Evie and Annalise Taller: February 2009

Evie is 5!!

Today is 5 years since our sweet Evelyn Grace was born. She was very excited about her birthday! She woke up to a traditional "Car Wash" of streamers hanging from her doorway. Then we let her choose breakfast.

She choose pancakes and Grandma made a special one for the birthday girl.

Annalise was a little confused about Evie getting all the presents. During breakfast, she started to cry that she didn't get anything. Fortunately, Grandma came prepared with a pair of Hello Kitty socks all wrapped up for Annalise.

Grandpa gets goofy.

At first, Evie said that she didn't want to open any presents until she offically turned 5. At 4:30 pm CST. Well, that's a little too much waiting for me, so I convinced her to open one of her packages before school. Thanks for the Hello Kitty puzzle, paint set, and ABC game, Erica and Clay!

Then she went to school. She decided that she would like to take soft pretzels to school for her special snack. After school, she got to bring home her friend, Christopher. They had a great time playing outside on such a beautiful day. After we dropped Christopher off at home, we had the big countdown till 4:30

10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1

Happy Birthday! This is what a 5 year old looks like!

Well, then it was time to open something. Even though Dad wasn't home, I let her open a present. Mostly because the weather was excellent, and I knew it was something she had been wanting for a long time.

Evie and Annalise check out the new big kid scooter. With only two wheels!

Grandpa aids in assembly. He was a busy guy this afternoon. Working on the leaf blower, advising on the Rose of Sharon trimming, and trimming grapevines.

Looks like it won't take too long to get the hang of it.

And she's off! She spent a good half hour riding up and down the sidewalk with some of the older neighbor kids--who are really good sports to hang out with her.

Back inside, we got ready for the big birthday dinner. Since it is Ash Wednesday, she didn't get total control over the menu. We ate soup and salad, but we did finish up with cupcakes and ice cream.

Evie's birthday cake with 5 candles.

She got some new puzzles from Grandma and Grandpa--one even has 300 pieces!

And a new game from Aunt Elizabeth and Uncle Kevin. It's a game about listening cleverly disguised as a pizza palor game where you take orders. Pretty sly.

And she got a new pair of rainboots to match her new coat.

We celebrated Jim's birthday while Grandma and Grandpa were visiting. Looks like he is getting either a propane tank or a helium tank for all his balloon needs.

Neither! Two entire barrels of cheese puffs. What a way to start Lent. We think his lenten sacrifice should be to give up orange foods.

And finally, we could open Taller Family packages. Thanks for the science books Uncle Mike and Aunt Denise.

Grandparents Day for Annalise

Today, Annalise got to take her Grandma and Grandpa to school. For the next month or so, all the kids get to bring grandparents. Maybe it's just a ploy to give the teachers a break. I'm not sure. What I do know is that kids and Grandparents had a great time. Grandpa reports that all the kids ran up to them yelling "Grandpa! Grandma!". There was a lot of love to go around.

When they arrived, the kids were in the gym playing. Grandma got in on the fun. Grandpa says that ring around the rosey makes him too dizzy, so he took pictures. Notice that Grandma isn't even holding Annalise's hand. (By the way, it was pajamma day--that's why everyone looks like they didn't get dressed)

Then Grandma got to read all the little ones a couple of stories. They had to move in close to see the pictures.

Annalise had to be the closest to claim her Grandma.

Then more songs and games with Annalise and her friends.

Working Hard

Annalise worked really hard on a present for Juner's first birthday

She painted an animal wooden puzzle--don't tell June! This is the look of total concentration.

Getting ready for Grandparents

Me and the goofballs cleaned up the guest room. We cleaned off the bed and put away all the stuff.

Goofball Number One

Goofball Number two

Are you sure you are ready for the crazy train to stop at your station?

What it's like

A couple of posts ago, I was talking about what my day was like. Kind of like this Family Guy scene.

Evie's Birthday Tea Party

Today was Evie's 5th Birthday party with a Tea Party theme. We invited all the little girls in her class and three were able to come! It was just the right number for our first "drop your kids off and run" party.

I spent a lot of time coming up with the menu and preparing the food. I even got out the fancy dishes and Jim put up the streamers.

We ate chocolate covered strawberries, chocolate covered oranges, little pies, maralade sandwiches and cupcakes. We drank raspberry tea and lemondade. The girls had fancy jewelry and crowns to wear while they ate.

The guests arrived and we got to the business of playing. We had three games planned. After that 10 minutes were over, the children were able to amuse themselves. Here they are stacking sugar cubes to see who could make the highest tower.

We also played a rousing game of telephone. Annalise generally messed up the message everytime.

Annalise wears all her jewels while eating a cupcake.

Emma and Savannah enjoyed the chocolate covered strawberries. While we were cleaning up, we found an orange with all the chocolate sucked off and then put back on the tray. Gross!

Evie and Kylie also really liked eating the cupcakes.

Then Evie opened her presents. She got a Snow White doll from Emma.

Kylie gave her a Fancy Nancy puzzle.

Savannah brought Evie a craft set and a make up (yikes) set. The make up set has body glitter. Show of hands, who thinks I'm going to "lose" the body glitter?

We rounded out the afternoon by making cards with stickers and markers. The girls all had a great time and 2 hours was the perfect amount of time for a party. Especially for the Taller ladies, who didn't take a nap after swimming lessons. Needless to say, it was an early night for Evie and Annalise.

The birthday girl post party. Liven up, kid, this is just the beginning of your birthday week!

While dad is away

We had a rainy day on Wednesday when both girls had to goto school. It was a perfect opportunity to try out the rain coats for the year.

Looks like they fit. And they still aren't embarassed about matching.

Evie has a GIANT mouth. Just kidding. They had dental awareness day at preschool on Wednesday. Evie learned all about teeth (again) and came home with a new toothbush, floss and those little pink tablets that you chew after you brush to see what you missed. Evie was really excited about using the tablets, until it was actually in her mouth. Then she decided she couldn't swallow it and spit it all in the sink. Then I had a pink sink to clean and a crying, pink mouth kid. Not pretty. The floss was a big hit though. Of course, it's no great challenge to floss when the space between your teeth would accomidate nickels.

Annalise shows off her school work. The letter of the week was S and the craft was Stamping.

For some reason today, Annalise and Evie were playing "kitty" all day. I think it was because I brought home a new skein of yarn and they batted it around like kitties. While Annalise napped, Evie constructed toys and a food bowl for her kitty.

The kitty's name was "Ella". Here is Ella playing with the hanging toys.

Ella the Kitty takes a nap in the nest that Evie made her.

Room by Room

Since this winter is hanging around preventing us from going out in the yard and digging up a garden, we are stuck inside doing "spring" cleaning. I figure if I get it done before spring, I can be outside when it is actually spring. I am going about it room by room. Most of the downstairs is done besides the rooms we live in the most--kitchen and family room. I'm trying to get up the gumption to do those because they are the ones that require the most work. Today, I headed upstairs and thoroughly cleaned Evie's room in preparation of her birthday party this weekend.

While we were moving furniture to vacuum the baseboards and cobwebs, we decided that we could rearrage the room. I let Evie make the decisions on where she wanted her furniture placed.

I think she may be preparing for college. She wanted all the furniture up against the walls so there was plenty of room in the middle of the room to dance. (By the way, dad, the ceiling REALLY needs painted in there.)

Room cleaning led to closet cleaning. I hauled out the box of clothes that Evie is to grow into and we had a fashion show. Looks like she has a few things she can wear this spring!

Annalise wanted to try on clothes too. Unfortunately, without a nap, she was unable to fully convey what she wanted to do without breaking down into tears. It was like this the rest of the day and she went to bed early tonight!

Annalise gets her groove on out on the dance floor.

Happy Valentine's Day

We had a lazy weekend here. To celebrate Valentine's Day, we all got chocolates. The girls received their chocolates in a heart shaped box. We also got lots of Valentine's from all our family. Their absolute favorite ones were from Great Grandma Seibert who made a card look like a purse. Complete with a pocket! They carried them around most of the day.

Annalise shows the orange cream filling in her candy. Yes, only 4 pieces, and yes, they are now all gone.

Evie equally excited about candy for breakfast.

Later in the day, Evie and I got all spiffed up to go out to tea with Marin and Aunt Kathy for Marin's birthday

I was really looking forward to it until I came out of the shower to find Evie ASLEEP! Taking a nap for the first time in months. I considered skipping, but she was so excited (and so was I) to go out on a special date.