Lucky Lilacs

Last Sunday was one of my favorite holidays: Lucky Lilacs! And for all of you out there who have never experienced the joy of Lucky Lilacs, I promise to shed a few tears for you.



This holiday goes back to my Great-Grandpa Rees, who invented it. Using a special pair of magic eyeglasses it is possible to look deep into a "lucky" lilac to find a prize. Of course, lots of effort is involved. For instance, you must find your own lucky lilac... someone cannot find it for you. Also, the lilac cannot have four petals. This is what makes it lucky. And you cannot cheat by pulling off a petal, or finding a flower on one of those sneaky bushes where the petals come in two rows. After finding your petal you must go to my Aunt Becky and spit on it and blow on it and say all sorts of magic words like "Higgely Piggely" or "Hocus Pocus," and then a picture of where your lucky lilac is hidden appears inside the flower. With a few clues, you're off to the races, searching for your very own prize.



Now that I am married, I do not get to find a lucky lilac... tragic!!! But Meg and Ellie were eligible (cue the Cinderella quote, "And I'm so eligible"... yes, we watch that a lot). Meg didn't really care after all. And Ellie didn't understand why a person should spit on a flower. She refused. Still, after finding her magic prize for the first time (her last lucky lilacs we attended was when she was a baby), it all began to sink in.



Said Ellie: "I've always wanted a wand! I've been wishing for one!"

And yes, I know that almost every picture of Ellie has her wearing a princess dress. But really, nothing can be done about that right now!

Growing Up

Meg is getting bigger and bigger. My sister-in-law, Holly, had her baby this week... (Michelle Nadine Walster, 7 lb 6 0z, 19 in) and we were all amazed by how gigantic Meg looked in comparison. And this baby was 1 lb bigger than Meg started out as. How time flies! So, here's a few growing up photos to show everyone else how Meg is changing:

This is Meg with a styling hairdo. Okay, we were goofing off. Thank goodness the tidal wave is not here to stay. She really doesn't have enough hair anyway. More than Ellie did at this point, but that's not saying much!


I don't think Meg was such a fan either....

Here is Meg using her hands to chew on one of her favorite toys lately. She is very intent. Quite the slobberfest when she gets going.

I Promise I'm Not Stupid

So, a long while ago I decided to make my blog look a little more interesting. Then, I failed to figure it out. Recently I was reading Cathy's blog and I found it amusing we'd had the same problems and ended up with pretty much the same blog background as a result. When all else fails... go with white! So, I decided to try once again. And here it is..... I gave up on having JoLynn's very cool background, but went to the site she had bookmarked: Pyzam. You should try it Cathy. If I could figure it out... you definitely can!

Daddy Daughter TV Date

If you can't eat it the first time... Mom will shovel it back in... OR... Cereal is better on the face than in the tummy!

Meg's been cleared for rice cereal consumption. She's not a total fan of actually eating the stuff, but it makes for a fun family activity.

Family Visits

Justin's sister Bekah had a baby boy soon after Meg was born. Here is the cousin's first visit. Introducing: Baby Russ and Baby Meg!

Okay, so they didn't seem to care too much. They'll be friends later! (As long as one of them doesn't start stealing toys :) )

Words of Wisdom... Ellie Style!

Ellie has been full of all sorts of funny sentences and thoughts this week. So, I thought I'd include a few here. Of course, I'll probably forget them all now that I'm sitting down to share them. Here goes...

Ellie: Mom, Meg's a baby so she can kick whoever she wants.

Ellie: Mom, I don't look like a missionary anymore.

Mom: Why not?

Ellie: Because I stopped marching.

Ellie: I need to put my princess dress on.

Dad: Why?

Ellie: Because when I have my slippers on without my dress I look like a Grandma.

Aunt Bekah: Are you a ballerina, Ellie?

Ellie: No. First I need to listen to Miss Kathy (her ballet teacher).

Ellie: Where's Dad?

Mom: He's taking a shower.

Ellie: Is he going to work?

Mom: No, he just got back from his bike ride.

A few minutes later...

Ellie: Dad is taking a shower because he's really dirty.

Ellie: Mom, can you put this princess dress on Ava. She wants to wear it.

(This is only funny if you know that Ava was nowhere near our house at the time. When I said I didn't know how to put the dress on Ava, Ellie was very upset.)

Ellie: Get out of here right now!

Dad: Excuse me?

Ellie: Please!

(This is an overheard conversation from Ellie's bedroom after she had "gone to bed." She had wanted to play with Ariel, who had somehow been decapitated earlier that week.)

Ariel (a.k.a. Ellie): Oh, my head fell off.

Bunny (a.k.a. Ellie): Oh, her head fell off.