise they were sprouting!  I was so proud of myself.  Here is a picture of my accomplishment! 

This is a picture of the trees at our apartment building.  We always sing "Popcorn Popping" to Ella.  Now we can actually show her what we are singing about!

Ella in the Flowers

Another eventful day at the zoo!  I really wanted to get some pictures of Ella in this gorgeous field of flowers at the Zoo.  They have just recently bloomed and I didn't know how long they would be looking so beautiful.  It was supposed to be nearly 75 degrees today, so me and some other moms packed up for the zoo.  Boy was it crowded!!  Silly me, didn't realize how busy it would be during Jefferson County public school's spring break.  Even so, we fought the crowd and I feel satisfied that I was able to get the pictures that I wanted.  Hopefully my neighbor Brandy (the Real photographer) got some even better pictures.  Here are just a few that I snapped!

This is a rare sight...Ella smiling for a picture!  Normally she just gives me a blank stare.  Such a funny girl!

I love this picture!  She looks like she is pondering in a field of 

flowers :)

I had to post this picture because I thought it was so sweet of Tessa to put up with Ella's clingyness.  She doesn't look too annoyed, 

does she?

All the kiddo's at the Zoo.  As you can see, none of them really look all that excited to be having their pictures taken.  But us moms made them sit there anyway!

Who is that?

I told you that we were bored to death this week!!  This is what happens when you are stuck inside...you get loopy!  We had some fun with "Photo Booth" on our computer.  You choose different functions to totally distort your face.  It is hilarious!  If you are ever in need of a good laugh, come on over and play with "Photo Booth."  

Even Ella was joining in the fun!

This is personally my favorite.  I call this one "Check out the booty on that girl!"

Ode to Gymboree Bubbles

So, unfortunately we have had a very slow week and by slow I mean extra boring and full of school work.  Fortunately, a couple of weeks ago we went to the mall and picked up some bubbles from Gymboree.  I learned from Music Makers (a group of Mom's and kids that get together at the Stake Center and sing songs and read stories) that Gymboree has the best bubbles, so of course I had to get some.  Because of our super boredness we decided to try out our Gymboree bubbles in the house.  I do not recommend this because it made the carpet all sticky and we had a bunch of bubble goo in our hair.  Aside from all of the stickiness, we had fun with our new bubbles.  When we got up the next morning there were still some bubbles left on our kitchen table and chairs!  They really are good bubbles!  Since our camera doesn't take good pictures inside when there isn't much light, we only got like one good picture...