This and That

Emily modeling her Princess Jasmine dress from Lindsay.  They have been living in these dresses for the last few days!

Ellery showing off her dress.

Can you imagine going into daycare to pick you your children and finding out they were allowed to color their faces?  Yep, this is what I got.  Apparently they wanted to save it for their birthday party.  The marker was "washable" but really that meant with soap directly applied to the wash cloth it was somewhat scrubbable.  The girls were NOT happy!

Showing her lovely painted face and new snow suit

Snow suit models

Grammy Linda and Papa Gary took them up to Mt Hood to play in the snow.  They had so much fun!!!

How about a little yoga?

Happy Birthday Part 2

The girls had an "Arty Party" this weekend at My Masterpiece Art Studio to officially celebrate their 4th birthday.  All the kids had a blast with all the painting, chalk, and clay projects.   I'm really impressed with how creative many of the kiddos are.  The paintings that Ellery and Emily did are really great.  I think I will be framing them and hanging them up in our new house.

Emily working on her masterpiece

Ellery's artwork

Just a few pieces of our friends artwork

 Emily selecting her chalk

Working with clay

Some of the finished clay pieces

Our annual grandparent photo.  We've taken a photo like this for the last 4 years

How's the House??

Things are still moving along with the house.  This last week the painters have been painting all the trim work with oil paint so it is extremely stinky and unsafe.  No pictures just yet but as soon as the fumes die down I'll be over there to see what's been going on!  They have been working on siding the outside of the house but apparently if I can't go inside I don't go over. No pictures of that either.  Maybe later this weekend. 

We Are Twins

Grammy Linda taught the girls a song she learned at camp called "We Are Twins".  I've been trying to find the exact lyrics but I haven't been able to.  One video is Linda singing with the girls and the other is just Emily and Ellery being silly.  I'm so glad I was trying to capture this on video.  So funny!!

Emily singing to Ellery 

"Ellie why do you have choclate on your face?"

"Why are you sitting low down?"

"And your a mess Ellie!"

Ellery's 20 Birthday Questions

We are starting a new tradition.  Every year on the girls' birthday I am going to ask this same set of questions to see how their answers change over the years.  This year was a little difficult because the girls would wait for me to give examples so I felt like i was leading the witness a little.  There are some funny answers though.

Ellery and her birthday cake

20 Birthday Questions
1.  What is your favorite color ?   RED
2.  What is your favorite toy?   BOUNCY BALL
3.  What is your favorite fruit?   BLUEBERRIES
4.  What is your favorite TV show?  MICKEY MOUSE
5.  What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch?   GRAPES
6.  What is your favorite outfit?   FLOWER DRESS
7.  What is your favorite game?   BOWLING
8.  What is your favorite snack?   CINNAMON CHEX
9.  What is your favorite animal?   MOUSES "THEY ARE SO TINY I LOVE THEM"
10. What is your favorite song?   OH HANUKKAH, OH HANUKKAH, COME LIGHT THE MENORAH
11.  What is your favorite book?   LLAMA LLAMA MISSES MOMMA
12.  Who is your best friend?   ANA AND EMILY
13.  What is your favorite cereal?   CHEX
14.  What is your favorite thing to do outside?   PLAY BASKETBALL
15.  What is your favorite drink?   SMOOTHIE
16.  What is your favorite holiday?   VALENTINES DAY
17.  What do you like to take to bed with you at night?   ALL MY STUFFIES
18.  What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast?   PEANUT BUTTER WAFFLES
19.  What do you want for dinner on your birthday?   TURKEY
20.  What do you want to be when you grow up?  A BAKER

Emily's 20 Birthday Questions

Emily loved her cupcake too!

20 Birthday Questions
1. What is your favorite color ?  ORANGE
2. What is your favorite toy?  BLOCKS
3. What is your favorite fruit?  CUTIES
4. What is your favorite TV show?  MICKEY MOUSE
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch?  PEANUT BUTTER SANDWHICH
6. What is your favorite outfit?  SKIRTS, DRESSES, TIGHTS, FLOWER SHIRTS
7. What is your favorite game?  CARDS
8. What is your favorite snack?  CHEERIOS
9. What is your favorite animal?  MONKEYS
10. What is your favorite song?  TWINKLE TWINKLE LITTLE STAR
11. What is your favorite book?  ARTHUR
12. Who is your best friend?  ANA AND ELLERY
13. What is your favorite cereal?  LIFE
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside?  SWING
15. What is your favorite drink?  CHOCOLATE MILK
16. What is your favorite holiday?  CHRISTMAS
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night?  MY BLANKET, STUFFIES, BURP CLOTH
18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast?  WAFFLES
19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday?  PINK JELLO
20. What do you want to be when you grow up?  MONKEY FEEDER

Emily & Ellery's 4th Birthday - Part 1

Yesterday my little miracle girls turned 4 years old.   They aren't babies and it's hard to even consider them toddlers anymore.  These are full fledged pre-schoolers.  Big girls.  "Look mom I can wipe my self "type of girls.  How time flies when you are having the craziest time of your life.

The girls had a fun day at schools where they had a mini celebration.  Then we had a birthday dinner with a little bit of family.  Next week we have our big party with the younger cousins and friends.  Stay tuned for those pictures....

Before school "Smile it is your birthday!!!"

This is the original picture....before I had to bribe them with a cupcake if they smiled. 

Birthday girls Ellery & Emily

Cupcake time

Grammy and Papa

Mommy & Girls

Party Time at School

Superbowl Sunday

Sister Love!!!

 The girls attended their first Superbowl party this week thanks to the SoldByJen Real Estate Team. They rented out the Overlook House in N Portland a historic home with amazing views of Portland and the Willamette River.  The girls formed a football game at some point and had a blast for quite longer than I expected.  They were Team Carrot vs. Team Watermelon.

Ellery congratulating Emily on her touchdown.  See the teeny football in Em's hand??

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Night football!  The girls played outside until it was way too cold.  You can see the city lights and you can see Em in her white sweater running with the ball.

Andy & Ellery

Here was the daylight view.  Amazing.  Wow we live in the best place.  I can never get tired of looking at all the sights and things Portland has to offer.  We've been enjoying some of the nicest weather we've ever had in the winter.  I even took up running and have been so happy to get up at the crack of dawn on Saturdays to have chilly but sunny morning run along the river.  I moved away from Oregon once and unless you offered me a cruise ship full of cash and made it irresistible to turn down I'd never leave again.  All our family lives within a few hours of us and there is so many fun things to do. Why on earth would we leave??

Enjoy your weekend!!

These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things

This week we've made a ton of progress on the house.  The entire process has been very fast since we just started the remodel in November, but now that we're getting close to the end so things seem to be going in and finishing up at a rapid pace.  This post has 3 of my favorite things so far!!

Favorite things #1.  Coffered Ceilings.

The house already had beams running through but recently Andy thought that coffered ceilings would be a great addition to the room.   They took the existing beams and encased them to match the new beams added.  They still need to be painted, but here's a sneak peak of what we're talking about.  I'm loving them so far!

Cabinets and granite going into the guest bathroom

Master bathroom

 

Favorite thing #2.  Mudroom cabinetry storage.  I found a picture of what I liked and they recreated it to scale for our space.  It's HUGE!  I'm so excited for all that storage space and a place to keep our coats, purses, backpacks, shoes,and MAIL!  That middle section is a mail sorter.  Organization I love you!

 

Favorite thing #3.  Pantry.  Now from this view it looks like a regular old pantry next to a fridge.  However, it actually leads you back into a pantry room.  Of course, I only took this picture so you'll have to see the inside at a later date.  I found the idea on my best friend Pinterest and got the ok from Andy to make it happen.  

More kitchen

The painters have been here this week caulking, filling holes, and sanding.  Next up is painting then flooring.  Things are going to come to a close quickly and then I'll be out of a project.  I love the planning and obsessing and choosing the "perfect" items.  I'm kind of sad for it to be over...at least until the next one.  (Kidding....I'd like to stay here a while!) I think we could be in the house by the end of the month. The could is because while the house may be ready for living, I'm not sure when we're going to pack up and move anything.  The thought of it in just a few weeks does not excite me in the least.  Hopefully I find the energy....but not sure where it is going to come from.