And Then There Were Two

Anyone who has known Gracie for very long knows about her pink teddy bear blanket. She has packed it around since she was old enough to walk. This precious teddy bear has been lost and found more times than I care to admit. I even had to sew a pocket on it so that Gracie could put our return address in it in case he was lost again. Most days, teddy bear stays on her bed until bedtime now that she is a very mature 5 year old. Ella has a purple elephant that is the same style as Gracie's bear. Ella packs it around everywhere, in the same way that Gracie used to pack hers around. Well, one day this week I found both of the blankets neglected on the ground, side by side. It was funny to see, so I took a picture to remind myself of the days when my girls needed these items. In the blink of an eye they will be going on dates and denying that they ever had these security blankets.

Gracie's New Clubs

Brent had to go to Lake of the Ozarks for meetings this week. He came home with a nice surprise for Gracie. A pink golf bag with a putter, driver and 7-iron. She was very excited and can't wait to break them in.

It was too cold to go outside and try them out, so she just had to bundle up in the garage to try them on.

Brent and his favorite golf buddy!

Ella's hair is long enough to sport 2 sprouts now. It's really cute, until she pulls them both out.

Gracie LOVES to play Guess Who. It's her favorite game, and we now own it in 3 variations. Ella would enjoy getting her hands on it, but it's a "no, no" for her.

Oh, no! Another Doolin who loves to have their back rubbed!

Rain, Rain Go Away, Little Ella Wants To Play...

This picture is blurry, but was comical. Ella was standing at the window watching the rain as it ruined her chances of getting outside to play today. She would turn around and look at me with regret in her eyes. Her hair is a wreck because she always pulls her hairband out after she wakes up from her nap.

The regret left her eyes long enough to take this picture. I was trying to capture how truly lovely her hair was, but it blends in with the surroundings.

Ella Outdoors

Ella knows how to tell us she wants to go outside. Now that she has really experienced the fun that comes with outdoor play, she will stand at a window and point. If that doesn't work, she will come to you, grunt to be picked up (yes, we respond to grunting) and then keep pointing you in the direction of a door. Today Brent and Gracie were both sick, so Ella and I did a lot of playing and walking by ourselves outside.

It was a very windy day, and Ella kept making really funny faces when the wind would get strong and blow things around. It literally knocked her off her feet once!

I'm so glad that I finally got this picture. This is what Ella does when she wants to be picked up. The arms are straight out, her hands are close together, and she has a needy look on her face. Too cute!

Miss Big Stuff thinks she's big enough to ride Gracie's old Dora bike. She has the basics down, but I don't think she knows how to stop if she gets on a downhill slope.

It really looks like she's riding in this one, but she's just sitting still pushing the buttons to make the music play.

I'm so proud of Ella and her interest in her little broom. She is constantly sweeping at things. The broom is actually part of a whole toy cleaning cart, so maybe she will expand to mopping, vacuuming and washing windows!

Like Father Like Daughter

It was a gorgeous weekend in Macon, so Brent decided to take Gracie to the golf course. He may be fortunate enough to have his daughter enjoy one of his activities, but she still has a definite female streak! She was excited to go golfing, but wanted to wear a necklace and bracelet. She also wanted some lipstick before she left.

After she was all dolled up, she decided I should take her picture. She kept saying, "Daddy will think I'm so pretty." As Brent often says, "Gracie has no lack of self-confidence." I just hope that continues!

Ella and I dropped Brent and Gracie off at the golf course in Moberly and then we killed some time until supper. Brent took me out to eat and we left the girls with my parents. Here are the golfers, striking a pose with their clubs.

Every good golfer needs pink sunglasses with flowers on them! When I picked them up, Gracie informed me that she had a great time golfing. She also said she had a "chip-in." (A term she has learned from the Wii.)

Meanwhile, in Another Part of Moberly

While Gracie and Brent were golfing, Ella and I ran some errands and then went by my parent's house. They weren't there for quite a while, so we explored their yard since it was so nice outdoors. Their neighbor has a little deer statue, just Ella's size They were fast friends.

Whose child is that? She looks pretty disheveled, but I'll still claim her!

The backyard was a little shady and cool, so I borrowed one of my mom's jackets.

Ella had to join me in the jacket for a while, but it didn't last long. She's a little girl on the go!

Ella was practicing for Easter. This picture reminds me that when Gracie was 1 year old, it was probably 75-80 degrees on Easter day. I have pictures of her hunting eggs in shorts and a t-shirt. I hope it's like that this year as well.

What a cutie-pie. I wonder what she's thinking?

Ella has a strong interest in cameras these days. She won't really smile on command anymore. She just wants to get her hands on the camera. I held it out of reach from her and tried to snap our picture. It's not exactly good, but at least we are both kind of in the picture.

Life in 3-D

Gracie experienced 3-D glasses a few months ago, thanks to the Super Bowl. She thought it was pretty cool, even though we didn't find it to be too great. Well, recently Gracie has become obsessed with a movie she saw in Unionville when she was with Mama one weekend. She came home telling us all about it, so I found it at the movie store and we rented it. You would think that would be good enough. It wasn't. After that she would find it on Nickelodeon once in a while, and would become that much more obsessed. The name of the movie..."The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl". If you haven't seen it, you really aren't missing too much. Well, we were in Columbia last weekend and found "Sharkboy and Lavagirl" on their display of movies clearanced out (shocking!). Anyway, we let her spend some of her birthday money on this purchase. We got home and opened it to find out that it came complete with a 3-D version as well as the normal movie version. They were kind enough to include 4 pair of glasses so the whole family could enjoy the experience. Gracie has enjoyed it thoroughly and seems to understand that we don't want to watch it with her every time it's on. She's OK with that!

The part of this picture you can't see is that Gracie is standing in the living room in nothing but her underpants and 3-D glasses watching "Sharkboy and Lavagirl" completely oblivious to the fact that we find this hysterical. I tried to calmly ask her if I could take her picture, and she said "Sure." At this point Brent starts laughing out loud and she realizes we are poking fun at her, but she still let me take her picture. The innocence of youth.