Haircuts for two, please!

I know I sent pictures to most of our "people", but I still wanted to post. The girls got two new 'dos yesterday and they look SOOOOOOO cute! Actually, they turned out better than I thought they would. And, as an added plus, getting ready for school this morning was sweet.

Cutie pie! So grown up......

Her short stacked 'do!

We love each other!

Before school this morning. Just adorable!

Sorry for the barrage of posts today, but I tried to keep them short and sweet! Besides, I think I'm all caught up now!!!!

Just call her Marilyn......

I really felt that this one deserved it's own post. While we were walking back up to the Rupp Arena entrance after we'd seen the animals getting prettied up, all of the kids walked on this air return vent thingie in the sidewalk. You know, they have the air shooting up out of them; I don't know what you call them??? Anyway, Ella was wearing an outfit that had a skirted top and we had her do the Marilyn Monroe pose, you know the white halter-dress pose from The Seven Year Itch? Here's how it turned out! I LOVE IT!

Mini-Marilyn

That's the real deal!

The Circus is in Town!

After going to King's Island the previous weekend, the girls and I headed to the circus with our neighbors! We had such a great time. God has surely blessed me with such wonderful friends and neighbors and I so enjoy having them in my life. I love having them to share these enjoyable experiences with. Melissa and Teri, I love you guys! *sniff* Okay, sorry about the weepies..... Anywho, we got to go behind Rupp Arena before the circus started and see some of the animals getting ready for the show. Tigers, zebras, elephants and horses were getting bathed and groomed so it was very fun to watch. The show was great and we loved every minute. Lots of pics here!!!!!

The kids checking out Elephant Teeth

Ivey, Avynne & Ella being silly


Awwww!


Checking out the elephants getting a bath
L-R (Avynne, Ella, Terin & Canaan)
L-R (Ella, Jacob, Avynne, Terin, Canaan & Caleb
In the back , behind Caleb is Dayne and Ivey is behind Ella & Jacob

Tight rope walker dudes


Rrrrrrroooooooaaaaarrrrrr!


Cool!!!!

King's Island

We took the girls to King's Island a couple of weeks ago for the first time. They had a blast! Avynne completely bypassed the Nickelodeon Universe and headed straight for The Beast after deciding she wanted more excitement than The Fairly Odd Coaster could give her! She proceeded to ride Vortex, Shake, Rattle & Roll and Son of Beast (the only one she really didn't like) with Rick. She loved it! I rode The Beast with her once, but mostly Ella and I stayed in Nickelodeon Universe. Ella loved Little Bill's Giggle Coaster while my personal favorite was Scooby Doo's Haunted mansion. Here are some pictures from our day:

Avynne in line at Scooby's Haunted Mansion

Ella riding kiddie Dodgem Cars

Avynne and I in l ine at Scooby's Haunted Mansion

Ella getting her face painted.

The finished product!

The Girls' First Homework Assignment

Well, you know that the school year is in full swing when you get the first homework packet.... My girls got theirs this week (although is an abbreviated version) and we sat down at the kitchen table before dinner and did it. It's so amazing to see Ella doing this stuff because to me she should still be just toddling, you know? Both of their assignments had to do with cutting and pasting, so it was a good mess. But, it's done!

The girls doing their homework

Hard at work!

Ella got off to a bit of a rocky start this year, but we've had a week and a half of straight smilies in the journal, so it leads me to believe that she's catching on. They've switched things around a bit and now the girls are together in class for much of the day and that seems to be going well so far.

Avynne is such a worrier.......she asks me every day where her library book is and is it in her backpack? She'll visit the school nurse in a heartbeat when she gets nervous about something; I honestly think she makes herself sick with worry. For instance, yesterday she had P.E. and I sent her to school in a t-shirt with a dress over it and leggings with ked-like tennis shoes. The night before we had this whole conversation about were the shoes really tennis shoes and was the dress over the leggings really okay? I assured her (or thought I did) that she was wearing the appropriate attire for P.E. Well, apparantly she needed some reassurance because as P.E. drew near yesterday, she started getting really nervous. She ended up in the nurse's office with the nurse calling me and me telling the nurse to just send her back to class and I would check on her when she got home (it was about an hour and a half before school was to let out). The nurse sent her back and when Avynne was walking back to class she confessed to the nurse that she was "a little nervous about P.E." and then proceeded to go through the entire conversation with the nurse that she and I had had the night before! After getting confirmation that she was good to go with the nurse, she smiled and said, "OK!". OH, MY! She's such a worry-wart!!!!

A random pic from this past weekend

Our First Time!

Okay, okay. I can't believe that I'm actually trying to create a blog. Rick will surely disapprove! After April sent me her blog invite, I thought, I really need to do that. So, we'll give it a go. Hopefully, it will allow our friends and family who aren't around us every day to see how we're doing and what we've been up to.

Today was Ella's FIFTH birthday! I can't believe my baby is FIVE years old! Really? No way! She is such a cool chick already and although she gets into her share her of trouble, I think she's starting to find her way......... Here's a picture of her today in her birthday outfit. She's been wanting a pettiskirt for over a year; ever since she wore Reagan's in Ashland one time. So, she got one, and I must say it suits her perfectly, don't you think? She is the girliest of girls!

She's having three mini-parties this year. Last night we celebrated with the neighbor kids and had pizza and cupcakes. Her favorite present was the Barbie with the dog that poops and Flarp. Have you ever heard of this? Flarp is like that slime-stuff that was around when I was a kid. Only this stuff makes "farting" noises when you push your hand down into it. Really. Is this my kid? My girly girl?

The Birthday Girl

Ella and her Flarp. Thanks, Melissa!

On Saturday, we will be celebrating with all of the grandparents. She wanted a "Little Miss Chatterbox" cake for that. The bakery (Sweet Magnolia) did such a great job, didn't they?

Okay, hopefully I'll get better at this. It's time now to get the birthday girl ready for bed! Goodnight..............