Memory Card Clearance: Everything Must Go!

My camera's gigantic memory card is officially full, which means I need to upload some of the videos that are taking up all the space!  Or, you know...some really clever introduction and seamless way of making all these random videos flow together.

I've been trying to take more videos of Ellie lately, because I already have such a hard time remembering what Keira was like at this age until I look back at videos of her.  Must...capture...the cute!!

Here she is, reading one of Mo Willems' hilarious "pigeon books" aloud back in May.  And by "reading," I mean she has it memorized, if you can't already tell.  (One time, we were at the public library and Ellie was "reading" a book aloud while I browsed, and this mom stood nearby with her toddler for a few minutes before finally asking me, "How old is she?"  When I said she had just turned 3, the lady paused and then said, "And she's reading already?"  She said it with a mixture of fear and disbelief, and seemed totally relieved when I laughed and said, "No way! We have that book at home and she makes us read it to her all the time. She just knows it by heart."  She chuckled and said, "Ohhhhh...I was thinking, 'Man, I am really behind in teaching my son this stuff!'"  Poor thing.  And this is exactly why I always advertise my failures and the fact that I steal 99% of my ideas from the Internet.  Moms and our inferiority complexes are bad enough--why would we want to make each other feel worse by pretending to be perfect humans with perfect offspring??  So, to clarify...Ellie does not know how to read.  But, she is stinking precious, anyway.)

This is one of my favorite things ever: Ellie singing "Skip to My Lou."  I will be so, so sad when she learns to pronounce her R's and L's and it's not "Woo, woo, skip to my woo" anymore.

Here's our little Bugaroo reciting "Goldilocks and the Three Bears," which I love because she does the voices exactly the way I do them:

And this is one I took just the other night, of Ellie's patented "arm pump" method of fast-brushing her teeth.  It's worth the 5-second view for a few giggles:

And now for the assorted pictures of events I haven't gotten around to blogging about yet!

Fun times at the Aquarium of the Pacific (or, as Keira and cousin Brandon's combined cute mispronunciations have renamed it, the "Maquarium of the Acific")...except for that part where we walked into the lorakeet habitat and a bird immediately blasted excrement onto Ellie's head.   

"Oh, penguins...we love you!"

"Oh, penguin...I love you!"

"Oh, penguin...I...need to be pried off of you by security."  (It's a good thing they're not real penguins.  Ow.)

These are pics from the little farm field trip my friend Lisa organized:

We were all very impressed by the size and beauty of this incredibly fat well-fed caterpillar.  When the kids walked away, the farmer quietly requested that someone squish it before it ate their whole crop.  Eric Carle totally left that part out of his book...thank goodness! (RIP, furry dude.)

Ellie had her first dentist appointment a couple of weeks ago.  Everyone who walked by our tiny little Bug in that big chair kept commenting on how small she is, and what a good listener she is.  No cavities, either--woohoo!

Kiwi had two more cavities, which are no fun (and ridiculously expensive) to fill.  Bear and I "double brush" her teeth after she does it twice a day, but apparently we're doing something wrong, or she has a hidden stash of Pixie Sticks in her room.  In any case, she was a trooper getting those fillings, even though they didn't numb her enough and she said the drill was hurting her and/or "wasn't feeling very cozy," which I think should be a sign on the door of every dentist's office.  WARNING:  THIS WILL NOT FEEL VERY COZY.

Back-to-school haircut!

My school offers an after-school art class on early dismissal day every week, and since Keira is forever wanting me to "think of a craft" for her to do at home, she and I decided it might be fun for her to sign up and let someone else "think it up" (not to mention CLEAN it up).  She was nervous when I walked her over, and sat on the stage looking meek while the teachers called roll.  Check out the fancy double French braids I managed to pull off that day!  I've been trying to develop some hairstyling talent--or at least competency--now that she's in kindergarten.  (I had no such motivation when she was in preschool for some reason.)

I hung around campus and popped in a couple of times to check on her; by the end, she was having a blast and wants to go back every week.  I'm so proud of her for sticking it out and not even asking once to forget the whole thing and go home (which I thought she might do).  Here's her first official Art Smarts masterpiece:

Aaand, here's a picture of Ellie looking cute at her friend Lexy's birthday party last Saturday.

I'd like to think she's helping me celebrate my memory stick finally having some space on it, too.  Hooray!!