EllieLu, my darling daughter.

I keep thinking you've maxed out your "cuteness" then another day surprises me with a few new words you've put together, an eagerness to help, a simple kind gesture towards your sister, or those darned beautifully long eyelashes grow--what seems like--another inch.

You make me laugh, frustrate me, and melt my heart all in a matter of seconds.

You are so very very very Loved.

And your life is a complete blessing to me and our family.

We are so glad you are ours!!!

I was going through some recent pictures and found a few of my favorites to share with the world on your 2nd birthday (yesterday)....

Nothing but an "E" thang baby.

Sweeter than sweet!

This is the quirky smile given lately when asked to smile, with your teeth.

It's adorably forceful.

Oh Ellie Belly Lu-Lu,

Your Momma Loves You Oh-So-Very-Very-Very Much!!!!!

Can't wait to see what year TWO brings us!!

Marble Painting

Another simple fun project: Food coloring ball rolling, paint project.

Not sure if there is an official name for this type of artwork, we called it

"Marble Painting".

Step One: Cut white paper shape to fit bottom of plastic tupperware

Step Two: Add a few drops of different colored food coloring (less is more!)

Step Three: Drop a few marbles in...

Tip, Turn, Shake, Rattle & Roll!!

Ellie loved it.


Audrey adding a drop or two..or 8 of food coloring.

Shakey shakey shakey!

Their finished project drying:

(hard to take a really great picture from this angle on my dark stove top)

And then it's time for fun clean-up. If you did it exactly how I did, there shouldn't be much clean-up. Other than messy hands, which is a regular occurence around here.

It really is a nice simple fun project to do with the little ones because they can see their creation really easily, and who doesnt love to roll a few balls in "paint" every now & then??

Also, it's a fairly clean project since their little hands--should--stay out of the paints.

Oh there's the missing marble we were looking for!

Okay...there may be a mess or two like this, you've been warned.

A few tips: Do not dress your children in their nicest attire, since, ya know, this is food coloring...

Put a bib or some sort of smock on them first.

Drop the food coloring in yourself..a little goes a long ways, we found that 3 drops of 3 different colors was the perfect amount.

Audrey chose to do a few drops of all 5 colors we had, and as you can see in the pictures hers turned out a lot darker than Ellie who only used 3 colors. Enjoy!

Bean Bag Toss

Another crafty project we did recently was to make bean bags.

Supplies Needed:

6 different colored rectangle shaped pieces of fabric

scissors

sewing machine or simple needle & thread

funnel

rice

big bowl

a little helper

Step One: measure & cut fabric into a long retangle, so when you fold it over, it creates a square.

Step Two: sew all around square shape leaving a 2 inch opening unsewed

Step Three: place one "pouch" at a time into bowl to catch extra rice.
Step Four: use funnel to pour rice into pouch

Step Five: Sew the opening closed.

Ta-da!

We've enjoyed tossing them in buckets, practicing our accuracy, bringing them on vacation to use as a "bored" activity, warming them in microwave (15 seconds) for a pretend heat pillow, using them as pillows for baby dolls....etc.

Simple to make, fun to use, cute to boot!

Last year we were asked by our neighbor friend to take care of their critters while they were away. Audrey loved it! And I had fun taking all sorts of pictures. This year I practically begged for them to let us do it again if they would be gone. Ellie got to join in on the fun this year & it was no surprise that she and Audrey loved it! And, once again, there were many...many a cute pictures that needed to be taken...

Two of the cutest little chicken farmers I've ever seen!

Cute girl close-ups.


Big Girl Ellie gathering the chicken scratch.

Busy little farmers.

When they were done with their "chicken chores" they got to bounce around on the trampoline. Even Mommy got on a few times by the coaxing of the girls.

See that nice big pool in the background? Our neighbor friends who own it said to help ourselves if we wanted to swim. I instantly thought, bad idea. Too stressful to get in with two non-swimmers by myself. And since Aaron was gone that week, I just discounted the whole idea. I'd pick them up and let them feel water with their hands, but that was about it.......until it became 90+ degrees out......... I felt very brave (and very hot) and got them both into life jackets or float devices and carefully got in. Ellie loved it and didn't want me to touch her while she bobbed around.... Audrey was a different story. She's got bit of her mother's fear in her and she was wrapping every inch of herself as tightly around my body as she could. She eventually wanted to try the floaty Ellie was in instead of her US Coast Gaurd certified fitted life jacket...so I plopped her onto ladder to take off life jacket, pulled Ellie out of the floaty, helped Audrey get into it, strap and buckle life jacket on Ellie, all while holding onto Audrey's new floatation device and reasurring her I was still holding onto her floatation device.. I'm sure I made it look effortless (yeah right). Let's just say, I was glad to be in the cold refreshing waters because that made me work up a sweat!

Ellie action shot

Audrey action shot

And oh man were they worn out after all that jumping. Most of the time Audrey would tell me when she was ready to go home. (which is a pleasent rare surprise) And they took wonderfully long naps each day. :)

Time to go home & scramble our findings!


Another day, another chicken to feed...





One more egg for today!









Ellie Bear checking on the bunnies.

First Camping of the Summer

A few weeks back we decided to go camping for one night as a family, pretty much spur of the moment. Girls were taking naps at home & we talked about how we could go somewhere close by when they woke up. I went to the store to get a few camp food supplies and we loaded up the trailer, packed a simple bag and off we went when the Littles woke up! We had heard of a campground an hour away we'd wanted to check out, but they were completely full. Aaron remembered another one just down the road so we drove to see if they had any room and low & behold they had ONE spot left! Perfect! We've gone every year of Audrey's life, but this was a very nice introduction to camping for the girls now that they are able to do more. It was a learning experience for all, but for just deciding to go 2 hours before we left, it really did work out perfectly!

Audrey's designated spot on the big ol stump.

Daddy & Audrey, crossing a bridge above the river.


Ellie sweeping the trailer out for us.




Purdy green eyed girl.

This was a very regular face of Ellie's. She was NOT a happy camper...

Girls shoveled dirt and rocks.

Sitting by the fire first thing in the morning.

Down by the river, cooling off.

Our humble abode.

Beautiful sunshiney smiles.

More wet river fun.

Audrey gathered some firewood.

Girls took turns walking Lucy.


A little morning hike on the trail all around the campground. This was one of the few moments Ellie wanted to walk...

What's not pictured is Ellie running down the path happily yelling "Can't catch me!" (Gingerbread man is a favorite book lately), until she tripped on a rock and fell, crying and wanting to be held again....

Ellie fell asleep on our hike. So yes, I carried her 90% of the hike. Oh the things I do for my babies.


Audrey was a true camper, she loved the simple things...playing in dirt, shoveling rocks, sitting on stumps, going on walks, skipping rocks with her Daddy, eating camp food outside and sleeping with her whole family in the trailer! Ellie had a bit of a rough time adjusting to the changes... she didn't like the aftermath of splashing in the river (she was wet and cold), she didn't like waiting for her food to be cooked on the grill. She didn't like walking. She didn't like being shushed because Mom & Dad were self conscious of nearby campers trying to enjoy the peace and quiet. She basically didn't like being away from home, and outside. We're hoping this was just because it was her first camp experience..and not that it will set the tone for her attitude on camping, since we do plan to have the girls grow up camping a lot!

I love these memories we can make as a family together. It warms my little heart out, even despite Ellie's cranky self. She let me hold her a lot, which I love. :)