Gardening

D and his Girls: No one gets them giggling like Daddy!

Getting in on the Action




It is hard to believe that Kit will be starting school when she turns two in January. Good thing Elsie will be there for the spring to show her the ropes....but by the looks of it last Friday, K looks like she'll fit right in!

And look at this beautiful dress GranAnn gave Kit for Christmas--how cute is our girl?

Recess!

Elsie and Camille

This will be the last time Elsie and Camille will be in the same class, sadly. Camille will go to big girl pre-K at the local public school since her birthday is before the September 1st cut off. But we anticipate many fun playdates in the future!

Special Guests

Nonie and Kit came to celebrate the graduate! Aren't the flowers Nonie gave Elsie beautiful?

The Teachers

Here are photos of Elsie with her teacher Miss Mary--the lead teacher and owner of the school--as well as the three year old teacher Miss Carey. They were very sweet with her!

The Festivities

Graduation Day: The First of Many






Elsie had her last day of school last Friday. She is moving from the three year old class into the pre-K at her Montessori school. Here she is--all dolled up in a beautiful smocked dress Aunt Addie once made for her mother.

Cinco de Birthday: Rachel's Birthday





Early in May, we celebrated the end of term and our buddy Rachel's birthday. Rachel, Sadie, and some friends came over for backyard fun!

Linguistic Aptitude and Pop Culture Savvy: Our Elsie

Elsie is pretty much a fount of wisdom these days. The other day I came home, and her eyes were wide and her mouth was moving lightning speech telling me that the tree out back had termamites. (much better word with the extra syllable)

The next day, desperate to lead her daddy outside to another tree--this one with a bird nest, Elsie maintained this monologue: "Now Daddy, be very quiet and stay on the sidewalk because there might be poop or prickles out there."

Finally, she warned her sister against permanated markers.

While I was rubbing aloe on her poor sunburned shoulders last night and we were winding down after a busy weekend of fun with friends, gardening, and Poppa's dinner visit, we came upon Hannah Montana on the Disney Channel. I still don't understand what she likes about that show, why she likes it, or how and where she heard of Hannah Ontana as she put it last year (quick to correct me this year--"it's MONtana, Mommy," she admonished last night). Maybe, like Elmo, there is something fundamental or intuitive about the shape of her face, the arrangement of her features.... Anyway, Elsie witnessed a Jonas Brothers commercial:
E: Mommy, whooo's that? Who are they?
M: They are a band called the Jonas Brothers.
E: Oh Mommy--I love the Jonas Brothers!..... What do they do?
M: They sing songs and have a show.
E: What do they sing?
M: Ask your daddy.
So, already? Really? Miley Cyrus and the Jonas Brothers and she is 3! It is a fact... this morning as we had an installment of dance party before I went to the office, a Jonas Brother's song came up on the Kidz music channel and the minute Elsie saw the still of them on the screen: "Oh Mommy, the Jonas Brothers! I love the Jonas Brothers!" It is not looking good for Alternative D--he has a pop princess on his hands. He'd better amp up the Kings of Leon, let fly some Wilco, download more Tegan and Sara, and put Beck on repeat... or else.

PS Should follow up this post with some video of Kit dancing--that smile, those moves--too good to be true!

Celebrating Cousins


While there is never time enough in Atlanta, we did get a lot accomplished over our recent visit. We visited the Center for Puppetry Arts and thoroughly enjoyed the Paul Bunyan puppet show. We went to the beautiful Botanical Gardens and wore ourselves out in the children's garden. We visited with family, a few friends, and tried to help Addie feel better. We ate wonderful meals, anticipated mother's day, and pre-celebrated Baby Tad's 1st birthday (can we still call him "baby"?) Cousin reunions, as always, are the highlight of any visit!

A Lucky Mom

A Peek at Kit