Stella's First Haircut

I am not even sure how we got to nearly three years old with no haircut.  I just love her hair so much.  But I realized it really was getting too long and her ends were a mess.  We finally took her to a salon for children only (SO CUTE).   She LOVED it.  When we left, she said "she was a princess" and "loved getting her hair cut!"  Exactly the response we were hoping for.

Yaya's Birthday

We had a great evening...good food, music, and conversation.  Stella decided Mom was 25.  She got to stay up way past her bedtime, but how can you take a girl away from her Yaya and Papa when she is having soooo much fun!

 Their hands do so much.

MIA

That is me from blogger, right?  I have been so busy with Esme's First Birthday, projects, GOING OUTSIDE.  Crazy, huh? Me...outside!  I truly do love it when it isn't 100 degrees out.  So, be prepared...I am playing catch up! 
Here are some fun shots....Just Because.

She is modeling her sister...who models me.

Stella gave me a Tiffany & Co. pouch the other night (once held a charm with her name engraved on it).  

She proceeded to tell that it would be "$2.99 & $4.94...plus tax!"  Not sure if I was more caught by her knowing about tax or the amount she requested.  Maybe she meant hundreds?

We have recently started giving Esme some television (starting with Sesame Street).  Stella seems to have rediscovered a past love.  They were both mesmerized.

M.e.l.t. D.o.w.n.

The next few shots capture Esme melting down after being sternly told "NO, THANK YOU."  She was pushing buttons on the DVD player.

And she's done.

Oh Man...

I am no longer scared of the nail gun.  I still can not believe my eyes.  I MADE THIS.

Dang...these are bad pictures, right?  I will work on getting some that are crisper.

I may have added a little decal on the front of the bench.  The cubes fit baskets or in our case are perfect for shoes.  No joke; I build this...from scratch.  I really wanted this bench from PB (oh come on, you know where).   BUT, I didn't want the expense or the size actually.  I found this website:  http://www.knock-offwood.com.  She is brilliant.  I have another project I am going to build, but I thought I would make sure I could keep a bench together first!

Summer Activities

Stella has decided to catch up on her summer book list with some "light" reading.  Ok, maybe that is from Daddy's list.

Esme has been spending the recent steamy days working on her climbing technique.

Summer Please Hurry

... and end.  Or at least cool down.  Here are some shots of the girls hanging around.

We read a lot of books here.

This is my cute chair from Craigslist.  The girls love it and I love how CHEAP it was.

Esme loves rocking chairs too.  Not quite what I envisioned when we brought this chair up from storage.  

It has already been returned to the basement.

Eww...um excuse my dust (from the basement, right?).

I LOVE this picture of Stella.  But, Ben and I agreed that we would see this face again when she is a teenager.  Yikes. 

The other night, Stella was spooked by something and made it into bed with us.  I have to admit, I slightly enjoyed sleeping with her; her snoring, her kicking the covers off, kicking me, somehow taking up the entire bed. I found it all sweet some how.  My real story to tell is the conversation that occurred after Ben turned the lamp off. The light went out and Stella says, "MOMMY, DADDY, my eyes!  MY EYES ARE BROKEN!!"

Ben and I were laughing so hard, we could not comfort her.  In between laughs, I am trying to tell Stella that her eyes are not broken.  Ben turned the lamp back on so she could see that her eyes "still worked." 

Stella sleeps with an LED night light every night.  It puts off a subtle glow enough that you can still make out objects in the room.  Apparently, it has been a while since she has been in true darkness. 

"MY EYES ARE NOT WORKING!"