Eleanor at 18 months!

Happy Half-Birthday, Eleanor! You are a full-fledged toddler now and we are loving every minute of it. You are such a fun little girl, full of love and personality. You are constantly making us laugh and filling our hearts with joy. Here are some things we want to remember about our precious 18-month-old Eleanor Grace:

~ You love to dress up by wearing tiaras or sunglasses (always on your head, never your eyes). Sometimes you insist on wearing them all day (at the table, in the car, to church, etc...). You think you're pretty cute when you have them on too!
~ You love music and dancing. Anytime you hear music, you just start bobbing up and down and swaying side to side. Even if you're sitting down. It's pretty cute.
~ You have the cutest little walk/toddle. You stick your little tummy out in front and waddle back and forth. Here's a picture :)

~ You have really started to enjoy listening to stories. Your absolute favorite is "There's a Wocket in my Pocket" by Dr. Seuss. You call it "Pock" and often carry it around the house with you. You will sit and listen to it multiple times. You like other stories too, but "Pock" is the best.
~ Some of your favorite toys are your baby dolls and stroller and your little cheetah kitty. We usually have to bring at least one of those with us in the car when we leave. You love giving your babies and your kitty hugs and kisses.
~ You are talking up a storm. I did a post a couple months ago about this (Chatterbox Ellie), and you've learned lots more words even since then. We can understand just about anything that you want to communicate.



~ You have recently moved up to the toddler room at church and you are doing so well. Ms. Tammy says you just sit at the table and eat your goldfish and listen to the stories like such a big girl. You often don't even fuss anymore when I drop you off!
~ You've started to sleep a little better over the last few months, although we do still have our rough nights. Daddy took it upon himself to teach you that you don't in fact need to nurse 3-4 times throughout the night, and he did a pretty good job. He says he's going to write a book someday called "Daddy-it-Out" (as opposed to cry-it-out). But seriously, he has you so well trained that if he just walks into your room, you will immediately lay down on your tummy, let him spread your blanky out on you, and you go right to sleep. Will you do that for Mommy? Not so much...
~ Speaking of sleeping, you still are pretty serious about your thumb sucking. You also have to have your little pink blanky ("bink") with the satin edges. You will not let us forget it when we put you to bed.



~ You absolutely love your family. Mommy, Daddy, Anna Kate, Caroline - you think we're all pretty much the best. You love to run up to each of us and give us hugs and kisses.
~ You now have 12 teeth - four in front on both the top and bottom, and four molars - and you may be getting your canines at the moment.
~ You love pointing to all the parts of your body. Your toes are your favorite, but you also know hair, eyes, ears, nose, mouth, teeth, belly button, and hands.
~ We recently got a new front-loading washing machine and you LOVE to stand in front of it and watch through the window as it fills with water and spins the clothes or diapers. Seriously, you find it extremely entertaining!
~ Speaking of diapers, you definitely still wear them, but you also go on the potty on a pretty regular basis! As long as I remember to take you...
~ You love to talk on your toy phones, or make real phone calls and FaceTime calls with Mommy and Daddy. You love to wave and blow kisses and say "hiiiiii" and "bye-bye!"
~ You are just learning how to put together your wooden shape puzzles and are doing really well! Your favorites are the shapes and the farm animals.
~ You are getting very independent when we go to the park. You can climb up the playground and slide down the slide all by yourself. You have no fear.



~ Some of your favorite foods are still cheese and peas, but you are a pretty agreeable eater. And actually, we've found that if we do give you something you don't like, you'll eat anything as long as we give you applesauce to dip it in :)

Eleanor, you are the life of the party around here and we love watching you grow. Every day we get to watch more of your big girl personality come through and it is so much fun. May you never forget how much we love you, and more than that, how much Jesus loves you.



Love,
Mommy, Daddy, Anna Kate and Caroline

VBS 2015 - Journey off the Map!

I know I say this every year, but we had another fantastic, but exhausting, week of Vacation Bible School. Our theme this year was "Journey off the Map" and the kids loved it. Our theme verse came from Isaiah 30:21 - "Whenever you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear this command behind you, 'This is the way. Walk in it.'" I love that my girls are learning at a young age to listen to the Word of God, and obey it whatever the cost. Here they are on our first night of the week.

My good friend Christa and I led the music again this year. The songs this year provided lots of opportunity for fun motions and choreography and the kids had a blast. They all performed their songs for their families on Friday night. Here are the 2 and 3-year-olds!

And then the BIG group of K-5th graders!

"This is the Way, Walk in It!"

Spring Violin Recital 2015

I was so proud of all of my students in our Spring violin recital last month. They all did a fantastic job, and it was a very special recital for a number of reasons. First, both Anna Kate and Caroline performed on this recital! This was Anna Kate's second recital and Caroline's first. AK performed Twinkle, as well as the group fiddle tune.

Caroline demonstrated proper posture and position and played "The Ant Song" (plucking open strings).

It was also a neat recital for me because it was the first time that I had one of my students bring one of her students to perform! A second generation violin student, if you will! Here are all of my students (except Caroline who was too busy enjoying cookies and lemonade), along with Courtney's student, Emma.



Finally, it was so fun to have both Luke's mom and my parents in town to hear the girls as well as all of my students. Thank you for coming!