Cake for Grandma Jessie

Grandma Jessie's birthday isn't until mid-April, but Emily needed an excuse to bake a cake. I know Ellen's birthday is sooner, but Emily will see Ellen on her birthday, and we won't see Grandma Jessie. So we picked her. Emily decorated the WHOLE cake all by herself. It's beautiful, and tasted great.

Curls

I found a curling iron in the bathroom, and a few times this week I've put a few curls in Emily's hair. They usually only last for a few minutes (hour or two at most), but when they're in, they're cuuuute. She loves them, too. I really am creating a princess.

Banana crown

A la Boots & Dora. See how creative Mommy can be when she's on vacation?

Emily & Starbucks

Emily is more tentative with Starbucks. She likes him, but she's learned (through cat swats) to keep her distance, and play with him/pet him on his terms.

Ellen & Starbucks

Ellen LOVES Starbucks (the cat). She chases him around and they play tag. She plays with his toys. When he swats, she thinks it's hilarious. I think she's a cat person.

Making cookies at Grandma's

This post could also serve as somewhat of a warning to those who desire to sample Emily's cookies. Just know that they have most likely been "sampled" before.

Big girl in a little chair

Pretty pretty princess dresses

Cute little sisters.

Look at them conspiring!

They were very focused on Dora. Not on me.

The girl does know how to pose:

And this one is getting there...she just needs to move that hand.

Ontario

We're in Ontario, OR for Spring Break. We left on Friday afternoon, and we'll head back sometime near the end of the week (whenever they kick us out). Our adventures so far: naps, sleeping in, watching cable, church, sidewalk chalk, bubbles, yummy food (that I haven't had to cook), and other lovely vacation-y things. Oh, and Jon accidentally broke his cell phone, so we've looked at the Sprint store for a replacement (I love line-items on homeowners' insurance).

Bejeweled nails

(See the little doll on Emily's nap? She calls it "Auntie Kim" on account of the red hair. Oh, and can you kind of see the dress? It was a $3.25 find on the clearance rack at Target. Woohoo!)

They were a pain in the tooshie to put on, especially because the "clear coat" had leaked in it's little plastic wonderland and sealed the container closed (and eliminated the option of a clear coat). So I wrestled some jewels out & used a glitter coat for the top

Oh, and yes, yes she did peel them all off within the hour.

The jewels AND the polish.

Baths with Daddy

Oh, Aunt Cindy...

Aunt Cindy send Ellen's birthday present last week. And, of course, she had to fill the rest of the box, so Emily got LOTS of treats. There was a bag of about 9 or so different nail polishes. There were nail jewels (think bedazzling for fingers & toes--posts of it happening will be up later). There was a new notebook to color in. And lots of other things that I know I'm forgetting to mention. They opened the box on one of my long parent-conference days, so I didn't get to see they joy, but I did see the pictures documenting the beautiful manicure & photo shoot. A different color on each finger--a girl should be so lucky!

Not quite pulling up, but still impressive

Highs and lows

Upon first watching this video, you will be charmed by Emily's exquisite dance moves. She really is tons better than me, and she's only 2 1/2. And then...then you'll see what makes me gasp at the end. Oh, man.

Crazy karaoke dancing queen

Emily got this sweet little entertainment maker for Christmas, and it has experienced a recent surge of popularity. There are several options on dancing, and Emily's favorite is the one that tells you the moves, and you do it with the animal that I'm assuming did all of the choreography. Clearly, there's also a little camera so that you can see yourself dancing and ensure that you're following along with precision timing. At this point she was mainly running in circles, but please notice when she stops to check out her booty.

A video from the phone:

I'm not sure why the sound isn't working...

Clapper

Ellen just started clapping in the last day or so--I really noticed it today. It's all she wants to do. I think it is the cutest thing EVER. How did I get such cute kids?


Clapping video from my phone (also on facebook):

The Sunday routine

On Sundays, I usually make a "good" breakfast. Kim comes down & brings the Starbucks, and we eat & head to first service. This morning I made my first Dutch baby. It was bigger than this when it came out of the oven, but I was kind of slow with the camera (stupid lens cap). It was VERY tasty.

Bow

Emily was playing with her box of bows, and Ellen found one that was small enough for her head

Are those curls over her ears?

She does NOT look happy.

Teeth

I tried to get a picture of her 4 teeth...she's got another (#5) that just broke through on top, and #6 isn't too far behind. I think she could tell that I wanted a picture of her pearly whites.

Chocolate milk cereal

Since Jon was helping at our church's rummage sale this morning, the girls and I just had cereal for breakfast. It's was Emily's first experience with Cocoa Krispies, and she was delighted that they made her have chocolate milk...she asked for more "chocolate milk cereal".

Two quotes

Emily and I were making banana bread, and she was helping put the bananas into the mixer. She spilled some, and we talked about how it was okay, that we all make mistakes, and no one is perfect.
Me: Do you make mistakes?
Em: Yeah.
Me: Do I make mistakes?
Em: Yes.
Me: Does Daddy make mistakes?
Em: No.
Me: No?
Em: No, Daddy's perfect.

Oh dear. I'm not sure this whole "staying home" thing was such a good idea after all.

The next quote is from one of my friends--Annie Geist. She's a speech therapist with elementary school kids (I think). She's got a blog, and I read this conversation there:
Annie: See ya later, alligator.
Kindergartener: Bye, duck.

I laughed my tail off at that!

I DO have two princesses