Hoppy Easter 2018

Hey Everybody!  Ellen Here!

We got a visit from a special friend, the Easter Bunny came to our house!  I was so excited when I woke up and found Easter eggs in our room, and then we opened the door and saw that the Easter Bunny had left us a note to tell us which color eggs we were to hunt. 

Not only did he leave us eggs, he also left us Easter Baskets!

My Easter basket had some really fun puzzles with silly googly eyes on them!!

Linden's Easter Basket had a pottery wheel and a balloon animal kit!

Of course, Easter isn't just about treats and toys, it is about being with family and remembering the sacrifice God made for us.  It was fun having everyone over for lunch, and gave us lots of time to play.

 I love holidays a lot, they are always full of tradition.  One tradition that Mama carried on was matching dresses for us and our baby dolls.  Maren was too little to get a matching dress (Mama didn't make our dresses, just our baby doll dresses), but Mama did put a matching bow on hers.

Another fun Easter tradition is getting our picture taken with the Easter Bunny!  I am not sure how such a big bunny is able to deliver all of those eggs in just one night, he is pretty amazing!

Not only was it Easter (and Mama's birthday too), it was also April Fools Day!  Mama played a funny trick on Linden and froze her cereal so she couldn't get her spoon out!  It was pretty silly.

That's all I have tonight!

Ellen

Family Fun

Mama took time off after having Maren, but now that Maren is big enough for daycare it was time for Mama to go back to work.  Daddy decided that we should have a fun weekend away so we headed to the cities for a mini-stay-cation!  

The hotel Daddy picked had a small waterpark, Ellen and I couldn't get into our swimsuits fast enough!  

It was Maren's first time in a pool, unfortunately it was pretty cold so she didn't really like it.  I think she really just wanted to snuggle more with Mama.

As for Ellen and me, we were running around like crazy ladies.  There was a little kid side with some small slides and fountains.  Ellen played on that side for a while and made some new friends.

But it didn't take long before she saw how much fun I was having on the big kid side!!  We really liked the lily pads.  Ellen was too short to reach the ropes, but she could get across them all on her own.  My favorite part was the big water slides that went outside of the hotel!!  The slides were pitch black and super fast!!

It was a short trip but we had a great time making memories!

Have a great night!
Linden

A Visit from the Smile Fairy

We have been doing a lot of talking about our teeth lately, February was National Children's Dental Health Month!  The fun started at school when the Smile Fairy came to visit, she is a friend of mine which made it really fun to get to see her in my classroom.  We learned about how to keep our teeth nice and strong and that her favorite number is 2! (Brush 2 times a day, for 2 minutes, and visit the dentist 2 times each year).

The timing of the Smile Fairy was pretty perfect because I had a trip to the dentist planned a few weeks later.  I am such a pro that Mama lets me go in by myself and we get out teeth cleaned at the same time.  Another great visit with no cavities, and two loose teeth!!

Ellen had her first visit to the dentist this year too!  The hygienist was the same one I had.  She showed Ellen how her chair goes up and down, Ellen thought that was pretty fun.

Next the hygienist counted and cleaned Ellen's teeth!  Ellen was so brave and sat really nicely, but she did NOT like the water sprayer!

 Even Maren had a trip to the dentist, though hers wasn't as much fun.  Turns out she had a lip tie and a tongue tie that needed to be fixed.  She got to wear some silly glasses, Mama said that they protected her eyes from the laser they used to do the releases.  She was a trooper and was only a little fussy and is doing great now!

Hope you are enjoying this beautiful weather! Make sure you visit your dentist soon!
Linden

Glorious Sunshine!

After several weeks of below average temps, we have had some REALLY beautiful days and we have been taking advantage of them!

I had been begging for Mama and Daddy to take me sledding but with gymnastics it just hasn't worked out.  Mama decided the other day that it needed to happen because it was just too beautiful to not be outside.

It was 43 degrees outside so Maren was cozy warm in her car seat while Mama and I went sledding for a bit.  The snow was pretty sticky, but we had fun even though it wasn't very fast.

I really wanted Maren to get to go sledding so Mama told me that I could pull her around in her car seat, but I wasn't allowed to pull her down the hill.  Mama is so over protective of Maren!!

At the very end Mama agreed to let me hold Maren and take her on her first sled ride.  It was pretty lame if you ask me, Mama made me pick the flattest part of the hill, and we had to start half way down, but I think Maren had fun, and I like getting to do fun things with her so it was pretty great.

 Mama and Maren have been taking advantage of the beautiful weather while I have been at school too.  Mama loves to walk, and is ready to get back to running, so they have been going on stroller rides whenever they can.

We have even gotten our bikes out already!

Today is going to be another great day, and this weekend looks like it will be even nicer.  We can't wait to get outside and play!
Linden

Are These Wings, or Ears?

As many of you know, my Mama loves to sew, and I love when she lets me use her sewing machine!!  Most of the time when I get to play with it I just get scrap fabric and play with the different stitches, but Mama decided that it was time for me to make a real project.

On the back of a bag of batting that she bought was a pattern for a elephant that I REALLY wanted to try.  Mama surprised me with some fun sparkly and galaxy fabric (my favorite) and I knew that was going to be perfect for this project.  Mama told me that I was going to do the entire project on my own unless I asked for her help.  She showed me how to pin the pattern onto the fabric and then I started cutting it out.  I really wanted to use her fabric scissors but she wouldn't let me because I am not left handed.

Once I got the fabric cut out Mama surprised me again and told me that she was going to show me how to  use the foot pedal on her machine.  Her machine is pretty fancy and has a start/stop button so you can sew without having to reach the pedal, but she thought I was finally big enough to give it a try.  It certainly is a little trickier, but it is SO much more fun! 

Once I got the ears put together I had to sew buttons on for the eyes.  That was pretty tricky so Mama had to help me out a little bit.

Once the two pieces of the elephant were together it was time to turn it right-side out and start stuffing.  I learned all sorts of tricks like how to clip the seams so my rounded parts would look nice, and how to get pretty corners when sewing.

Once I had the tail made I asked Mama to help me finish sewing my elephant because the last part has to be done by hand which was a little tricky, but overall I was VERY proud and couldn't wait to bring it to school to show my friends.

It was a very fun project, and I love the finished result, however, that night as I was snuggling my new stuffed animal an important question came up...Aren't these supposed to be ears?  because they kinda look like wings?  Mama agreed, the pattern had us put the ears on at a very strange spot.  Mama offered to help me fix it, but I decided that my elephant is unique and I love him just the way he is.

Have a great night!
Linden

There was an Acci-didnt Lasternight...

The blog has had a lot of focus on Maren for the past month, but tonight it is all about Ellen!  (Don't let the title worry you, there wasn't an accident, everybody is okay).  Note - Pictures were added to this blog because they are cute, not because they really have anything to do with the post.

Ellen is 3 and a half, and let me tell you, she is one crazy lady!!  One of my favorite things about her right now is that she is certain that she needs to do everything exactly like me...except when I want to be like her and then she wants the exact opposite.  How annoying!  

Right now her big thing is wanting to know how old I am, and then she declares that today is her birthday and she is now 7 too!  (She has had a lot of birthdays this month!!)  Another example, at school I have to record my reading minutes so each day I ask Mama to keep track of my minutes...of course, Ellen has started to ask Mama to keep track of her reading minutes too.

Another funny Ellen thing right now is that she wants to know what time it is and what letter things start with...but she gets letters and numbers mixed up.  She will frequently ask, "Daddy, what number are you?" and he used to tell her how old he was and then she would get mad and ask again.  It didn't take long for everybody to realize that she really meant, how do you spell your name.

Being three means that sometimes when she says things they don't quite come out right.  "Lasternight" is one she uses a lot.  It could mean yesterday, last week, a month ago, tomorrow, or this morning.  And "Acci-didnt" is the same thing as an accident, which is funny because she usually did it on purpose, but she doesn't want to admit it.

Ellen is a project Queen!!!  That girl could sit at the table and cut, and tape, and cut, and tape, all Day LONG!  Any she doesn't just tape the paper, no, she tapes the table, and the chairs, and herself, and everything else.  And don't even get me started on her decorating our dinner chairs by taping her projects (that she cut and taped) onto all of the chairs.  She even taped a GIANT "E" onto the kitchen floor.

Ellen is also a MAJOR sleep evader.  She HATES to sleep, that girl could stay awake all night if Mama let her.  She can be a pain in the butt some nights, we share a room and she thinks it is really fun to tap on the wall just to irritate me.  Mama keeps telling me that I need to ignore her, but it is so hard!  The other night Ellen decided that she was going to sit in her bed so she wouldn't fall asleep, but that didn't work very well  :-)

Not only does she procrastinate going to sleep, but she procrastinates EVERYTHING!  Mama has started asking her to get her shoes on 5 minutes early because it will take at least that long for her to get to the entry way and even start thinking about getting them on.  And before that, to get dressed, it could take ages if Mama didn't make her sit in timeout every morning until she is fully dressed.  Daddy has started telling her how many minutes she has to eat her dinner each night, and once her minutes are up there is no more dinner. 

Ellen is a crazy lady, and that is why we love her!
Linden

2018 Daycare Winter Olympics

Hey Everybody!  Ellen Here!

I know the Winter Olympic are almost over, but I have to show you all some of the Olympic fun we have been having at daycare!

On Friday we all got to make and decorate skis!!!!

We had a ton of fun getting to color them, and race around, even the babies got to take part, though Gretchen did the decorating, and they don't know how to walk so they couldn't really participate in the racing.

When I got home Linden was so excited about my skis that she wanted to make a pair of her own so she could join in the fun too.  Mama got a little concerned when we decided to take our skis down the stairs so we could practice our downhill.  Lucky for us there were no crashes, just Gold Medals for everyone!

I bet you wish your daycare was as fun as mine!
Ellen