Our Budding Photographer

So Dan and I got Ellie a camera for Christmas this year. We were first attracted to those cute little plastic one's designed for kiddos hands. Then my trusty husband did a little research and found out that most all of them shot with ridiculously low megapixels (like, some were below 1). So we spent the extra $10 and found a "real" one for her. Dan taught her how to use it in about 5 minutes on Christmas morning and she has been using it like a pro every since. As I'm writing this, I realize I need to upload her pictures on my computer. Soon, very soon. Oh, and don't you all just love the way she knows how to jut her foot forward while being photographed?! I swear I didn't teach her that.

Also noteworthy and random: This will be Ellie's third summer to wear those blue jean shorts.

Babies and Slides

Last week sometime a friend came over with her 2 year old and 4 week old. Ellie and Julia were enamored with the baby... then we let them go outside and they forgot all about her. This was Julia's very first time to climb to the top of the slide. And go down by herself.

The Great Outdoors

The past few weeks we've been able to play outside, Oh the glorious outdoors!! Even Dan has been home to enjoy some of it with us. Julia thinks you're supposed to dump bubbles out, so sadly we have no more. Oh well, I was looking to make our own anyway (got glycerin for this a while back). Hope you are enjoying the outdoors today!

Oh Sweet Valentine

Ellie and Julia were invited to a Valentines Party and were pretty excited to go. Ellie and I made little baggies with candy, rice krispy treats and a bouncy ball. We also included a Valentine photo card that I designed. They had a blast at the party and came home starving. Call me crazy but I just couldn't bring myself to serve them both up a plate of cupcakes, chocolate covered pretzels, chocolate covered strawberries, chips and dip, and juice. So they both ate from the veggie plate that I brought (surprised? hah). Anyway, they emptied out their loot while eating lunch and were allowed to eat one piece of candy. Julia took that as a mere suggestion and unwrapped all of her suckers, eating them all at once. Mmmm. Ellie took note of this and wondered why she couldn't do the same, I let her eat more too, of course. Now, don't tell my kids, but I took the bulk of their candy and re-distributed it in various ways. They haven't asked to see their Valentine candy but once or twice since the party, so I don't feel bad. Plus, we're sort of anti-sugar around here... it contributes to too many issues to mention in this email (diabetes, obesity, addiction, cancer, to name a few), so I don't want my family to consume too much of it. Enough about that! Hope you all had a Happy Valentines Day - even though this email is about 3 weeks too late. Oh well!











These are from Valentines Day! Dan was getting off a 30 hour shift that day, so we waited to celebrate with him after his nap. He was a gem and fixed us all a yummy dinner, which the girls couldn't wait to eat (so they had pasta instead of the crab rolls that I had). Julia receiving her first box of chocolates, as you can see below. I got a picture of Ellie enjoying her chocolate, but you wouldn't want to see it. :) The girls got little knit dresses from me and a doctor kit to share from Dan. The beeper was a favorite and sounds exactly like Dan's (not a good thing).

Sometimes I turn my head and see this...

Cleaning Crew

Did you all know that Julia and Ellie can clean mirrors?? Dan enlisted them in his latest bathroom-cleaning spree. Apparently they're pretty good helpers, oh yeah.

Magnets!

So we saw these magnets in Family Fun and thought they would be a colorful addition to our fridge. We've had the same magnets Dan and I made out of beer bottle lids for the past 3 or 4 years now and it's time to move on, right? So we just flipped the lids, filled them with pretties, and some glue. We were supposed to use different glue stuff (Deco Art Triple Thick), and we should have. But not one single local store had it. So we just filled them up with elmers clear glue. Not the best, but it worked for now!

Making Bread(sticks)

The pictures speak for themselves, really. Julia's idea of helping make bread sticks was to eat the flour. Ellie tried her hardest to get her to stop, then at some point she joined her.

Aww, look!

My two girlies reading bibles together while I wash dishes (and sharing the same stool). You can say it now: Awwwww.

The Fake Smile

Just about any time I tell Julia to smile these days I get a look like this:

Red Schwinn

So I found this little bike on craigslist a few weeks back. We thought Ellie would enjoy a bike this summer and had begun searching for one, I just didn't expect to find one the very first time I went looking. This is a vintage red Schwinn that is in near mint condition. Quite a find for a mere $25! Even I want a bike like this!

A little girl was actually selling it, her mom let her do all the communicating with me. Quite funny that I had NO idea I was emailing back and forth with an 11 year old.

Anyway as you can see the bike is too big. Sad day. But they both love it and can't wait to get big enough to ride it.