Ellie Van Gogh

At Children's Museum in Seattle

Ellie paints her first picture

Painting outside today

It took 10 minutes just to get this much done!

Ellie's new favorite pasttime is painting and I am thrilled. Well, I'm not exactly thrilled about the "mess potential" but I am thrilled that we have something new to share. Aunt Mary and Olivia met us at the Children's Museum in Seattle and Olivia and Ellie had a great time painting and playing with clay. Today, the weather was so nice I let Ellie paint outside. We have a perfect little side deck just off the play room/family room that is fenced off entirely and in the sun all day. Ellie rides her scooter, blows bubbles, and chases Jaxie in this general area and now, she paints here too. I actually got to read a magazine in the sun! Amazing! Now, I just have to get Dan to set up our hammock and I am set! We go to the Mariners Game tomorrow so I hope the sun sticks around a bit longer! Not a bad start to my 28th year!

Cutie Patootie

Love this smile!
Ellie melts daddy's heart

Ready for church

little angel?

Cutie Patootie

Happy Birthday Mommy!

just mixing some ingredients...

waiting for the timer to "ding"...

hmmm...looks like someone sampled the frosting!


Thank you Ellie!

Happy Mommy, Happy Birthday

I am officially 28 years old. I guess that is still young because I haven't reached the point where I dread birthdays. Then again, maybe it's just that no matter how old I get, my husband and all my siblings are always older. :) In any case, I had a great day. I spent the whole day with Dan and Ellie (and our dog, Jaxie) and it was perfectly imperfect. I tried to sleep in, but Ellie wanted mommy and Jaxie was scratching at the door so she could go chase the squirrels. Dan made breakfast sandwiches...but with eggs sunny side up instead of scrambled and when I bit into one, the yolk shot out and down the sleeve of my new shirt. Philene and Jerry watched Ellie so we could finally see a movie...but it turned out to be more of a guy's movie than one for me. Dinner was a rushed Papa Murphy's pizza and Ellie fell asleep without a bath (FOR THE THIRD DAY IN A ROW!) and shoes on... but it was perfect. I spent the whole day with my hubby, we treated ourselves to Starbucks (with all the fixings), and my darling little girl made me a birthday cake (complete with upside down candles). I couldn't have asked for anything better.

Laryngitis?

This time, Ellie takes care of Jaxie

Jaxie gives Ellie a kiss to say "Thanks!"

Checking her next patient with stethoscope...lungs sound good Ducky

Apparently, Ellie has laryngitis. We took her to the doctor today and found that not only are her vocal cords a total mess, she has TWO ear infections to accompany an awful croup-like cold. POOR LITTLE DARLING! No wonder she hasn't been sleeping and wants mommy constantly (no complaints; I am loving all the snuggles!). Still, she somehow remains in good spirits. In fact, her new favorite past time is taking care of everyone else who is sick (she decides who that is) and makes sure to let mommy know who needs medicine. :)

A Visit from Riley

Poor Dan! Riley cries every time he tries to hold her!

Look how she holds her hands...too cute!

Poor little Ellie...she is so sick!

What a doll!

Today "Auntie" Liz and baby Riley came to visit. Ellie had so much fun entertaining Riley (she loved to share her toys and alerted everyone when Riley was crying "baby Riley sad!"). Riley is about the cutest little thing... look at her little round rosy cheeks and big round eyes! Oh my goodness, I couldn't stop kissing her! We went to Starbucks for a little treat and then back to our house for playtime. Ellie is still really sick but she was a champ and didn't complain too much. :) She just loved seeing her friend Riley. Riley only cried when she was hungry and when Dan held her (poor Dan!). But she absolutely LOVED Jaxie (who doesn't?) and cracked up everytime Jaxie barked. Then Ellie started laughing at her. It was really quite amusing. We can't wait for another visit!

Keeping Busy

Jaxie taking care of Ellie

Our new laundry room


At the park today

feeding the birds

books books books

Ellie loves her daddy

new favorite book...we've read it 20 times!

Silly Ellie

playing dress up

new toy

our spring flowers bloom!

our tree in front yard

Well, we are already halfway through April and I am a bit behind on my blog. I have some new pics to share and hopefully they will give a good picture of our day to day. Dan and I have been busy with home improvement projects. Most recently, we fixed up our laundry room. My awesome husband endured endless trips to IKEA and LOWES and hours of painting, building, and organizing but in the end it was well worth it. I have drying racks that fold down flat on the wall, tin buckets and clear bins for storage, and a beautiful robin egg blue color to calm my nerves as I frantically try to get chocolate pudding stain off of Ellie's newest white sweater. :) My favorite part of the room is hanging our clothes on the drying racks using the clothes pins. I know I sound crazy but honestly, I have a secret love for hanging clothes with clothespins. It makes me think of my grandma Gladys (mom, did you show me a picture of her hanging laundry once???).

What else is new? Ellie is sick...again. She has only been well for a little over a week and already, we are back to a terrible cough and sniffles. Poor thing. Luckily for her, Jaxie takes good care of her, always keeping her entertained when she is quarantined to the house and snuggling by her when she is resting on the couch. God, I love that dog.

Otherwise, we are just enjoying our time at home. The flowers are in full bloom and we go for a walk every day. Ellie insists that we bring Jaxie even though she is so unruly for the first ten minutes of the walk (it's exhausting!). She loves to laugh at Jaxie when Jaxie isn't listening to me. I say "Whoa Jaxie, heal" and Ellie cracks up and repeats it. This is the highlight of our walks and a surefire way to hear Ellie's cute belly laugh. We always stop in at the Milton Library. Jaxie sleeps outside and Ellie and I sit in the "big girl" rocking chair and read a few hundred children's books. :) I love the quaintness of a small town library. I feel like I am in a kindergarten classroom...it's about that small. Today we ventured to Celebration park to feed the birds. Ellie had a great time but couldn't grasp the concept that the birds wouldn't eat the bread until she walked away. She kept charging at them every time they showed up! It was so cute and I enjoyed being a mom in that moment. It was so simple but Ellie thought it was magical. :)

These days, Ellie is more content to just play; perhaps because the windows are open and the sun is shining. Nevertheless, it affords me some much needed time to read. I am reading LOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA (which I am having the hardest time finishing) and ME AND MR. DARCY (which I can't put down) as well as the daily newspaper (my newest addiction), and of course Ellie's stack of books that she makes me read to her several times throughout the day. All in all, not a bad way to pass the hours.

Hope all is well with each of you. We will be visiting Spokane at the end of the month and I will have new pics and stories to share. Love to all!

Feeling Better

Happy April! I love this time of year! All of a sudden, there is so much to do! Our calendar is full with plans for Mariners' games, Tulip Festival, trips to Spokane, house projects, new classes for Ellie, etc. I LOVE it! I am SO done with winter and ready for spring! Here are some pictures of Ellie to show she is back to her old self (she just got over a nasty cold). Thank God! What a pill she has been! But these pictures prove that our little "angel" is back. :) Love to all!