Back to reality!

WHEW! Having the grandparents (my mom and Michael) here for a month was great! Nice for the girls to have them to do stuff with, nice for me to go do errands without the girls and nice because we got a lot of house projects done (well some were just started)! They left Monday. Yesterday was awful. We were all tired and grumpy! Today I took the girls to a little petting zoo and park and then we met daddy for lunch. Tomorrow is off to the Kohl's Children's Museum with friends and then Friday is back to the splash park.
Funny quote of the day "Mom, I am the big sister and Shelby is the little sister, but we are not sisters." (Me) "yes you are. What makes you sisters is that you have the same mom and dad." (E) "Oh, well, I'll think about it!"
Yesterday's quote: "mom, how come you didn't invite me to your wedding" The conversation went on from there.
Monday's quote: "mom why do I have poop in me and what is it made of?"

Sleepover!

Well, Ellie had her first sleep over last night. It was at our house. Did pizza, went to storytime at Barnes and Nobel, played outside, watched Gullivers Travels and passed out. Made it until about 4am and then Ellie wanted to sleep with us because Julia kept hitting her in her sleep. Can't say I blame her (Ellie, that is)! They were up late but slept in this morning, which is a welcome thing in this house! No one mentioned that to Shelby however! She was up at 5:45!! UGH! Girls ate pancakes, giggled, had tea parties, giggled more, played dress up, and giggled more! Dad and Ellie just left to take her home and stop at Meijer to buy a replacement fishing pole. Her other one finally bit the dust last weekend.

Nice lake weekend

After a rough start to our weekend with the basement flooding and finding my wedding dress had been stolen by movers in one of our moves...we got up early early Saturday morning and headed to the lake! Lots of sun, swimming and relaxing! On our way home we stopped at some friends for supper and picked some yummy strawberries from there garden. We took some of there"starts" to plant our own! YUMMY!
About half way home we realized we left both "bunny" Shelby's cuddly, and Care Bear, Ellie's bed time buddy, at the lake! Well, we've had some tears! Ok, ALOT of tears! Shelby is still looking for bunny! We are not going back to the lake until 4th of July weekend! It will only get easier, right?? It's hot here, a high of 90 today and swim lessons at high noon!!

Learning new things

Ellie started to put her head under at swim lessons today! Yeah! She did it last year but then got a bad ear infection and water in her ears that she has been afraid to do it. Shelby is cracking me up. SHe does anything and everything Ellie does. She has been trying to do somersaults for a while and she can do them now. It is so cute. I will try to get a picture!

I'm not gone!

Face painting at RiverFest
Riverfest! Ellie loved the rids!
Last day of school with her friends!


Ok, I don't even now where to start! Facebook has taken over and I forget some of you are not on FB! Ellie had her first dance recital and did great! She is in gymnastics still and loves it. She also started soccer and swim lessons. Shelby has been a trooper going to everything! She wants to do everything her sister does, so I have to restrain her. In the fall I am going to put Shelby in gymnastics too (with me). Right now I chase her around the lobby, I might as well chase her around the gym!
Happy to say Shelby is eating fruit again! And Ellie is finally trying new foods! We are really loving life here. I love my new friends (and miss my old ones too)! We keep busy with activities with Ellie, a moms group and play dates! Ellie really misses school. She is going to VBS at her school in August and I might send her to one in July at the church by our house.
Here are some various pictures I've taken recently! I promise to post more! Those of you on FB with me can remind me if I don't! :)

Craziness!

I was so worried that we would have too much time on our hands over spring break I started booking things. Well, now I have overextended! Hosting a HUGE playgroup tomorrow. Had part of the house painted yesterday and today, but he did not finish. AAGH! My house is a mess! Basment here we come! What mom won't understand, right? And if they do care that my house isn't completely clean and picked up, they don't need to come back! :) Can't believe my big girl's turning 4 in 1 week...party this weekend!

Weekend quotes

Me: "I'm at the beach right now, by myself, go ask Dad!" in response to mom, mom, mom, mom!!!!!

Jeff: "Stop Ellie! You are painting your sister brown!" Happened while painting our new play structure!

Ellie: "Mom, why do you ask me to do so much?" after asking her to put on her Cinderella dress that Grandma made for her to see sizing because Grandma is making a Sleeping Beauty dress for her b-day!

Shelby: "Ma-ma" calling me through the house! Too cute!

One more: I have been asking ELlie to go shopping with me for clothes and she just wants me to get them, so I had her pick some out online and we ordered them. (we used to have so much fun shopping, I am so bummed she doesn't want to go with me). She told me her lips hurt today and I told her next time we were at the store she could pick out some chapstick. Her response: "no thanks, mom! You can just get it on the computer and have it come in the mail!"

Growing up!

Some days I can't believe how much the girls are growing up. Shelby is starting to walk up the stairs and sometimes down. She helps clear the table and do toy clean up. Unbelievable! Today is day 2 of switching to one nap. I really missed the morning nap this morning becuase she was sleeping the whole time Ellie was at school. Now I put her down around noon. She had her 15 month appointment today (ok, so she is almost 17 months. Better late then never). SHe weighs 23 lbs. and is 32.5" tall. So, of course, Ellie wanted to do measurements too. Ellie is 31.5 lbs. and 39 or so inches. I was doing the measuring. Shelby grew 3.5 inches in 4-1/2 months and I think Ellie has grown about 6 inches since we moved in August! Crazy! Ellie seems to be more independant every day. Although, along with that we have talking back, yelling, using the word "no" way too much, and wanting to do everything on her own. She helps alot with her sister and is protective of her too. She sings to her when she is upset and it calms her down most of the time.
We are setteling in nicely here, but we miss our friends in Tecumseh and will be visiting soon!

Daddy/Daughter Dance

I'm not sure who was more excited, Ellie or Dad (or me, for a quiet evening...Shelby is asleep). Here are some pictures before the big dance that has been talked about all week. And the videos are what went on at home!

Happy Birthday Grandma Ann!

Grandma Ann turned 70 today! She has more energy then the rest of some days. We met her at the lake and Saturday night had a part at a restaurant with some of her friends. THe girls had so much fun being the center of attention for 3 days. The trip home was quick and sleepy! Shelby is down for the night and has been for a while, Ellie, on the other hand, keeps finding reasons to come find us. Monsters, too dark in her room (even with a night light a closet light on and a hall night light), I miss Grandma...etc. Shelby seems to be fully recovered from the flu and an ear infection! Yeah! Looking forward to a good week. No pictures from the weekend, I forgot my camera! UGH!

Back from our trip

A little late with my trip update, but Shelby has been really sick and requiring all of my attention. She's still feeling pretty crummy and it is day 5!
Our trip south was great! It was so nice to see family and friends. It was a short trip, but we managed to see everyone. Ellie has so much fun playing with her cousins. She also had her first Chuck E Cheese's expereince. She thought that was a blast. So, did SHelby. We weren't even at my sister's house for 10 minutes and Jake, who is 8, broke his arm. He was a trooper though. The funny thing was, they had just gotten back from 3 days of skiing with no injuries and then he was sitting on the swing talking to Ellie and he fell out. I guess it doesn't take much if you hit it just right (or, wrong). Here are a couple of my favorite pictures from our trip.

Going on a trip

I just realized how long it's been since I posted. I was doing so good. Jeff has been gone all week and the girls have wore me out. We, or I should say I, am trying to get ready for our trip down south. We leave tomorrow. Jeff is still gone, UGH! Packing is usually a team effort around here. I haul all of the stuff out that I want packed and Jeff some how makes it fit. This time he won't be able to help except for packing himself, so we michg just end up taking a bigger bag, and there is nothing that bugs a seasoned business traveller more! :) Today was ballet. I absolutley love watching Ellie and the other girls. They all have smiles the whole time and just love being there. She has her first recital in May and if Miss Debbie can get 15 3-4 year olds to perform, she must be the best! After ballet we had a Valentines Party with the Moms group that we are part of and tomorrow Ellie has one at school. SHe has also been making Valentines for everyone that we are going to visit this weekend. She has been writing a lot of the names all by herself. Most are legible too. I'm so proud of her! Have a great weekend...I'll post pictures from the trip when we get back.

A girl party

Yesterday Ellie went to a birthday party. It was such a great little place. The girls got to decorate a magic wand, have their hair and nails done, dress up, dance, eat cupcakes and open presents. I think Ellie may have the record for the number of different dresses she put on. At least 6, maybe 7. Needless to say, she had a blast.

Cabin fever no more

We feel like we have been home too much, so we decided to head downtown today. We went to the Shedd Aquarium. It cost more to park then it did to get in. But the hour train ride with Shelby just wasn't going to happen! She is way too "busy" to sit still on a train. THe girls had a great time. There were several animal demonstrations where they had an animal out and talked about it and then answered questions. Ellie was so cute, she always had a question and I thought theyy were good questions too. I really think she liked to raise her hand, but then ended up with a question too, to my surprise. "Do Iguanas hide from the sun?" "How fast is a tortise?" "How old is Nikel the turtle?" To my surprise (and Jeff's too) there is such thing as a blue frog. Here is a picture that Ellie took of it. Hers turned out better then mine. She loves to take pictures and is getting really good at it. When we got home today it was about 38 degrees and that actually felt warm. So, we went for a walk/bike ride. It was nice to get some fresh air. I am so ready for this winter to be over. Tomorrow Ellie is going to a birthday party at a place called It's a Girl Thing. Should be cute, I'll take pictures.

This is what happens...

And, I think this means I drink too much coffee. Shelby always wants my coffee!

So, this is what happens when I am on the phone and I know Shelby is too quiet and probably into something and ignore it anyway. Yummy...a cupcake! The part I didn't get a picture of was Puck...he was involved in this too! I actually laughed, it was pretty hysterical!

Ballet again! YEAH!

Ellie finally had ballet again today and oh, she loved it! And, I have to say, I love watching her! This is definately her thing! Big news for us...we found a sitter. We have used a neighbor girl who is 14 and I am ok with her for a couple of hours. This girl I found on Sitter City and she actually lives across the street from our subdivision. We h ad her over tonight to meet her and have her meet the girls before we just left them with her. She is great. And the girls loved her. Ellie wanted her to stay and put her to bed! Yeah! Mom and Dad are going on a date!!

Fashion show

Jeff had a business dinner tonight, so Ellie and I decided to have a fashion show. She has a ton of dress up clothes (mostly princess dresses, but some other stuff too) and some dresses in her closet. Well, the problem is she wanted to have a fashion show like the one she has seen on Max & Ruby. They get into their grandma's chest of dresses, silly hats, belts and big shoes and have so much fun. Well, I am completely lacking in that area. I still don't know how to put a slideshow on here, so here are a couple of pictures. I was in a dress too, but Ellie was behind the camera and well, need I say more?

Will ballet happen?

WIll ballet ever happen again. Ellie has been talking about starting ballet since I signed her up mid November. Her first class was 2 weeks ago and she LOVED it! All I have heard about is when do I get to do ballet again. Last week was cancelled because of the FRIGID weather and then today was cancelled because of a "instructor conflict". What ever that means. Ellie was so bummed and is wondering if she'll ever get to do ballet again. Here is a picture of my ballerina!

Growing and learning

Kids never seem to amaze me. They seem to learn something new everyday. Mine seem to be growing leaps and bounds right now. Earlier I asked Ellie if she wanted to play her bear computer game and she replied "no, mom! I want to get on pbskids.org" What? Ok, she has only been on the site a couple of times and I didn't tell her what it was called. I am sure she has seen the ad for it on PBS, but has no idea she knew what it all was! THe other day we were going to the mall and she said "mom, is this the way to the mall", I replied "yes". How do you know? you don't have the GPS on? Too funny!
Shelby is starting to eat with utensils, waving bye, answering yes/no questions and can follow simple directions. She amazes me how much she is growing up every day. When I put her shoes on her she walks to the door to leave. When we come in the door, she waits until I take her shoes off before she goes toddeling off. WOW! She learns faster then her Dad!
Well, off to clean the house before I head to bed! Jeff is on his way back from Florida and will be home late! YEAH! It's been a long week without him.

Play, eat, play eat...sleep!

That is what we did today. This morning I had 5 moms and their kids over for a playgroup. Out house is great for playgroups. We have the office/toy room and then the basement. The moms even got to talk! When they left Ellie was so tired and hungry. SHe ate a big lunch and lounged after that. Later, a friend from school came over with her younger brother and mom. THe 4 kids (yes, SHelby too) played so well. Kara and I just talked and drank coffee. It got a little too quite and then Michael (2) appeared with a Shelby diaper. Hmmm! Where is Shelby? Well, they decided she had a wet diaper and that she needed to be changed. They got it off ok, just couldn't get one back on. Too funny! Shelby loved it, she could do without diapers! THen we were feeling brave and took the kids to Colonial Cafe. Kids eat FREE on Mondays and they had a great kids menu and tonight % of our check went to the girls school. It was our first time there and it was REALLY good and REALLY kid friendly! Needless to say, after a very busy day, both girls are crashed out and I am not too far behind them. Today is only day one of Jeff's weeklong trip!

Shelby's first haircut

We took both girls for haircuts today. It was Shelby's first one and she just sat there and let them cut. She wasn't too sure about the water bottle sprayer and she could've done without the blow dry, but she was a champ. She and Ellie sat side by side at Cookie Cutters kids hair place. I couldn't believe how well Shelby did. She is 15 months today! Wow! I can't believe it.

Trying not to freeze!

Ok, so the differnce this winter from previous ones that I have lived in the Midwest (which is 5 now), is that I actually have to leave the house most days no matter how cold it is! It is so cold here and will be for the next few days! And we have had a lot of snow! A good thing for Ellie, not so much for Shelby. We have school 3 mornings a week, gymnastics one morning and ballet the other! So, before if I didn't feel like going out I stayed in. Now, I have to be a responsible parent and take my child places. And, even though Shelby is walking, quite stable I might add, I still have to carry her through sloppy parking lots and what not! I know...bitch, bitch, moan, moan!!
So, Shelby is quite fussy compared to her sister and much more high maintenance! However, she may be my little superstar! She has gone poopy on the potty. Ok, so I put her there, but she still went and thought it was fun. And she has gone tee tee twice today. The second time, she pointed at her diaper and I asked her if she needed a dry diaper. Usually the answer is No, with a shake of the head! She HATES to have her diaper changed!!! Well, this time she talked to the bathroom and pointed at the potty! Now, all I have to do is teach her to get up there and hold her balance. Maybe we need our "little" potty from our Tecumseh house sooner then we though!

4 kids??

There is a reason I don't have 4 kids! I sometimes wonder why I have 2!! But most days I love it. I have Ellie's friend Julia and her older brother here for the day while their mom has a minor surgery. They have been here since 5:30 this morning! THe hardest part...getting 3 kids ready for their Christmas program and to school! Oh, and then picking them up from school. Right now I am trying to ignore the arguing from 3 over tired kids!

Ellie's Christmas Program

Ellie's Christmas program was rescheduled from before Christmas when schoold was cancelled due to bad weather. Here are a couple of pictures and a video.

Playing outside

It was nice to get back to school today! Ellie was so excited and had a great day. I took the girls out to play a little this afternoon. Here is my first try at a slideshow, so I hope it works.
http://slideshow.com/galleries/8428

Back to school..

I am looking forward to getting Ellie back to school, as she is too! She was sick the week before break and then the 2 week break. So, she has been off for 3 weeks and really misses school and friends. We had a few play dates, but she is really looking forward to going back to school. We have had a very lazy few weeks and a lot of jammies. I don't think we will have too much trouble tomorrow though. Ellie picked out what she wanted to wear tomorrow on Friday!

Family dance night

We all had some extra energy to burn off tonight before bed, so we put on some music and had a blast dancing. I think at one point Shelby was break dancing. Of course the best stuff happens when the camera is not around, but here is a glimpse of the activity. And, yes, I know, I still haven't figured out my camera and the video is sideways again. :)