Bluebonnets 2011

Well, we waited too long (the grass has grown up over most of the bluebonnets, so it was impossible to get pictures that showed just how full the field was) and Charlie has a cold so he was not feeling very smiley, but I’m glad we documented another bluebonnet season!  The field would have been absolutely amazing a week ago – there were bluebonnets and poppies everywhere.  Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous.

Both thrilled to be there…

It’s illegal to pick bluebonnets, so I told her beforehand that we couldn’t pick the flowers – she walked through the field pointing at the flowers, saying “You can’t pick that flower.  You can’t pick that flower.  You can’t pick that flower” (guess I got the message across).  I did, however, let Ellie pick a couple of pink wildflowers.  She wanted to share with Charlie, but he was extremely offended by the gesture!

Both boys expressing their objections…

Checking out a ladybug…

I absolutely adore this pictures!  They show Ellie’s sweet, sweet personality so well.

Ellie's quote of the day...at the dinner table: "NO, DON'T LICK MY BOBO!" Somehow, after a bath and a diaper change (although Ellie is 90+% potty trained, she still refuses to go #2 in the potty, so at critical points in the day, she'll ask to have a diaper on), she ended up at the dinner table in just her birthday suit. She was standing on the side of her chair and was very unimpressed by Gracie's kiss on the behind!

Our little actress

Ellie cracks us up on a daily basis, but I'm terrible at documenting the crazy things she says and does. I figured I would document this one, even if it's only for Damian and my sake. Lately, Ellie has been napping only about every other day. On the days that she doesn't nap, she spends the time in her room reading, playing with her dollhouse, etc. Today, she seemed to put on a one-woman show the entire time (2 hours). Over the monitor, I heard things like "why yes, Dina Doll, I will have a googleberry muffin," "this is a delicious, chewy googleberry muffin, isn't it Dina Doll?" (Dina Doll and the googleberry muffin are from her favorite UK cartoon -- Noddy). When I opened her bedroom door at the end of her not-so-quiet time, I found her sitting on top of her table, in a chair, with all four of her brass bed knobs in her lap -- she was pretending to lick one, saying "this is chocolate ice cream, Dina Doll." Silly girl.

Mommy-Daughter date

Ellie and I went out for a girls' night tonight. After dinner with Daddy and Charlie, we got dressed up and went to a short play. Ellie was so excited to have painted fingers and toes and to carry a purse (complete with a special treat to enjoy during the play). The play was The Princess and The Pea and it was put on by a local drama/acting school. All of the actors were kiddos who were about 8 years old. Ellie loved seeing other kids dressed up and performing. As you might imagine, the performance was a bit rough with lots of forgotten lines, but it was still really cute. During several scenes, a candy wrapper dropped from one of the kid's pockets and the other kids became extremely distracted and preoccupied with it's presence on the stage; in between scenes, a parent would jump up and grab the wrapper, and then the cycle would start again when a wrapper dropped from another child's pocket. So funny. As soon as the play was over, Ellie said she wanted to go home and show Daddy her admission ticket (which she admired several times while waiting for the play to begin).

Dad of the year

Despite a bad back and a (very manly) fear of heights, Damian put up the kids' swings today. We learned our lesson after the squirrel chewed through the ropes, so this time Damian put them up with chain. When Ellie woke up from her nap, we told her to go look through the front window and asked what she saw (from the living room) -- she screamed "MY PINK SWING!!" and came running with tears in her eyes, saying "thank you, Daddy!" So sweet. Needless to say, we quickly went out to enjoy some time in the swings.

Charlie's first haircut

Today was a big day for Charlie-man! Our friend, Emilie, gave him his first haircut and he looks SO handsome (and old!). He seemed to really enjoy the attention and, as you can see, he sat perfectly still. Towards the end, he started to wonder where his hands were (he was watching them move under the cape). Emilie pointed out that instead of messing with timeout, we just need to get a cape that we can put on him when he's been naughty -- it apparently makes him freeze and go quiet.