Back on Sullivan's Island

Snacks on the beach

Zoe-riffic

Baby Jude

Cousins

AM loved her first trip to the beach. Especially the sandy cheetos.




When did she get so tall?

Nothing Could Be Finer

Here's a few pics from right before we left for SC and the first part of our trip.



Hangin with her peeps after the pre-school graduation/ showDriving at the airport with Daddy
Hanging out at the dancing school
Farmer's Market

Eating bananas with Tyler

And here are the pictures to prove it

Someone stole my babies

One of my babies is 4 and quickly approaching 14 or 15. Ellie is so grown up it makes me teary. She totally gets jokes now and word play rarely goes over her head. We really have to watch what we say around her. And she NEVER forgets anything. Just today she brought something up from months ago that was completely random and obscure. She constantly asks me what words mean and can recognize all her letters and write most of them. She can even tell you what sounds they make and what words begin with each letter. I will not be able to spell words like "p-a-r-k" out loud much longer to keep secrets from her. Tomorrow is her last day of 3 year-old pre-school and I am afraid I will have a hard time keeping her busy this summer. She loves to play baby dolls and anything that she can role-play with. She also loves to read, color and draw. She's already a better artist than me, but that's not saying much. She is very sweet to Ann Marie and helps me a lot. I am so proud of what a good big sister she has been. She has never been ugly to AM, even when she was a little jealous. Mostly she took it out on me :)



And speaking of that little one....she loves big sister right back. Her eyes light up when Ellie walks in and Ellie was one of the first ones that could get her to laugh. However, she is no longer interested in being a baby. All she wants to do is stand up. And NOT sleep during the day. The only time she wants to act like a baby is during the night when she wants to wake up and eat all night long. :) She is not "crawling" really, but she somehow gets from one place to another. If you put her down next to the couch, she'll be 5 feet away before you know it. And if there is anything in her path, watch out....it's going in her mouth. Paper, shoes, toys, you name it. This past weekend she figured out how to clap. I've been trying to get a video of it, but everytime I turn the camera on to tape her, she stops. Typical.



I do miss my babies, but these girls are a lot of fun too. I am looking forward to watching them grow up together. Hopefully they will still get along once AM starts walking/ destroying everything in her path. Ellie is pretty territorial when it comes to her stuff. I forsee her installing locks and/or motion detection alarms in her room.

Trip to TN

We had a great weekend in TN! Some shopping, hanging out with MeeMaw and PeePaw, sleeping late, celebrating Ellie's birthday and LOTS of eating.

Ellie Says...

This was too long to put in the sidebar so I thought I'd post it.

Yesterday we were coming out of a store and the door was propped open. Ellie asked me why the door was open and whether we should close it. I showed her the door stop and told her the lady had it open on purpose.

To which she replied, "But Mommy, it's not nice to do something on purpose."

I tried hard not to laugh, but it was so funny. She really does listen to everything we say.

Also, her teacher was out today and I asked if her little girl was sick. Ellie said, "No, I think she just had a "re-pointment".

Recital

Here's part of E's dance...

Busy Weekend

Wow! We have had quite a weekend. And actually the whole last week was pretty busy. The beginning of the week was spent buying and planning for Ellie's birthday party. We had it a week early because company was a'comin'.

AM helping with the laundry.

Thursday was my very first "Muffins for Moms" and it was so sweet. The kiddos at E's school sang songs and we had muffins and fruit (and chocolate fountains!). Ellie is not very outgoing at these events, but I know she knows all the songs. In the last few months she has gotten really good at remembering lyrics and singing along with songs. Most of the time she does get a few words wrong, but that's what makes it cute. One of the songs they sang on Thursday was one that my great-grandmother used to sing to me. I never knew all the words, and I didn't know that E was learning it, so I almost cried while they were singing. I probably would've broken down if I hadn't been preoccupied with wrestling AM away from the camera strap. Here's the best I could do with squirmy wormy in my lap.....

Then after school, I took E for a much needed haircut and then we went to a pot-luck supper at my friend Amy's house. It was a night time playgroup which Ellie thought was "cuh-razy!".

Friday the girls and I went to the gym, picked up a few last minute things at Winn-Dixie and then went home to finish the cake, clean up some more and NOT take a nap. That afternoon was the rehearsal for her recital and then my mom and granny got here about midnight.

Saturday we were up at out early for her dance recital. It was very cute and she did a great job. I will post video of it soon. We hurried home at intermission to finish up the food and decorating for her party.
At 2, her friends came over and we had a great Tea Party. The girls really seemed to enjoy it. We decorated fancy tea party hats,

played games, and had yummy treats. Everyone was super sweet and Ellie was so pleased with the whole day. Especially because she got to pour everyone's tea.

Getting ready to blow out the candles.

Thanks for the awesome stuff everyone!

This morning she even told me (totally out of the blue) "Mommy, that was the BEST. PARTY. EVER!" I teared up again. What a softie. Oh, yeah I forgot to mention...check out this awesome teapot cake. Who could've made such a masterpiece? Oh yeah, it was me!!!




I really can't believe she is going to be 4 in a week. It makes me sad. Enough of that. Here are some pics of her having more fun with AM this weekend. Thanks GranJan for the awesome dresses.

AM's favorite part of the whole weekend was all the crinkly wrapping

Playing "beauty shop" with Gran Jan

Eat your veggies

Setting: House of Payne Kitchen

Ellie: (examining the baby food selection- she likes to look at the pictures on the jars and choose what AM eats) "Broccoli and chicken??!! Mom, you KNOW kids don't like broccoli."

Me: "Some kids do."

Ellie: "I don't fink so."