Fourth of July

my little firecrackers

daddy and ella


enjoying the spoils of the parade

enjoying one of the highlights of the fourth of july


seriously, do sparklers ever get old? i think not.

watching the neighbors fireworks. we were too cheap to buy our own..

according to dad, the holidays require soda. no comment.

Happy 4th! We had a last minute visit from Todd's parents, so we got to enjoy most of the holiday with them and our Smith cousins. We went to a parade on Saturday, and then caught the Delaware firework show on Sunday night. We had a great time. Surprisingly, Molly was tired of the fireworks after about 30 seconds. It was a 30 minute show. She spent the rest of the time climbing on people or smacking her cousins on the head. I think she would have been happier with her own box of sparklers. We were putting the used sparklers in a bucket of water. When we ran out Molly said- just dry them off. Then we'll have some more. I love three-year-old logic. The girls loved the parade so much that they wanted to put on their own parade when they got home. They decorated their wagon with flags they made themselves, then wrote poems and made 4th of July bracelets to hand out to people. It was very sweet. Now it's just up to me to take them around the neighborhood. I'm starting to wish I knew my neighbors..

happy birthday to ella...and a couple of pierced ears

so very proud

make a wish... (her wish was that she could have her birthday every day. technically, you're not supposed to tell or it won't come true, but i'm not sure that's what's going to hold her back on this one).

so my little girl turned 6 yesterday. it was a great day for all. due to the fact that the last of her little friends moved last week, we had to forgo a party this year in favor of some quality family time. the original plan was to take the girls to toy story 3, then over to build-a-bear before heading to red robin for dinner. we had an AMC movie gift card that had been collecting dust since christmas. however, because yesterday was the opening day of a certain vampire movie, AMC decided that all 20 screens needed to be playing that movie all day long. seriously? so her birthday became a two-day hurrah. we did the movie and build-a-bear on tuesday, and then yesterday we went to the pool and then dinner with daddy at red robin. but before we made it to dinner, ella had one more birthday request. to get her sisters ears pierced. they were so cute talking about it, and ella convincing her sister that it didn't hurt, and she would look so pretty... that i went with it. and they really do look cute on her. so it was a big day for all. ella insisted on making her own cupcakes this year. she really is growing up so fast. i have loved having her home from school. i don't know how i'm going to function when school starts in september. she is such a big helper and such a sweet girl to have around all day. she and molly have really started enjoying each other, and spend most of their free time entertaining each other. ella loves all things girlie. she loves the idea of being a big girl. she is constantly doing things to make her family happy. she's a great little artist, loves doing art projects, and reading books. she is affectionate, thoughtful and loving, and i feel so blessed to be her mom. happy birthday pretty girl! we love you.

Water Fun

fun at the dublin splash pad

making time for a sisterly hug

we've been enjoying some beautiful ohio weather the last couple weeks. we've spent a lot of time at the pool, the splash pad, and on the good ol' slip and slide. the girls are also in a swimming class together- due to the fact that we've been lazy about signing ella up until now... but they are loving it. the instructor takes them out in twos, and molly starts to cry and gets out of the pool if she doesn't take both of them together. she cries- that's my sissy! i want to go with sissy! its very sweet.

Trip to Utah

I had the oppurtunity (with help from my parents, Todd and great friends) to take a solo trip out to Utah to visit my grandparents and my brother Eric, his wife Holly, and their darling new baby Rylee. It was so refreshing to be able to have a few days off to just relax and enjoy my vacation. I also got to see a couple of old friends from high school, which is always a treat. I spent most of my time cuddling Rylee. She is my first niece on my side. She is a tiny, sweet, happy little ball of a person- and I can only pray that number three is as easy as she is. I think I've earned it.

It's a....

GIRL!!

Yep, girl number three is on the way. I really didn't care what the gender was, so I wasn't necessarily disappointed or excited to begin with. Todd admitted later that he was pretty disappointed it wasn't a boy. But he's coming to terms with it. :) Both of the girls are thrilled. They both wanted another sister. When I asked Molly the morning before the ultrasound what she thought the baby was going to be she said- "it's a girl." I said- "Well, what if it's a boy? Would that be okay?" And she said- "But it's a girl." So I guess she knew something we didn't. When I asked Ella what she wanted she said- "A girl. We don't have any boy clothes or boy toys, so what would we do if we had a boy? We only have girl stuff." Very logical. I'm starting to get pretty excited. I'm a pretty big fan of the girls I have, so why not add another?

Keeping Busy

Mmmm... whipped topping for breakfast.
Too bad Mom came down and caught me. I was just getting started. Looks like its back to the oatmeal bowl for me.
Here we have a case of ketchup painting. In her defense, I did for once forget to specifically ask her to NOT paint herself with her lunch. I did remember to ask her not to paint the table or the television, and she was quick to point out the fact that she did not paint those things. I didn't say she couldn't paint her face. That day. I didn't get a full body shot either- She effectively covered her arms and legs as well. Who knew you could get so much coverage from one little squirt of ketchup?

Molly is perpetually busy. I like to think that instead of being naughty, she's just really busy. Depends on the day and my mood. Sometimes I swear she's doing something naughty just to see me lose it. If I keep my cool, that's one point for me. So she'll try something else the next day. It keeps things interesting. Here we have a case of me coming downstairs after my shower to find her sticking toothpicks into bottles of food coloring. ??? I could maybe understand that if I had just used the food coloring. And it had gotten her wheels turning. But no, I haven't used them in months. She's just very talented and finding messy things to do. Have I mentioned how much I love that girl?

Wisdom beyond her years...

Yesterday Ella was watching a show on Food Network with me. There was a husband and wife cooking together (which is a new concept to Ella). She said- Mom, is that the Dad that is cooking with the Mom? And I said yes. She said- why is he doing that? I said- because they both love to cook, and they love each other, so they like doing that together. You should marry someone who likes to cook. She says- But you didn't? I kind of laughed and said -no. Her response- So you got what you got. Such true words from such a small girl! In Daddy's defense Molly came back with- Daddy knows how to cook hot dogs in the microwave! We appreciate Todd for all the things he does for us- cooking just isn't one of them!!