Flower Fields

My friend Andrea and I took our kiddos to the flower fields in Carlsbad this morning.  Elle, Gwen and their little friends had a great time.  The girls ran from station to station collecting stamps, ran through a sweet pea maze, went for a tractor ride and played in a fun playground called "Santa's Village".  My favorite part was choosing fresh flowers to take home.  Elle hopped up on to our kitchen counter and I let her arrange the flowers herself.  She did a great job!   A very fun morning.  

Palm Springs

We just returned from 3 fabulous days in Palm Springs.  My friend Christy and her family had a week at a hotel and her husband had to leave a few days before the week was up.  We were lucky enough to get the invitation to go out and join her and her girls for the remainder of their stay.  Christy's girls, Brinley and Malia are the same ages as Elle and Gwen.  Four little buddies.  I took Elle and Gwen and Jon stayed home to work (what a good husband and daddy).  We had so much fun.  Three full days of swimming. Elle and Gwen both LOVED the pool.  Gwen wanted to go down the waterslide non-stop.  She is fearless!  Christy and I had our hands full (literally) with four girls ages 3 and under.  Two non-swimmers and 2 semi-swimmers who think they are swimmers.  I don't know which Brinley and Elle loved more...swimming from sun up to sun down or getting matching princess nightgowns.  It was a perfect summer kick-off.  Thank you Christy!

Tea Party

Elle knows how to throw a great party.  Her stuffed animals thoroughly enjoyed her tea party.  They ate, sang, and read stories together.  

Princess Hair

Every night Jon and I play a shuffling "game" with the girls.  I am usually finishing dinner dishes while he takes the girls to the bath.  Just about the time I finish the dinner dishes, Gwen is done with her bath and jon passes her off to me all wet and wrapped like a piggy in her towel. (I could just kiss her little cheeks off!) I get Gwen into her jammies while Jon finishes with Elle.  Jon and I would make a great relay team...it is like clock work now.  Tonight after Gwen was ready to get passed to Jon to put her in her crib, I walked into our bathroom and saw what is pictured above.  How cute is that?  But the cutest thing about it is that it is a normal occurrence.  He brushes out Elle's tangles and then blow dries her hair.  She always complains that I can't make her hair as soft as daddy can.  It's true...I don't have the patience to blow her hair out.  After he does her hair, she runs her fingers through it and calls it her princess hair. I often forget how young Elle is.  She is only 3!  The majority of my day is spent talking with her.  She is quite the conversationalist and follows me around the house just chatting away.  When I look at these pictures and see her sucking her thumb in her "jammie dress" (nightgown) I am reminded how young she really is.  I don't want to forget this time with her. Before I can blink she will be grown and I will want to turn the clock back and see her in our bathroom sucking her cute little thumb while her daddy combs her hair.   

Sisters

I got Elle and Gwen dressed and put them on my bed to watch cartoons while I finished getting all of our things together before we headed out the door...Elle to preschool and Gwen to run errands with me.  I noticed it was quiet and that is usually NOT a good thing.  I quietly looked in the bedroom and saw the two of them laying with each other on the bed.  Elle had her hand around Gwen and Gwen was awake!  Usually she is jumping up and down or gets off the bed and goes and takes all of my shoes out of the closet.  But not this time.  Elle was gently stroking Gwen's little peach fuzz hair.  As much as I wanted a picture, I didn't dare go in the room because I knew Gwen would get up and the moment would be lost.  I finished getting everything together and went in to scoop them up to get them into the car and Gwen was sound asleep...hours before her normal nap time.  Elle was so proud of her mothering skills.  In her words, she said she had "loved-her" to sleep.  It melted my heart.  Since wen was now asleep, it was safe to get my camera out to capture the moment.

Happy Anniversary

Married 5 years...today.  I love you.

"Whatever Our Souls Are Made Of, His And Mine Are The Same"

Emily Bronte

Salad Bowl

When Elle was little she would get out the salad bowl just to sit in it.  Jon thought of the great idea to slide her across our kitchen floor while she was in the bowl.  She would just laugh and laugh and laugh.  Elle can't fit into the salad bowl anymore but it is the perfect size now for Gwen.  The other night after dinner, we put Gwen in that same bowl and played the same game with her that we used to play with Elle.  She loved it too and her giggle as she was sliding across the wood floors was priceless.  The top two pictures above are of Elle at about the same age Gwen is now.  The bottom two are of Gwen.  I never think they look much alike but now that I put these four photos together, I realize how similar these two little sisters look. Too cute. 

Mirror, Mirror On the Wall...

Gwen was admiring her beauty in the mirror.  The minute Elle saw the sweet moment, she couldn't stand it anymore and ran up to her and started making funny faces.  Gwen adores Elle.  It is really amazing considering how often Elle knocks her around.  No one can make Gwen smile like her big sister, Elle.  

Fancy Nancy

Elle's very favorite book is called Fancy Nancy.  She LOVES it.  She asks me to read it every day and refers to Nancy as if she is a real person.  Nancy is Elle's  personal heroin.  If Elle had a personal motto it would be, "what would Fancy Nancy do".  Nancy is a little girl who loves all things "fancy".  Some things Elle has learned from this book: gold is fancier than yellow, patent leather is fancier than regular leather, Nancy gets everything with sprinkles on top because it is well, just fancier! Dresses are fancier than pants and the more bows in your hair the better.  Elle frequently tries to get me to put matching bows in my hair to look fancier when we leave the house.  Her favorite thing to do is to play dress up and to dance.  She has a little plastic cd player in her room and cranks up the music and dances.  The funniest part is that I supply her with the music selections.  She doesn't know any better yet.  In the pictures I took above, the girls are dancing to Neal Diamond singing, "Cherry, Cherry".  Classic

The Sweetest Sound

Today marked a milestone.  Jon put Gwen in bed with me this morning before he left for work.  While we were all snuggled up Gwen looked at me and said, "mama".  I almost started to cry.  It has been rumored that she has uttered this word before but I had never heard it.  She has said "dadda" for months and it is so sweet.  Whenever she hears the garage door opening she gets a big grin on her face and says, "dadda dadda dadda" anxiously waiting for him to walk through the door.  I know that it has nothing to do with love and everything to do with speech development but boy did I want to hear "mama".  Every day I would put her hand on her chest and would say, "gwen" and then I would put her hand on me and say, "mama".  I guess those adorable, chubby little lips were finally ready to make the "m" sound.  I have to think there is no sweeter sound than your little one saying mama.  

Sleepover

Last night Elle had her first sleepover.  She spent the night at her friend Brinley's house.  Elle was absolutely thrilled!  She decided it was important to take her "monkey suitcase" and packed all of her favorite things in it.  She was set on including her toothbrush, Dora the Explorer toothpaste, a comb and a tiny little cup from her play kitchen so that she could use it to get water from the sink after she brushed her teeth (so particular!).  She continued to pack her suitcase full with her blanket and a book she wanted read to her before bed.  Brinley's mom, Christy, came and picked her up and off she went.  The house was a lot quieter without her here and Jon and I missed her (a lot) but she did not miss us a bit.  I guess that's how it should be.  She had the time of her life. Christy sent over the photo of them all snuggled up before bed.  I am so happy she has such a sweet little friend to grow up with.  

One Girl's Trash Is Another Little Girl's Treasure

Elle moved on to a two wheeler bike and Gwen couldn't be more pleased.  The pink tricycle is now ALL HERS.  During the day she takes it in circles around our garage.  Sunday night Grandma took her for a cruise up and down our street before bedtime.  Even Uncle Syd got in on the action.  He was trying to teach her a few moves.  We may have to wait until she is a little older for the wheelies.