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.