Beach!
First sight of the ocean!
Cousins!
More cousins!
Snake handling!
A fabulous swimsuit wardrobe!
Ellie and I and the grandparents headed out to the last day game of the season. Ellie enjoyed the food, getting a pink Rangers shirt, and singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame." And she watched a little baseball too. She was concerned that "those boys" were spitting and noted that they were not using their good manners.
Next came Halloween. We met up with some of our neighbors and had a blast trick or treating. Ellie and her friend Joshua came back from many a front porch in the first hour shouting "They gave us candy, too!" I'm not sure if they thought everyone was just being really friendly or what.
We went to a party at Gladney and got to see our sweet caseworker Mary! She took a new job this year, so it was such a nice surprise to see her. The man in the white outfit standing behind her is Belay - Gladney's in-country director in Ethiopia. (I had a really nice pic of the three of us which Ellie erased while playing on my phone.) When she went up to him, he looked at her and said "Hiab!" After over a year he recognized her and remembered her name! She was so excited to see him...and the bounce house.
Fall leaves! Ellie's been leaf-peeping in the neighborhood for weeks and shouting on the way to school "I see red! It's a sign of fall!" She's realizing now that aside from the Japanese maple we pass in our neighborhood, brown is really the only sign of fall we get in Texas.
Can I close with a rant? Why is this cute stethoscope shirt only available in the boys' section at Target? Wouldn't it be just as cute in pink or purple? I know that there is a lot more to imprinting a world view on a child than a tee shirt, but if I want to buy my daughter a shirt that declares a statement other than that she's spoiled, a diva, cute, a princess, sweet as candy, etc. I have to shop in the boys' section. I'm not saying she doesn't have her share of pink, butterflies, and glitter in her closet, but she also has Beatles and The Who tees, dinosaurs, and this sweet doc in training one. She wears rhinestone earrings to rock out with her drumsticks and to hunt bugs with her magnifying glass, but who says she can't like both? It would be nice for more stores to consider that girls might like more than one thing - that they might want to wear a pink hard hat while they play with tools or to carry their matchbox cars in their purse.
First sight of the ocean!
Cousins!
More cousins!
Snake handling!
A fabulous swimsuit wardrobe!
Ellie and I and the grandparents headed out to the last day game of the season. Ellie enjoyed the food, getting a pink Rangers shirt, and singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame." And she watched a little baseball too. She was concerned that "those boys" were spitting and noted that they were not using their good manners.
Next came Halloween. We met up with some of our neighbors and had a blast trick or treating. Ellie and her friend Joshua came back from many a front porch in the first hour shouting "They gave us candy, too!" I'm not sure if they thought everyone was just being really friendly or what.
We went to a party at Gladney and got to see our sweet caseworker Mary! She took a new job this year, so it was such a nice surprise to see her. The man in the white outfit standing behind her is Belay - Gladney's in-country director in Ethiopia. (I had a really nice pic of the three of us which Ellie erased while playing on my phone.) When she went up to him, he looked at her and said "Hiab!" After over a year he recognized her and remembered her name! She was so excited to see him...and the bounce house.
Fall leaves! Ellie's been leaf-peeping in the neighborhood for weeks and shouting on the way to school "I see red! It's a sign of fall!" She's realizing now that aside from the Japanese maple we pass in our neighborhood, brown is really the only sign of fall we get in Texas.
Can I close with a rant? Why is this cute stethoscope shirt only available in the boys' section at Target? Wouldn't it be just as cute in pink or purple? I know that there is a lot more to imprinting a world view on a child than a tee shirt, but if I want to buy my daughter a shirt that declares a statement other than that she's spoiled, a diva, cute, a princess, sweet as candy, etc. I have to shop in the boys' section. I'm not saying she doesn't have her share of pink, butterflies, and glitter in her closet, but she also has Beatles and The Who tees, dinosaurs, and this sweet doc in training one. She wears rhinestone earrings to rock out with her drumsticks and to hunt bugs with her magnifying glass, but who says she can't like both? It would be nice for more stores to consider that girls might like more than one thing - that they might want to wear a pink hard hat while they play with tools or to carry their matchbox cars in their purse.When she put this shirt on, she went to her closet and got out her tutu to go with it. She told me that she was a doctor AND a ballerina and that she was going to do a dance and then fix me up.
Attention, retailers. Dr. Ballerina needs a little more diversity in your girls' section.
Attention, retailers. Dr. Ballerina needs a little more diversity in your girls' section.
