Somebody got a new bicycle

Now, before you go judging us for getting Abi a new bike a month before Christmas... hear me out.

Our girls play outside and ride bikes just about every day.  I say ride bikes, but up until now they would ride bike.  We only had one.  They would share, or fight, or pile on together.  With Ellie's bday coming up, we were planning on getting her a bike of her own, but decided it would be smarter to move Abigail on to a bigger bike since the one we have is perfect for Ellie now, and Abigail is big enough to move on.  We debated waiting until Christmas, but we had already gotten the girls Christmas present, and are trying to keep the gifts to a minimum this year so we can focus more on what is important.

So alas, Abigail got a new bicycle (Be warned: It is not a BIKE. She is adamant that there is a difference and hers is most definitely a bicycle.)  She loves it :)

"Pops, do you have any wood?"

One of the many reasons I just LOVE my dad:

One of the mornings that we were visiting for Thanksgiving, Abigail got up and went to my dad and said, "Pops, do you have any wood?" He told her he did. So she asked if he could make her a bed for her dolls.  They went to work and a few hours later, she had a rocking cradle to take home and play with.

It was fun to watch her help him, and fun to see my dad just whip it out in no time.  I haven't gotten a good picture of the finished product yet, partly because it isn't totally finished.  We still need to paint it with the pink and glitter paint she picked out for it.  This week we did make a mattress, pillow, sheets, and a blanket for it, per her request, and she is loving it.

This little girl had a birthday

I can't believe Ellie is already two.  And on the other hand, I can't believe she is only two.

It is hard to recognize how fast the time goes with these little girls, but Ellie is so independent and adventurous, that in my mind, she has been 2 for a while now.  We had a fun day with her for her birthday.  Charles took the day off work so that we could have some fun as a family.  Abigail was so excited for Ellie.  She went in to Ellie's room first thing and woke her up singing Happy Birthday.  By the time me and Charles got in the room, Ellie was asking for birthday cake for breakfast.  I had to laugh... I actually hadn't planned on doing a cake, because I didn't think anyone would eat it, and thought we would do some other treat instead.  And of course I thought, Ellie wouldn't know the difference.  Well, she proved me wrong, asking for it before she was dressed for the day.

We opened presents first, which she was really excited about.  I didn't get many pictures because she was too quick for me.

After presents we made crepes for breakfast, a family favorite.  Then we got dressed and the girls went outside to ride bikes for a while.  I had to head to the doctor for a quick checkup, so Charles took the girls to their favorite place, The Big Bounce.  They love jumping around in the bounce houses, ESPECIALLY if Daddy is there to play with them.  When they got back, I had redeemed myself and had a cake ready, so we had lunch and then birthday cake, followed by a long nap :)

For dinner we got Ellie's favorite- Beef and Broccoli.  This girl LOVES broccoli.  In fact, the girls were fighting over the last of it.

We always say she is crazy- not in a bad way, she is just so extreme about everything.  She isn't afraid of much, very unlike her sister.  She is hilarious.  She makes us laugh all the time, and loves doing it. She is obsessed with shoes.  She loves them. She also loves purses and chapstick. She is such a good eater. She eats a ton, but she eats really well, she will totally sit and eat raw veggies and hummus all day long. It is one of her favorite snacks.  She loves cows.  That is a serious understatement.  See video to know the extremes we are talking about. She is very strong willed.  She has a hot temper, and fast growing fingernails- I have a few scars to prove both to be true. She is slowly getting a softer side, that loves to snuggle, give hugs and kisses, and tell me she loves me.  Today she has been particularly sweet and I just want to gobble her up. I particularly love when she comes and give my belly a big hug and kiss for the baby.

Ellie, How old are you?

This is a video, one of many like it, of Ellie seeing cows while we were driving.  She seriously does this any time we see cows, and living out in the country, is pretty much any time we leave the house.  This time, she was getting fussy because we were driving to my parent's house, and had been in traffic for a long time.  Abigail chimes in here too, not to let Ellie have the spotlight, but you get the idea of how she goes from tears to joy.

  We love our Ellie, and can't imagine life without her.

Home on the Range

Charles had a business trip last week that took him to San Francisco for 4 days.  I'm always looking for an excuse to visit my family- and being at home alone with the girls was reason enough for me :)

One day, my Dad didn't have to work, so we loaded up in his truck and went out to one of Papa's ranches to see the cows. 

Ellie is OBSESSED with cows.  She loves them.  Whenever we are driving she looks out the window until she sees cows and then just starts yelling and pointing, "cows, cows, cows" Its pretty funny.  In fact, Yesterday on the way to preschool Ellie was freaking out about the cows and Abigail said, "Ellie, calm down! Yes, we understand, there are cows, huh?" Ellie just smiled and said, "Yeah." Pleased that Abigail acknowledged her.  Then Abi said, "Ellie do you get so excited because cows give us milk?" Ellie just laughed, "Cows... Milk... haha."

Anyway- The girls had fun exploring around with Pops and Uncle Daniel who was happy to take them on a tour.

  

Imagination

From the time Abigail started doing any kind of playing, she has always shown a very elaborate imagination.  When she could barely walk, she would carry around a baby doll and pretend to be a mommy.  When she was about two, she would go to bed pretending to be some kind of animal, and wake up the next morning still in character.  I remember vividly watching a baby turtle come down the stairs one morning.

Sometimes she gets frustrated with us when she wants us to play along with her, but we don't quite get the full scope of what she is imagining.

Mostly, I just love watching her switch rolls throughout the day.  On any given day she will play Mommy, Pony, Teacher, and always always- Doctor.

Waiting for a Patient

           Who needs a shot?

Evolution of Costumes

Ward Trunk or Treat: Abigail is Rainbow Dash, Ellie is Pinkie Pie.

Getting ready to go trick or treating:

Abigail is Rainbow Dash, Ellie is Pinkie Pie.

No, now Ellie is Twilight Sparkle, with Pinkie Pie's accessories.

Wait, Abigail just took away the Pinkie Pie accessories from Ellie because that is CLEARLY a no-no.

We don't mix ponies.

Now Ellie is... Just really ticked off.

Oh wait, we have that cute lamb costume.

Now Ellie is a lamb.  I think I'll add a little blush to her nose so she has a pink nose.

Abigail REALLY wants a pink nose too, but Rainbow Dash doesn't have a pink nose... CRAP.

Now Abigail is Pinkie Pie.  With a pink nose and cheeks.

And NOW, we are ready to go.

Note: There was no prompting these crazy faces.  They didn't even look at each other and they were doing the same things. Crazy girls.

Pumpkin Carving

Sometimes I wish I could have someone recording us.  It would be really funny to watch myself and the girls as I try to do certain things with them.

Example: Carve Pumpkins.

Abigail has been dying to make a "Jack lantern" and yesterday was our last chance.  So I knew Charles wouldn't be home in time to help, and Ellie wouldn't take a nap, so I took on the challenge.

Abigail was totally into cleaning out the pumpkin seeds.

Ellie was totally grossed out by it.  She kept making faces and shivering, and finally put the top back on and called it quits.

Ellie found other things to keep her busy

This is the face Abi wanted on her Pumpkin

 
Abigail coached me through what to cut on each of the pumpkins.

What would have been the funniest part to watch, would have been me trying to get a cute picture of the girls with their jack-o-lanterns.  Ellie would not let me take away the box of wheat thins or goldfish that she had been toting around with her.  Abigail was telling me all kinds of different poses she wanted to do, "Tired, now bored, now scary, now excited..." By this point, Ellie was laying back on the concrete saying, "I TIRED..." And pretending to be asleep, and snoring.

Well, no one was there to record it, but replaying it in my mind is still pretty funny.  I hope at the very least, a nosey neighbor was watching through their blinds, making fun of my attempts.  

These silly girls keep me on my toes :)

Witching you a happy halloween

Happy late Halloween

Pumpkin Patch

We drove out to Marble Falls a couple of weekends ago to take the girls to their pumpkin patch.  I was totally unprepared for the craziness there on a Saturday.  It was PACKED.  We waited in line to get their faces painted for about 45 minutes, but that was what they wanted to do SOOO bad.  After that, we fed the goats, and then Charles took the girls to the car while I cut some fresh flowers as quickly as I could.  It was fun, but wore us all out- haha.

Abigail saw people taking pictures here, and said, "OOH, that looks like fun!"

So we waiting in line for a chance to take a picture :)

Ellie got worn out from all the walking.

Cute little cat asleep in the corn

Can you tell we are on a rainbow kick over here?

Feeding the goats

I love this... Charles looks thrilled doesn't he? 

haha... He goes along with my crazy ideas and 

tries to keep quiet when they are kind of a bust.