Esther's newest favorite "toy"...a snail.

At the dollar store we found a little bug box for E to "save" any creatures she finds. The first resident was a snail. She loved to take him out and let him roam around. Yuck, snail slime.

His name was Snaily. I say "was" because he met with an unfortunate cd player accident. Think putting in a disk and shutting the lid.

Ollie had to check him out, before his demise. (In the back-ground, notice our patio door. It makes an awesome chalkboard.)

OK, time to wash your hands.

I am in the process of painting our living room/dining room, which with a four year old and a puppy is taking a long time. Esther had a field day with the painter's tape. Here's her robot creation.

E is like Mommy, not a morning person. Here she's taking her time to embrace the morning and Ollie's enjoying the calm.

Snaily got to ride Esther's firetruck. He even climbed the ladder.

E has really been cranking out the artwork. The artiste, with marker moustache.

Preschool is over for the summer, but one of the last day of school the kids got to go to the beach. Esther enjoyed finding lots of dead or dying crabs.

She was having to work on sharing some of her finds. She did pretty well, but it wasn't easy for her. Still working on the sharing concept.

Every time a train passed by the beach, the kids would run to watch it. I think E is shouting "train".

Esther helped set the table and was so proud of herself that she wanted Mommy to take a picture. OK, so I may have created a monster with capturing every single event on film.

Last day send off with Teacher Kathy.

Ollie also finished puppy class. He wasn't too keen on wearing the graduation hat, though.

But Esther was!

Our budding artist

Esther hasn't really been into drawing lately. I think it's because she is such a perfection-ist that when what she sees in her mind doesn't make it to the page, it frustrates her. But this morning was different. It was neat to see her creations.

This is Daddy...with his standard smirk (hee hee).

This is Mommy. I think I'm looking a little tired and have a bad case of bed hair.

The letter E.

A car.

This is Esther's first attempt at writing her name. She got the E, P (for R), H, and t.

Chilling with the dog.

May flowers from Esther to me.

My little helper. She loves mopping the floor.

Our mantle. Apparent-ly E thought it needed something more.

Fun by the lake. So much for trying to keep her feet dry; boots don't help much when you wade out deeper than the boots are high.

Jumping for joy.

A girl and her dog.

Fireman Esther to the rescue!

Two of my favorite people! E is wearing her daddy's scooter gloves.

Esther finally got a big girl bed. Her crib converted to a toddler bed but after four years it was time to retire it. E picked out her new bed. One of Esther's biggest requirements was that she could jump on it. There was a bed that she liked with a canopy but she soon figured out that jumping in it wasn't an option. Another one was a small bunk bed but alas it had the same problem. So she picked out this light blue daybed. And boy is it fun to jump on.

Wednesday, the preschool went on a field trip to a fire station (specifically for kids). Of course it was a big hit.

Esther's technique for going down the pole was to keep one foot on the ledge.

The perspective in this photo makes Esther look teeny tiny. But she was sitting in the passenger seat because the driver's seat was out for reupholstering. Apparently I picked out the perfect shirt for this outing, a fire breathing dinosaur. (Who knew dinosaurs breathed fire?)

A fire breathing dragon at the firehouse? Is that really a good idea? "Roar!"

Fireman Esther keeping you safe. I think her polka dot boots add a little flair to the outfit.

Happy Easter, One and All!

Hope your Easter Sunday was a ball. (Can you tell we've been reading lots of Dr. Seuss lately?)

At Esther's preschool, I'm part of the Dramatic Play Committee, which means I help set up a room for the kids to play in. So far I've helped with the Grocery Store and the Construction Site. Outside of our condo, someone was getting a new dryer so Gene managed to procure a huge box which we turned into a building. Esther played in it until we had to take it to school.

Yep, she loves dinosaurs. Luckily, thrift shops have lots of them.

Ollie was less than thrilled with St. Patrick's Day. He didn't wear this hat for very long. Esther loves to torment the puppy with stuff like this. But don't worry, the cat gets it to. The other day she informed me she had put Sydney in the toilet and sure enough his foot was soaking wet. Somehow she managed to escape getting any scratches.

Esther picked out this nail polish for Mommy and Esther to wear.

Trying to fit into her R2D2 robot trash bin.

Aww! Can you feel the love.

Our little daredevil on the deck.

She picked this daffodil from the flower bed in front of the condo office. Oops. Oh well.

Fun with another box. Sometimes I wonder as a parent why we bother with any other toys. Boxes are the best.

Ollie had to make sure Esther was decorating the eggs the right way.

The video below is of E painting eggs. Enjoy.