Elaina + Erin = BFF

I love these girls!! You won't find them apart from each other very often.

Elaina takes such good care of little sis. When Erin takes her nap Elaina listens for the squeaking door to open and as soon as it does, she runs to greet Erin and ask her to come play with her. I've also found Elaina helping Erin brush her teeth and take her potty. We've been working on having the girls say their own personal prayers before bed. The other night we forgot this in the bedtime routine and Elaina told me the next morning that she had helped Erin say her personal prayers. She's so good at including Erin when playing with her. She speaks so kindly to Erin and it is evident how much she loves her little sister in the way that she treats her (most of the time...believe me, we have our moments -- today is just a good day :) )

I love how much Erin looks up to big sister & adores Elaina so much. She even consents to being the prince so that she can play prince and princess with Elaina (other times she consents to being Captain Hook, or even "the bad guy")! What a sweetheart. She also knows the words to all the primary songs and dance songs that Elaina learns when she's not there - she just spends her day copying what Elaina does. I do love that she mimics Elaina since she does it out of love for her big sister, but I also wonder how her own little personality will blossom when Elaina is at kindergarten next year. At the same time I know it will be a really difficult transition for her and part of me doesn't look forward to separating the two of them either.

These are some beautiful weeds they picked for me
**Does that outfit of Elaina's hurt your eyes like it hurts mine? I do know how badly it doesn't match - believe me, this outfit was her choice that day and I'm trying to bite my tongue occasionally when it doesn't really matter (or at least I'm trying to convince myself that it doesn't really matter and that it's good for her to make some of her own choices over certain things....at least that's what they tell me in the Parenting books and magazines!)

This spring's bluebonnet picture

Awww, they love their puppy too!

Elaina has these preschool computer games that she loves. She's say to Erin: "Hey Erin, do you want to watch me do my computer games?" And Erin always cheerfully agrees! :)

This is my favorite! They've always loved the time at night when they can chat and giggle until they fall asleep. They even stall together - when one gets up for a drink or an owie, the other is following right behind! A couple weeks ago they started climbing in each others' beds and sleeping together. I caught this picture one night and I think it's so darn cute. They love each other so much. I'm so happy about that.

This is my Erin-Girl

*Erin has no problem standing up for herself & her big sister. We've been training our new puppy, Millie, and sometimes Millie will nip at the kids (although not so much anymore, thank goodness!). We'd try to get the kids to stand up to Millie and tell her no. Elaina had more of a difficult time doing this - she would lie there with Millie attacking her, and then Erin would come out of nowhere and shout "NO Mi-yee. Don't bite Yay-na" (="NO Millie! Don't bite Elaina!"). And Millie obeyed her commands and stopped. It is so adorable to see little sister stand up for big sister.

*Erin is also Millie's dinner-time favorite. It's no coincidence when our family is at the table that Millie sits herself on the ground between Erin and Mike (yes, Mike is very guilty too!). Millie knows where to be if she wants something yummy!

*I had to take Elaina in to get her H1N1 shot, and she knew what was coming. As I was preparing her to go to the doctor she started crying (we hadn't even left the house yet!) because she didn't want a shot. Erin came in and reassured her: "it's ok Yay-na (=Elaina)....don't cry....I'll make it all better....it won't hurt Yay-na.....shhhh, it's okay.....I'll make it all better."

*She insists that I call her by a princess name at all times. I'll call: "Erin, come help me unload the dishwasher" and I'll hear: "no, I'm Cinderella." Until I concede and call her by her proper princess name (Ariel, Snow White, Jasmine, or Giselle....it changes constantly!) she won't come and do what she's asked.

*Oh, and she gives the best hugs. Sometimes I'll sit and have her hug me over and over again because it just feels so good. Everybody needs an "Erin-hug" as often as they can get it!

Elaina's Latest

*Something I find so adorable is Elaina always using the word "darling" to refer to someone's child. I'm actually not really sure where she got it from, but I love it! (Actually she says it more like darlin' with a Texas accent). She went up to a stranger in the store (as she always does) and asked: "do you have a darlin'?" Another time, Mike was teaching piano at our house and she asked the student's (Rachel's) Mom: "Is Rachel your darlin'?" So cute!

*One day we were driving and Elaina looked at the lady in the car next to us and goes: "eeewwwww! That lady is smoking!" The lady looked over at her just as she made a disgusted face in her direction. I guess in addition to teaching her healthy habits, we also need to teach her a little tact!

*This morning Elaina woke up and asked this question: "Mommy, what if you are a tool with no arms and you get sick? How do you sneeze if you have no arms?"
(for those of you who don't rely on Disney so you to take an occasional shower in privacy - and to keep you sane some mornings! - you might not know about Handy Manny and his arm-less tools. She hasn't even watched Handy Manny today, so this is obviously something she's been concerned about for a while now)

Easter Festivities

We were busy this Easter! We went to a Easter Egg Hunt & Carnival at the George Bush Presidential Library which was a lot of fun! Our friend Janine also planned an egg hunt and activities at her house for preschool which was a big hit! And the Easter Bunny came to our house on Easter Sunday.

Here are some pictures from the carnival at the library:

Check out the crowds behind them! The kids were lined up in a square surrounding the eggs. I was a little nervous for the mad dash, but it wasn't really that bad - only a couple black eyes and bruises...and lots of chocolate :)

We also ran into my friend Steph, who took an impromptu family picture

Erin gave the Easter bunny a kiss. Always the sweetheart!

Elaina was excited to run into her friend Addi

This fireman let us all try on his hat. He was pretty cool

Janine did a great Easter Egg hunt. She even divided up the eggs and assigned each child a color to look for. Brilliant!!

Egg Hunt at our house. The Easter Bunny was tricky this year and put lots of the eggs up high. I love these pictures of the kids trying to reach up high to get their goodies: