Gracie's Valentine's Day Party At School

Gracie and I have been working diligently on her Valentine Box for her school party today. She was very excited to take her "fish tank" to school for everyone to see.

The saran wrap on the sides didn't hold up all day at school with the kids touching it and being curious, but it looked good this morning when she first left the house.

I was in charge of organizing the party, but lots of moms helped. Gracie was excited to have her Mommy there, and it was her day to wear the birthday crown since her birthday is tomorrow.

One of Gracie's friends was using the fish net to try and lower her Valentine into the box.

After Gracie got home from school and was showing me all of her goodies I noticed a small heart shaped box of chocolates. She was quick to tell me that Matthew from her class had given it to her and she was the only one to get a box of chocolates. A few minutes later I saw a bag of candy that one of the clubs was selling as a fundraiser. I asked her who sent it to her and she said Matthew did. He had to pay money to send her a bag of candy and also bought her a box of chocolates. I'm pretty sure Brent still has Matthew in detention!!!

Parents As Teachers

Tonight was Ella's Parents As Teachers Group Meeting. That means all the families that use P.A.T. meet together at the elementary school for a group session. It is usually loud and wild, but most of the times the girls enjoy them. Gracie isn't in P.A.T. anymore since she is in school, but she usually comes along. Tonight we were supposed to have our 2 year olds work on tongue and mouth exercises to help them speak more clearly. Blowing on these party favors is a good exercise to tighten up their mouths.

Ella finally got the hang of it, and then she couldn't quit blowing!

Blowing bubbles was another good exercise to try with the kids.

The kids also spent time blowing through straws to push these little pom poms across the tables and their favorite exercise was to lick the icing out of the Oreo cookie. They couldn't use their teeth, just their tongues, and it was amazing how much some of the kids struggled.

Tonight we were supposed to invite Ella's grandparents to the meeting. Grandpa had a meeting in Moberly so he couldn't come and Mama lives over an hour away and it started snowing again, so we hated to risk having her on the road when it could turn nasty. Nana came and hopefully enjoyed watching the girls play, even though it wasn't the best group meeting we have ever had.

Another Snow Day

We woke up to another day of no school due to the snow. The girls were very excited since they still wanted to play with all of their new birthday gifts. First on the agenda was trying out their new leotards.

Gracie and Ella both love to dance, but now that Ella has an actual leotard we couldn't get her to stop dancing. She had to add her fairy wings to the outfit and spent much of the morning dancing with anybody and anything.

This Barbie was Ella's first dance partner.

Gracie's ballerina doll was a good partner for Ella. She's almost bigger than Ella!

Gracie had big plans for making a snowman. I agreed since I really haven't played in the snow with her this winter. We made a small snowman and then decided to go sledding down our hill.

The Family Birthday Celebration

Since Gracie and Ella have birthdays so close together, we picked a date in the middle for their family party so that people wouldn't have to travel to Macon twice. Today was the big day...Super Bowl Sunday and the girl's birthday party.

Gracie finally got the Snuggie she has so desperately wanted!

Ella loved her new Dora umbrella!

Gracie is a big fan of scotch tape, so she got a new supply for her crafts and projects. She even got a fancy desktop style dispenser!

Baby dolls continue to be one of Ella's favorite things! She loves her chicken baby that cheeps.

As soon as Ella opened her robe, she had to put it on immediately. She's also loving on her new Peek-A-Boo baby doll.

Finally...some Zhu Zhu pet accessories! They were impossible to find at Christmas, but now they are in the stores.

Yes, Ella is still wearing her robe at this point of the party.

Gracie got a cow baby doll, so she told Ella it will be good friends with her chicken baby.

Gracie loves opening presents! Who doesn't?! This one was from Ray and Mikie, our old neighbors from Kahoka.

This is an outfit for Gracie's American Girl knock-off doll. It is super cute and is made in Atlanta's school colors. It also has Gracie's name on it. She was very excited! Good idea, Mikie!

Princess and the Frog is one of Gracie's new favorites.

Aunt B gets each of the kids a Precious Moment figurine for their birthday every year.

Ella had a cupcake balloon bouquet for her birthday cake.

Gracie really wanted a Barbie cake, so I did my best.

Ella was puckering up to blow her candle out! Too funny!!

Lucas, Sydney and Madison were enjoying the cupcakes with Ella.

Do ya have a little cake in your mouth, Gracie???

Trying out the new Snuggie. It looks pretty cozy!

Ella's Second Birthday

Our sweet, yet ornery, Ella turned two years old today. She walked around the house telling me, "It my birfday."

We didn't do too much celebrating until Brent and Gracie got home from school.

Gracie was a very helpful big sister and assisted Ella with unwrapping her gifts. It's so hard to resist opening a present...even if it's not for you.

Ella loves Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, but we didn't have the movie on DVD, so she was excited to unwrap this present!

Ella got a new outfit and bed for her Zhu Zhu pet. She loves her hamster!

Wowzers! I don't know what this face was all about, but I'm glad I caught a picture to capture the moment!

Ella loved her Velcro pizza making kit.

Looks like big sis is going to enjoy making pizza as well!

I made Ella a big cookie instead of cake since we are celebrating this weekend and will have lots of cake then. I had a few Dora items to put on top of her cookie so she was as happy as if it had been an actual cake.

There is no frosting on that candle, but I guess she has seen enough people lick the candle that she thought it was the thing to do!