CincyRitters: 2009

Friday, August 28, 2009

Ellie's First Day of Kindergarten!

Today is Ellie's first day of Kindergarten! She is sooooo excited!! She will attend JF Burns Elementary for morning Kindergarten with Mrs. Micki Hoffman!

Besides one outfit change we had a relatively easy first morning! Daddy started a little later today so he could be here for the festivities too.

Classic first day of school pic...

Ellie with our neighbor Zach Johnson. They are the same age, have gone to preschool together, and are in the same class at school this year. They are great buds!

The Pollard Place Crew at the bus stop.

Anthony, Nolan, and Brandon Herron

Lainey, Ellie, and Zach

Not sure how Lainey will handle this getting up early thing?!

She was pretty crabby this morning until we got outside. She was convinced she was going on the bus to school with Ellie.

Chatting about the day ahead!

All smiles! Thank goodness...I don't know how my mom did it when I cried everyday!

Boarding the bus!

I'm sure she'll have a great day!

Fashion Show

We recently made a new investment in a DSLR camera. As most of you know, the girls love to put on a fashion show and truly have the model walk down! Well, since Daddy got his new camera it seems they can't go one evening without using our front hallway as a runway.

Here are a few pics from the last few "shows."

Ellie strutting her stuff!

Lainey strikes a pose!

Ellie is perfecting the over the shoulder...

Ellie loses a tooth! 7/20/09

Last week Ellie lost her first tooth! On Sunday night she was eating an apple and all of a sudden screamed and ran in to the kitchen to see what was wrong. I looked in her mouth and saw that one of her bottom teeth was almost ready to fall out! It was literally hanging perpendicular to her gums right from the start. As a kid I would have had it out within minutes. Looks like she is going to take after her daddy, however, when it comes to pulling teeth. She let it dangle by a thread for 5 days! It literally fell out on its own on Thursday afternoon.

The tooth fairy was very generous bringing $5 for her first tooth and leaving her a note saying how excited she was to add Ellie's beautiful tooth to her collection!

Here is a picture of the tooth barely hanging on.

Her new toothless smile!

Monday, August 24, 2009

Backyard Camping--7/17/09

It has become a summertime ritual for Matt and Ellie to camp out in the backyard. This year they had a little extra help from Lainey. It always takes a little time to put up the tent since it only gets used this one time a year. I think it took a little longer this year with Lainey assisting. Both girls played together for most of two afternoons in the tent. S'mores were cooked in the firepit and tent concerts were given by the girls. Turns out Lainey was all talk when it came to actually sleeping outside! She chickened out at the last minute and wanted to sleep in her own bed. I don't think Matt was too upset. Although, I was a little bummed not to have the house to myself. :)

Daddy and his assistants.

Ellie and Lainey give a concert.

Lainey plays with Lipstick--7/15/09

So, Lainey doesn't always go right to sleep when we put her to bed. Usually we keep most of the things up that she is not supposed to have. Unfortunately, we didn't know Ellie had a bag packed from her trip to Marietta that had some makeup in it. Since it was dark when we peeked in on the girls as we went to bed we didn't notice anything amiss. When Lainey woke up in the morning this is what she looked like! I'm guessing she had it all over her skin as well, but most of that came off on the pillowcases and sheets. What was left was all stuck in her hair and eyebrows. She thought it was pretty funny until we had to wash her hair 10 times to get it all out!

Lainey shows off her funniest face!

The Pinata

It rained on Ellie's birthday so we had to save her pinata for the next afternoon. It didn't disappoint! Mommy and Daddy did a pretty good job with the construction if I do say so myself. It took her quite a while to bust into it!

Ellie's first swing!

Lainey's first swing!

Diamond Seats-7/5/09

The day after Ellie's birthday we were lucky enough to score some Diamond Seats at the Reds game. Too bad the Reds weren't able to score enough runs to win. The Fick's were in town for the weekend and joined us for the game. Even though we didn't bring home a winner, I think a good time was had by all. How can you not have a good time when you're sitting in the first row behind home plate eating and drinking all the free food and drink you can?!

Ellie enjoys some cotton candy! Mmmmm!

Lainey tosses back a few peanuts! Don't worry, that's not her beer!

The Family!

Jim and Matt with the kids after the game.

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Ellie's 5th Birthday!!

Ellie wanted to celebrate her birthday in Sponge Bob style this year so we did things up right! Matt and I even tag-teamed a SpongeBob pinata for the event. It rained all afternoon on her actual birthday so we had to save the pinata for the next afternoon, but I think a fun time was still has by all! All the usuals were in attendance along with our friends Jim, Carrie, and Owen Fick who drove in from Morgantown for the weekend. Thanks for coming everyone!

Daddy and the girls with the pinata!

Party Girl!

Happy Birthday to Ellie...Happy Birthday to You!

A funny note I'm sure all will enjoy...Ellie was begging for weeks to have a surprise party for her birthday. She was planning to spend the week in Marietta with PopPop and Namaw Jenny the week before and insisted she would forget by the time she got back. When she came home from the 4th of July parade the morning of her b-day she and Namaw Skeet had a plan all figured out. She took her for a drive around the block after everyone arrived so we could hide. After they got back we all jumped out and yelled surprise! The look on her face was priceless! :)

Backyard Fun

On days when it's a little chilly to go to the neighborhood pool we play in a little one in the backyard. The girls love trying to splash mommy and shoot her with the squirt gun!

Fun with Cousin Garrett

We got to spend a few days with Garrett in the middle of June when Aunt Katie and Uncle Ted went to a wedding in Florida. He really liked Ellie and Lainey's Hummer. Lainey is always more than happy to be chauffeured around.

For those of you that haven't seen her skills, Ellie is quite the little baseball player. She and daddy have been working on her mean batting face...I guess to psych out the pitcher?!

Here it is...

June 7, 2009

No real story to tell here. Just thought these photos of Lainey playing in Grandma Skeet's new fountain were too cute not to pass along!

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

The Girls meet Baby Cade!!

Because of the Swine Flu the girls weren't allowed to go visit their new baby cousin at the hospital. We were only able to hold them off a couple hours after Baby Cade arrived home before we had to make a trip to see him! They were a little more than excited!!

Here are a few photos of their first few minutes with him.

Lainey thought Cade was pretty awesome...

as long as her mommy and daddy weren't holding him!! :)

What a great big cousin!! Ellie held Cade perfectly and even sang him a little lullaby!

Memorial Day Parade

For the first time ever Ritter Hagee Optometry entered a float in the Blue Ash Memorial Day Parade. It was a beauty! I heard from more than one person it was the best float in the parade! We handed out candy, office pamphlets, and even a few Whipty-Do coupons along the route!

Here is a picture of the side of the float!