Happy Birthday Ellie!

Can you believe this little runt turned 3 last week?

Ellie is full of laughs and energy, independence and compassion, nerve and courage.  She loves her froggie, her big sister, and Rapunzel.  She just moved up to a big girl bed and hasn’t had any trouble adjusting.  Her favorite colors are green and purple.  She’s a lefty.  She eats at least two breakfasts, a decent lunch, and not much for dinner every day.  She loves corn (all kinds including popcorn).  She drinks way more than the rest of us (milk, juice, water, you name it).

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We had her birthday party last weekend.  Thanks for coming, friends!  I thought the weekend was going to be a wash out, but it turned out to be perfect!  We spent all day outside playing.

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On her actual birthday, we brought Krispy Kreme for her class.  I intended to take her out to lunch, but we are a one car household these days (what is with all the drama in the Mauter house lately?) so lunch was a no-go.  We had dinner on the porch, which is where we always have our birthday meals for Sam (October) and Ellie (early May).

Here are all three dresses that I finished just in time:  Rapunzel, Minnie Mouse, and Mickey Mouse.  Brian was thoroughly concerned about making a Mickey Mouse dress, but I knew she wouldn’t care.  Sam wants one too.

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And the finale was the tent!

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We had her three year check up too.  She didn’t get any shots, so we got out of there pretty easily.  The doctor is somewhat concerned about her speech so we will need to see an audiologist and speech therapist soon.  I’m not really that concerned because she has always been “delayed” on speech.  She’ll get there on her own time, but if we need to have her checked out, that’ll be fine.

What Is It With Animals These Days?

I found a Ringsnake today as I was killing a Carpenter bee drilling on the play set.

Again, animal kingdom.

Here, the girls are giving it some voodoo with their lovies.

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Molly came home today. She’s been at the vet for a few days. She wasn’t keeping anything down. Because she is 10 years old, we were concerned. However, she seems to be fine. We will keep her isolated for a few days to make sure she and Maddie don’t get into any midnight fights.

Bee Free

We are now honey bee free, and honey free! The roof has been repaired, so now we can move on to the other tasks that have popped up.

As shown below, the bees were ferociously making honey combs to lay eggs in. The queen was gearing up for a big summer season. The honey was made to feed the larvae and the bees themselves, but they weren’t making enough yet to store for future purposes.

They were fascinating in the box. Not so much in my house.

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Ellie from Spring Break

Sam spent her Spring Break with grandparents (a heap of thanks, guys!), so we got to have some only-child time with Ellie.  She is a character.  She is definitely a fierce two-year old.  She is very compassionate, but also incredibly independent.  Raising two assertive girls is proving to be very challenging.  Having a week with Ellie was a nice change.  I enjoyed my time.

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