Recipe for Disaster

I've been looking forward to this day for 15 months. The day when our girls would play together. I had no idea it would be like this.

Here is the routine:

1. Follow big sister to somewhere just out of Mommy's sight.

2. Have big sister "help" you do something new, like drink from a big girl cup, color with markers, climb on top of the kitchen table, "clean" the toilet or brush your teeth.

3. Laugh hysterically when Mommy discovers you and nearly has a heart attack.

Hi To Tori!!

The girls want to say "hi" to big cousin Tori!! Thanks for checking out the blog we'd love to come and see you soon!!

More Beach Pictures

Lava

Lava has been of great concern here lately. Today's conversation about lava went like this:

Ella:"Mommy, are there volcanoes in Iowa?"
Mommy:"No, sweetie."
Ella:"Where are the volcanoes?"
Mommy:"In places where they have mountains."
Ella:"Lava comes out of volcanoes."
Mommy:"Yes it does."
Ella:"What is lava?"
Mommy:"Rocks that are so hot that they've melted."
Ella:"How hot are they?"
Mommy:"Really hot."
Ella:"Hotter than soup?"
Mommy:"Yep, hotter than soup."
Ella:"Okay."

I guess I should make the soup a bit cooler from now on!!!

Ella of Oz

I made the mistake of letting Ella watch PART of the Wizard of Oz. She was enthralled, and ever since I have been bombarded with questions about all things Oz. Here is a sampling of some of her queries.

- Would the Wicked Witch of the West be mean to me?
- How old is Dorothy? (I say "She's 15") No, Mommy. She's 6, she just looks big, but she's 6.
- Why isn't Dorothy wearing an apron?
- How do you spell Toto?
- How does Glenda fly in the bubble?
- Where is Kansas? When can we go there?
- Why does Dorothy want to go back to Kansas? Because I think Munchkinland is prettier.
- Why didn't I get to see the Wizard?
- Why is the witch green? Did the munchkins paint her? Weren't they afraid?
- Why are they saying "ding dong the witch is dead"?
- How big are the munchkins? I'm about as big as a munchkin. Can I live in Munchkinland?
And my personal favorite:
- If the witch is green, does she poop green?

This is just a sampling. I can only imagine the questions she would have come up with had I let her watch the whole thing.

Day at the Beach

If you ask Ella she will tell you that in Iowa we do, in fact, have beaches. And today she went to one. She and Caroline loved every second of it. Ella made instant friends and has already asked when we get to go back.

** If you look carefully in the first photo you can catch a glimpse of a very rarely photographed creature. That's right, it's me!!

Free Labor

With the economy being the way it is, we had to fire the maid. So I've put the girls to work. They're very industrious.

3 1/2 Years Ago Today...

Happy 3 1/2 years to our shining star. The best things come in small packages!!

Caroline's First Art

Caroline's first work of art. This piece was done with washable marker on paper. The use of color and line clearly represent joy intermixed with a sense of irony. Very transitional.

Important Work

I went downstairs to take out the trash and this is what I came back to. When I asked (stupidly) what they were doing, Ella replied, "We're doing important work!!" Oh, I'm sorry, it looked like you were thrashing your room. My mistake.

WANTED

This doll is wanted in the state of Iowa for various crimes. Specifically, sending pictures of herself in a full-color catalog addressed to a 3 year old and causing aforementioned child to talk of her endlessly. Doll stands approximately 18 inches high and goes by the name Ruthie. The price on her head is an unfathomable $90. Doll is believed to be approaching the Omaha area right around the time Mommy and Daddy head to Philadelphia. She is not armed, but I fear that failure to capture this doll may be dangerous to my mental health.

First Fruits

Here it is!! Our first tomato from the garden. Real evidence that I can, in fact, keep plants alive. Thanks to Bryan for showing us the cool EarthBox where we are growing our veg. I feel like such a success.

A Special Day

Ella informed me that today is a "special day". I'm not sure exactly why today is special, but I do know that it involves wearing her purple sparkly tutu (the same one she wore to bed last night) everywhere we go today. Ella was more than happy to model said tutu for a picture. So here's to our "special day", I'm sure there will be many more to come.

Your Secret Isn't Safe With Me

Yesterday the girls went to storytime at the library. The librarian was going to read a story about people who had forgotten things and to get the kids warmed up she asked them, "Have any of you ever forgotten anything?" None of the children responded so she said, "Really, none of you have ever forgotten anything?" Then Ella pipes up, "I never forgot anything, but my mom left our groceries at the store once!! She just drove off and didn't even get them!!" And it's true, one time I did forget to pickup the groceries that we had just bought at the pickup window and drove all the way home without them. Thanks Ella for sharing that one. I may not remember our groceries, but I'll definitely remember this little incident.

4th of July Photos

As is tradition, I forgot the real camera on the 4th of July and I had to use a disposable. When I was taking photos that day Ella asked me to see the picture I had just taken. She had a really hard time understanding why we couldn't see the picture right away since she had never seen a non-digital camera before!!

15 Months Ago Today....

Happy 15 Months Caroline!! We love you bigger than the sky!!

Ella's Pie

Swimming Lessons

It's a shame we weren't in Omaha for the Olympic swimming trials as Ella told me today, "I'm the best swimmer in the world." Clearly the photos are proof.

Our Pool

Our "pool" is an old tub that used to store sweaters under the bed. The girls LOVE it and will play in it for hours on end. While Caroline was simply too busy to be bothered with changing into a swimsuit, Ella spent at least 10 minutes deciding which swimsuit would be best for this particular splashfest.

It's Hard Work Being Caroline

Caroline just could not make it through lunch today and decided to fall asleep in her high chair. If only it was this easy to get her to sleep at night............

Caroline's Words

Caroline is becoming quite the little talker. Here is a list of her words!!

Hi
Bye
Mama (good girl!!)
Daddy
Ella
Pacie
NO!!!
Milk
Wahwah (water)
Sissy
All done
Doggy (always followed with "woof woof")
Birdy
Blankey
Fuzzy
Nigh-nigh (night night)
Pop (can't say I'm too proud of that one)
Ball
Hat
Hot
Book
Shoe
Mow (as in her toy mower, not more)
Baba (baby)

I Can't Believe My Sister is Taking My Picture!

Aggressive Garage Salers

This morning Ella and Mommy decided to check out the local Kids' Garage Sale. As we were looking at some clothes a pushy garage saler asked Ella if she wanted to buy a toy makeup set for just a dollar. (I think the lady thought that Ella would then ask me if she could have it.) But Ella had the last laugh and told the lady, "No thanks. I already have enough JUNK!!" I just smiled.

Little Green Lies

Here at our house we're pro-planet. So in an effort to save some water I decided to try something I heard about on the radio. Apparently, you can save 12,000 gallons of water a year if you just scrape your dishes instead of rinsing them before putting them in the dishwasher. And, the report claimed, any standard dishwasher can clean your dishes without a pre-wash rinse. Well, last night the dishes went into the washer without the usual rinse. The result? Disaster. My dishes came out of the washer covered with baked-on mystery food bits. They then had to be soaked and rewashed. Nightmare. From now on I think we'll just stick to recycling and our new light bulbs.

The Greatest Toys Ever Invented

The girls spent the morning playing with the top of a thermos, a scrap of fabric, an empty coffee filter box and a wash cloth. Yes, we have toys. Lots of them. But who wants to play with toys when there are plenty of ordinary household items around?

Going to Bed

Actual conversation upon going to bed......

Ella: Are there weathergirls? (As opposed to weathermen)
Me: Oh, yeah!!
Ella: What kind of hair do they have?
Me: All kinds.
Ella: Do they have fake hair?
Me: Some probably do.
Ella: Do they have pretty green hair?
Me: No.
Ella: Do they have pretty blue hair?
Me: No.
Ella: Do they have pretty pink hair?
Me: No.
Ella: Do they have black hair?
Me: Yes, some of them do.
Ella: What color of hair do I have?
Me: Light brown.
Ella: That's a pretty color.........................What color of skin do I have?
Me: Pink.
Ella: Why?
Me: Because Mommy and Daddy are pink.
Ella: Why is Dora's hair brown?
Me: Because it is.
Ella: Okay........ (ASLEEP)

Welcome to our BLOG!!

This is the first day of our blog. It was a good one. We went to the library for storytime about bugs and then Ella had swimming lessons. Ella got a free Kids' Meal at Long John Silvers for reading 30 books. She was so excited about it that we ate lunch at 10:30. We HAD to have Long Johns NOW!!!!! Nothing encourages reading like fried fish. YUM!!