Long Time No Post

In chronological order, here's what we've been up to lately (and for the prior six months...):

Abilene in April to visit Jackson and Alice Anne and check out the zoo.

TCU Easter Egg Hunt with Baird.  These guys were serious about their egg-gathering strategy. 

On your mark, get set... 

GO!

Another egg hunt in our neighborhood.  See that motorcycle wheel in the background?  That's what the Easter Bunny rode in on - Steel Magnolias style.

May marked preschool graduation.  Ellie majored in printing (summa cum laude) with a minor in bead sorting.  She's contemplating post-graduate work in two-digit addition and subtraction. 

Hanging with her buddy Embrey at Central Market celebrating the end of patio season before June came and IT WAS 1,000 DEGREES EVERY DAY FOR THREE FREAKING MONTHS.   

Super Hero Day at the science museum.  Ellie and Superman traded cape styling tips.  

What's that old saying?  June comes in like being locked in a blast furnace turned up on high while wearing a wool sweater and an electric blanket?  I don't mean to be dramatic, but it was a pretty miserable summer, weather-wise.  But for those who didn't have to work, June meant pool time!  Ellie enjoyed several weeks of swim lessons this summer and lots of days cooling off in the backyard pool at Bubbie's house.  She got very confident in the water and has an enthusiastic (although not very efficient) swim stroke. 

 Fourth of July!  The kids on our street got together to make decorations for their bikes in preparation for the neighborhood parade.  The parade was a lot of fun (for about 20 minutes, then it was mostly about full-body sweating and melting popsicles and how it really FELT like the 105 degrees that it was and "When can we go inside?")  God Bless America!

Ellie Day!  We celebrate Ellie's homecoming anniversary every year with a special day full of fun things just for her.  This year she insisted that she wanted a "Dallas cupcake" (Sprinkles), so we had a girls' day in Dallas - Breadwinners for banana bread french toast for breakfast, North Park for shoe shopping and duck watching, some window shopping for bunk beds at PB Kids and a cupcake and milk on our way home.  

 Ellie's first time at Czech Stop!  In August we headed for a weekend in the hill country with a group of friends and made the required stop in West to stock up on kolaches and pastries for the weekend (and for the parking lot, since that's about how far we got before breaking into them.)

 As with any road trip, there were indulgences.  Mr. Cass bought Ellie her first Fun Dip - here Lauren explains the concept. 

 It was so fun getting to spend the weekend with fellow Ethiopian-Texan Calvin.  The dance party started almost immediately and lasted all weekend long.  These kids have some suh-weet moves. 

 We made a pizza or two (or eleven.)

Pool time with Cal.  It's a shame they aren't more comfortable in front of the camera.  

Then August was almost over and someone was getting ready for her FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN!!!!  Since big school starts and hour and a half earlier than when we usually rolled into preschool, we are slowly (very slowly) becoming morning people.

Just to compare - here's first day of preschool ever in 2009 (age 3) and 2010 (age 4):

See ya, Mom.  I got this.

 A few weeks ago we hit the flea market in Canton with Rachel and Alice Anne.  Here the girls are demonstrating their readiness for convertible season.

That's about it - I noticed that madras sundress was a real staple of our spring/summer wardrobe.  This Friday we leave for a week at the beach so stay tuned for more updates (and probably more madras sundress)!

Homecoming

Two years ago today cousin Suzanne, Ellie and I were somewhere over the Atlantic on our way back to Texas from Ethiopia. What an exciting travel adventure - Airport Power Outages! Surly Lufthansa Attendants! Lost Strollers and Crying Jet Lagged Children! Fortunately there were some tender mercies along the way - children's Benedryl; Uncle Harry and Aunt Georgie waiting with wat at the D.C. airport where we parted ways with Suzanne; the nice ticket agent at the American counter who must have seen the last 20 hours of travel weighing heavily on us and who bumped a grumpy man out of his first row seat so we could have it on the way to Dallas (trust me sir, we needed it more than you).

Little did I know it was the beginning of a much more pleasant adventure with this incredible little person. Happy homecoming anniversary, kiddo. I'd take that trip again and again to get to you!

If you hadn't seen Ellie for the past few weeks, you might not know last Saturday was her birthday. If you have seen Ellie in the last few weeks, you know that she was going to have A BALLET BIRTHDAY PARTY WITH TUTUS AND CUPCAKES AND I'M TURNING FIVE AND THE CUPCAKES WILL BE PINK AND WHITE AND STRAWBERRY AND EARS PIERCED WHEN I'M FIVE AND THERE WILL BE BALLERINAS AND JUST GIRLS AT MY BALLET PARTY NO BOYS WITH EARRINGS FOR ME AND PINK CUPCAKES AND TUTUS. And so it was.

One of Ellie's friends declared on the bouncy bridge: BEST! ELLIE! BIRTHDAY! PARTY! EVER!



And so it was.

4 years, 364 days old

A month (or two) in pictures (and a few words)

Mommy splurged on an InStyler (as seen on TV). Next stop, Toddlers and Tiaras.



"Dear Santa, I've been good. I love you. I wish it could snow this year. Please bring me a guitar and drum. Love, Ellie" (Our fireplace is blocked with a panel since I fear the gas logs, so we had to leave Santa a key. Thankfully she didn't ask how he would get inside the house to get the key.)

We called NORAD's Santa Tracker hotline and were informed that Santa would be entering Texas airspace at 9:00p.m. EST. She was out by 8:55.

Bedhead and Christmas morning excitement!

Way to deliver, Santa!!!



Those of you who heard me talk about not going crazy with the Christmas gifts can stop laughing now. (Not pictured - she also got a big girl bike.)



Or maybe start laughing at the "Bob the Builder" get-up (accessorized with a chocolate milk mustache.)

MORE presents at the grandparents'. Not spoiled at all.







Green Eggs and (not green) Ham - courtesy of the grandparent bed & breakfast. Huge hit.

Happy New Year! Ellie insisted she could stay up until midnight to see the "party" so we opted to celebrate on east coast time. Sparkling lemonade in fancy glasses and a tiara constituted a sufficient party that she felt it was worth it.

Any snow is cause for gearing up and outside dancing.



Happy 2011 everyone! Hopefully my resolution of posting more will become a reality this year. What? It's February? Chinese New Year resolution it is!

Update coming soon...

We're still here - photos of Christmas will be coming next week. We're temporarily banned from our house due to hardwood floor staining that should be done by the weekend (anyone who's undergone any sort of substantial home improvement project is laughing at my optimism right now.) Hope everyone had a great Christmas!

Catch Up Time

Yeah, yeah. I'm a bad blogger. Here's what's happened since we last checked in...

Beach!


First sight of the ocean!


Cousins!


More cousins!


Snake handling!


A fabulous swimsuit wardrobe!


Ellie and I and the grandparents headed out to the last day game of the season. Ellie enjoyed the food, getting a pink Rangers shirt, and singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame." And she watched a little baseball too. She was concerned that "those boys" were spitting and noted that they were not using their good manners.


Next came Halloween. We met up with some of our neighbors and had a blast trick or treating. Ellie and her friend Joshua came back from many a front porch in the first hour shouting "They gave us candy, too!" I'm not sure if they thought everyone was just being really friendly or what.


We went to a party at Gladney and got to see our sweet caseworker Mary! She took a new job this year, so it was such a nice surprise to see her. The man in the white outfit standing behind her is Belay - Gladney's in-country director in Ethiopia. (I had a really nice pic of the three of us which Ellie erased while playing on my phone.) When she went up to him, he looked at her and said "Hiab!" After over a year he recognized her and remembered her name! She was so excited to see him...and the bounce house.


Fall leaves! Ellie's been leaf-peeping in the neighborhood for weeks and shouting on the way to school "I see red! It's a sign of fall!" She's realizing now that aside from the Japanese maple we pass in our neighborhood, brown is really the only sign of fall we get in Texas.




Can I close with a rant? Why is this cute stethoscope shirt only available in the boys' section at Target? Wouldn't it be just as cute in pink or purple? I know that there is a lot more to imprinting a world view on a child than a tee shirt, but if I want to buy my daughter a shirt that declares a statement other than that she's spoiled, a diva, cute, a princess, sweet as candy, etc. I have to shop in the boys' section. I'm not saying she doesn't have her share of pink, butterflies, and glitter in her closet, but she also has Beatles and The Who tees, dinosaurs, and this sweet doc in training one. She wears rhinestone earrings to rock out with her drumsticks and to hunt bugs with her magnifying glass, but who says she can't like both? It would be nice for more stores to consider that girls might like more than one thing - that they might want to wear a pink hard hat while they play with tools or to carry their matchbox cars in their purse.

When she put this shirt on, she went to her closet and got out her tutu to go with it. She told me that she was a doctor AND a ballerina and that she was going to do a dance and then fix me up.

Attention, retailers. Dr. Ballerina needs a little more diversity in your girls' section.