Friday, December 26, 2008

Merry Christmas!!!


Christmas Morning

Once again we sort of had two different Christmas mornings. Connor woke up early and couldn't wait to open his presents, and we couldn't get Ella to wake up, so we let him open his presents and then she opened hers once she was awake enough to realize Santa had come. Connor got a new guitar for Christmas that he was wanting really badly. He also got some video games, a guitar strap, and a few other things...he's definitely reached an age where he gets one major present and just a few smaller ones. Ella got a mini trampoline (which she has almost worn out already), a swing for her baby, a new chair, some new princess outfits and accessories, and a tumbling mat along with a few other little things. Connor also got a BB gun, rip stick, a small video camera, and a megaladon tooth. Ella got a Princess vanity, a new doll house, a princess castle, a cupcake maker, and a new baby. All in all everyone got too much and now I need to have a yard sale for all the "old" toys no longer being played with! :-)


And the joke's on.....CONNOR!

Our kids always get to open one present on Christmas Eve and it's always the same...new Christmas PJ's. This year David and I played a joke on Connor and got him Spiderman pajamas that actually have feet in them...they were like the little kid footy pajamas. They were terrible!!! Why they make those type of PJ's in a size 12 is still a mystery to us, but we wrapped up a pair for Connor like they were really his new Christmas PJ's. He took it much better than we thought he would and he even agreed to try them on...after he came out in them we finally let him in on the joke. He was very relieved that we were kidding. He told us that we might as well have gotten him a pink bunny suit (those of you familiar with the movie A Christmas Story will understand what he was talking about!). I did ask his permission before posting the pictures below...he thought it was pretty funny once we let him in on the joke.

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Christmas with the Gwins & Bullards

For some reason Ella was acting shy when all the Gwins were over for Christmas...she attached herself to her uncle Barry (my dad's brother) and made him carry her everywhere. She even made him help her open her presents! She and Connor enjoyed playing with the moon sand they got...I enjoyed cleaning it up...
Christmas with the Bullards (my mom's family) wasn't as wild as usual this year, but with 18-20 people there it's always busy! Connor enjoyed hanging out with Paige and Clara and Ella enjoyed playing on Andrew's drums and singing Karaoke with the girls.

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Guitar Showcase

Connor began taking guitar lessons this past June from a high school classmate of mine, Chuck Cleckler. They just had their first showcase (I'm told that when you take guitar lessons it is not cool to call it a recital). I'm going to try to load a video below of him playing one of his songs...Connor is sitting on the left so I couldn't film him well from where I was sitting, but you can still hear. He and the other two kids are playing Paranoid by Black Sabbath (Ozzie).

"The GRIZ" Division 1AA National Championship Game

David, Connor and I went to Chattanooga to watch the Montana Grizzlies play in the 1AA Championship game. We left Friday afternoon, watched the game that night, spent the night in Chattanooga and had to be back in Birmingham at 9:00 am the next morning for Connor's basketball game. We had a good time, but unfortunately Montana lost...badly. We did meet a few Griz fans that also live in Birmingham. It was amazing how many fans the Griz brought with them from Montana...they had around 10,000 people there. The championship game for this division is held in Chattanooga every year. This is the second time we've made the trip to watch the Griz since we moved back to Alabama. Unfortunately they've lost both times...we're beginning to think we're bad luck! :-)

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Space Shuttle Endeavor Launch & Sea World - Orlando

We took a road trip to the Orlando/Cape Canaveral area this weekend to watch a night launch of the Space Shuttle Endeavor...it was supposedly NASA's last night launch of a shuttle before they retire them in 2010. It was absolutely INCREDIBLE!!! It was probably the neatest thing I have ever seen. We stayed right across the river from the Kennedy Space Center and were able to watch the launch from the roof of our car. The kids really thought it was cool. Connor was astonished at the amount of 'fire' coming from the shuttle. I don't think he really understood ahead of time what exactly he was going to be seeing. Ella's comment was, "Whoa! That's awesome!" Of course, she didn't really know what was going on...all she new was that we were going to see a "rocket" blast off. It lit up the entire sky! Check out the pictures below where it went beside where the moon was rising. (For those of you that don't know...if you click on any of the pictures they will enlarge.) We also took a video of the launch...if I can figure out how to put it on here I will.
On Saturday we took the kids to Sea World. It was a lot of fun and the kids enjoyed it. We watched the Shamu show and also went to a dolphin show. The Shamu show was really cool. It's amazing to me that they can train those animals to do all those tricks. After the show Connor talked to one of the trainers. He first came and watched a show when he was around Connor's age and now he helps train the whales and performs in the show. Ella took her first roller coaster ride and loved it. Other than that all she wanted out of the day was to eat Cotton Candy. During the entire Shamu show she kept asking, "Is it over yet? Can I get some cotton candy?" She was completely unimpressed with the whole day (other than the cotton candy, of course). We also got to pet/touch rays. They had a huge pool of them and they would swim right by your hand and let you touch them. David even had a good time doing that. Connor thought it was fun too. Ella, however, declared that they were "stinky" and wouldn't touch them. All in all it was a great weekend...we did A LOT of driving, watched a little history taking place, saw some really big "fishies" and had a whole lot of fun!

Friday, October 31, 2008

Happy Halloween!!!

The kids had a great time trick or treating. Connor's friend Evan came to spend the night and our cousin Clara and her friend Sara Kate came to trick or treat. Connor always likes to dress up as something scary, but this year Ella decided she wanted to be scary too. At first she wanted to be a shadow, but then decided she wanted to be a skeleton...princess by day, skeleton by night! Connor's mask was really creepy looking but it was really hot. At the end of the night he took it off and Ella decided she liked it better than hers. The kids made a good haul on candy and they all had fun trading it back and forth for their favorites.

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Ella's Preschool Halloween Party

Ella had her first party at school today. Here she is with her friends Bridget, Brooks, and Kenlee.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Swim Lessons

Ella started swim lessons at the YMCA this month. She loves her instructor, Mr. Blake. During the first class it took him about 10 minutes to get her off the steps, but by the end of class she was jumping off the side (to him) and going under the water. She's still really hesitant, but she's getting more comfortable. I have a feeling we'll be taking lessons throughout the winter.

Camping at the Farm

This past weekend almost the whole Bullard clan (my mom's family) went to 'the Farm" to camp. My uncle, David, owns the land and it's in Gadsden where my grandad grew up...it's actually his old home place. We had 15 people in 4 campers along with 4 motorcycles, 3 four wheelers, and two golf carts to keep us entertained. We also celebrated my cousin Clara's 10th birthday over the weekend.
Connor recently got a new motorcycle and enjoyed getting the feel of it. This bike is a "real" bike with a clutch and a kick start. He's really gotten the hang of changing gears with a clutch. We thought it would take him a while to get use to it, but he took right off. I don't have many good pictures of him because he was never still. Between the motorcycle, 4-wheeler, and golf carts he was always riding or driving something. He had a blast riding with all the other kids (and adults) while we were there.

Ella LOVED riding the 4-wheeler and the golf carts. Someone had to ride her almost constantly. She liked riding with her uncle David and uncle Keith the most because they would ride her fast. She had such a good time and stayed covered in dirt most of the weekend. I did manage to get her to let me take a few pictures of her on the old front steps of my grandad's house that he grew up in. I also took some of her in the old fireplace. All that is left of the house is the front steps, the fireplace/chimney and the old well.

Almost everyone took a turn on the motorcycles. Clara learned to ride Connor's old bike (center-right). Paige learned to ride my bike (Bottom-left, bottom-center). Of course, David (center-center) rode his bike and Keith and Andrew did as well. My aunt also rode my bike (bottom-right) and Connor's original tiny bike too. I have some great pictures of Jamie on the kiddie bike with a little kids helmet perched on top of her head, but she threatened me so I wouldn't put them on here. All in all it was a GREAT weekend!!!



Sunday, October 5, 2008

Dauphin Island Sea Lab Field Trip

Connor's RLC class took a field trip to the Dauphin Island Sea Lab down on the Gulf Coast. Dauphin Island is a barrier island at the mouth of Mobile Bay. We spent 3 days there and the kids got to do a lot of really neat things! We toured the Estuarium where we saw all kinds of different fish as well as a nurse shark and an octopus. During our beach walk we learned about different kinds of jellyfish...the one pictured above is called a moon jelly and doesn't have much of a sting. The kids touched it and even picked it up! We also took a hike through the maritime forest and visited Indian Mound Park and searched for pieces of pottery.
The next day we got to visit Fort Gaines, which helped guard the mouth of Mobile Bay during the Civil War. We had a really informative tour guide who taught us all about the fort...he even shot a musket and a cannon for us. During one of our labs the kids got to inspect lots of different sea creatures that had been preserved. Notice the picture of Connor with this shirt over his nose. The room reeked of formaldehyde, but he got over it pretty quickly after he got to "play" with a couple of different kinds of sharks. Next, the kids got to dissect a squid. They cut it open and learned how to tell if it was male or female, locate its gills and heart, and even got to extract its "spine" and use its ink sac to write their name. After the dissecting was over our guide fried up some squid (no, not the one we dissected) and the kids got to try a piece. Connor wasn't sure if he wanted to try it or not, but decided that he liked it...what isn't good fried???
The next day we went to the salt marsh and searched for crabs in what can only be described as a mud bog. The kids had a mud race and had a lot of fun getting filthy. The mud smelled SOOOO bad! It smelled like sulphur. After they got good and dirty, we headed over to the oyster beds and the kids practiced dragging seines to catch more crabs, fish, shrimp, etc. Connor and I took advantage of my aunt and uncles house on the island and stayed a couple of extra nights to enjoy the beach. Connor actually caught a puffer fish while we were swimming. We had fun touching it and watching it puff up. On Sunday, we took the ferry across the bay to Fort Morgan and headed back home. It was an awesome trip and we both really learned a lot.

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Frontyard Football


Connor and Ella were having a blast playing "tackle" football in the front yard. Ella loves to go outside and play with the big kids. Connor is really good to take her outside and play with her. She loves to play rough with her big brother. Paige and Clara (our cousins) came over to join in the fun. This was the only decent football we (as Auburn fans) saw this weekend!!!

Friday, September 5, 2008

Cheernastics


Ella and her friend Alyssa started a Cheernastics class this week. Ella didn't want to do anything at first. She stands on her head and does flips off the couch all the time at home, but she was acting really shy around all the other kids. Alyssa was doing everything the instructor was telling the girls to do and Ella was just standing there with her arms crossed. Ella told me later that evening that she "was embarrassed." Toward the end of the class she started participating a little more. Her favorite thing to do was the back walkover (over the barrel). I think she had more fun playing with Alyssa than anything else. It was really funny to watch all these little girls try and do what the big girls were doing. One thing is for sure, the girls teaching the class don't get paid enough! :-)

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Labor Day Trip to the Beach




Beach - Connor

I'm surprised Connor didn't turn into a prune while we were at the beach. All we ever saw of him was his feet sticking out of the water. He was either snorkeling in the ocean or diving in the pool. On our last day we couldn't get in the ocean because the beaches were closed due to the hurricane. Connor was disappointed at first but soon realized he didn't want to be in the ocean when he saw the size of the waves. They were about 6-8 feet high. Look at the last picture and compare the how high the wave breaking in the background is to Connor. It was pretty awesome. We had never seen the ocean that rough.

Beach - Ella

Ella had a blast playing in the sand and ocean this year. She was less scared of the ocean than she was the pool. Unfortunately there was a lot of seaweed and the beach was closed one day because of Gustav. We're going to start swim lessons this fall to help her get more comfortable in the pool.

Beach - Black & Whites

This is the first year that beach pictures weren't a struggle. Ella is finally old enough to bribe! :-) That made all the difference in the world...Connor is always good, but he's reached the age that he doesn't want me taking pictures of him all the time.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Ella's first day of Preschool!

Today was Ella's first day of Preschool. She has been so excited about starting school. She did really well and went right in. David was able to go into work late so we could both take her on her first day. Her teachers said she did great. She loves going to play with the other kids. She has two teachers...Mrs. Mickey and Mrs. Nancy...she calls them Mrs. Nicky and Mrs. Ancy.

Friday, August 8, 2008

Guitar Hero & Playing in the Sprinklers

Ella & Andrew playing Guitar Hero...she was copying everything he did! Ella playing baseball in high heels. Playing in the sprinkler on a hot summer day - Daddy even joined in.

Friday, August 1, 2008

It's hard being a princess...

One of Ella's favorite things to do is play dress up. She creates her own "looks" as you can see. She definitely has her own sense of fashion. We never know what she's going to come out of her room dressed as. The last two pictures were taken after she fell asleep upside down in her chair...notice the lipgloss still in her hand.

Monday, July 14, 2008

James & Kristle's Wedding

Ella & Aunt Lisa, Ella playing in courtyard, Ella & James, Connor & Ella, Connor with James & Kristle, Ella playing.

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Monday, June 30, 2008

Montana Trip 2008

Barn in Teton National Park - Jackson Hole, Wyoming

Montana

Paige, Ella and Connor in the Badlands, South Dakota; Mt. Rushmore; Devil's Tower; Ella and Pop; Ella & Daddy; Paige, Ella and Connor - Pioneer Park, Billings; Pop & David; Paige, Ella and Connor; Paige, Ella and Connor - Yellowstone River - Absaroka Mountains - Paradise Valley, Montana

Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone National Park - Northwest Entrance, Paige and Connor at the Lower Falls of the Yellowstone, Grizzly Bear, Sunset in the Beartooth's, Ella and Connor at Yellowstone Lake, Paige and Connor at Old Faithful, Ella at the Old Faithful Inn, Frozen stream in the Beartooth's, Buffalo in the Lamar Valley.

Playing in the snow...in June!!!

Ella throwing snowballs, Ella & Connor with names in a snowbank, Getting ready to sled, Connor sledding, Ella sledding, snow wall beside the road, Paige and Ella crash, Connor sledding.






Camping in the Beartooth Mountains

Ella & Grandma, Connor & Paige, Ella checking out the tent, Connor building a fire, Ella drinking Daddy's Coffee, View from our Campsite, Ella gathering firewood, Ella & Connor's dirty camping faces.

Jackson Hole 2008

Connor and Cowboy Ron

Daddy & Ella on the Alpine Slide


The Burkholder Men

Saturday, May 31, 2008

Baseball 2008


Connor's baseball team, the Fighting Illini, won the league championship this year.




Friday, March 28, 2008

Saturday, March 22, 2008

Botanical Gardens

March 2008 Ella 2 Connor 10