SNOW!

This is what it looks like when a two-year-old who lives in South Carolina sees snow (even if it is fake).

Here's Ellie on a recent morning... just waking up, eating breakfast and catching up with world news.

Sorry we've been off-line recently. Between several house guests, trips out of town, temperamental computers and various ailments, we've had a hard time getting to this blog. Look for more pics soon, though. We need to catch up.

First day of school!

Last week Ellie started school. This is very exciting. They have tricycles!! Here she is, ready for her first day.

I can hear your heart!

A few weeks ago, we had a discussion about listening to someone's heart. Ellie would put her little head to my chest and listen to the thump-thump and we'd talk about how she was hearing my heart.

This evening we were out and about and, finally, it was cool enough to have the windows down. At a traffic light the car next to us had the music turned up, bass thumping. Ellie cried out from the back seat "Mommy, I can hear your heart!"

Here she is at naptime this week. She fell asleep reading about five little monkeys who jump on beds...

Nicholas is two!!

Yesterday we went to Nicholas' birthday party. We love parties!! We got to sing happy birthday, eat cake, and play with someone else's toys. They even had a bouncy castle!!

Ellie wasn't too sure about Nicholas' driving skills...

...but she was pretty happy once she had a chance to be in the driver's seat.

Tea party

WNC Fair

Last weekend we met up with friends at the Western North Carolina state fair. There were rides and lots of animals and funnel cake and lemonade and it was so. much. fun!!

Ellie loved riding the "flying horses" (not what they were called but Ellie loves the flying horses so everything else remotely like them gets called that).

She couldn't wait to get on the fire engine ride (see her little face peeking out next to Wes?) but once it got going it turned out to be a little more action than they were expecting. When she looks at the photos now she says "I rode the school bus. I didn't feel well." ... with a big grin on her face. Future roller coaster fiend? I hope not!!

Zoo

Last week our playgroup went to the zoo. The kids loved running around seeing all the animals. And there is a great toddler playground right in the middle of the zoo, complete with comfy rocking chairs for grown ups. At the monkey section, Ellie and Owen stood in rapt attention while the monkeys made all kinds of crazy noise. The other two boys weren't too sure about it!!

Baking Day

Today we made blueberry muffins. And then we ate almost all of them for lunch!

A little song for you

My favorite things

Any blog that involves E wouldn't be complete without a little gallery to document her sense of attire. Here's a look at this summer. Bear in mind that every single one of these days it was over 90 degrees outside.

Dinnertime is always fun!

Fashionista? ... Tight-rope walker?

Check out the fancy footwork going on in this photo! Ellie is standing with one foot on the top of a gallon jug of water and the other balanced on the top of a three liter bottle of juice.

By the way, E picked out this outfit for herself. She loves her zebra shirt and was thrilled when she discovered shorts that... um ... "match" the zebra shirt.

Summer is ending...

Even though the thermometer is still topping out above 90 degrees, summer is coming to an end. The freshmen arrive on Tuesday and Wes will be teaching again soon. We took the day off on Wednesday and went up to North Carolina for lunch and to check out the Farmer's Market up on the state border.

Ellie LOVED the Farmer's Market. She checked out watermelons weighing more than she does, pumpkins (pumpkins already?!) and lots of homemade knickknacks.

Jumping!

Over the weekend we went to Ellie's friend Genevieve's birthday party. They had a blast! At the end of the party Genevieve asked to get into her crib and invited Ellie in with her. The two of them giggled away as they jumped....

After all the excitement (Genevieve's toys, chocolate cake, crib jumping), Ellie was so exhuasted she fell asleep on the way home.

Party clean up!

This evening we took down the decorations from our party - a few balloons and some streamers. Ellie and Wes had just come back from the pool and E really wanted to help out with the clean up. She quickly figured out that that if she walked around with streamers Tilly would chase around the house after her. Normally when Ellie is around, Tilly is running in the other direction!! They spent a long time tearing around the house together... Ellie giggling histerically.

Happy Birthday to E!!

Yesterday we had a get-together to celebrate Ellie's birthday. She loved every minute of it. The party was fun -we had eleven kids here (7 toddlers!) and their parents. Who knew we knew so many people in Greenville??

Ellie's favorite song, for several weeks now, has been "Happy Birthday." When the moment came for everyone to sing to her, she sat back with a sweet smile and enjoyed having her favorite song sung to her. Shortly after the singing and the candle-blowing-out, Ellie discovered FROSTING! The day just got better and better.

After cake and presents, Ellie headed to the back yard with some of her friends to try out one of her gifts: A gardening set (what a great idea)! The older kids helped the little ones dig up some soil (directly from the middle of the lawn) and plant some seeds. Now we are awaiting forget-me-nots.