Big Sister Quote of the Day

Mommy: How was your day?
Ellie: I was so lucky at school because I got to give Addie a hug before nap time! For REAL LIFE!!!

Ellie on the Olympics

Ellie: Mommy did you know that I can run as fast as the wind?
Mommy: Really? Wow!
Ellie: Yeah, there's only one person who can run faster than the wind and I think he's in Starwars.

Halloween Plans

Sneak peek into the plan for this year's Halloween costumes, complete with an owl perched in a hole. Ellie figured I needed help visualizing it, but now that the tough part is done, I see there being no problem making it happen. Uh... Huh.

Wordless Wednesday

Heart Sing

Aww, this makes my heart sing. Look at the treasure I found in Ellie's cubbie:

The teachers wrote an explanation of the photo, "They are filling each other's buckets by sharing their toys." Happy happy.

But the REAL treasure came on the flip side where Ellie wrote "I love you Mom. Thank you for filling my bucket." Did you hear that sound? Yes, that is the sound of my heart singing.

Warm Season Greetings

I love getting Christmas cards in the middle of summer! It reads "Wishing you a very merry Christmas and a Happy New Year." Ellie drew the rainbow, sunshine and added her special signature "I love you" to make the card all the more appropriate.

Addie's Wedding Plans

In looking at her Paris T-shirt, Addie says:

"Look Mommy! (Pointing to the Eiffel Tower) Is a castle! You and Daddy get married dere! When I grow bigger I'm going to get married in dis castle too! And when I grow bigger, I'm going to live here (pointing to Notre Dame) like Mommy and Daddy."

Keep wishing, Addie. You and me both.

Decisions and Consequences

I recently read a blog post that mentioned teaching kids a linear way of thinking through their decisions. I love it. I hope to use it. Imagine how powerful this could be!

5 Questions for Decision Making:

1. What are your thoughts?

2. How do those thoughts make you feel?

3. When you feel those feelings, how do you want to act?

4. What would the consequences be for those actions?

5. Are those consequences you like?

Wordless Wednesday

I'm glad you came

I love the song that both girls are singing these days...

The sun goes down, the stars come out,
and all that counts is here and now.
My universe will never be the same.
I'm glad you came.
I'm glad you came.

Tossed out with the Trash

Ellie: Mommy?
Mommy: What?
Ellie: When Daddy is done with you, I want to marry him.

Welcome Home Bun Bun #7

If you know my Ellie, you know about Bun Bun. Perhaps it has been a while since I've mentioned how much Ellie loves her Bun Bun, but she remains a constant in Ellie's life. For the most part, she always has one Bun Bun in her bed. Five of them rest peacefully in a box in the closet to keep them safe. Occasionally she'll request to snuggle with all of them and we'll take them out of their special box.

But that makes six Bun Buns, if you were counting. We started out with seven! Yes you heard me... seven Bun Buns, all worth their weight in gold. So what happened to Bun Bun #7? I'm not sure when, but somewhere along the line we lost her. The last documented sighting of Bun Bun #7 was November 4th, 2010. As with any childhood treasure, you expect them to disappear occasionally. After asking (on more than one occasion) everyone we knew if they had a Bun Bun visiting them, we conluded that after 3.5 years we must have finally lost one. Quite honestly I was surprised it didn't happen sooner.

It was sad. Even Ellie was sad that she didn't have all seven, but she still adored the six remaining.... all the way up until about a week ago. In one of my conversations with Gramma, she casually mentioned how she still had a Bun Bun at her house. I did some quick counting. One at school. One in Daddy's car. Two in Mommy's car. One in Addie's bed and one in Ellie's bed... if what Gramma said is true, then Bun Bun #7 is still alive and well!

As it turns out she has been living the high life at Gramma's for a year and a half. I suppose it shouldn't be too terribly shocking since it's not exactly easy to keep track of so many bunnies! Neighter Ellie nor I were willing to get our hopes up too high until we could count ALL seven bunnies at the same time...


Here's a photo of the happy reunion. The word "happy" just doesn't seem enough, does it?

Having assumed one was lost for good for so long, well we decided that the good news was worth throwing a Welcome Home Bun Bun #7 Party! Woo hoo! What does a "Welcome Home Bun Bun #7" party entail?


Throwing the bunnies up in the air in celebration, of course! Can you count see all seven?


After the bunnies calmed down a bit, it was time for some silly photos to capture the special occasion. This is what Ellie would look like if she were pregnant with 7 bunnies. You gotta laugh, so go ahead and do that now.


Apparently Bun Bun insists that this is a typical Bunny party pose for photos.


And this was a special request from Mommy, though it was hard to fit all the silly bunnies into the photo frame.


I think it's safe to say that Ellie is one happy camper now. I have to admit that I was surprised at how much Bun Bun #7's Homecoming meant to Ellie. Given that she still had the other 6 to keep her company, I would have thought it would have been no big deal. Then again, I'm happy to be wrong sometimes.

Introducing Mommy

Addie, our little social butterfly, was making friends with the group of people sitting at the table next to us.

Addie:  Hi!
Lady:  Hi!  How old are you?
Addie:  I'm two in a half!  And my sissa is five in a half!
Lady:  Wow.  What's your name?
Addie:  Addie and my sissa is named Ellie.
Lady:  Oh.  Is she your big sister?
Addie:  Yes.  And dis is my friend, Mommy.

Wordless Wednesday

Addie at the Drive Through Zoo

Addie: Mommy? Can we by a reindeer?
Mommy: A reindeer!? No!
Addie: How 'bout a hippo for Kiss-mas den?

Ellie at the Drive Through Zoo

Mommy: Look, there's a zebra.
Ellie: Where?
Mommy: There. Right in front of you.
Ellie: Oh.
Mommy: Look, there's a lion.
Ellie: Where?
Mommy: There. Right out your window.
Ellie: Oh.
Mommy: I see a hippo.
Ellie: Where?
Mommy: Look out your window.
Ellie: Oh.