February favorites

Okay, so I'm really late on this one, so I'm going with a pictures-only February photo summary, which is pretty much the usual anyway.

2/3: Grammie painted magnet chalkboard walls in the girls' play room.
They are in love with their new hideaway activities.

2/4: We brought Alta to sled with us on this fabulously snowy day.
Ruby & Alta were so cute sledding together.
(There's Ellie at the bottom of the hill.)

sled race!

These snow buddies could sled all day!

2/7: I don't even remember why, but I took the girls to Scheel's to ride the ferris wheel.
Sometimes you've just gotta do what the kids wanna do.

cougars!

Jeff painted this watercolor and gave it to his mom.
She put it in this frame. It's so cute!

2/11: The 100th Day of Kindergarten!
(Her hat says "Ruby is 100 days smarter!")

2/13: Ellie went to get her bangs and hair trimmed.
Since I'm no good at doing hair Ellie requested a French braid
and this is what she got. Lucky!

We went to play at Allie and Brookie's house and the girls got to watch Frozen.
Of course they all had to stand right in front of the TV to sing "Let it Go."

2/18: We went bike riding with friends. When it was time to leave I was chatting and Ruby was inside the car doing this. Silly monkey!

2/20: I went with Ruby to school for her "Walking Report Card" exam.
Basically I got to administer her test and hang out with her for an hour. It was fun.

2/23: We have had a bunch of gorgeous sunsets, but this was one of the best.
I love the orange/yellow/pink/purple/blue.

2/24: We have our first daffodil emerging!
It feels so early to see daffodils and tulips,
but it will probably be another month before we have any blooms.
Bring on spring!

2/26: Ally came for a play date. Ally and Ellie wanted to dress up and watch Frozen music videos.
I love that these two get along so well!

The girls set up their own paint project while I was in the shower.
I joined them for a paint party and we made some crazy art.
(And guess who wasn't so thrilled about cleaning up their little project?)

2/28: This was a no school day and we decided to meet up with our friends for breakfast.
They even picked us up to go since our car was in the shop.
It was nice not to be stuck at home all day without a car!

I can hardly believe that it's already March. Let's get on with it then.

36th Birthday

Our dear Jeffrey turned 36 in February and you know I have to write a post about it. [For the sake of brevity I'll keep this a photo-with-captions post.]

Birthday Celebration Day
Ruby had early-out day. She decided to make Daddy a special birthday lunch while we waited to pick up Ellie from preschool. She made him a half-jam-and-honey sandwich. Mmmm!

Ruby was SO excited for Jeff to open his presents.
Ruby was very specific about what present she wanted to buy Jeff: a green tie.
She picked this out all by herself. He loved it.

We had a long drive to Midway for our birthday outing. Ruby got bored and I offered to let her take pictures with my camera to keep her entertained. She snapped dozens of blurry shots that I erased. But this selfie? It's a keeper.

Tubing at Soldier Hollow
Ellie followed by Ruby followed by Jeff riding the tow lift

Ellie and I raced against Ruby and Jeff.
As you can see, we were totally winning.

All four of us went down together a couple times. That's my favorite.

Jeff and I got to go on a dinner date to celebrate, then we had a final celebration with his parents on Sunday.
By request, his mom made her amazing carrot cake for the special occasion.

36 candles!
Happy Birthday to you!

the first tooth

One day in early January Ruby told us that her tooth was wiggly! She has been looking forward to losing her first tooth for many months, especially since the dentist had predicted that she'd lose her first one before Christmas. We were all thrilled at the discovery.

I honestly thought it would only take a week, maybe two, for the little thing to pop out. I underestimated how little Ruby would want to help her tooth come out. She'd wiggle it once or twice a day. It was far from a distraction in her daily life. She had zero interest in pulling it out; she wanted it to fall out all on its own.

Her tooth was so loose that it would lean forward, sticking out in front of her other teeth.
It looked so funny!

And then one day we noticed that her new tooth was already coming in - behind the baby tooth!

Weeks passed. That tooth got more wiggly by the day but it was hanging on. Much to Ruby's dismay, I was obsessed with her tooth. At first I asked her about it multiple times a day. "How's your tooth?" "Show me how wiggly it is!" "Oh I just know this is going to be the week!" She hated me to ask about it. "Ugh! Stop talking about it! It's going to fall out when it's ready!" It got to the point that Ruby would mention her tooth first and I'd start talking about it then she'd get mad at me for talking about it!

Out of respect I really did try not to bug her about it too often. But I couldn't help it! I asked several times if I could pull it out. No! I told her she should twist it to see if that would make it more loose. She actually did twist it a couple times. When she ate carrots for a snack I'd tell her to bite down on the carrot with her loose tooth. She gave it a half-hearted attempt. She did not want it to hurt.

The day before Valentine's Day we were playing at a friend's house. My friend offered to pay Ruby twenty dollars if Ruby would let her pull out the tooth. It was so loose! It had to be hanging on by a teeny tiny root. Nope. Ruby could not be bribed!

Ruby and I both decided that Valentine's Day would be a memorable day to loose her first tooth. At bedtime that night the little tooth sat stubbornly in her mouth. Oh well.

The next afternoon Ruby was watching a show on TV. She gasped and walked over to show me something. Her tiny tooth was sitting in the palm of her hand. It finally happened! She said, "I was just messing with it and it fell out! And it didn't even hurt!" Just like she wanted.

"my sel is gratr then Ellies"

One day, Ruby set up a "sale" in the front room. She had set up messy displays of books and toys. She made an OPEN sign (spelled opin). She asked everyone to come to her sale to buy things. She required us to pay her in real money and the prices were arbitrary, made up on-the-spot, bargaining accepted.

And then Ellie set up a sale in her room. She also wanted people to come to her sale and buy things with real money. According to Ellie, her sale was organized. She let Ruby know that her sale was messy. As you'd expect, this caused a bit of a conflict. "My sale isn't messy!" Ruby objected. She was offended! (Because it was true!)

A few minutes later Ruby wanted me to tape up her new sign:

"You should not go to Ellie's sale cause her sale is so dumb."
(Yeah, she's suddenly started writing her S's backwards. Drives me crazy!)

I laughed so hard. (She had also written, "My sale is greater than Ellie's.") I showed the sign to Jeff when he got home and he had a hearty laugh.

I used to get such a kick out of the girls' speech development and the hilarious things they'd say. Ruby learning how to spell and express herself through writing is going to be positively entertaining.

4 years old!

Ellie's Birthday Interview
I started this tradition when Ruby turned four and I'm using the same interview questions that I asked Ruby. Ellie didn't hesitate much when I asked her questions. I decided not to limit her to one answer; I recorded everything she said.

Favorites:
color = all colors
food = pickles, olives, strawberries, sandwiches, cheese
drink = chocolate milk, water, regular milk, orange soda
book = Hands Are Not for Hitting
movie = Frozen and Wreck it Ralph
show = Bo on the Go, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Cat in the Hat, Team Umizoomi
game = "run around the house and wrap blankets around my body"
day of the week = Saturday
season = summer and winter
holiday = my birthday
place to go = Scheel's
place to eat = JCW's, Firehouse, Costa Vida
song = Let it Go
primary song = "I like to look for rainbows" (When I am Baptized)
friend = Ally
thing about school = gluing things
thing about Daddy = "That he plays Monster Pillow Gates with us"
thing about Mommy = "That you take us a lot of places"
thing about Ruby = "That sometimes she loves me" (to which Ruby replied, "I don't sometimes love you, I do all the time!")

Things I want to remember about Ellie at this age:
1. Her prayers. Grammie had her foot surgery in July with a twelve week recovery. Months later Ellie is still praying, "Grateful for Grammie's foot to feel better." That's the one thing she never forgets to pray about. Rather than asking for blessings, everything starts with "Grateful for...", and she comes up with all sorts of sweet and unusual things to say.

2. Ellie likes to clean up her room and do her laundry. She will clean up her room without me asking just because she wants everything to be in its place. She doesn't, however, always want to clean up her room when I ask her to, but I'd say that most of the time she does it without complaint. Same with the laundry. I don't always ask her to put it away on her own, but she is capable of doing it and does a good job putting everything where it belongs. (She also likes taking baths, brushing her teeth, and flossing. So different than her big sis!)

3. Ellie loves to take care of her "sweeties." Any of her stuffed animals or dolls are her sweeties (or her "kids") and she frequently asks me to babysit them for her when she's playing pretend.

Ellie asked me to tie her sweetie onto her with a scarf like a baby carrier.

4. Ellie walks around on her tiptoes at home. I can't believe I don't have a picture of it - she does it so often. It makes her look taller than she really is, and she's already tall (41.3 inches - 83%!).

5. Ellie enjoys hot chocolate (like her mom). She usually requests hot chocolate when we're home together (when Ruby's in school). She says, "Let's have a tea party!" She holds out her pinky to drink her "tea" and asks to clink mugs with me.

6. Ellie calls me Mama. Ruby calls me Mommy and I refer to myself as Mommy, but Ellie calls me Mama. The way she says it is heart-melting sweet.

7. Ellie loves to color. If she's bored she'll get out some paper and crayons and go to work. For a while she was making dozens of pictures every day and saying that they were for Grammie. We'd take over a huge stack of pictures when we visited Grammie's house. Ellie has been into cutting and gluing, too, which I don't love cleaning up, but she thinks it's amazing. (Or as Ellie says it: "e-mazing.")

She's not allowed to use markers for a while.
She can't be trusted not to color on something she's not supposed to!

8. Ellie requests a hairstyle when I'm doing her hair. Her recent favorites have been two braids (a la Anna from Frozen), a bun (or two buns), and pigtails. She really wants me to French braid her hair but I'm still too intimidated to get good at it. 

9. Ellie hates walking. After less than a minute of walking she'll whine, "I'm tired of walking! My legs hurt! I don't wanna walk!" She would probably prefer to be carried or ride in a stroller everywhere. 

10. Ellie's best friend is Ruby. I always say that these two are best friends and best enemies. They really do play well together and have a great time making the most spectacular messes. They are incredibly competitive with each other and know exactly how to push each other's buttons. That's what siblings are for, right? The tender moments - when they comfort and console each other, when they are thoughtful and kind - those are the moments that make me so happy they have each other.

-  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -

Days before Ellie's annual well-child check-up she told me she wanted to have shots. I knew they'd give me the option of having her get her kindergarten shots this year but I thought she'd change her mind once we were there. When it came time to decide I asked her if she wanted to get shots or not and she said she wanted to. No way. She even chose the flu shot over the flu mist (since I've been a slacker and hadn't taken her in to get vaccinated yet). And you know what? When the nurse stuck her twice in one thigh and once in the other, her eyes got wide but she didn't even wince. She didn't make a sound. No tears. I could not believe my eyes! I didn't know she was so tough! I was so impressed I offered to take her to get a treat.

Ellie Claire, we love having you in our family! You've had a rough start to your new year but I have a feeling that four is going to be a super fun year for you.

Ellie's 4th Birthday!

Ellie has been talking about her fourth birthday since Ruby started talking about her sixth birthday. So, for about five months. She told me sometime in December that she wanted a Frozen-themed party and didn't change her mind about that. After Ruby's party I decided that Ellie could invite four friends to her party - four friends for her fourth birthday.

Ellie also requested a countdown calendar like the ones I've made for Ruby. (Which made Ruby jealous because I didn't make one for her birthday this year. She didn't ask for one! Oops!)

putting the last stickers on her calendar!

Friday was party-prep day! I let the girls help as much as they could.

party favor boxes
(Ruby & Ellie helped decorate)

I haven't made a piñata since I lived at home!
It was fun trying to figure out how to make a snowman piñata.
I think it turned out pretty cute. And I learned some lessons for next time!

Ellie wanted to play 'Pin the Carrot Nose on Olaf'.
I drew him on poster board and I was glad it turned out looking like Olaf.

I made some snowflakes to decorate the house and hung streamers.

Saturday, February 1: Ellie turns 4!

Present time!
We got her a Frozen doll set that came with Anna and Elsa and two dresses each.
(She really wanted the Frozen castle but it was sold out online when I tried to order it.)

Ruby picked out a Lalaloopsy Littles (little sister) doll for Ellie.

 Ellie requested cinnamon rolls for her birthday breakfast.

Ellie had to wear her Anna dress-up for the party!

I found this huge mylar balloon that has Anna on one side...

and Elsa on the other!

Ruby & Ellie set the table

Party time! Grammie and Papa came - by special request, and three of the four friends she invited were able to make it. Poor Ally was sick and spent the morning at the doctor instead.

Other Ellie got the carrot nose the closest to the right spot!

Opening presents! Ellie got the most perfect gifts.

I didn't bother hanging the piñata - Jeff just had to hold it.
And the only thing I could come up with to hit the piñata was our big flashlight.
That piñata was hard as a rock, so we needed a heavy weapon!

Ruby ended up being the one that broke open the snowman.

The last game they played was Pass the Parcel.
I played music from the movie and each girl got to open a layer of the present.
I love watching kids play this game!

Finally, cupcakes! Ellie asked for strawberry flavor.
(the snowflakes were supposed to be blue but I had to improvise)

The party was over by eleven o'clock. We had the rest of the day and I hadn't planned anything else! Ellie said she wanted a hot dog for her birthday lunch so we took her to JCW's. And since we were close and couldn't think of anything else to do we took the girls to Cabela's to look at the dead animals. (Next year we're taking her to Disneyland for her birthday so I don't feel too bad.)

Sunday, February 2: Elie's family party at Grammie & Papa's

Ellie got this fun monster puppet kit. She got a kick out of playing with it.

Ellie's new birthday outfit from Grammie.

Ellie was in a terrible mood and had herself a little fit right when it was cake time.

She cheered up when we let her lick frosting off the cake. (Eww!)

Ellie's last present arrived on Tuesday, from Grandma and Grandpa. She got the Frozen castle! Lucky, lucky girl!