dress rehearsal

ellis and i had a private dress rehearsal for her upcoming ballet recital...i wanted to make sure her costume fit...do a practice run on make-up & hair...and of course take a couple of pictures :) she LOVES the costume...it is pink & purple...and is made of velvet, satin, lace, sequins, tulle, fake flowers, and more. oh...and there is a matching fake flower head piece...simply gorgeous (sarcastic). if her hair looks wet in the pictures, that's because it is. the only way to get her curly, crazy hair up in a pony tail is to work with it while wet. and then she got to put make-up on for the first time...stage make-up...dark pink lips...she couldn't stop looking in the mirror...i think i need to go heavier on the eyes and blush for the actual recital day. you know...just for pictures :) i also learned from this dress rehearsal i would need to pin her bows to the straps. here she is....thinking she is a star! she is for sure ready for pageants. totally kidding...

practicing her arabesque...she even points that toe :)

cinco de mother's day

cinco de mayo happened to fall on a tuesday this year. this worked out perfect for ellis...she got to sport her favorite mexican dress all day. i got her a few of these last year in laredo for dirt cheap...they are great for lazy days @ home, as a pool cover up, or for school...on cinco de mayo :) and i also happen to think they are super cute. ellis was thrilled to see that ms. brenda from school had on a dress just like hers but blue...so fun! when i picked her up from school that tuesday she said to me "happy cinco de mother's day"...they had clearly been practicing and talking about mother's day @ school. somebody got a little confused!

random story: ellis got mad @ beckett the other day and said she wanted him to leave (like forever)...i think he hit her...anyways, i told her that beckett would always be around so maybe she should pick a new place to live...i suggested a few places...they were all "no's"...and then i suggested our friends (adults)...margaret and jeff. she quickly said, "no...i think margaret makes jeff eat celery". we were DYING laughing...thinking where did she come up with this??!! a few months ago, we had ellis over at their house...it was time to go and it was kinda late. she didn't want to leave...she wanted to spend the night. i finally told her that margaret and jeff eat vegetables for breakfast to get her to leave with us. that is the only explanation we can come up with for the celery comment. kids don't forget ANYTHING!

the monster & the princess (and a good cause)

shopping for a cause...last week, my mom, susie and i went to the candlelighters (become their friend on facebook!) luncheon in town benefitting Texas Children's Hospital and M.D. Anderson. it was a nice change...very different from the way i usually spend my days...full of dripping sippy cups, whining, and cleaning food off the floor (the food that major rejects, that is). instead, i was dressed nice and got to start drinking before noon :) they have "boutiques" set up in the lobby of river oaks CC...and a percentage of the sales goes to candlelighters. so, "we" shopped for an hour or so before the lunch program began. petite maison, my favorite children's store in houston was there...i didn't actually do any of the buying... but bebe and susu sure bought a few cute things for my lucky kids!

first up...pinkalicious tee...we all know ellis has serious feelings for the color pink. and one of her fav books is "pinkalicious"...every little girl needs a copy of this book about a little girl who loves the color pink and eats too many pink cupcakes...of course, if purple is more her speed, there is a "purplicious" book too!

next up, a too cute shower cap for miss pinkalicious. cute right? she loves it...but mainly because wearing it means she doesn't have to wash her hair :)

and the monster and the princess pool towels...perfect in so many ways!

class pics & swine flu

here is ellis before i took her to school on class picture day...how cute is her dress??? i bought it last year on sale...so happy i did...she looks just darling in it! just my opinion of course :) it is almost the end of the school year...and i actually can't wait for a break from school. weird huh? but i won't have to pack lunch, drink, backpack, nap mat, blanket, petey, etc...and then drive her. we can have lazy mornings...everyday...and then head outside to jump in the pool. come fall, i KNOW i will be ready for it to start back...especially since a certain 13 month old boy will be starting too....totally kid free...that is the true beauty of school!!! right now school isn't really a break...sure, she is gone...but she is the easy one. a joy to be around 99% of the time. and she plays w/ beckett. huge plus.

48 hours after this picture was taken, she was @ the doctor being tested for swine flu. she had a fever and cough. she never gets sick...so i wanted to just rule it out...better safe than sorry right? she didn't have it, but the little girl in the room next to us @ the doc did...yikes!

the brand is lola et moi...check em out....they have the CUTEST stuff!

and the back...she loves photo shoots...can you tell? look @ those bows in the back. love em!

bebe took her shopping later that day since she was so brave (yeah right) at the doctor's office. out of all the toys, books, etc...she picked wrapping paper. princess wrapping paper. so strange. p.s.- the lovely little one piece she has on below is from wal-mart!!!!

and again...

ooops...he did it again. you can see that the bruise from wednesday is fading...but he has a new one on the other side now...i am hoping all of these falls don't cause permanent brain damage. boys already learn at such a slower pace than girls...this is the last thing he needs :) there are about 10...maybe 15 words he will say. ellis probably knew double that @ this age...she could sing the entire song "wheels on the bus" before 18 months...hand motions included. granted, he is only 13 months but i just don't see it happening! that's ok. he is happy happy happy...loving life...as long as life includes having a ball to play with and a graham cracker in hand. here he is on saturday...we swam and then busted out the sand & water table. kids just love those things...of course, we only had pink sand...guess it is time to start buying the blue!

would you like some corn?




dancing....and then running off...back to the sand!

he is always so proud of himself...especially when he thinks he is being bad





and...as if you couldn't tell from the pictures, he was eating the sand!

maybe 13 months is too young for this activity? he didn't seem to understand when i said "pls keep the sand in the table"


there is a 0% chance you are coming in this house right now...

i see many sandy afternoons in my future...fabulous way to kill many hours :)

may music fest!

every friday night in may, fall creek has music nights...a tent and dance floor are set up in the park and a live band performs from 7-10. we never made it last year...beckett was really young, so we didn't really know what to expect when we went this past friday night. it was so much fun!! people bring lawn chairs, blankets, coolers, cocktails, dinner...and of course, kids! it was an all girl band which was perfect (ellis only likes lady music)...lots of people go...but i only saw kids on the dance floor. ellis of course loved it...and beckett would just run back and forth btwn the dance floor and our blanket. we stayed till 9 w/ him and he was great...having a ball...i love that he is finally to the age where we don't have to run home @ 6:30 to get him in bed. here are a few pictures...i didn't take pics after it got dark...but the dance floor got busy! we will definitley be going back!

the scene @ the park...

anybody wanna play ball?

and i had to post this...can you spot the hilarity? i didn't mean to take a picture of him...i noticed the little boy tee teeing in the background of the picture today!!! i saw his dad come grab him...but didn't know what for...hee hee. gotta love it!

bruiser strikes again

he got a new shiner today...a big one. it even bled a little he knocked it so hard on the concrete. i wish this picture was in 3-D so you could see the goose egg on this boy's forhead now! guess i better get used to it huh?