Ellie's Graduation

Ellie graduated from Lakeview Preschool last Monday, May 18th.  We are so proud of her and everything she has learned!

Here she is before we left for the ceremony.

In the "Star" classroom with her teachers Mrs. Debbie and Mrs. Kim.  Mrs. Debbie is actually Aunt Deb to most of us, but Ellie continues to call her Mrs. Debbie even outside of school!  :)

Here she is on stage receiving her diploma!

The graduation gifts--Tinkerbell pjs and new nail polish...

...and a new dictionary!!

The first word she looked up was diploma!

The Slide

So here it is...the SLIDE!  It's been up for a couple of months and the girls haven't lost interest yet!  They are so proud of their new bed and of their Daddy for making it for them!

Easter Fun & Lainey's 2nd Birthday with the Ritters

Our Easter Sunday was action packed.  We started with an indoor egg hunt and Easter baskets.  Went to church and Easter brunch.  Had a little breather in the afternoon and then headed over to Namaw and PopPop Skeet's house for another egg hunt, some fishing, Easter dinner, and a combo birthday party for PopPop and Lainey.

A family photo.  We're all freezing!

Lainey hunting eggs.

Ellie counting her eggs.

Lainey's gift from Mommy and Daddy...a new tricycle!  Notice the push handle on the back...we learned our lesson and upgraded after having to lean over and push Ellie up and down the street for a few years!

A little fishing.

Both the girls being choosy about their worm!

What you can't see in this picture is that Lainey only has half a pole with no line.  She doesn't seem to mind.

Aunt Kristen and the girls playing hide and seek.

Raggedy Ann!

It's so hard to be 4 and have to only watch as your sister opens presents!

Yes, that box does say Tonka!  Namaw Skeet swears we have every girl toy ever made so she went with a dump truck for the 2 year old and she LOVES it!!

PopPop's favorite gift...a new batting helmet!

Matt lighting PopPop's candles with a blow torch!  Made quick work of the 58 + 2!

PopPop's turn to make a wish!

Lainey's turn.  Where did all that smoke come from?!

Family photo...minus a few.  The Brenkerts were stuck in TN.

Cute Bedtime Shots

Our bedtime routine is still a little chaotic at times with us sharing a room.  Today was especially crazy because Daddy finished installing our slide (pictures to follow soon)!  Yay!

Here we are telling Daddy how much we love our new slide!  We finally took a moment to sit and rest after an hour of non-stop sliding!

Even though we each have our own bed in the bunk, we insist on sleeping together most of the time!  Here is a picture of us making funny faces!

Saying our prayers.  We both know all the words!  Sometimes Ellie likes to peek!

Lainey...doesn't she look so tired!  

One of her favorite phrases at bedtime is now, "I can't sleep."  I wonder who taught her that?!

Lainey's 2nd Birthday with the Machirs

Things were hectic this year with Lainey's birthday falling on Easter.  She ended up celebrating her birthday twice--once with the Machir family and once with the Ritters.  Two cakes, two times the gifts...what could be better!!

The cake--Elmo Style.  

Blowing out the candles.

Taking a bite--It took about 5 minutes of us egging her on before she would actually touch the cake.

Once she got a taste she was hooked!

Yum!

Present time!  Yay, a swims and giggles Baby Born doll from Namaw Jenny and PopPop Machir!

Oooh, a Dora Foaming Bath Castle from Aunt Nanna and Uncle Brian!

I've got the hang of this now!

Thanks everyone for my great gifts!  Love, Lainey XOXO

Time Out! 3/30/09

The end of March brought the girls first simultaneous time out!  

Matt and I had a REALLY hard time not laughing out loud during this one!

Ellie's First Trip to the Dentist

Today Ellie made her first trip to the dentist.  She saw Dr. Golub in Montgomery who we had been told was the coolest pediatric dentist in town.  She had a great time and got a perfect report!  No cavities or problems of any kind.  I guess she has been doing a great job brushing her teeth!  

Daddy took her since it was his morning off and he said the office was pretty cool.  There were arcade games filling the waiting room.  The exam room was decorated with a rocket ship theme.  Instead of a sucker or a sticker she got a new toothbrush with a travel cover and a token to spend on her choice of toys in a bank of quarter machines!  Pretty cool idea, I think!  She chose a purple and pink superball!  Next time she'll have to take her little sister along!