So I wanted to post some pictures before the end of the month,

but I couldn't get my laptop to read the camera memory card.  After struggling to make it work for a few minutes , I finally was able to figure out that Esther had stuck something into the computer slot.  So I struggled for a few more minutes and was finally able to remove the offending object.  It was a googly eye!  I thought I solved the problem but alas I cannot upload any pictures.  Must wait for my computer savvy husband to get home.
So you will have to use your imagination and picture some really cute photos of my mischievous girl.
Since you so kindly stopped by my blog, I will leave you with a funny Esther antidote:  At 11:30 last night, Esther came out of her room and her daddy asked her what she was doing out of it.  Esther said, "I am soooo hungry, I have nothing to eat..all I have to eat is my tears!"  Ha!

Esther's first "real" birthday party.

Esther got to have her 5th birthday party at Creation Station with 14 of her friends.  She was super excited to have her very own birthday party.  She's been to quite a few this past year for her friends, but now it was her turn!

Esther and I made some simple cupcakes, and added robot toppers.

Getting ready to create!

Another special part of her day was having her Nana Carolyn,  Nana Marilyn and Papa Jerry attend her party.

Yay! She blew out her candles!  She was very excited to be sung to and to blow out her candles, although she was a little worried that the lit candles might explode.

Let them eat (cup)cake!

Of course the present opening was a highlight for E.

Grandpa Neil and Grandma Suzi came for a quick visit and brought Esther some tools and things she can take apart.

Right up her alley.

Guess Who's Five!?!

I can't believe my little girl is five already.  Crazy!  She had a great day yesterday at preschool.  She got a birthday crown and stood up by Teacher Kathy while the kids sang "Happy Birthday" to her.  Man, I wouldn't have been able to do that.  She is definitely not shy!  I was snack person yesterday, so I brought some of Esther's favorite foods:  mac 'n cheese, sausage, bananas, sweet potatoes, and graham crackers.  Of course E was to busy to eat any of it. I finally had to go grab her from the "Post Office" to get her to sit down and eat.  And then she got the cherished "Bed Head", preschool's resident stuffed guinea pig. She was so shocked when her name was called, she had to double check with me to make sure Teacher Kathy had really called her name.  Very cute.

Esther's birthday party isn't until Friday.  We are going to Creation Station where the kids get to create for an hour then they get cupcakes and ice cream.  Esther is very excited about getting presents.

Snuggle time.

This is Nikola, we babysit her on Thursdays for a few hours.  She loves Esther!

Sharing the chair.

My little scientist has to take things apart to see how they work.   We even have a bin of stuff she can take apart in hopes of channeling her curiosity to things we allow her to destroy.

Happy New Year and oh, yeah, Merry Christmas!

I realized I never posted any Christmas photos...oops.  So here ya go:

Esther loves laying in Ollie's "egg" which is what she calls his bed.  Ollie doesn't mind as long as he can sleep on her.

This year I made some melted snowman cookies, which turned out cute but pretty time consuming.  I have to admit I didn't finish all of them.

Santa got an unfinished snowman cookie and a shot of milk.

This year Santa brought E "Stinky" the garbage truck.  She added the googly eyes.  She's been adding googly eyes to a lot of things these days:  the TV, the fire place, the couch.

"What's back here?"

Cousin Chrissy and Nana Marilyn came for a visit and Esther was enthralled with Chrissy's makeup.  E wasn't to keen  on having it put on her face, but she was more than happy to put it on Chrissy.

Four years together as a family!

I can't believe that it's already been four years and yet it feels like we've always been together.  To celebrate, we finally got to go up the Space Needle.  Every time Esther sees it, she wants to go to the top so we finally obliged.  We had brunch at the restaurant while it slowly rotated.  Esther kept trying to lean against the wall only to have it move on her.

Checking out the windy city.  Esther said it looked just like a map.

I love this picture of Gene.

We headed back inside out of the wind when, what to our wondering eyes should appear, but Space Santa and his rocket ship.  After getting a photo snapped with the Big Guy, we headed down to the gift shop.  They had tons of robot stuff...and Esther got some of it.  We had a good day.

'Tis the Season

I thought this year might be the year we could actually stop worrying about our Christmas tree being knocked over and ornaments being shattered.  Now that our cat is too old to care, and Esther is old enough to know better, I thought finally our tree would be able to have ornaments at the bottom and not look naked from the waist down.  But alas...not with our one-year old pup around.  Luckily, I realized my folly before we purchased a tree and before any ornaments were mauled.  We opted for a little 3-foot tree that could sit on a table... & Esther was fine with finding an "Ollie-sized tree".  Gene was overjoyed when "tying down the tree" this year meant opening up the trunk and throwing the little bugger in.  I'm happy to report that no ornaments have been harmed as of this post...and the tree looks almost as pretty as a big tree would have.

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This way, Esther can enjoy the tree and eat cereal at the same time.  Win-win.

Here's the pup in question, enjoying the snow.

This month, Esther's preschool got to go to "Creation Station", which is an art/play/recycled materials studio. They have lots of crazy stuff the kids get to use to make whatever they can dream up (from tubing, foam pieces, medical supplies (non hazardous), old computer stuff, Cd's, wine labels, you-name-it).

Can you guess where we are planning to have E's fifth birthday party?

A random and cute picture.

Snow day!

The snow has arrived!  Today was my workday at preschool, so after dropping off our dog at doggie daycare, E and I headed to the store to purchase some snack food for the kiddos (my duty this week).  Wouldn't ya know, right as I'm attempting to unlock the door with groceries in hand, they call to say that school's been canceled.  Well, at least Esther and I have something to snack on. And five dog-free hours. Of course we had to go explore the great big "snow-globe", as Esther called it.

See, it really did snow.

Love the expression.

Just in case you weren't convinced yet...more proof.

Something about this picture I just love.

Yarn + dog + kid = bad idea.  (And no that's not Ollie's backside.)

Mean Mom soon put a stop to the fun.

Esther had her first play date ever at our place.  I know, I know, but since we live in a condo it has usually been easier to meet friends at parks and such.  E did very well sharing her toys with Dahlia.  And Dahlia even brought her real guinea pig over (dog in crate).  E got a little too exuberant with trying to put it in small spaces (her Halloween candy bucket) so we had to put it up for a while.  But all in all, it was a great experience for everyone involved (except maybe Ollie, who whined the whole time he was crated).

Enjoying a Dilly bar from Dairy Queen.

E wanted me to make black play dough and somehow I pulled it off.
Notice Esther's tattoos?  She wanted to be just like her Daddy.

The Terrible Twosome actually holding still!

Happy Halloween!

Wow! Two posts in a month, what is this world coming to?

(Alert: I'm using Google Chrome instead of Explorer to do this post and it is being really wonky. I'm frustrated but swearing mumbling at the computer doesn't seem to be helping, so enjoy.)

This is Esther version of carving a pumpkin. Kind of punk rock, don't ya think?

And now for the surgery. She wanted her Daddy to make a doctor's mask.

One of only a few quiet moments with cousin Chrissy and Nana's dog Honey.

This was more like it. Ollie so wanted to sniff and play with Honey, but she didn't want anything to do with him.

My little helper, assisting with the blueberry muffins.

Preschool is doing a fun thing by letting each kid take home the stuffed guinea pig, Bedhead, for a night. The next day, the child gets to share what they did together. Esther was so excited to get her turn and she did a great job of keeping him away from the dog. The only problem was having to give him back the next day...poor little thing cried and cried. Ah, the joys of learning to share.

Not being a fan of anything other than t-shirts and jeans, Esther had to be convinced(read bribed) to wear this super cute shirt from Aunt Heidi. I wanted to her to wear it before it got too small. To mark the momentous occasion, I snapped this pic. Nice face she's giving me. She did however wear the shirt to preschool, so yay for me.

And now for the Halloween Costume! Esther has been asking "how many the days 'til Halloween" for two months now. We had to count on the calender pretty much every other day. So you can imagine how happy I was when the stinking holiday finally arrived. First was the costume parade at school. I did send a change of clothes for her to wear outside but apparently she thought this was a crazy idea.

So Thomas the Tank Engine dug and moved dirt to his(her) heart's content. Surprisingly, the costume remained pristine.

Again this year we ventured to the Country Village in Bothell for trick-or-treating. Most of the shops handed out candy.

Decisions, decisions.

We ran into one of E's preschool buddies & her sister and they set off together.

And of course the kids had to compare their haul.

This is the best shot of her costume...Thomas' face is a little "plewy" (as E would say).

On the car ride home she dove into her loot. Hopefully, she'll sleep well after the sugar rush has worn off.