Family and Princess Party fun

Here's our Princess all ready for daycare with her 2 Tinkerbell's. I love the skort! She would prefer to wear "clothes", which in her definition are shorts or pants and a shirt. I'm not sure why, but she's often opposed to skirts and dresses. The clothing battle has already started, and I have to remind myself to choose my battles wisely. Uncle Bill came over on Thursday to play with Ellie. She is funny around her Uncles, as well as Papa. Shy at first, hides her face, then she flirts with them for the rest of the visit. They had fun riding her tricycle around the block, playing T-ball and getting rides on Uncle Bill's shoulders. Uncle Bill had to leave before dinner, which is unusual. Ellie was concerned that he wasn't eating dinner with us, and asked if he was going to get to eat dinner or if he was a bad boy and had to go to bed without dinner. Where did she get that? We've never sent her to bed without dinner! Maybe she watches too much TV? Our goal on Friday night is for Ellie and I to get the groceries for the next week, and for Brant to get the yard mowed if it needs it. I know this sounds amazingly fun and exciting, but it really makes our lives so much nicer for the rest of the weekend if we can accomplish this on Friday. This week Ellie was a big helper to her daddy after he mowed...she got out her "sweep" and helped him sweep up the dead grass. Poor Brant had so much more work to do when she was done, but he's so patient that he didn't care.

Ellie continues to keep us laughing with her commentary. Most recently, she has taken to saying "Momma, you're making me CRAZY!" A few days ago she was stalling instead of getting in her highchair for dinner. I went in her bedroom to find her dillydallying going potty, and told her to hurry because Daddy was coming in with the hamburgers, then I went back to the kitchen. Brant came through her room with the grilled burger, Ellie looked at him, grinned and said "Daddy, I'm making Momma crazy!" She was so proud of herself. Little stinker... Yesterday Ellie and I went to a birthday party for one of her friends from daycare. It was a Princess Party, and Snow White made a guest appearance. The girls were fascinated. I'm considering buying a Princess outfit and wearing it to see if Ellie would listen to me that intently...I know I'm only fooling myself though. Snow White read stories, painted their hands, led them in games, danced with them, and helped them find the treasure chest. She also posed for pictures with the group. What a treat! It's nice to see the other daycare parents and have time to chat with them outside of the normal weekday rush. We are so lucky to have such a great group of kids and parents. There was a pinata, and as the candy fell to the ground and the girls scampered to pick it up Ellie picked up a package of peanut M&M's and exclaimed (at the top of her lungs) "I need to get all of these for my Daddy! He LOVES these!" We have no idea how she knows that, since we don't have candy in the house, but she was right on the money!