Finger lickin' good!

Nothing like lickin' the brownie batter bowl.

She always looks delicious to me but covered in chocolate she's even more tempting...

to her sister who is licking her!! I turned around to see Lillianna actually licking the chocolate off of Ellenie! I'm not sure who was being a "sweeter" sister.

Reunion

Lillianna and I took a special road trip this past weekend, just the two of us.

She talked about seeing Bibby everyday for two weeks before we went. Every flower she picked was for her, every picture she drew she was going to take to her. When they got together it was all love...for about 7 minutes. Then it was true just-like-sisters love where they argued and laughed, tattled and played all in the same moment. It was great!

Sweet Virginia was glad to see us but really wondered why Ellenie didn't make the trip.

We wanted to take the big girls to something special on this special trip and were thrilled to find out that the Zoppe Italian Family Circus was in town! It's not everyday that you get to see that!

It was fun and cute and funny and a little strange all at the same time.

Complete with girls on trapeze, dogs who could dance, several jugglers, a funny clown, a girl who could balance ANYTHING on her feet, and lots more.

The girls LOVED it!

However, Mary Bibby did not love that the clown pulled her Mommy into the ring.

Ginny was a wonderful clown assistant and thought about joining the Zoppe family and running off to Italy. Bibby and I talked her out of it.

I thought I was also going to have to talk Miss Lillianna out of it too.

A wonderful night to remember!

Things I don't want to forget...

Lillianna asks questions all day long right now:

Why do we fold sunglasses?

Why is this sidewalk made out of bricks?

Why do frogs eat bugs?

But her favorite and most frequent question: Is this good for me?

"This" is ANYTHING and EVERYTHING edible.

She only wants to eat food that "will make my bones grow so I can be strong and tall."

She looks at me like I'm crazy when I give her potato chips.

She has mastered several of the funny voices and accents that Brad and I often speak in around the house. I didn't realize it until recently when she has used them out in public, in front of people who don't know her and ask me, "what'd she say?" with a face that says, "was she just speaking in a british accent on purpose?

Ellenie is eating a little better. We can add grapes, strawberries (sometimes), peeled apple, and

POPCORN!

She loves for me to just mention the word. Then she stands in front of the microwave and whines and fake cries while waiting for it to "OP, OP, OP". But like many in my family, the popcorn is only the vehicle for consuming LOTS of parmesean cheese. As seen here.

Ellenie answers to many names.

Pee Pie, Elles Bo Belles, One Shoe, One Shoe Willie, Rascally Rabbit, Ellenie Bo Bellenie, Sweet Girl, Sweetie Pie.

There is one name that she is so proud to be able to say...and it's not her own.

It's what she calls her big sister: LaLa.

She says LaLa ALL day long.

Together, these two fill my days. Truly, FILL my days.

With all sugar...

and spice.

Fun and friends

On Saturday we went to the Cotton District Arts Festival in Starkville.

It was a GREAT day! Mostly because we got to see wonderful friends

The Kennedys and The Overstreets. After fun face painting and necklace making, Lillianna and Camp found something ever more fun...

a little DRUMMIN' !!!

Two noteworthy facts:
1. The precious dresses the girls have on are courtesy of their paternal grandmother Sue-Sue.
2. The serious drumming skills Lillianna displays are courtesy of
their maternal grandmother Ya-Ya.



Sweet Ellenie is stopped in her tracks when she see what her sister is up to. Of course...

she joins in the fun!

E: She's off beat! She's too fast!
L: I'm just feelin' the beat sis...just feelin' the beat.

No words necessary. Just LOVE.

Bedtime Circus

I think the girls have figured out that the more funny moments they add to the bathtime/bedtime routine, the longer that get to stay up. So now they've added the Shirt Hat Act - as we undress them for bath, we leave the shirt or dress on their head. Then they laugh and giggle and prance around. They think it's a riot and really, it is.

So long Prince!

Froggy Release Party

Party necessitites:

Frog - check

Sunglasses - check

Tutu - check

Goodbye kiss - check



Release - check

Follow the frog around the yard for 20 minutes - check

Easter

He is Risen! He is Risen indeed!

We celebrated all weekend and had a very memorable Easter weekend.

We started Friday morning at a community-wide Easter celebration...we had such a good time!

It got even better when Brad surprised me and the girls by showing up just in time for the 10,000 egg Egg hunt! That was some hunt!

Lillianna and Ellenie both painted ceramic eggs. (a little windy eh?)

Ellenie was too small to jump in all the inflatable stuff but was just right for a inflatable Dora...that was just about as big as her!

E: D-D-D-D-D-D-D

The rest of us (singing): D-D-D-Dora! D-D-D-D-Dora the Explorer!

E: D-D-D-D-D-D-D

L: The REAL Easter Bunny!

So hard to tell in the picture but they are acutally both tightly HUGGING him!

He's so much more approachable than Santa.

Saturday morning we finally got around to dying eggs.

Me: Lillianna, we've got to dye eggs this morning.

L: You mean, we're going to die them and give them to God in Heaven?

Ellenie helped too - I forget what a mess this is - but so much fun!

I wish we had done another dozen....except what to do with all of them in a few days?

Easter morning...the Princess cup was in her basket along with the sunglasses. She loved them both...at the same time.


Ready for Church... just not ready to be photographed 55 times.

L: AHH! I'VE EATEN 200 JELLY BEANS AND SO YELLING SEEMS LIKE A GOOD IDEA.

E: Yea, well...I just woke up from my nap so could you keep it down.

L: See, I can be still for one second Mom.

After Church we headed to Tuscaloosa to see Jean Jean, Sue Sue, Pops, Aunt Ashley, Uncle T, Aunt Lesley and Cousin Kylen. Yea what fun!

Then we did the Easter tradition of wearing our leis and standing like statues with our Easter buckets. Everybody does this right?

Ellenie playing with Keisha. Papa James would love this picture.

We tried to get the perfect picture of all the grandchildren for you Sue Sue! Almost.

Helping Jean Jean plant some more dirt.


It was a weekend full of celebrating our blessings.

Blessings we are grateful for everyday.