Ella's Awesomest Moves

Ella loves to dance, if you can call it that. Most of the time, her "dancing" involves two basic moves.

There is the "bend slightly forward in an attempt to jump move".

And the "wave your arms back and forth without any effort to control them" move.

Obviously, both are pretty amazing...

or at least Ella thinks so. :)

But it's not all about the way-too-cool-for-you dance moves. It's also about "the look". I would love it if you could pretend like the background didn't exist. I was hoping I could somehow remove the mess behind her, but I couldn't manage that before the picture was taken, and I couldn't do that after it was taken, either. We're in the middle of yet another move, so I'm sure that you'll "pardon our progress". ;)

Recovery Dinner

To celebrate the fact that I no longer feel like I was run over by a Mack-truck, I made an especially nice dinner last night. It was nothing fancy, but I tried a new recipe for smothered chicken and had chocolate cupcakes for dessert. Did I mention that I made homemade yeast rolls? That's right. I, Hannah, made homemade yeast rolls. They were pretty simple, and kneading makes me happy. I guess you could say that I'm a kneady person (bu-dum-chick!). Wow, that was bad. Forget I said anything. Any credit that I might have earned via my out-of-this-world homemade rolls was just lost by that joke.

Back to dinner...
The kids sat down and ate very well. Ella had the same thing we were eating. DeLaynie had turkey bacon, though even she enjoyed the rolls. (Did that remind you of the horribly made joke? So sorry.) Overall, it was quite pleasant. We haven't been able to really sit down and dine as a family for a while, and I was very pleased with my girls, and my cooking. Yes, yes. Congratulations all around. I will now bask in my glory.

Still Icky

I am better. I'm wearing real jeans and everything. I'm still feeling kind of funky, though. I'll blog again soon, but I'm afraid of the nuttiness of anything I may type. I'll let you know when I'm confident enough to attempt to type a real sentence.

Eeeewe! The Flu! (and pictures, too)

Well, I'm sick. I'm not totally sure that it's the actual flu, but it sure does feel like it. Before children, this would have meant lots of sleep and t.v. Post-children illness is a little different. The t.v. stays tuned into Noggin so that the girls don't beat me up in an attempt to snuggle. Edwin has been doing a wonderful job taking care of the crew, but he has requested that I schedule a healing for tomorrow. He's tired, and he's fighting off whatever his plague is as well. I have hopes of fulfilling that request. I feel better today than I did yesterday, so maybe I'll be at 70% or better tomorrow.

I know that it's been a while since I posted, so here is a review of that time in pictures:

Ella and yogurt- a love story for the ages. Edwin loves to give her yogurt, but I hate it because of the ridiculous mess it makes. I pulled her hair back because I'd already washed it that day. It made for cute pictures, even if the mess was absolutely beyond the limits of sanity.

Admit it, this yogurt has never looked so good!

She got to the point of licking it off the table. I'm not sure what the implications are, but I'm sure that there are some.

In other news...

I made a perfect grilled cheese sandwich. It's not the first time for such an accomplishment, but it's the first time I've actually taken a picture. This may just make the cover of Grilled Cheese Monthly.
Mom bought DeLaynie a new, bigger backpack. Isn't it cute? All the teachers in her room were talking about it when I went to pick her up.

Although DeLaynie didn't cooperate too well, I love the headband, which I'm not betting we'll ever see again. I needed to take a picture of this momentous occasion.

Mama's New Toy

There is something that I have wanted for a while now. It's nothing fancy or extravagant, but it isn't indispensable, either. It's not something that I would buy for myself. Imagine my excitement when I walked into the bank to pick out our free gift for opening an account, and there it was!

My very first waffle iron!

Yes, that's right. I am now the owner of a perfectly calibrated warm and crispy goodness machine.

I'm not the only Attaway positively thrilled by the newest addition to our family.

Ella's a pretty passionate fan of it, too...

As you can probably tell by those cheeks.

Many of the locals here make their own syrup, making it all the more tempting to iron some waffles. I've tried out two recipes so far, and Bisquick is currently in the lead. Do you have an absolutely to-die-for waffle recipe? I want to hear it! I am on a mission to find the very best waffle recipe of all time. I sure hope you good people have some. I need an excuse to make waffles for dinner :).

DeLaynie's 3rd First Day of School

... and that's only since January! This is her third school to attend, her third set of teachers, and her third classroom. But she did just fine. She walked in, found the dollhouse that she fell in love with when we went to meet her teachers, and got to playing.

I, of course, took pictures as we left for this new experience. Allow me to say, it wasn't really necessary to wear a jacket, but it's so cute, and she looks so big in it. The illusion of age improved my emotional reaction to leaving her, or so I say.

As you may remember from "Belated Pictures" and "Another First Day of School", there is a certain picture that we have gotten in the habit of taking on DeLaynie's multitude of "first day of school" experiences. Never being one to break with tradition (yeah, right!), there you go!

Ella looks a tad-bit jealous here, doesn't she? I pretty much just yanked her (ever so gently) out of bed and got her dressed. Poor thing.

See how the jacket creates an aura of maturity?

I let her wear my bracelet until we got into the car. She really liked it.

As I'm hoping the pictures communicate, DeLaynie was pretty thoroughly giddy about going to school again. When we pulled into the parking lot, she started yelling excitedly, "My school! There it is! It's my school!" I can't wait to find out how her day went, and to see her again.

Oh, and my main (and only, for that matter) squeeze returns to us today! I can't wait to see my man again. Thanks for keeping all of us in your prayers during our time apart.

Pictures from a New Home

"I still get to cheer for the pretty elephants on Saturday, right?" (That's an Alabama football reference, for any out-of-state readers. Oh, and Roll Tide!)

Yes, I am still stuffing an almost teenage size DeLaynie into a baby stroller. I would admit the fact that she's just too big, but it makes me a little weepy, so I prefer to live in denial.

They took turns running frantically with the stuffed penguin and elephant, and they never actually fought over it, shockingly enough.

This is one of those pictures where I see a smile coming, but can't quite get my camera aimed properly. A crooked smile is still a smile.

My little girls, managing to not run into each other, oddly enough.

This one is such a ham.

Ella, bless her heart, is still a little wobbly when trying to keep up with DeLaynie. She spent most of her time getting up after falling to the ground.

Today was a perfect day, weather wise. The girls had a wonderful time playing outside. I'm sure it would have been more fun had Daddy been around. (We miss you, handsome!) The church members have taken wonderful care of us in Edwin's absence, and the girls seem to really love it here, as do their parents.