April 2014: Ellie's First Violin Recital

Ellie had her very first violin recital, and it was the sweetest thing!

for her solo, she played Long Long Ago. My favorite part of this video is Ellie's proud little smile when she finishes at the end. it's like she's proud and embarrassed and relieved and happy all at the same time.

then Ellie played a duet with one of her best little friends, Millie Waltman. they played Allegro and both did so great! such brave little humans!

after the recital, we enjoyed refreshments together...

and Ellie hung out with her impressive fan club, including Mommy, Daddy, Alice, Grandma, Grandpa, Jeff & Marie. she's so lucky to have so much family close by who loves and supports her.

 

and i was there, just waddling my way around everywhere, like, "whaaaaa? i'm stillllllll pregnant??"

really, though, i'm totally convinced that recital days are mom-pay-off days big time. all those lessons and pulling-teeth practices together melt away and all you see is just the loveliest little human creating magic with her little arms and fingers. i'm so proud of that cute little violinist Ellie girl!

xoxo

April 2014: Kindergarten Field Trip to the Farm

as on of my last hurrah's before having baby #4, i went with Ellie to her Kindergarten field trip to the Farm. it was a totally wet and muddy day after lots of rain (it even rained a little bit too!) which made it the perfect Farm Day.

 {Ruby, Ellie & Emily}

the farm was absolutely beautiful and green everywhere. like i remember looking around and thinking, i could live on a farm. i could totally live on a farm.

we saw tons of animals: pigs, turkeys, goats, sheep, chickens, horses, ponies, bunnies, worms, swans, ducks, cows, just to name a few. 

 

 

 

and you wanna know which animal was the favorite of all of those? the bunnies! seriously! the kids loved holding and touching those little bunnies. 

 

i don't blame them, i have a special place in my heart for bunnies too. when i was growing up, before we got a dog, we had a couple of pet bunnies. my first bunnies name was Cookie. she was a big white and black floppy eared bunny- sweetest thing. and i remember i loved coming home from school to hold her and feed her. well, one day i came home from kindergarten and Cookie was gone. she had gotten worms (ACK) and my mom took her to the vet where they put her to sleep because she was dying. i was DEVASTATED. but not as devastated as i was with losing my second bunny, Charlie Chaplin, named such because of the little black mustache he had on his white fur right below his whiskers. he was the softest floppy eared bunny ever, and was my baby. i'd feed him and clean his cage and play with him as much as i could every day. he loved eating flowers- so one day i made him a petunia salad. he gobbled that thing right up! he was so happy and we played all afternoon. the next day, i went and made him another salad, brought it to his cage, and he just laid there, and i knew he had died. come to find out, my mom had sprayed those flowers with pesticides the day before so i actually had poisoned my little bunny. i was absolutely horrified and still feel guilty to this day. poor lil Charlie Chaplin. 

anyyyyway, now that i got all those dark bunny traumas out in the open (phew), let's get back to the farm. 

the most annoying part of the farm is this little cow that sits there and talks and tells weird stories about safety and rules to the kids. seriously, a robot talking cow. drove me nuts how much the kids loved that thing - i'm like, "GUYS THERES A REAL COW OUTSIDE. RIGHT OUTSIDE!" but alas, they loved the robot cow and so we stayed in there for a good long while. 

 

 

they had awesome gardens and a beautiful greenhouse at the farm. the kids got to plant their own seed and bring home the plant. i think it was a sunflower maybe? i don't know. we probably killed it so i can't remember what it was supposed to be. someday i'll go and read some books to learn how to keep plants alive. until then, sorry little seeds that come to my house. you don't stand a chance.

  

 

i just love field trip days- the one on one time with my kids, doing something extra fun, with all of their little school friends is one of my favorite things. and i extra love kindergarten Ellie and Ellie's kindergarten friends!

 

before we left, Ellie got to ring the bell -- the perfect end to a pretty magical day on the Farm!

xoxo

November 2013: some random turkey tid bits

November was filled with lots of random, busy, fun, and more fun. looking through my November pictures, i loved noticing that most of my reel was pictures of Alice doing gymnastics. Alice has been patiently watching every single gymnastics class of Ellie's for the past 2 years. she constantly asks me, is it almost my turn? am i big enough to do gyn-astics yet? well, this month was finally her month! her first lesson was hilarious. she just talked and talked and talked the whole time. like she'd been there doing it for her whole life (well, she practically has!).  i think watching her do gymnastics is one of my new very favorite things.

 

i mean, three year olds in leotards?? i die!!

  

we also got to hang with some of our favorite friends - the Blodgetts just moved to Brentwood this year, and it's been so much fun having them closer. our kids play so well together! and i love that they've known each other since they were born. destined to be friends for life. 

we love getting to go to Stake Conference up at Temple Hill. it's the best! especially since we have so many awesome friends within the Stake. after conference is always a big party with our favorite people. i love the Bay Area a TON - and a lot of that is because of the awesome people we are surrounded by.

during our turn to host Joy School this month, we talked about the letter "H." i had the kids all wear their favorite hats....they were so cute!

we also had Hot Chocolate and frosted some sugar cookies that were in the shape of an H word. i can't remember what that H word was, so i'll let your imagination be your guide.

i'm loving these adorable stories and illustrations that Ellie is coming up with these days! basically she is supposed to write one sentence, and dictate a story to go along with it for me to write. she's cute.

 

and really is making significant improvements on the violin! she can even read some notes now, and knows all the variations of Twinkle Twinkle. she's very proud of herself! and she should be. i love watching her play, and know i will love listening eventually (said in the most loving way possible).

Gammy came into town for a week! i haven't been feeling too great this pregnancy. in fact, i've been sick a lot. so having her help here was so wonderful! she came and prettied up my yard and cooked us meals and showered the girls and me with a whole lotta love. nothing like Gammy time. we love her so!

the girls got to have a sleepover one night at Gammy's hotel. they had so much fun! they got to order room service and swim at the hotel pool and watch as much disney junior as they wanted. i can't tell you how many times they've asked if they could stay at Gammy's hotel sometime again. 

we are in a babysitting co-op with some friends. i almost posted a less blurry picture than this- but i feel that this really captures the essence of what co-op is. it is madness people. PURE MADNESS.

i think one of the biggest blessings to me this year has been seeing the friendship of Ellie and Alice blossom and grow. they've had to deal with a lot, watching their parents be fragmented versions of themselves, and learning how to overcome some serious stuff. they've experienced their own grief and sorrow, and seen us be pretty vulnerable and broken down. and in the midst of it all, they've clung together. sure, they fight, but they love each other so much and that makes me so so happy.

and they show me they love me left and right. i'm really loving all these hand-written notes i find in every corner of the house these days. kindergartner Ellie is my favorite.

and little indian/rain gear/nakey Alice is pretty swell too.

as the end of the month came upon us, we took a spontaneous trip out to Palo Alto to visit the American Girl store. we had never been before; but we started receiving the catalog randomly a few months ago, and of course it made the girls DESPERATE for a doll. (i mean, how could you NOT want one of those gorgeous dolls!?) after a lot of discussion about them, and then picking up my jaw from the floor when i realized how much these thangs cost, i decided we had better go check it out at the store to make sure this was what they really wanted for Christmas. we didn't want Santa bringing this chunk of pocket change if they really didn't even like it.

well, visiting that store with two litttle girly girls is like financial suicide, my friends! of COURSE they wanted one of those dolls when we got there! heck, they wanted 9 of those dolls! and their outfits and kingdoms and crowns and books and undies and other crazy crap that they sell. holy hannah, that store was incredible, and these two lil ladies of mine were in heaven.

 and then the end of November was here, and we were ready for a week full of fun at Gammy + Pops' house for the holiday. so much to be grateful for.

xoxo