playing dress-up

so with all the rain and mommy not feeling so energetic these days the girls have been good sports. they've found other ways to entertain themselves besides picnics at the park. dancing and singing to music, playing in the "party room", and playing dress-up. i love you belle and aurora!...and of course tigger, too!

ella's party

of course nobody is wearing them, but each little boy got a pirate hat and the girls got tierras. the kids played "pin the clock on the croc", diving for tattoos and each tried their shot at breaking open the pinata. nobody was successful with the last and ted ended up ripping it open.

here are some pics of the kids stuffing their faces with pirates booty.

ella was really shy when it came time for the cake. she really doesn't like the "happy birthday" song so everyone just said "happy birthday, ella!" in the end ted blew out the candles for her.

it was a great day and ella is still talking about how much fun she had!

never land

this saturday was ella's 3rd birthday. she was so excited for the day because she knew she was having a peter pan party. ted and i decorated the office like never land and ella wore her tinker bell outfit.

here are some pictures of the decorations. the kids were able to run and play and make a mess in this room as we are going to be ripping out everything soon anyway. here's captain hook's ship and crocodile creek.

you can see mermaid lagoon in the corner. the kids loved playing in all the balloons!

more pictures to come...

mermaids

so, with the coming of a new baby we've got to repurpose some of the rooms in the house. our office downstairs will also be a guestroom and the guestroom upstairs will become ella and corinne's room. i'm so excited to start on the girl's room! this is the fabric/motif for the room. ella loves mermaids and corinne loves fish-and they both love...pink (you guessed it!). i plan on painting little mermaids and fish on the walls, too (that's my favorite part). they're excited about a new room and i think corinne will love having her own little bed instead of a crib. of course, that aspect will be a bit of a challenge for mommy and daddy.

belated valentine report

valentine's day at our house is extra special because it is ted's birthday as well!! i was really glad the day fell on sunday so we had more time to make ted feel loved and appreciated. a few days before the big day ella and i made cards for everyone. it was really cute to see what she came up with. we started off our morning with a birthday/v-day breakfast. i put out everyone's valentine's gifts at their seats and we enjoyed my mother-in-law's delectable recipe of kropsu (it's this egg/ souffle concoction that you top off with fruit, maple syrup and whipped cream).


later, after church, we had a special valentine's themed lunch and red velvet birthday cake for dessert.

i couldn't resist buying this dress for corinne that i found at a sidewalk sale (while on our way to pick up ted's cake).

valentine's day fell on sunday remember? however, i could not get ella to wear a dress. in the end this is what she chose. i can't believe we're going through wardrobe disputes already!!

that evening the amazing riley burke came over and watched our girls while ted and i went out for a romantic dinner at applewood inn. i would have a picture inserted here, but the only one we got is on ted's phone-which is currently with him at work. maybe i can retrieve it and post it later. it was a good day and i think ted enjoyed relaxing and eating cake!

funny things they say

several years ago for christmas a friend of ours gave us a digital picture frame. it's great! the girls love looking at pictures as they eat their meals (good entertainment, i guess). it hangs in our kitchen at about eye level- let me clarify: adult eye level. it just so happens that there is a rocking horse underneath that frame that our girls like to take out and ride on from time to time. well, anyway, tonight while we were eating our dinner ella says to ted, "daddy can you stand on the rocking horse and turn on the pictures?" i almost peed my pants! however, i'm not sure if i was laughing harder at the fact that she came up with that or the idea of ted climbing on this little rocking horse to turn on the photo frame. at any rate, it made good entertainment for mommy. thanks ella!

braindead

the reason i have been absent from blogging is because i have been suffering with pretty bad morning sickness. lately, i've been taking an anti-nausea medicine commonly given to cancer patients- great, huh? so, a few times here and there the girls and i have made it out of the house during the week without daddy. this week, for instance, ted is in minnesota on business, so today i decided to take the girls out for a short outing to target (exciting, i know). it was after their naps and everyone was in a good mood. i had drinks and snacks in hand and we set off (after looking for one particular vest ella wanted and her princess hat). we were doing great in target, corinne was riding in the cart happily munching on fishies and ella was pushing her tigger around in the pink stroller she got for christmas. everything was going great that is until we got to the cashier and i realized i had forgotten my wallet on the kitchen counter!! i NEVER forget my wallet, in fact i am always teasing ted because he often forgets his. what was i going to do?! there was actually a purpose for going to target and i found just about everything on my list. there was no way i had the time to come back and re-do this shopping. i appologized profusely to the cashier and asked if they could hold the stuff for me while i ran home and retrieved my wallet. well, getting around with a "bump" while holding a squirmy 18 month old, while trying to direct an unwilling 3 year old who is pushing a toy stroller with her beloved, stuffed buddy in a busy parking lot is NOT easy! i was so flustered by the time we got to the car! i plopped corinne in her seat and got ella in hers. we were on our way to get the wallet. all of a sudden as i'm sitting at the light getting ready to get on the freeway i look back at corinne and she is NOT buckled in her carseat-God help me! and that basically what i cried out as i frantically buckled corinne in, hoping as i did so that i wasn't smooshing the "bump" too much and wondering what was going through my 3 year old's mind as she frowned at me. we finally made it AND back and purchased our things at target. then we indulgently went to in-and-out burger for a very late dinner. "dear jesus, can i please have my brain cells back? i REALLY need them!"