More FHE fun

We had so much fun at our last FHE, Tyler's parents invited us for a repeat night. This time we added paper airplane flying to the night of fun.

Before leaving, I waited until what I thought was the last second to get Lily dressed in a cute (and clean) spring outfit. We didn't get in the car soon enough, Somehow Lily found enough time to change into a dirty sponge-bog pajama top, Car bottoms, & princess skirt. Silly Lilly.

2nd Car

We finally got a 2nd car. I never, in my life, thought I would be so happy to drive a van.

Sharing a car with Tyler wasn't too bad at first. Sharing a car is always hard. Sharing a car while trying to run 2 businesses is much harder. Sharing a car while trying to run two businesses & build a house is completely insane.

Today I feel more than twice as productive as usual. No more telling Ella’s school I can't come pick her up early, because by the time I walked a mile & 1/2 uphill in the snow with a 2 year old, school would be out. No more trying to take a gigantic hot meal to a family, that happens to live in another neighborhood, in a blizzard with 2 crying kids, only to find out that the family isn't home. No more saying, "I wish I could, but I don't have a car” I could go on for days.

Needless to say, we are so happy to have a 2nd car!

You are special

I'm sitting here laughing at the song Ella is singing to Lily. It goes somewhat to the tune of "Oh My Darlin’"
Here's the song:

You are special, you are special even though you make a mess. Our house is really messy all because you make a mess.

You are special, you are special, even though you cry all day. You are really, really special even though you cry all day.

You are special, you are special, even though you dress really weird. You are special, you are special, even though I don't like your clothes.

The song is cute & true. Lily is happily dancing to the tune.

Ta Da Part 2

Regarding my earlier post about Lily. I just can't help but wonder what made her shout "ta da". It's not like Tyler and I walk around our house raising our hands and shouting "ta da" when we are proud of ourselves. (Although that would be awesome if we did.) Sometimes I wonder how my kids learn the things they learn.

Touching Teeth

Ella: Mom, if you ever want to stick your hand in my mouth and touch some of my teeth. I will let you.

Me: Thanks Ella. I'll let you know if I ever want to do that.

Ta Da!

Lily fell off the couch. It was a pretty hard fall. Just when I thought she was going to come running & crying to me, she stands up tall, lifts her arms into the air, and shouts "ta da!" I love when she does things like that.

Best Friend Requested

I've been so sad for Ella over the past school year. Although she has lots of friends, and most of them are very nice to her, she can't seem to find a "best" friend. She cries about it almost every day. I try to tell her that she doesn't need a very "best" friend. Just some good friends to play with, but she doesn't buy it. Lately I've been telling her that she can have lots of "best" friends, and that all the friends she plays with are all her best friends. She bought this for a while, until she started asking all her friends if they were one of her "best" friends and they told her "no". Most of her friends aren't mean about it... they just simply tell her the truth that they already have a very "best" friend, and it doesn't happen to be her.
Today I sent her over to see if a friend could play. I was so proud of her for going to ask (she NEVER does that, she's only done it once before). Unfortunately, both times she came home sad and hopeless. Her friend can only have one friend over at a time, and she happened to be waiting for her "best" friend to come over, so she couldn't play with Ella either time.
Anyhow, Ella suggested I post on my blog that she is looking for a best friend. I told her she can call all her friends her "best" friends, but she still insists that she needs someone who will call her a best friend as well. So, if you have a son or daughter about Ella's age who is willing to call Ella a "best friend" (even if they have another best friends.) PLEASE call me ASAP! I think if I can get one kid to say "yes, I'll be one of your best friends" when she asks, then we can finally stop having this very sad conversation about friends every day.

Ella: Mom, I can take care of playgroup tomorrow so you can work.
Me: Thanks Ella. That is so nice of you to offer. I'm going to help with playgroup though, because 6 little kids might be too many for one little girl to handle.
Ella: But Mom, I can do it! I will play games with them, and give them a snack to eat, then put them down for a nap on the floor. I've always wanted to put kids down for a nap on the floor.
Can we buy balloons so that I can give them a balloon? And, can we stop by the fabric store, and can you buy some fabric and make Leprechaun costumes for me to put on them? and I need a costume too.

FHE

Check out Lily's dirty feet above.

Tyler's parents invited us all over to the temporarily open space next to their art gallery for a night of pizza, scooters, roller-skates, & more. Everyone had a good time.

I'm a pig

Tyler: Lily, It's time to take a bath.
Lily: No
Trisha: Don't you want to smell pretty?
Lily: No
Trisha: Don't you want to smell pretty like a flower?
Lily: No
Trisha: Don't you want to smell pretty like a princess?
Lily: No
Trisha: Do you want to stink like pig?
Lily: Uh huh!

........ Later after Trisha leaves .........

Tyler: Lily, come take a bath
Lily: No, I'm a be a pig! I'm a pig!

Help us choose a color for our house

Ella & Lily were very good today as we ran around town choosing out brick for our house and then a fireplace, then we had to stop by the bank, accountant's office, & other very boring house and business errands.
Above is a picture of Ella & Lily entertaining themselves on a spinning chair as we chose out a fireplace. We already have the mantel (which we got for $200 instead of the original price of $2,500... YAY!) but we needed the actual fireplace.

We chose the brick shown above. Our roof will be a black color. Our trim will be white. We can't decide if we should go with a pale yellow (a little darker than shown above) hardy plank, or a "Misty Surf" colored hardy plank. What would you choose? Originally we were going to do an off-white colored hardy plank... too boring?

Home Decor

Both Ella & Lily love to decorate. Everyday I find new and unique decorations around the house. This hanging decoration is the latest. I would usually take a decoration like this down right away, since I get strange looks from neighbors & guests who visit. But how can I take down a decoration that has a hanging piece of paper that says "I love you Mom" on it? Especially since it's hanging from a purple necklace that is adorned with a green hair-bow?