Like sister, like sister

Lilly stuffed her washcloth in the plastic rinse cup during her bath Wednesday night.  Look what I can do when Ellen isn't around.  She also put it in a small yellow bowl and set it on the side of the tub.  She is her sister's sister.  And she isn't a baby anymore!

When she isn't outside playing/exploring/riding bikes, Lilly can be found pushing the baby stroller around the house, pushing the shopping cart around the house (usually filled with odds and ends), taking books off the bookshelf, taking magnets and artwork off the refrigerator, banging on the front of the washer, opening and closing the dishwasher, opening and closing kitchen cabinets, hanging out by the refrigerator (when she wants milk), pooping in freshly changed diapers, flipping through the song book at church, hugging and petting the dogs, squating (she likes to squat down and stay down), pointing and grunting at things she wants and running from us when we try to take away something she isn't supposed to have.

My girls.  Perfect just the way they are.

Friday marked the second time Phillip allowed Ellen to take the iPad to school for Technology Day.  Just when you think you know somebody...

We have ants again.  Phillip says they are a new breed, as in not the same ones as last year.  Great.  Obviously I have A LOT more I could say about this but I am trying not to let the ants take over my life (too late?)  They are currently ahead of the game but I will not let them win!

Phillip and the girls went to Chuck E. Cheese Saturday afternoon for Brady's 6th birthday party (I had to work).  Ellen teamed up with her school friends Olivia, Ella and Hannah and they had the best time.  I have blurry cell phone pictures to prove it.  Meanwhile, Lilly was having her own kind of fun.  But squeals quickly turned to screams when the music stopped.  She did not want to get off those rides!

Check out those wild eyes!



We are enjoying our new car.  So many features!  Contact me for a comprehensive list :)  We decided to go ahead and turn Lilly's carseat around and she is enjoying her new view.  Ellen likes the soft seatbelts and being higher up.  As we drive around town she excitedly points out things she has never been able to see before... "When you're lower you can't see all of the wonderful things you can see when you are higher."

Driving to church Sunday morning...
Phillip:  Has it only been a week since we got this?
Me:  Yeah.  Seems like longer, huh?
Phillip:  Seems like 2 weeks.

Sunday before last, our first trip to the grocery store in the Murano

We are grilling out tonight for the first time in a long time.  We used to grill out multiple times a week all throughout the spring, summer and fall months, but for some reason we got out of the habit.  The taste... the smell... the lighter fluid.  I am looking forward to it all.

May 22nd is the last day of school.  Less than a month to go.  Hard to believe it is almost over.  Before the final bell rings, Ellen has Spring Fling, a field trip to the Discovery Center in Murfreesboro and Field Day on the docket.  Not a bad way to finish out the school year. 

Since I can't quit my job for the summer, or so I have been told, we enrolled Ellen in the 10 week program offered through her school - an extension of SACC, her current before and after care program.  (Ellen will not attend all 10 weeks, she will be in North Carolina for a week in June and we have our family vacation in July.)  They have a cool theme - Shipwreck! - and in addition to outside play, educational activities, games, computer lab, etc., they offer specialty clubs (much like the ones offered during the school year but at no additional cost), go on weekly field trips and go swimming at a state park every Thursday.  Will she fall asleep at dinner every night like my sister and I did when we attended the Tangled Y summer day camp?  All signs point to yes.

I hope he lets me drive it every once in a while

Phillip says car shopping brought out my inner snob, a fact I cannot deny, but I think we made the right choice.

A lot has happened since we last spoke

We had a good week.  Busy but good.  Our productive streak continued and I am happy to report we are still taking care of business like nobody's business.  (I feel like my old self again.)

Like most of us I was following the news in Boston (and Texas!) and what a week for those directly affected.  I bet they weren't thinking about dentist appointments, oil changes and making the most of their lunch breaks.  Glad the worst is over.

The big news around here?  Company!

Mom and Dad came to town for Ellen's kindergarten program E-I-E-I-Oops, but as usual we packed a lot of activities into our time together.  We shopped, we played, we talked, we hauled off an old couch, we bought a 2010 Nissan Murano SL, Lilly had her 15 month check up, Mom put her hair cutting scissors to good use, Dad and Ellen played Memory on the iPad and Phillip worked his way back to being the #1 son-in-law (sorry Caleb).  

And it goes without saying, George and Lucy were thrilled to have their dog walkers here (no time for walks this visit though).

Here are a few pictures from before, during and after Ellen's show.  (She did a great job!  It was a very cute program.) 

Lilly slept through most of the program

The girls in Ellen's class were chicks

Waving as she made her way to the stage

 Class picture (Mrs. Fielder was a rooster)

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Stats from Lilly's check up:

Height - 31.5 inches (80%)

Weight - 24.5 pounds (89%)

Head Circumference - 72.5 inches (31%)

She got 3 shots but everything looked great!

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The weather went from cool to hot and back to cool again - spring to summer then back to spring - so we have all been suffering from colds and allergy/sinus issues.  Poor Lilly has had it worse than anyone.

It is another more spring-like day but the sun is shining and that makes for a perfect Sunday afternoon in my book.  Hope it's just as beautiful in your neck of the woods.

Progress

We accomplished so much this weekend!

Trip to Lowe's.

Check.

Two loads to the dump.

Check.

Grocery shopping.

Check.

Car shopping.

Check.

Vet.

Check.

Yard work.

Check.

Yellow t-shirt for Ellen's kindergarten program.  Find the title to the truck.  Organize the girl's clothes.

Check.  Check.  Partial check.

A weight has been lifted.

It is almost unbelievable considering we also did our normal weekend stuff: gymnastics, church, housework, played outside, watched The Masters.

I hope to cross a few more items off my To Do list this week but we have a lot going on, including company coming on Thursday, so some things will just have to wait.

At Carmax

Belt of Truth

I'll let you know if it works

Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.

Spring Hill is now a recycling city.  Our recycling can was delivered a few weeks ago and this week marked the first pick up.  We went to a recycling event hosted by Waste Management the day before Easter (the day Ellen lost her tooth and the day before she got sick). 

We are trading in our truck next weekend for a more family friendly vehicle (looking to get a mid-size SUV).  That means we have one week to take care of truck-worthy/truck-necessary business, like take the dogs to the vet, make a trip or two to the dump and pick up some mulch from Lowe's (trying to beat our homeowners association to the punch this year).  I can't say I will miss the truck but I can't deny it has come in handy over the years.

April 10th.  The day we turned on our AC for the first time in 2013.  The warm weather is here.  Bring on the crazy!  I don't plan on killing anyone, but those studies that link hot temperatures to more violent crimes... well, I believe it.  I am one of those people who get irrational (or more irrational) when they are hot.  Good thing my office is freezing cold or I might be tempted to throw my stapler over the wall into the cubicle of the gum popper who I try not to let ruin my day, every day.

One more reason to like our new washer and dryer... I was able to wash a comforter that we had been storing in our garage ever since we bought our current bedroom furniture, more than 6 years ago.  It was a tight squeeze but it fit.  And now it's clean.  And now I realize why it ended up in the garage in the first place - it's big, bulky and takes up way too much space!

The lawn needs mowed, the roof needs repaired, the cupboards are bare (meaning we scrounge around for lunches and dinners one more day), laundry is piled high (meaning we scrounge around for clean, matching outfits for the girls one more day), we put off, we wait until the last minute, we push things to the limit... this pattern, or these things that we let happen, are weighing me down (and it's exhausting).  It isn't much consolation to say well, it will be easier when Lilly is older because I don't know that it gets easier (and I don't really expect it too).  We just need to come up with a better system.  In the meantime, ahhhhhh!

We have ourselves a little copycat.  Ellen puts her hands behind her head at the dinner table.  Lilly puts her hands behind her head.  Mr. Jonathan at SACC bends down to say "hi".  Lilly bends down too.  We laugh.  She laughs.  She laughs.  We laugh.  (I guess we are copycats too.)  She is always in the thick of things so it's no wonder she wants to do what we do and have what we have and eat what we eat.

After waking up wet one too many times - sheet and pajamas included - we switched Lilly to Huggies night time diapers (we thought about just going up a size in her regular diapers but 5's are a bit too big).  So far so good.  No leaks = Lilly sleeps better.  No leaks = Lilly smells better.  No leaks = less laundry!

He plays to win.  (Even against 5 year old girls who are still learning the rules.)

Mr. Wormy

Ellen chased me into the house with this worm she purposefully dug up in the backyard.  Worms aren't my least favorite creepy crawly but they still kind of freak me out.