the newest wildcat

well, folks we've reached yet another milestone.

ella is now an official kindergartner. as of tuesday, august 19th, ella is a sundance elementary school wildcat. her teacher is a very sweet lady named ms. scattareggia- ms. scatt for short.

incidentally, ella is attending the same elementary school that aunt michele did...many, many, many years ago :-).

ella's enjoying school, i think mostly because she gets to carry her very own hello kitty lunch box (complete with hello kitty thermos and hello kitty insulated food container). if only i could get her to eat all of the food i pack into the hello kitty goods...

did you know they make you buy those separately now?!?! what a crock.

now a week into kindergarten, ella is a seasoned veteran. it's so fun to see her socialize and be her very own person.

well, that is until i realize that my little teeny girl is growing up. then mommy puts on her sunglasses and sheds a few silent tears of joy with just a pinch of sadness.

without further ado, here's our girl. so precious. i just love her.

little brother seems to enjoy the idea of kindergarten too. although, he does bellow "ella" throughout the day, so maybe he's not quite caught on yet...

waiting in line to go to class after the morning bell.

ella's new favorite "photo" face. it's been a real fun development.

cherry pickin'

while visiting my parents in littlerock (that's one word, small r, within-the-borders-of-california littlerock) we decided to go cherry picking.

first of all, wow. i've never seen cherries on the "vine" as it were. even so, i wasn't expecting this:

pretty, right?

and this ladies and gentlemen is $18.50 worth of U-pick cherries. can anyone say rip-off?

and we all shine on...

ella has sustained her first "major injury" since her broken arm. she has this not-so-stable chair that i'm forever warning her to sit still in. two nights ago she wiggled herself right out of it and smack dab into a toy that was lying on the living room floor next to it...with her face.

the end result was this:like the arm, this eye has me living in a perpetual state of panic that someone is going to call and report me for child abuse.