Easter Egg Hunt and SonRise Program

Ellie loved finding Easter Eggs at the family get together we had today. In the picture, Aunt Leslie and Katie are helping Ellie hunt for eggs. I didn't get many pictures - or many good ones I should say! We had a great time. We also enjoyed going to the SonRise Resurrection Pageant at the Collegedale Adventist Church this morning. It was so neat to walk through the streets of Jerusalem and feel like you were actually there. This was so perfect for Ellie to see as we have been going through the Family Life Resurrection Eggs with her the past few weeks. She loved the part where Jesus came in on the donkey and she could wave her palm branch and say "Hosanna." The rest of the time she kept yelling out, "Let's go see Jesus, let's go see Him!" They did an incredible job with the resurrection scene - we were very impressed. This will probably be something we'll want to do every year.

Feeding the Goats

Can you tell one of our favorite pastimes is feeding the goats next door!! Aren't they cute??

Resurrection Eggs

We have really enjoyed going through the Resurrection Eggs from Family Life. We started these about two weeks ago, and have finished the last egg (representing the empty tomb) last night. We are so excited about all that Elliana has learned by doing these eggs. She loves it and each evening says, "I ready to do eggs!". She knows to go to the couch and waits on us whether we're ready or not!! What a blessing it is to be able to teach our daughter about God's Word! We're going to Sonrise tomorrow - which is an Easter walk-thru drama, and will post pictures about that.

Yummy, Yummy!

Sometimes I think Ellie is the bottomless pit!! She must be going through a growth spurt. This particular afternoon she ate a whole peeled apple (down to the seeds!), and a whole banana... I can barely eat a whole banana in one sitting!! We are so thankful that she is a good eater - there are very few things that this girl won't eat. What a blessing!

Making Muffins!

Ellie LOVES helping out in the kitchen. She helped me with muffins one morning for breakfast. Recently, she has also started helping rinse the dishes. This is one of her favorite things to do - we both usually end up soaking wet! :) I'm hoping to work myself out of a job with the dishes thing!

Night Night Time

I couldn't resist putting this picture up... It was taken right before we started reading books. I left to room to do something and when I got back she was sitting there ready and waiting. I thought it was too sweet to pass up!

Picnic on the Deck

We are really enjoying having a deck at our new house! One particularly nice day we decided to have a picnic on the deck - I think this is something we'll do a lot!

Dollhouse Fun!

Ellie loves playing with her dollhouse. We keep it up in the closet in only bring it out occasionally to keep it as a special toy. We've found that if we rotate the toys out and only keep a few at a time, she plays with them so much more that having a bunch all at once. She really enjoys the dollhouse and interacts with the family. I was washing dishes one day and Ellie brought the baby to me and said "This baby has a stinky diaper." She wanted me to change the baby, but I reminded her that Mama's hands were all wet and she would have to do it. She put the baby down and "changed" him, and went back on playing. She's going to be a good little helper with our new baby!! By the way - notice I said "washing dishes." It's really not good to get used to a dishwasher and then move to a house without one!! :) I am learning to be thankful for this new chore.. We found a picture that says "Count Your Blessings", and thought it might be a good idea to put it up in front of the sink so I can look at it as I wash... I'm not so sure about this! :)

Pigtails

We experimented with new hairstyles one day and Ellie decided that she really likes pigtails! She would gently touch them and say "Mama, I like tails!" She is talking so much now. It is amazing to us how quickly she picks up on things. The other day I told her to do something and she said, "Mama, wait just a minute, okay? I be right back..." and ran off. Chris heard her say this as well, and although it was a sneaky little plight at disobedience, we were so excited that our daughter - not yet two years old - put so many words together! How quickly she is growing up - time really does fly when you're having fun!

A New Friend

Our new neighbors have four children - a seven and five year old, and twins that were born a month after Elliana. The five year old is a little girl named Lilyana, and she and Elliana have become fast friends. They always call each other by their name, which sound so much alike!! It's really nice to have children around for Ellie to play with.

A Morning With Aunt Shannon!

My sister, Shannon, came over one morning to go to Storytime with us. She helped Ellie with her little project that we had to make for the lesson, while I worked on unpacking some boxes. Elliana loves spending time with Aunt Shannon, and it's always nice to have an extra set of hands around!

Baby Goats

We love our new house and neighbors so much. Our neighbors next door have a little mini-farm. Whenever we tell people this they immediately ask "Do you live out in the country?" Well, we don't live in the country - in fact, we're only 3 minutes from the grocery store!! :) However, we have really enjoy getting to see goats and chickens from our back deck each and every day. Not long after we moved in two baby goats were born. When they were about a week old they invited us over to see them. We have fallen in love with these goats!!! When our neighbors move (which will be pretty soon), we might just have to get a few goats!! :)

Storytime with Miss Shelly!!

Elliana and I attended the Winter Lapsit Storytime program at the Library. What a great time we had!! The last session was a few weeks ago, and Ellie has asked almost every day if we are going to see "Miss Shirley." (Her name is really Shelly, but Ellie seems to only want to call her Shirley! She doesn't seem to mind!) We are signed up for the Spring session which will start sometime in April. Being the library nut that I am, I so excited that my daughter is just as enthralled with books and going to the library!