The one where her fish dies

Ellie's fish died this morning.  She didn't notice.  Should I replace it with a new fish?  Or do I have to have one of those teaching moments about death?  Because I am really leaning towards the sneak-a-new-fish-in-the-bowl option. 

A few weeks ago, Ellie was playing in the backyard.  She called me outside to show me a sweet nest of grass she had made.  Nestled among the grass was a small, dead bird.  My initial reaction was to freak out a bit and tell Ellie she is not to touch dead animals.  She kept insisting the bird was not dead because there was no blood. It was just "frozen."  I couldn't help but remember the time I found an actual frozen kitten as a child and tried to bring it back to life in my mom's microwave.  So, Ellie was insisting that the bird was alive and I didn't have the heart to convince her it was dead so I just went along with it.  Later, when Ellie was in the bath scrubbing off all the dead-bird germs, I tossed the bird over the back fence so Ellie would think it had flown away.  That's how we deal with death around here.

Our weekends have been filled with birthday parties as of late. First, it was my niece Naomi's puppy-themed party.

We were even able to bring our dog Kali since the location adjoined a small dog park.

The dogs did tricks for treats...and so did the kids. 

(The puppy-party pictures were lifted straight from Sabrina's blog, but all other pictures are my own crappy cell phone shots.)

Then, Sabrina threw out another animal-themed party when she did a My Little Pony party for Olivia.

Yeah, there were REAL ponies for the kids to ride. Actually, they were full-blown horses. Ellie has ridden a pony many a time at rodeos and whatnot, but this is the first time she has been on one so large. I don't think I have ever seen her sit so still and quiet.

This past weekend we went to my niece Mia's pool party. They rented two human hamster balls. It was a challenge getting Ellie out of them so the other kids could have a turn.

Jack gave it a try, but he much preferred going off the diving board.

It is nice having a party to go to every weekend... especially when the people throwing them are so fun and creative!

Why, yes, I do have another child

I realize that Ellie gets a lot of blog-time around here, but that doesn't mean Jack is any less interesting (or exasperating). He still can pout with the best of them when he doesn't get his way...

And he can definitely be a handful...

But he is oh, so sweet and loving...

And pretty darn cute, as well!

*All photos courtesy of the amazing Cate

Warning Signs

Remember this?

Well, I went into Ellie's room this weekend and discovered Daphne hanging from the bedpost like so:

We can all agree that Ellie has been watching too much Scooby-Doo and there is no need for me to be overly concerned, right? Right?

Cypalooza!

Ellie's gymnastics place was sending a few of their gymnasts to the London Olympics so instead of practice last week, they did Cypalooza.  The idea was that the little ones could show off the skills they have learned to friends and family. Unfortunately, I was the only one who could make it to this "big" event and since I take Ellie to practice every week, I have already seen it all countless times.  Oh well, at least I was able to take some pictures of her in action.