bookworms.

i love whenever these girls get really interested in something.

like books. they go nuts for books, but you already know that. when they are acting like little hooligans and they can't stop brawling with each other (and more than likely pulling hair), i need a giant sign in my house that says "get a book!" as a reminder because it almost always tames my little savage beasts. 

they love the library. they love when i take them to a thrift store and let them pick books to take home. they love reading to themselves and i could read to them all day without complaint. some nights (the best nights), ellie will quietly read herself to sleep.

(i did not pick this book for purchase. a sweet worker at goodwill suggested it to the girls and then i couldn't just put it back, you know? and for some reason ellie loves it - maybe because i've never actually shown her barney? just had to add that disclaimer.) 

i've been reading charlotte's web to ellie before bed. we read several chapters a night and she always wants more. you would not believe how quickly this stubborn little girl brushes her teeth and hops in bed when she knows it is time to read. she was a little bummed at first when she found out charlotte wasn't going to wrap wilbur up and eat him, but she seemed satisfied when she found out that at least charlotte drinks blood (morbid maybe?). she loves it.

i have amassed our own library of books to read to the girls and i'm so excited to pick our next one. i even have shelves and shelves of books that they won't enjoy for years but i still CAN'T WAIT for them to read them and know them and love them. 

i guess a love of reading is something they get honestly. :)

spring cleaning and starting new.

i'm cleaning and organizing and starting new - starting again, really.
i'm announcing the official rebirth of the blog and writing and trying to capture those great little moments in the life of the fowler family.

so i may start skimping on the pictures sometimes, because they are always the frustrating part for me.
and i want to remember so many things and, let's not kid ourselves, i am not going to keep up with a personal journal anytime this decade.
(in fact, i'm laughing thinking about it.)



so hopefully this declaration makes it stick and you'll be seeing a lot more of us around here.
i'm doing okay this week, right?

coloring eggs.

let's just pretend that i haven't been totally mia for a month and jump right in, okay? eventually we'll be up to date.

we colored easter eggs friday night.

we were outside in the evening before dinner and the girls were playing dinosaurs: eggs hatching and predators attacking. (poppy makes a great predator, in case you were wondering.) i gave them a five minute warning and told ellie we had to go inside and take a bath so that we could dye eggs.
"no!" she screamed and covered her nest of bouncy balls, "i don't want them to DIE i want them to LIVE!" and i am embarrassed to say that it took a minute for me to connect the dots and correct myself.
we were going to decorate eggs. color eggs. no eggs would be harmed (unless you are counting the hard boiling, i guess).

ellie had grabbed one of those cheap, tacky egg coloring kits while "driving" along in the car cart that week. at the time i was holding a whiny, teething poppy with one arm and grabbing groceries with the other, so i told her to toss it in and she could have it if she behaved the rest of the trip. i bribe. you would too, if you were shopping with them.

so friday night i boiled some eggs and we plopped the little tablets into some vinegar and watched the colors appear. poppy wanted to sample the "juice" so we set her up with some crayons at another table, which surprisingly worked for a minute (they are on a huge coloring kick).

i had some vague memories of last year and i know my ellie, so i gave up all ideas of control and possibly cute little pinterest eggs and let her at them. i think she dipped each egg in each color at least once, then i noticed that the colors weren't sticking very well. i added some food coloring to the colored vinegar and around that time, poppy got interested again and started trying to open the food coloring and squeeze it in the floor. ellie stopped trying to use the little wand that came with the kit and started plopping the eggs from cup to cup with her fingers. it was insanity. they love insanity.

in the end, the eggs ended up mostly brownish and acid-washed-looking (and so did ellie's hands), but ellie took a page right out of wreck-it ralph and declared them the most beautiful eggs in the world. i convinced them to let me "dry" the eggs and get a couple of pictures before they covered them with the nonsensical stickers (putting stickers of eggs ON eggs? and then random sports stickers? i don't know.). the paper towels we used for clean up ended up more vibrant than our eggs did.

i truly do love the eggs, even if they might be slightly embarrassing. they are all her and she was so proud. that's what matters, even if i am already trying to figure out how to remember to try and get out of dyeing (sorry, coloring) eggs next year.

after the pictures, poppy got her hands on an egg and smashed it in her hand. i was surprised it took that long, honestly. i told the girls we would go ahead and eat that one. instead of throwing a fit, which i expected, ellie wanted to crack one of hers open and eat it, too. i couldn't believe it. it was very UN-ellie-like behavior.

we cracked another, they ate most of the yolks and then suddenly they were totally over the whole activity. well, really i think they just wanted to smash all the eggs but i couldn't take that additional mess so we wrapped it up and called it a night.

i love my girls and their creativity and imagination. i love watching them smile with pride over what they've done, but at the same time it seems like they realize that enjoying themselves and expressing themselves matters so much more than the finished product. it's a reminder of what's really important.

and those eggs are so not important. those smiles are.

(one blurry smile, ten stained fingers)

making a fool out of mommy.

happy april fools, i guess?
i am really not a big fan of practical jokes, playing them or "receiving" them. silly stuff is fine, sure, but when it gets personal i start to dislike the jokes (if you can call them that). i'm too nervous and stressed out for stuff like that.


my girls played some "jokes" on me today that included running away as fast as they could (IN PUBLIC) several times and one frightening, life-threatening incident. i need a day off.

of course i love them, but they sure know how to make me feel like i'm not up to the challenge of motherhood. they give me a run for my money daily. they are what you might call "a handful."

on the flipside, we had a joint check-up today and they are both normal, healthy, perfect little girls. they were very well behaved, too, and there were no tears even though there were some shots. i guess all the practicing with the doctor's kit ellie got for her birthday prepared them for today.

as we walked in to see the doctor, ellie asked, "who's getting stitches today, mommy?"
"nobody!" i said, and i sure hope it stays that way for a while.

my little easter bunnies.

beautiful girls. beautiful day, even if it is rainy and dark.
and beautiful chocolate. so much chocolate.
we don't even focus on the easter bunny. we focus on the chocolate.

but really,
i love that my little girls know that Jesus died for us but, you guys, "HE CAME BACK!"
even though there's so much that i don't understand and so much i have yet to become,
i can try my hardest to be kind, loving and more like Jesus Christ every day.
and in the meantime i have this beautiful world and beautiful people to inspire me and lift me up along the way.


happy passover. happy easter. happy spring.
it is a time for celebrating miracles and these are two of mine.

potty training.

we've been potty training this month.
on the afternoon of february 1, ellie decided to wear underwear, and we've been going with it ever since. i think ellie has been more difficult to train than some, but she's at least willing and we're working hard.

nobody told me how tough it is to do this! the first two weeks i thought i would go (had gone) insane. i felt like i couldn't do (literally) anything around the house because i was constantly waiting for the next trip to the potty. as soon as i started in on anything - cooking, laundry, a shower, whatever - we'd be running to the potty. it was worse than having a newborn, in my opinion. i mean, we lived in the bathroom. even now, almost a month in, it's still hard to leave the house - ellie doesn't like going anywhere but home and, although we have a potty in the van, it doesn't always cut it.

sometimes poppy tries to get in on the action so she can have m&ms, too. after ellie goes, both ellie and poppy run to the m&m jar chanting "em en emmms! em en emmmms!" (or "eee mee mee!" as poppy says it.)

you guys, she went all those times. very few of them were just for treats, most were legitimate "go's." do you see now why life had to come to a stop?

all in all, it's fun to see ellie succeed and become more confident in herself. she's really growing up and becoming such an interesting little person. and she's three!!

so proud of my girl.

eleanor marie turns three.

oh, my darling ellie.

three years ago, on a rainy day much like this one, this amazing little person came into my life. she made me a mother. she gave me a new heart.

she's incredibly smart and terribly funny.
i love to hear what she has to say. she almost always has something to say.
i love to answer her questions. she has the best questions.
she is always thinking. she is interesting and interested in everything. she is never, ever boring.
she's beautiful, stubborn, creative, thoughtful, passionate and curious.

i can't believe it has been three whole years.

eleanor marie, you are such a wonderful you.
i wouldn't have you any other way. you're so special.
i love you so, so much.







(we are so excited that she shares february with cousin addie lou and now our newest little friend, baby cousin ethan!)
(and also, potty training has halted any blogging but we are doing well and i have a lot to tell y'all soon.)