Daddy Daughter Ball

Lots of fun at the Best Western Daddy Daughter Ball

Valentines 2008 at Anthony's

Ross and I had a solo date on Feb. 15th. But for Valentine's, we spent the evening with our special friends Peter and Myndee. We had a yummy dinner at Anthony's in Gig Harbor.

A Day of Hearts

Valentine's Day was a lot of fun in our home. The girls and I made the above cookies for Emma's class. We also had special heart glasses for OJ and heart pancakes for breakfast. While we went on our date, we treated the girls and babysitter to a heart-shaped pizza from Papa Murphy's. Fun!

Fun at McDonalds

A cut above the rest

If you have read our blog for any length of time, you will recall our various "incidents" with miss Elena (the smearing of poop, desitin, A&D - you name it). We should have known that with this child, we would need to be more cautious about where we left the scissors. When we weren't looking, Elena decided to do a little Project Runway with her PJ's. We later found out she did the same to her sister's PJ's. We love you Elena. We just pray you'll make it to age 4.

Elena's 3rd Birthday Party

Elena's Birthday Cake

We had a wonderful birthday party for Elena on Saturday (see video). I wanted to show a close-up of this cake that Jodi made. Her cakes are amazing - just a simple hobby, if you can believe it! Anyway, we had a simple gathering with grandma and grandpa, Jodi, Jer and Abigail. We ate pizza, busted open a pinata with everyone's favorite candy bars inside, and ate cake and ice cream. Elena of course, enjoyed the pinata quite a bit. She also liked opening her presents. She got bath toys, a big water toy for outside, a new book, Blues Clues game, unicorn doctor kit and children's CD. Now, about 8 times a day, Elena reminds someone that she is "free." How blessed we are to have another year with our sweet Elena.

The Spelling Bee

Emma and James were the 2 1st graders chosen to go to the spelling bee. Leah and Kaitlyn (in the same class) were the 2nd graders chosen. They joined other private schools in Poulsbo for the bee. It was lots of fun!! Emma got out in round one (many spelled "meny"). She was kind of bummed because she worked so hard and knew so many words. But we told her all that mattered is that she tried hard and had fun.

Elena turns 3!!

Happy Birthday Elena!! It was a very exciting day - as Elena, for the first time, understood what it truly meant to have a birthday. And in her world, what that meant, was gum. (We've taken a break from gum, because it usually ends up being swallowed or on the floor of the car). So the first words out of Elena's mouth in the morning were "I'm 3 now! Can I have some gum?" Of course, she did. And she chewed it for about 4 hours straight.

The day was not as we originally anticipated. Emma had her spelling bee, so Elena was going to go to daycare for the day while Ross and I watched the bee. We made some cupcakes together (from scratch, might I add) to take to daycare, and Elena was really excited about everyone there singing to her. But the night before her birthday, Elena got a fever. So plans had to change. Ross now had to stay home with Elena and I took Emma to the spelling bee. However, we decided to take the cupcakes to Emma's school - and the k-2 graders joined in to sing to Elena. It was very sweet. The office staff, including the principal, also sang to Elena. If definitely made up for the change in plans. And Elena wasn't so sick that she couldn't enjoy her day.

After the spelling bee, we took the girls out to Carl's Junior (which Emma has now nicknamed "heaven"). Then we went to Art N Soul in Tacoma and painted some pottery. Elena just splashed water and paint around, but I managed to get a good hand print on a plate that I painted. After that, we had a little ice cream at Cold Stone. Overall, it turned out to be a great day!

Here are the cute little K-2 graders singing to Elena. We love this school. It's just like one big family!

Our first call of the day came from the Walkers - specifically cousin Lucy (also age 3) - who wanted to sing to Elena. I almost cried it was so cute! Then Will got on the phone and said "Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii". (That was his song)

A Cold Stone Song

I only caught the tail end of this song at Cold Stone - but this employee had an amazing voice!

Benson Lake

Sandy and I got a wonderful weekend away without the kids. We actually stayed in the apartment above the garage. The cabin and Lake you see here is the view from the apartment. The cabin should be complete very soon. And then we'll be living in style. (Her dad kind of goes all out with these sorts of things - he plans on having a big screen TV, Wii, and all sort of fun things to do - not to mention swimming in the lake once the weather gets nice). We mostly relaxed, read books, and ate. But we did have one outing to Shelton where we did some antique shopping at had dinner at Xinh's. Sandy ate gooey duck! Below is the proof. It was actually pretty good! I stuck with a safe prawn curry. Anyway, a great time to reconnect and have no responsibility other than enjoying each others company.