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Ellie

Out with the old!

So.  I’ve had an excuse to do a little shopping lately (not that an excuse is ever needed).  We have a vacation coming in the semi-near future which inspired a list of absolute necessities.  Things I needed to buy to get ready for this trip and summer in general.  Must haves.  Not wants, but needs I tell you.  
First thing on my “absolutely must buy immediately list” —  

New luggage for the girls!  Fun colors right!?  I fell in love with these suitcases from Pottery Barn Kids.  They just scream FUN!  They scream SUMMER!  They scream … ok… they probably scream WANT more than NEED, but somehow I convinced Kenny that they were a must have for this trip.  “Babe – love of my life – they are the perfect carry on size and I know how you hate it when I over pack…..”

Ellie was as excited as I was about her new suitcase and started packing for our trip right away.  She was NOT excited, however, when I told her that unfortunately the princesses will not be joining us on our journey.

Second thing on my “absolutely must buy immediately list” —

New beach/pool wear for the girls!  Ok.  I know they probably didn’t NEED quite so much swim wear, but honestly last summer I didn’t buy them a thing.  I had just had Kole and was recovering from my little scare and was so overwhelmed.  We didn’t spend as much time at the pool and beach as we usually do and the girls just got by with stuff they already had.  They’ve grown out of everything I had for them so it was time for a whole new beach wardrobe!  
Third thing on my “absolutely must buy immediately list” a suit for me.  
Stop right there.  Party’s over!  That’s where the fun ends.  I keep putting that depressing shopping trip off.  WAY more fun to shop for my girls. 
I went to put away the new swim wear for the girls and realized how over crowded their drawers were getting.  Remember when I moved a lot of their toys into their dresser?

 A few dresser drawers are still used for the girls’ clothes, but most of their clothes are in their closet.

 In the middle of their closet are a few drawers where I keep some of their clothes.

These drawers were so crowded that I decided I needed to have a little “out with the old, in with the new” organizing party!  
I love throwing myself an organizing party.  It always starts out with a great big mess!  I emptied all of the drawers out on the floor and started sorting through things.

So much precious space was being taken up with things we just don’t need.  Like all of these size 2/3 T panties for little dresses and these adorable size 2/3 T tights with hearts and animals on the bottoms.  Cute?  Yes.  Current wardrobe?  No.  Sadly, we have moved out of this stage and it’s time to move on.  Out with the old!

I also had to part with stuff like these fun boot house shoes and summer hats.  This stuff I purchased is a good lesson for me.  It’s stuff I bought that wasn’t practical and ended up being a waste of money and space.  It’s only cold enough for house shoes for a few short months here so the girls hardly wore the boots.  And the hats, while darling, were also uncomfortable and itchy so they didn’t get much use either.  From now on my motto is: practical!  Two things I’ve got to ask myself — “will my girls really wear/use this?” and “do I have space to store this?”

So here are the closet drawers cleaned out with just what the girls are really using/wearing right now.

 Ballet clothes, shoes and tights.

Gymnastic clothes.  I love that I have so much room left in this drawer!  I’m sure I’ll find something to fill it, but for right now I’m loving that the drawer isn’t crammed full.  Less is more!

 New swim wear!  (decided to part with the uncomfortable hats after the picture was taken)  :)

 Pajama’s  (I’m too emmbarrased to show you the pile of p.j’s I’m taking to Goodwill.  An insane amount.  Pajama’s are a total weakness of mine and I have got to stop buying them!) 
Nightgowns.  
Clean drawers full of what the girls actually wear.  Feels so good!
And since we’re on an “out with the old” kick — see if you notice a change in the next two photos???

 Ahhhh!  We decided to chop Ellie’s hair!  I was going to chop Addison’s too and then chickened out.  Guess I wasn’t ready to say good-bye to those long curls just yet.  But Ellie was ready for a short summer do and we are loving the new look!

Her new hair cut accentuates her new smile – one front tooth down, one to go!  
Out with the old!  Time to enjoy our new.  
xoxo, Erin
Ramblings

Tangled/Project Life

Hi friends!  So does anyone out there have kiddos as obsessed with Tangled as my two girls are?

 
We had the movie shipped to us from Amazon the day it came out (as we do with all new barbie/princess movies because as sad as this is to admit, Kenny and I love them even more than the girls do) and we can’t stop watching it!  Such a darling movie.  My favorite part is right after Rapunzel leaves the tower for the first time and goes back and forth between complete joy and excitement about finally being free, and then complete guilt and shame over disobeying her mother.  Totally reminds me of how I feel each time after I’ve gone shopping and spent too much money.

“YES!  This is the best day of my life!”
“Crap.  Kenny is going to kill me.”
“Wheee!  I can’t wait to wear these clothes!”
“Sob.  I’m a terrible wife.”
“YEA!  This stuff is going to be so stinkin’ cute in my house! Best shopping day EVER!”
“Racked with guilt.  I am SO going to get “the lecture” tonight…..”

Love Rapunzel.  I totally get her.  :)

Sharing a few pics of Addison’s book today.  These pages are similar to the ones I posted last time of Ellie’s book because they are all from the same time frame.  Exactly one year ago – around the time Kole was born.    I just need to wrap up last summer in both albums and then I am starting Fall of 2010 in their new Project Life albums.  Can’t wait to start using my new books!

Left off last in March..
I added a blog post from that month – “a bit of mom randomness.”

It was a few pages long so I just punched three holes in it instead of using a page protector.  I wrote about things I love about being a mom along with concerns I had about becoming a mother of three.  Something I think Addison will enjoy reading when she’s older.  I would love to have something like that from my mom – her thoughts on motherhood while she was raising me.

Random March pics – bike riding with daddy, playing with Ellie, getting Kole’s nursery ready, and grandma coming to help out while mom and dad head to the hospital!

Welcome Kole!

Meeting her new baby brother.

Addison drew this Easter egg for baby Kole in pre-school while we were in the hospital.

Pics with Ellie in their new Easter dresses.  I found this little green note that Ellie had written to Addison telling her how much she loves her.  So sweet.  

The month of April was a bit tricky.  The girls were completely oblivious to most of what happened to me soon after I had Kole.  They thought I just went back to the hospital for more baby stuff.  They think childbirth requires months of hospitals and healing!  ;)  I wasn’t sure what to journal about in their books so I just printed the Update from Kenny and then my first post after surgery – Update from Erin.  I know I’ll have to explain everything to them when they are old enough to understand, but for now I’m so happy that they have no idea they almost lost their mom.

Lots of time with grandma and daddy while mom recovered.  Aunt Carly also came to visit!  And then I added a college of pics I created for Mother’s Day of me and my girls.

Grandma’s surpirse 60th birthday party!  LOVE these pictures of my mom.  And then Addison’s 4th birthday we also celebrated in Utah with family.

More pictures of hanging out with family in Utah.  These pictures make me so excited and ready for summer!  Sorry – I know a lot of you are still waiting for Spring.  It’s hard not to jump ahead in my neck of the woods.  :)
Happy Tuesday everyone!!!
xoxo, Erin
Kole

Hello from Kole

Dear adults,

It’s Kole.  I snuck out of my crib and hijacked my mom’s computer because I wanted to tell you all thanks for wishing me a happy birthday.  Your comments made my mom really happy so I also wanted to thank you for cheering her up.  She can be such a sap!

And since I’m in no hurry to go back to bed, here are a few things about me at age one:

I am multi-talented.

I am tough.  If I can handle the abuse my sisters dish out on a regular basis, I can handle anything.

I love to play in the pantry.  It’s one of my favorite spots in the house.  Mom keeps it way too organized and I am always anxious to get in there and mess things up.

I also love bath time.  I get so excited for my bath every night that when my mom starts running the water I can hardly contain myself.  I am always so happy after I’ve splashed around in the tub.

I can’t crawl or walk yet and a lot of people seem surprised by this.  When someone says to my mom “really – he isn’t walking!?”  my mom always answers… “Not yet!  Isn’t it great!”  It doesn’t seem to bother her much.  But don’t be fooled — I can scoot with the best of them and I am FAST.

I’m so fast that speed bumps have been popping up all over the place lately.  
One question my mom gets asked a lot about me is: “is he ALWAYS so happy!?”
No.  Not ALWAYS.  I do have my moments.  Like when it’s time to stop playing in the pantry.
But …

My sisters adore me.
I love chillin’ with my dad.
And my mom…I have her completely wrapped.  Putty in my hand I tell you!
So yes.  I am a happy baby most of the time.  I have LOTS to smile about.  
Love, Kole
xoxo, Erin
Kole

One year

Someone at our house had a birthday today.  

Despite my best efforts to stop it from happening, my sweet little man turned one.
Kole was excited.  For what he didn’t know.

What he did know was that everyone he saw throughout the day was awfully happy to see him.  And smile at him.  And sing to him.  And he quite enjoyed all of the attention.  

What he didn’t enjoy was his birthday hat.  He humored mom just long enough for a few pictures, and then was done humoring.  

He was a bit unsure about his cake,

but after immense coaxing and excitement from his sisters,
he decided it was a good thing after all.

So now my little man has moved from size 6-12 to 12-18 months.  

I have survived my very last “year of the baby”.  I thought it would feel so good.  And can I be honest?
 It doesn’t.  

I sat down last night and started a post at around 8:00 pm.  A post all about my sweet Kole.  Random pictures from the past year and random things about him that make him so special to me.  By 9:00 the tears were flowing from my eyes so quickly that I couldn’t see my computer screen.  I couldn’t finish the post (obviously).  I cried for two hours straight and have continued to cry on and off throughout the day today.  Words can’t express how much this little boy means to me and how grateful I am to have him in my life.  And I guess I’m having a harder time than I thought I would watching him grow so quickly.  Where did that year go?  I was just bringing him home from the hospital.  It feels like last week.  Those of you who have followed my blog for a while know that I can’t have any more children, and I’m so ok with that.  This isn’t about wanting another baby.  I guess it’s just about wanting Kole to stay my baby forever.

Happy birthday sweet boy.  You bring so much joy to this family and I treasure each moment I get to spend being your mommy.  
xoxo, Erin
Ellie and Addison

Recent pics

An early morning rainbow out the dining room window.

Girls saying their good-byes before Ellie heads to school.

 Addison gets ready for pre-school and wants to wear mom’s boots.  Again.
 Someone was being very quiet…
 and then was caught…
 and then scooted away leaving a fun mess for mom.
 A favorite traveling companion.
Saturday afternoon lounging – photo taken by Ellie.
 Flowers blooming in the back yard.
Date night. 
 Story time.
Dancing to a favorite song – just home from swimming lessons.  The girls love swimming with daddy after their lesson.  They also love dancing.  Mom loves capturing moments like this one.  
xoxo, Erin
home decor 2

Spring Decor

Hello friends!  Sharing pics of my home with a few touches of Spring!  I had so much fun decorating my mantel for Valentines Day

that I decided to change things up a bit for Spring–

It was hard for me not to use red!  But I love the way the green and white work with the black to give my mantel a cleaner, softer, more “Springy” look.

I already owned most of the stuff I used.  Just switched out the candles, added a simple white pitcher,

and moved the plant around.  I found these cute Easter eggs and put them in some Apothecary jars (how can you not love Apothecary jars!?),

and of course kept up my favorite little black jars.  I first tried filling the jars with Easter candy, but ended up just leaving them empty.  I like the simple, clean look for this simple, clean time of year.

Here are a few more Springy updates:

Welcome!  A fun Spring wreath on my front door.  I fell in love with this wreath when I saw it because it looks so real!  It reminded me of all of the wild flowers that grow on Boulder Mountain (a favorite family camping spot).  Plus it cost me a whole 11 bucks.  What’s not to love about that!?

Of course there have been all sorts of tulip arrangements in various spots around my home.  Tulips are my favorite flower and my friends and family all remember that every March for my birthday.  This particular arrangement was left on my door step a week ago.  A special gift from Kenny.  While I didn’t get my diamonds last March because I opted to have the baby early ;)  I did get a year of fresh flowers.  Kenny gave me a card that said he had ordered me a year of fresh flowers (one arrangement would be delivered each month) to get me through the “year of the baby.”  I have so enjoyed finding a new bouquet of flowers on my doorstep each month that represent the current season and time of year.

LOVED the tulips.  Almost enough to forgive Kenny about the diamonds.  :)

This really has nothing to do with Spring, but we finally hung the family portrait…

and the picture of the two of us.  The individuals of the kids will be trickier because I need to figure out how I want to collage them on the wall.  I found this plant when I was visiting family in Utah in February and fell in love with the vase.  I can’t get seem to get enough of yellow lately!  Yellow is such a happy color, isn’t it!?

Speaking of yellow, I fell in love with this little yellow and gray set.  I put them on our black coffee table in the family room because this has become a landing spot for Kenny’s keys, wallet, and Blackberry after he gets home from work.  I have tried putting other decor here only to be annoyed when it is tossed aside so that he has room for his loose change.  I finally decided — why fight it?  Now he has a place to put his things after work that is stylish and makes us both happy.  Ok – Kenny is actually pretty indifferent.  I’m the happy one.  :)  Would have photographed it with his keys and wallet in their new stylish home, but those items are only there at night and I’m usually too tired to think about taking pictures at that stage in the day!

Last year I filled this fun, little set of jars with flowers from my yard… 

This year I filled them with Easter candy.  We had to have jars of Easter candy somewhere!  It has been great motivation for kids who choose to have a good attitude during homework.  And for a certain mom who feels she too deserves a reward for maintaining a good attitude during homework.

Found these shiny Easter eggs and hung them from the kitchen shelf.  They look a little cheesy, but my girls love stuff like this.  

This is a fun little tree I picked up at a great specialty store I just love called “my mom’s house.”  (for real – I stole it from my mom’s last time I visited.  Her house is one of my favorite places to shop.  You can’t beat the prices.  ;)  Love you mom.)

I’m crazy about these little lemon trees I bought at Pottery Barn last year when all of their Spring decor went on sale.

I love them so much…

that I have to share them…

from every possible angle.

Our Easter tree didn’t really work with the decor I had going on downstairs…

so I brought it upstairs into the girls’ bedroom and created a festive little Easter display for them to enjoy.

Ellie’s contribution was the little framed picture she made of herself last year in Kindergarten.  She even put the scotch tape on the back herself and got it all ready for me to hang.  :)

You all know that I’m in a constant state of “Spring cleaning” at my house no matter what the season, so Spring cleaning doesn’t feel like much of a change.  But I do have my one shelf of dishes I make sure to wipe down from top to bottom every time Spring rolls around.  My little way of welcoming in the season!

The Bougainvillea in our yard is growing like crazy!  It always brings a smile to my face when I pull into my garage.

Welcome Spring!!!  So happy you are here!

p.s.  That may have been more than “just a few” touches of Spring!  Sorry for the picture overload.
p.p.s.  Linking up at The Stories of A2Z!

xoxo, Erin
organization2

Kids’ School Work

I can’t believe it’s already Thursday night!  My house is a mess, my fridge is empty, and my kids have been totally fending for themselves.  Kenny and I have been consumed this week with our quest to find our dream home.  I’m a bit burned out and am starting to think our dream home is just that: a nice dream.  Oh well!  Gonna keep on dreaming…and keep on hunting…and while I’m at it, I’ll also dream about my current house cleaning itself and my fridge stocking itself with groceries (I like my peppered turkey super thin thank you very much).

Anyway, switching gears – I wanted to answer a question that has popped up quite a bit from time to time.  “What do you do with your kids’ school work?”  My previous post touched on this so I thought I’d wrap it up with this post.

I LOVE my kids’ artwork (what mom doesn’t!?) but it can sure be overwhelming because they come home with SO much.  The stuff I hang on to always falls in one of these categories:

A)  Shows their personality
B)  Shows their growth in a certain area
C)  Speaks to me and makes me smile

Everything else gets trashed.  Of course, before I trash a lot of it, I display it all over the house.  I display things in the playroom…

And the door to our garage is always covered with happy art work… 

Here’s my very own Vanna White (or maybe Princess Leia?) showcasing her originals.

This picture of our pantry door was taken last November.  Makes me in the mood for Fall!  :)  Here’s the thing with seasonal artwork – the kids always bring it home from school toward the end of the season!  These cute turkeys and scarecrows came home two days before Thanksgiving.  Since I like to have seasonal artwork like this up at the beginning of the season, I save things like this just to put up the next year.  I have a place for seasonal art – the stuff I want to display for a year or two during a certain season and then trash.

In my hutch organization post, I showed these boxes on the right side of my hutch for keepsakes.  I don’t have a picture to share, but the left side of this hutch is where I store seasonal artwork.  Next November I’ll hang up my girls’ artwork from previous Novembers.  They love to see their past work displayed each season.  Plus it gets us all excited about the upcoming holiday!

The stuff that I really treasure (usually written work that shows my girls’ personalities) I save for their scrapbooks.  You all know the new system I’ve developed to keep this work organized!

Everything I want my girls to have, I try to some how work into their scrapbooks (Project Life albums).  I fell in love with the Project Life albums because of that very reason – such a great way to incorporate everything I want my girls to have as keepsakes.  (Updated school file folders here)
I think having these hand prints of Ellie’s on her first day of Kindergarten displayed with pictures from that day makes the memory extra special. 

Anything I want to save that is too big or just doesn’t make it into the Project Life albums I am currently keeping in these bins.

I bought one for each of the girls (5 bucks at Target) and hope one is all I need.  I really try to keep this in mind when saving school work:  How much do I really need to save?  My mom saved a couple of boxes of stuff for me from my school days and I treasure it all, I really do.  But how often do I look at it?  Not that often.  I look through my childhood photo album a lot more than I go through my box of school work.  I really don’t want to hand my kids’ 20 boxes and 20 albums full of their childhood (which would be easy for me to do!).  At some point when this box is getting too full, I’ll go through it and decide what’s really worth hanging on to.  
So that is my system!  Some on the walls, some stored as seasonal decor, some in their albums, some in storage bins, and the rest (about 85% of it) gets recycled.  
What about you?  Any other fun ideas/systems for saving kids’ school work?    
Any other fun ideas/systems for getting your house to clean itself?  Keep dreamin’…right?  :)
xoxo, Erin
organization2

Project Life Organization

So I’ve been running into a couple of minor snags in my system lately.  First, you all know that I “borrowed” a corner of Kole’s room for my scrap space…
 

and then I “borrowed” a few of his drawers to hold all of my Project Life supplies…

 

making his room a perfect place to work on my Project Life Albums.

All of that would have worked wonderfully – except for…
 {Minor Snag #1}

The napping baby.  I can’t work on the PL albums in my scrap space while Kole is napping and of course, that is the only time I can work on the PL albums.

Because of this, as you all know, my kitchen table has been looking a tad messy lately.
{Minor Snag #2}

The messy pile of school work.  There wasn’t enough room in my PL drawer to hold all of the girls’ school work I want to eventually put in their albums.  AND because their work was just in a big unorganized pile, it was taking too much of my precious “baby is napping I can finally get something done time” to organize everything.
{Minor Snag #3} 

 

My homework drawer that used to look like this…

has lately been looking like this.  Too many papers and workbooks for one little kitchen drawer and it was becoming hard to keep track of things.

So as you know, I treated myself to a little St. Patrick’s Day trip to Target and Staples to pick up some organizers.

I bought this green crate to hold all of the girls school work/memorabilia that I might include in their PL albums.  After adding all of their work I still had plenty of room, so I also used this for extra school stuff from my overflowing homework drawer.  I created three tabs (A for Addison, E for Ellie, and S for school stuff).  I divided the folders into seasons (spring 2010, fall 2011, etc.)  because I usually do about a season at a time when I work on these books.  This will be so easy to stay organized!  Addison brought home a beautiful self portrait from pre-school today and I just slipped in into her “spring 2011” slot and it will be there waiting for me when it’s time to work on that section of her Project Life album.  I’m hoping to stay caught up enough that I only have about a years worth of work in this crate at a time.  Then I’ll just write new tabs for the new seasons as needed.  The folders in the back are for school stuff we are always working on like Ellie’s journal and spelling pages.

 

 Now that all of the paper has its own home, I can just keep workbooks and supplies in my homework drawer.  I’m so happy to see it looking like this again!
Next, I decorated a PL journaling card to put on my cute little green portable caddy…

 

and turned it into a place to hold a all of my PL supplies.  (I just knew I bought those blinged out green letter stickers for a reason!)

 

It’s the perfect size for all of my journaling cards and scissors and pens.  Love it!

I’m going to keep these somewhere in my kitchen (in a cupboard or the bottom of my pantry) so I have easy access to them.  Working on my Project Life albums while Kole is napping will now be a much easier task!

Minor snags are solved and all is right in the world again.  :)
xoxo, Erin
Ellie and Addison

2010 Family Pictures

Just sitting here on my couch organizing some pictures (Kenny found Star Wars on TV so to say I’m bored is an understatement).  I just realized I never posted our 2010 family pictures and I want them on my blog for the someday when I get around to printing my blog into books.  I know you’ve seen these pictures before from my fall header and our 2010 Christmas card so sorry about the repeat!  Feel free to click on the next blog on your list or start your Monday to-do list.  Laundry?  Dishes?  Work?  Yeah…on second thought you may want to stick around and procrastinate a little longer…   :)

(Ellie age 6)
(Addison age 4)
(Kole age 5 months)
(Kenny and Erin ages 24 and 22…approximately…)

We spent way too much money and ordered really big prints of all of these and had them framed, but we haven’t hung them yet because we keep thinking we’ll just wait and hang them when we find a new house. Thinking I need to just hang them in our current house or Kole will be 5 years old by the time we get around to it.

p.s.  Unlike our 2009 photo shoot, I made sure not to post any photos that would elicit “ghetto booty” comments.  ;)

Have a great Monday everyone!  Vader has just saved Luke from the Emperor and is taking off his mask.  I’m off to get Kenny a tissue…

xoxo, Erin
Kole

Green Love

Did everyone have a great St. Patty’s Day?  My girls had a blast at school.  They go all out with the Leprechaun business around here.  Ellie and Addison both looked so festive in their green, but we were running late this morning (still not used to this time change!) so I didn’t get a picture of them.  I did, however, take a picture later in the afternoon of my little St. Patty’s day splurge –

Green organizers.  Does it get any better?  :)  Of course I would have gone with the green whether or not it was St. Patty’s day, but since it was the 17th of March when I bought them – well – they are just that much cooler.  I’m working on a better system for a few things around here and these little beauties are just what I needed.  Although I have to say that I’ve had a hard time staying focused and accomplishing much of anything this week because we have been enjoying such beautiful spring weather!  Birds are chirping, blossoms are blooming, and the park seems to call our names every afternoon.

Here is my other green love of the day.  Kole still isn’t crawling, but you should see this little dude scoot!  He zips across the grass like no ones business — putting all sorts of fun things in his mouth every step of the way.  :)

Hope you have a great weekend!  Maybe we’ll run into you?  You know where you can find us.  :)
xoxo, Erin
home decor 2

Master Bedroom Decor

Sharing some pictures I took a while ago of my bedroom.  I have to say that my bedroom is the room I am MOST anxious to re-do after we move.  I am really tired of this look – not my furniture – but everything else.  :)

Notice the hideous black alarm clock on the left.  Can’t see it?

Here’s a close up.  This is Kenny’s “nite jammer” from the late 80’s.  I have tried to trash this thing more times than I can count.  It is the one thing he will NOT allow me to whisk away to goodwill.  When I decorated this bedroom I begged him to let me get him a new alarm clock.  He said that this clock was sentimental to him because it had woken him up for all the major milestones in his life starting with middle school graduation, then high school graduation, college graduation, and law school graduation, passing the California bar, and oh yeah…our wedding day (see…he’s smart to throw that in there).

Well crap.  How am I ever going to feel good about trashing it now?  So there it sits.  Looking hideous.  His goal is to have this wake him up for the rest of his life.

Think I can paint it?  Wonder how the “nite jammer” would look in a nice buttermilk?

Moving on…

See my hutch?  I went on this decorating kick about five years ago and decorated my whole house in about three months.  I got my room finished, but didn’t know what to put on the top of my hutch.  I decided I was tired of decorating so I just set a couple of things on top of it thinking I would eventually get around to fixing it…
 

and there it sits.  With an empty vase of sorts and a big red plate.  Kenny calls it my “number ten.”  
A few more accessories…

And just to prove how badly we are running out of space in this house…

here’s the lovely pile hiding in the corner of this room.   :)

xoxo, Erin
Birthdays

B-day and Project Life

Thank you so much to everyone who took a minute to wish me a happy birthday!  You are all incredibly kind and it was so much fun hearing from friends throughout the day.  I had a great birthday weekend and was completely spoiled as I’m sure you can tell by the picture above.  The girls made me a lovely birthday cake topped with 34 candles and a few favorite “friends.”  I got the piece with Ariel on top because “Ariel is mommy’s favorite princess!”  :)  And yes, this was my second yellow cake with chocolate frosting.  The treadmill and I will become fast friends this week.  
Also thanks to my sweet friends who brought by gifts and flowers on my special day.  They all know me so well.  My house is full of tulips, Cadbury eggs, and shiny silver gift cards.  :) 

Now on to Project Life!  I’ve been working on Ellie’s album and once again my kitchen table looks like this…

What a mess!  
At least it’s a fun mess.  :)  
End of February 2010
I added some art work and her Kindergarten class list.  The mermaid picture above is a blog post I printed about Barbie in A Mermaid Tale and my girls’ obsession with it.  We’re big fans of the Barbie movies around here.  :)
Another blog post I printed about Ellie’s morning friend “Snakey.”
Some of my favorite pictures of my girls and their daddy riding bikes at the park.
Ellie made the above picture with the pink ribbon around the time Kole was born.  It is a portrait of our new family of five.  :)
I also included some other random artwork from last March along with one of the many pictures of cakes she drew me last year on my birthday.
Kole is born!  The note she wrote last year (top right page) says:
“Dir Erin I cant wat for baby Kole to pop awt.  Love Ellie.”  
I will never get tired of little notes like this one.  I’m seriously sad that this year she is learning to spell everything correctly!
The girls meeting their new little brother for the first time.  Such a special day.  I treasure these pictures and I’m so glad my girls will each have their own copies of them.
Newborn pictures of Kole and some sweet notes from Ellie’s grandma’s soon after he arrived.
I also love this little turtle Ellie drew.  She hung it on Kole’s door when I was decorating his nursery in a turtle theme.  It has been there for a year and I just took it down last week to include in her book.  More fun Kindergarten spelling — “trtl”– exactly how it sounds. :)
On the left is a page from her journal writing in school.  They were supposed to write what they did over Spring Break.  Ellie wrote: 
“I went to the Easter egg hunt.  I got a new baby.”
And of course another picture of our new family of five.  Along with the sun, a butterfly, and a flower.  Because what picture is complete without those three things?  :)  
So so sweet.  
Wrapping up April!  I’m still pretty much a year behind but I’m making progress!  Whenever I feel overwhelmed with these albums and trying to catch up I hear Dory from Finding Nemo in my head –
“just keep swimming, just keep swimming…”  You can tell what’s been on at our house lately.
If I can just catch up on the girls’ albums I can get going again on this little guys baby book!

The two of us had a day date on my birthday.  I brought the party hats, he brought the party.  :)
xoxo, Erin

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