Annie's Spa Party

Today, Ellie & Abby attended Annie's Spa Party.  It was a gorgeous day, perfect for the girls to relax and be pampered by several mommies!

Anna Caroline (we went to her skating party yesterday!) and the Birthday Girl, Annie!

Anna Cate, Ellie & Amelia

The girls were divided into groups.  The groups rotated between three stations:  pedicures, facials & manicures!
Ellie's favorite part was the pedicure!  She loved soaking her feet in the warm bubbly water!

They played "Spin the nail polish bottle" -- when it stopped and pointed to a girl, we painted one fingernail.  By the end of the game, they ended up with 5 different colors on their nails! 

Facials!! 

Abby's turn for a pedi!

Polished & pampered!

Pretty piggies!

After their spa treatments, the girls enjoyed pizza and ice cream cake in the backyard.

Tons of toes!!

Happy hands!

Such precious friends!!

Purple Day

It was purple day today at school for Abby!   Purple dress, purple hair clip, purple shoes, purple feather ponytail holder , purple grapes for snack. . . and purple tulips for Mrs. Holly. 

Tuesday treats & thankfulness

Our Tuesday treat day -- Janie's Bakery!  Yummy!

This is posted on the new Thankful bulletin board display at church (from Ellie's Wednesday night class).  She loves her teacher!

Foodies!



Last night, Ellie declared our supper was one of her most favorite meals.  We had salmon (with a brown sugar/soy sauce/honey/garlic sauce), rice, sauteed brussel sprouts with feta, and bread from Fresh market.  She LOVES brussel sprouts!  She's definitely a foodie!



Yesterday afternoon, Ellie was flipping through her American Girl magazine and came across a recipe for an Apple Cookie Pizza.  So she grabbed my phone and sent Tim a text, asking him to pick up all the ingredients on his way home from work.  She did a great job reading the recipe and checking the pantry to see what we already had on hand first. 

The cookie pizza was delicious -- it's a sugar cookie crust, topped with a mixture of cream cheese and brown sugar, then sliced apples dipped in lemon juice, then the whole thing is drizzled with caramel sauce.  Mmmmm!!!! 

It was a big hit!

Yummy!  Sticky goodness!

T-P'ing

We accidentally bought some really yucky, scratchy toilet paper so we came up with an alternative use for it!  This morning, Ellie & I decorated the bathroom with it while Tim was in the shower, so when he got out, he stepped into a maze of toilet paper. 
And this afternoon, Tim got Ellie back by t-p'ing her room (and I got to help a little bit)!  Hahaha!!!  Ellie was totally shocked when she walked in and saw it!

(I think that silly face means payback is coming. . .)

Earth Day at Anthropologie!

Saturday afternoon, while shopping at Anthropologie, we discovered they were having an Earth Day craft activity for children!  The girls were invited to paint ocean scenes using watercolors. The Anthropologie employees were so sweet to the girls, chatting away with them as they painted.
Then Ellie and Abby were treated to ocean blue jello (with candy fish swimming in it) snacks and got to keep their watercolor paint sets!   What a fun surprise in the middle of our shopping!

Their finished paintings!
The coral behind them was made of bubble wrap and other plastic packing materials -- it was fascinating to look at up close!  Ellie wants to re-create some of the bubble wrap starfish this summer.

Sweet Moments!

I love my little early afternoons with Abby -- just Mommy/Abby times --  before we run errands, pick up Ellie and start supper/homework/afternoon activities.  The other day, we decided to have pink hot cocoa and read books on the porch.

Then we played around a little with the funny features on my phone.   This is the cutest little face!  I love her!

Silly face!!!

Big ole sweet eyes!

Sweet Friends

Here's a photo Annie's mom took a few weeks ago  -- an after school trip to the Sno-Ball stand!  Yummy!!
Ellie has the sweetest group of friends!
(top row -- Ellie, Annie, Maggie; bottom row -- Sarah Sunday & Ramie)

Camels and Zebras and Llamas, Oh My!

Abby had her first big-time field trip today!  We went to the Global Wildlife Center in Louisiana.  It's an amazing place, we've been several times with Ellie's field trips, but this was Abby's first visit.  And she LOVED every minute of our trip!  When we pulled in the gates, hundreds of wild deer ran past our car, and then we drove by a kangaroo.   It totally surprised Abby -- she was sooo excited! We took a LOT of photos. . .
 Here are Abby and her sweet friend Lylah checking out the scenery when we first arrived.

Loaded up on the wagon train pulled by a tractor, ready for the ride through the wilderness to begin!

(sideways, sorry!)  Each child received a cup of all-natural grain/grass feed for the animals. 

First stop, the deer area!  Hundreds of deer, in a variety of species.  Abby was a little timid at first as they approached the wagon.  But as soon as she saw us feed the deer from our hands, she wanted to try too!

Soaking it all in!

What animals are next, Lylah?

Abby called these "Santa's Deer" because of their fuzzy horns.

Camel close-up!

We went through several cups of feed!

Llamas!!!  My personal favorite!  They nibbled feed from our hands with their silly llama lips!

(sideways!)  Abby & Lylah

Buffalo!

Sweet Daddy snuggles mid-ride.

Happy Abby!

Look at this cow's tongue!  It's about 15 inches long and curled up at the end -- all the better to eat with, my dear!

(sideways!)  Amazing colors and patterns all in a row! 
The zebras are mean and we were told not to feed them, but the giraffes were so very gentle and graceful.  There were several babies.  All the giraffes ate from our hands, too.  They are fascinating creatures.

Love that skinny neck!

Well, hello there!

(sideways!) Abby was able to actually pet the giraffe!  It was her favorite part of the entire trip!!  They are soft as velvet and so quiet and tame.

Little zebra baby!

It was a beautiful sunny day full of amazing animals and the happy sounds of pre-schoolers' giggles and delight!
On our way out of the park, we stopped in the gift shop where Abby selected a sparkly giraffe for a souvenir.  She named it J.Perkins (came up with that all by herself!).
After a yummy meal of feta, pepperoni, bacon and parmesan pizza (it was called "Sweep the Floor") at one of our favorite pizza joints, we headed toward Brookhaven with Abby and J. Perkins snuggling all the way.