October

Wow, it's been more than a month since I've posted!! So, lets go through the month. Firstly, Eleanor turned four! I think she had a great birthday and aside from the poor cake choice (NEVER go with strawberry, it was so sicky-sweet we had a hard time eating it.), and a grumpy Jack, things went well. We went to the coast that weekend and it was surprisingly sunny and the kids had fun for a little while, most particularly Jack since the ocean, sand, rocks, and shells are so new to him. We went to Florence and got to walk out on one of the jetties. On the day of her birthday I skipped class so we could have dinner and presents at a reasonable hour. Continuing the tradition from my family, I let Ellie pick whatever she wanted to have for dinner. The result was watermelon, corn, mashed potatoes, and dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets. :) It was actually a very decent meal. She had also requested a Minnie Mouse cake, so I cheated and ordered an edible image of Minnie Mouse from Albertson's. The result was as follows:


Now, I get to show some pictures of Ellie on her birthday. I have to say, I am so proud of my little girl. She has grown leaps and bounds and is starting to be very helpful and sweet with her brother (although still mostly a bane to Arwen! ;) ). She gives the best hugs and is so fun to be with. I've discovered recently that she is teachable, a quality I've never mastered. She is also very good at tracing, as I've been teaching her to write some letters. Another thing I've noticed is that she is very athletically inclined, making skipping and running look amazingly fluid. But, something that makes me very happy is that she's got grace and talent when she dances. So, without further bragging or ado, here are some birthday pictures of Eleanor:

Trying on earrings:
I like how excited she looks in this one:

Showing off what she got, ignore Jack blinking, he looks funny!


Arwen trying on dress-up stuff:


And, this is how Jack felt towards the end of the evening: (If I remember correctly, he hadn't had a good nap that day.)


Happy Birthday Eleanor!!

I suppose I could go into Halloween for this post, but I lack the energy. Arwen is home with a fever and Ellie has been febrile as well. I only have a cough at this point. John finally went back to work after battling a fever for two days, I just hope I don't get it. Happy November!!