You Got It, Big Kid.

I just like to look at this picture & think about how much fun our trip was. Sigh...



Two very exciting things happened last week:

1. Our dear friends had a new baby! Hello Casper! Welcome to the world! We can't wait to meet you! (Ella just asked if I was going to get a new tiny baby of our own. No, we're not. Sorry kid.)

2. And Lismarie and her family came to visit! HOORAY!!! They stayed at the Peppermill. It was like another week of vacation for us. We went to the pool two days in a row. That pool is FANCY. And the girls are both in love with James. Come back friends! We miss you!

And this week Ella started first grade. I can't even believe it. She has a Big Kid haircut. And a Hello Kitty lunch box. And a pudding pack (dessert is a requirement for your first week of school. I hope she can open it herself.)



Gretchen will be a Big Kid this week too. Our friend Julie gave us a toddler bed (I can't remember if she got free on Craigs List or found on the side of the road. She is one of my Free-Stuff Heroes). I was going to spray paint it the same apple green as the crib, but Ella suggested we paint it black to match her bed. I thought that was an excellent idea. We picked up the paint and drop cloth at Home Depot yesterday, but ran out of paint half way through. So I left it on the balcony. And then it rained. For the first time in two months. Of course. So now it's in a sodden, plastic wrapped heap leaned under the eave. Oh well. We'll deal with it tomorrow.



Remember how we have a "No Playing With Doors" rule at our house? Well either do the girls. I've told them the story of Uncle Ian's fingertip getting chopped off by a door. It didn't scare them enough because this past Wednesday Gretchen's finger got smashed in the bathroom door. And I think she may have lost her fingernail. I can't even handle it. She insists we keep a bandaid on it, and we've kept it smothered in "'Sporin" (her name for Neosporin). Oh baby. I hope I can keep you in one piece as you grow up.

Ella has finally picked up on all the things we ask her to do. But instead of doing them herself, she just dictates them back to Gretchen.
-Gretchen, don't touch the TV! Sit back! Geesh, how many times do I have to tell you that?
-Gretchen, pick up your toys! How many times do I have to tell you?
-Gretchen, are you going to listen to me? Do I have to count? One. TWO. THREE!!!! Time out!

Good thing they're cute.