E & S

If you stop by our house in the late afternoon, chances are you'll find three girls dressed in any combination of leotards, swimsuits and tutus. Here are Ellen (left) and Sophie (right) sitting on the steps wearing the aforementioned outfits. Corinne takes a dance class that she LOVES and brings home all her moves to teach her sisters. All three love to put on "shows" all the time and have recently begun picking out special dance attire to wear around the house. On an unrelated note Ellen and Sophie have really started to take their relationship to a new level lately. They play together most of the time now and disappear to the basement to play--on their own. I'm not sure if it's the layout of our house and the extra (basement) space or where they are in their development, or a combination of both. But lately I have really enjoyed watching the two of them pal around together. They truly are buddies and they play really well together. If they're not in the same room, they'll yell out "Hey Tot!" (short for Tottie, their name for one another) and theother will answer, "Yeah, Tot!" It's pretty cute.

The Cemetary

We live right across from a cemetary--a little weird to me at first. But we decided to take a look for the first time recently and let the girls ride their bikes there. It turned out to be such a neat place! There is one big loop of pavement that encloses the gravestones and it was perfect to ride bikes and do running races...respectfully :)  We didn't see anyone there that morning (except some of our neighbors, who were doing the same thing we were) and it was actually a very beautiful, peaceful place. Brett had to gently/tactfully explain to C at one point why she couldn't run through the grass. And ever since our morning in the cemetary her little brain has been working overtime processing this new experience and the information she learned while riding her scooter and NOT running through the grass. I know this because this was the conversation I witnessed just two days later while the girls were playing in the basement:

C: Ellen, are you dying?
E: No (with a puzzled expression)
C: Ellen, you're buried under a rock and now you're in heaven with Jesus

In Their Own Words

I took this video of E & S playing one day. It's them doing what they do--wearing dress ups and doing some imaginary play with their little princesses. You may not know it but they are having a conversation between their princess dolls; you might recognize words like "pool" and Sophie's very emphatic "night". They understand each other completely and I think it's fascinating. Sweet girls.

Warm enough

It's been sunny and unseasonably warm the last few days here. Each day when we've returned from picking up C at school the girls immediately go for their bikes. So we've spent some time outside, taking advantage of the mild weather (of course, this is on the heels of all that snow just after Christmas!). Just today we were outside playing with neighbors--no jackets this time-- and C asked me, "Is it spring, mom?" Oh how I wish it was! I told her we still have January and February (at least) before spring arrives. But we'll take what we can get in the middle of January!

Fun Indoors

The girls love to play in the basement--it is all toys. Brett and I love that we now have a place for all those toys-- a place that is out of the way :)  The girls love to do "running races" -- which means running laps until they can't run anymore. And lately they've come up with some obstacle courses. I'm glad they're enjoying the space (and getting some exercise)!