Saturday night was Ella’s first dance recital. She had a great time and never was scared to go on stage and perform (or some would call it, ‘stand there and look cute’) Was there any real ballet moves being done? No, not really. But it’s all about the experience (at least that is what we tell ourselves and we pay $50 for each girls costume! Yikes!!)
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| From June 2009 |
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| From June 2009 |
Rilyn is in her 3rd dance recital dancing to ‘Broadway Baby!’
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| From June 2009 |
This is Ella’s 1st dance recital and she is dancing to ‘A Spoonful of Sugar’!
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| From June 2009 |
The actual recital is tonight so wish them luck! (Although no matter what they do at this age, it’s adorable!)
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| From June 2009 |
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| From June 2009 |
Ella had splash day on Tuesday at her preschool and, well, I’ll let the pictures do the talking…
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| warming up and getting in ‘the zone’ for the big water slide |
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| Whoa! This is steeper than it looks!! |
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| (Anna, and a boy who obviously likes her, Jake, and Ella) Hike up that bottom girl! |
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| Again, this boy must really dig Anna! Ella is leaping for joy?!? |
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| From May 2009 |
Ella came down the stairs yesterday claiming she was Snow White. Granted, this used to look like a Snow White wig when she got it at Christmas, but now…I’m not so sure. And to make matters worse, she posed like a true punk rocker and it made me think of a certain hair band of the 80’s…
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| Ella as ‘Snow White’ |
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| Poison |
or maybe she is pretending to be Gene Simmons?
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| Gene Simmons of KISS |
I’m sure one day Rilyn will not be too thrilled that I posted these pictures, but it was so funny I couldn’t pass it up. James took these shots the other day (note: I’m trying to cut back in my photo-taking this month, not James.)
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| From May 2009 |
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| From May 2009 |
This is what happens when mommy has left over swim diapers from last summer and you have two older sisters.
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| From May 2009 |
Today was the first day that the good ‘ol wading pool came back out and I let the girls ‘swim’ in the backyard. I had only two rules for the girls to follow: No chalk in the pool and no sand in the pool. They repeated the rules back to me and knew them. I go back in the house and am pleasantly surprised how entertained they are and how much fun they are having. I love watching them through the window when they think I’m not looking. Awhile later I go back outside to find…dun Dun DUN…sand in the pool! Rilyn immediately starts bawling when I asked who did it and she confesses that both her and Ella brought sand into the pool. “Well, that’s it,” I said. “No more pool for today.” (Both girls are crying their eyes out now.) You both broke the rule, and the consequence is no more pool/backyard for the rest of the day. (You really would of thought I sentenced them to life in prison by the way they were crying-but this is how my girls are-DRAMATIC) Then Rilyn, through her blurry eyes, looks up at me, ever so innocently, and asks if she is still going to heaven.
Wow. I quickly say a little prayer for God to give me the words…
“Yes! If Jesus is King of your life, nothing can separate you from Heaven. Not the worst kind of sin you can think of. And God wants to forgive our sins if we ask Him.”
I then explained to Rilyn and Ella that I sin everyday too, just like them.
“I think we should all ask God for forgiveness right now,” I said.
After our prayer and confession, I told the girls that God has now forgotten that they put sand in the pool! Their sin is no more! Rilyn then asked, “Does He still love me?”
“He will ALWAYS love you. He gets disappointed in the wrong choices you make, but now He forgave you!”
“Where did our sins go?”
“Remember, when we went to the beach 2 weeks ago? Our sins have been tossed in the deep part of the ocean.”
“Wow!” is all she could say. And then they both wanted to cuddle.
Lord, let me be Jesus with skin on.
Hebrews 8:12 For I will be merciful toward their iniquities,
and I will remember their sins no more.”
Micah 7:19 He will again have compassion on us;
he will tread our iniquities underfoot.
You will cast all oursins into the depths of the sea.
**Shock! There are no pictures of the girls in the wading pool because I’m trying to cut back my picture-taking in May, (a little bit of a detox if you will), since I have over 250 pictures to scrapbook right now of Easter, Disneyland, and Asher’s birthday!
I believe the perfect age to take a child to Disneyland is around 5 years old. They can ride all the rides and they understand pretend vs. real. They can wait in a line better and their legs don’t get as tired from all the walking. Rilyn did pretty well at Disneyland. We took her on Splash Mountain and she freaked out on the big drop and said she will never ride it again. She wanted to go on the Haunted Mansion and again was scared, but just held us tight. Ella proved to us she couldn’t handle rides that required ‘going in a hole’ as she put it. (Indoor rides such as most of the Fantasyland rides.) We tried a couple rides and she just cried and cried. Here she is on Pirates of the Carribean (yes, big brother told me ‘No flash photography!’ after I took this.)
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| From California Vacation April 2009 |
So then we tried more outdoor friendly rides such as The Jungle Cruise. She would love all the animals, right?
Here she is mesmerized at all the friendly animals.
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| From California Vacation April 2009 |
Uh oh, here comes a hippo!
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| From California Vacation April 2009 |
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| From California Vacation April 2009 |
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| From California Vacation April 2009 |
Apparently, Ella does not care for hippos. So, for the rest of the ride she rode like this…
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| From California Vacation April 2009 |
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| From California Vacation April 2009 |
As part of our bedtime routine for a month now, we have been reciting The Lord’s Prayer-Matthew 6:9-13. Rilyn picked it up very fast and began reciting it from memory a couple of weeks ago. It is so beautiful to hear your own child hide the Lord’s Word in her heart! Just a couple of days ago, while we were praying, Ella asked if she could say it by herself. “Sure sweetie. Give it a try.”
Wow! Ella being able to memorize this at the tender age of 3 makes me realize how much they do listen and remember everything we say (whether we like it or not!) I will always treasure the sweet sounds of my little daughter giving praise to the Lord in this video.
Matthew 6:9-13 (King James Version)
9 Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
10Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
11Give us this day our daily bread.
12And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.
13And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.
My girls love doing crafts and so grandma got them lots of foam hearts, stickers, and letters. They have loved decorating the hearts for Valentines Day. Ella, especially, will spend hours doing this. Tonight, as I was cleaning up the girl’s craft table, I noticed a heart that Ella ‘decorated’ with letters. Let’s just hope she still doesn’t know how to spell words or I have a future in AA meetings with her.
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| From February 2009 |
You’ll notice the ‘Es’ are really ‘3s’ because now that she is 3, she insists on putting them on every heart she decorates. I think it is her ‘signature.’
the paquettes 