Sniffer...

I was putting Ellie to bed tonight, which involves me laying down next to her...we had been in the sun and then the car for most of the day...I had my arm up and said, ew Ellie, mom has stinky armpits...she puts her face right in it and said, "smells like peaches"... I just started to laugh, then she did it again and said, "I could smell that all day." I laughed harder.

This weekend we were in St George and out in the sun all day. We got back to the hotel, kicked off our shoes and were just lounging on beds. My mom said something about her toenails and Ellie looked at mine and started kissing my toes because she loves the way they are painted. My mom said, "ew...you are kissing your mom's stinky feet!?!" Ellie said they aren't stinky, sniffed them and kissed them again. Then she smelled hers, Kevin's, and tried to smell my mom's. They laughed as my mom tried to get away - but Ellie got her sniff in.

I have no idea what it is...but Ellie is a sniffer. Kevin says I'm a sniffer too...so I guess it runs in the family, but I am not about to go around sniffing armpits and feet on purpose!

Busy March

March was so busy and fun...why is it the busy and fun months just fly by?

I had some leftover vacation from 2009 so I took all of the Fridays in March off. Ellie and I spent the first one at home with Sage and Taj making the Big Top Cupcake. They had fun adding all of the ingredients, but decorating it was the exciting part. It turned out so cute.



That night Kevin, Ellie and I went to see "If you Give a Mouse a Cookie" at Scera. It was a cute little play that brought to life the book by Laura Numeroff. The set on the stage was giant sized to make the mouse look small. It was fun to watch the mouse make a mess, but I have to admit I was a little anxious to pick up a few of the messes.


The second Friday Ellie and I were going to go to the Children's museum, but she got an invitation to play at Anja's house - so she decided to go there instead. They had fun playing and making cute Easter crafts. It was a good trade because on Wednesday of that week I got strep throat and I was fully out of commission by Friday.

On the 11th we went to dinner with Uncle Jed to celebrate his 29th birthday - on Sunday we had his party at grandma's. We almost set off the smoke alarm when one of the candles got too close to one of the cake decorations. Then we all played pin the tail on the donkey and I can't remember ever enjoying that game more. Everyone got so dizzy and we weren't very good, but it is so fun to play! My family is the best and I'm so glad everyone will do stuff like that once in awhile.




The third Friday Leea and I took Taj and Ellie to Jungle Jim's. On this first ride, I so wish I could have captured their faces the entire time. They were laughing so hard at how fast they were going and in shock at how little control they had over their bodies. On the spaceship ride they liked the way one of the workers spun them better than the other and they weren't shy to ask her to come back and do it again!

Watching them go in circles on the bumper cars was probably my favorite part though. They would get stuck and then turn the wheel and then just go in circles. It was so fun to watch and I'm sure even more fun to ride!


We celebrated Ellie's 6th birthday the rest of that weekend. On the 21st we went to see the play Secret Garden. It had an older theme than the other plays we have seen and I was curious if Ellie would like it or not. She loved it. It may have been her favorite one so far, and she says that is her favorite book now. When we left she wanted to know if we could see it again.

I did a quick spotlight for her at school and she filled out this paper for me to share. I love love love what she put about being special.

The fourth and final Friday in March Ellie spent with grandma for a few hours and then with grandma and me at that mall. Ellie is hit or miss with shopping, but seems to enjoy it more and more.

During the weekdays Ellie kept busy with school, dance and piano. She also went to Luke's 6th birthday, Holland's 6th birthday, had two play dates with Brooklyn, and two with Ellie S from school.

We decorated our house for Easter and suited up our bunny at Build-a-Bear. We spent some time getting ready for our trip to California/Disneyland.


On the 29th Ellie had a no-cavity dentist appointment and on the 30th we were off! (Next post with details of the trip.) This picture may not look like it - but she loved the banana-creme fluoride.


Like I said, it was a fun and busy month. The only thing I wish I would have done was celebrate St Patrick's day with Ellie better. I remember green food at my house on that day growing up. My mom was always so fun for holidays. I have friends now that set up treasure hunts for a pot of gold, or their kids set up traps to catch a leprechaun, or leave notes and treats from the leprechaun. One of Ellie's friends got a little note and she was a little sad he didn't leave her one. Fortunately my mom in her festive spirit did a little clover craft with Ellie and gave us a few decorations for our house so we weren't totally losers. Next year I am going to do this one better!

Organize It

Something most people know about me is that I like my stuff organized. Stuff has a place and I am pretty good at keeping stuff in its place. This is something I have unconsciously passed on to Ellie.

The other day I went downstairs and Ellie had little boxes of her stuff. She looked at me at said, "I like to organize" - "See how organized everything is?" - "Isn't it pretty?"

This cracks me up for two reasons. First because she actually enjoys organizing...as do I. There is some kind of peaceful release from it. Like when my house is freshly cleaned, my world is right for a bit. I can relax. Second, she finds it attractive, as do I. Organization just makes things look better, you always know where stuff is, and stuff organized in color or shape or patterns or whatever, is really quite pretty.

I wonder if she's in for a future of "don't hit the blinds!" -- something I got from my mom (just kidding mom.)