Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Summer's HEEEERRRRREEEEEEE!!!!!!!

This is how I know:

green grass

tomato plants

humid air

fireflies

butterflies

and bugs in general

crickets singing

sprinklers

and

sun-kissed cheeks!




Phoenix turned TWO at the end of May!

Guess what he got for his birthday?

(Besides new swim trunks...)

SLIP 'N' SLIDE!!

which is apparently recommended for ages

FIVE and up

oops

oh well -- he still loves it

and so does Lily.

Works for me!


Happy Birthday Phoenix!









Saturday, January 29, 2011

I heart snow days!

The kiddies and I have had so much fun

playing in the snow this week.

Lily is old enough now to throw some really great snowballs

and to take some in return as well!

She spends her time outside

bombarding her mother with snowballs,

sucking snow of her mittens (which look a lot like socks -- weird! ;),

creating snow-track art and snowangels,

building snowmen,

climbing snow "mountains"

and using them as safe havens when her mother attacks back!

She is a tough girl out in the snow.

It took her two hours to realize that all that snow-sucking

had completely soaked her socks, er, mittens

and she was ready to head inside for hot cocoa.


Phinn also enjoys the snow

but only if he doesn't have to step in it

or touch it in general.

His "mittens" stayed dry and kept his hands warm

The. Whole. Time.

He had a great time walking up and down the plowed lane,

telling mommy to throw snowballs at Lily,

listening to Festus Jr practice his gobble,

watching Uncle Robert drive the tractor,

pointing out all the snow that he kept noticing everywhere,

and eating the raisins that we were trying to use for snowman eyes.

He was especially happy to go inside for hot cocoa,

but mostly because that meant...

MARSHMELLOWS!

And who doesn't love marshmellows?

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

I heart Autumn!

I heart crisp cool weather.
I heart leaves changing colors.
I heart hayrides, corn mazes, and pumpkin picking.
Heck! I just plain old heart all things pumpkin
(jack o' lanterns, pie, cookies...mmm).
I heart sweaters.
I heart hats.
I heart shorter days.
I heart autumn hot-air-balloon-festivals
that-are-too-windy-for-hot-air-balloons
and
autumn birthdays-pretending-to-be-summer-luaus.
But I especially heart princesses and cowboys,
or rather,
one particular princess and cowboy.
(I also heart adding photos in backwards chronological order
...you know,...on purpose...
just to see who is paying attention.)
This cowboy needed a little shut eye on the way to the hoe-down!

It's amazing what a hankerchief and a tinfoil belt buckle
can do to transform a boy into a COWBOY...
but he came up with tough guy look all on his own
-- by taking a tumble a couple weeks before! Augh!


If you know Lily well,
then you probably didn't bother
asking what she wanted to be for
Halloween. :)



This is what happens
when you ask two small children to
"not touch the flags," "stand still,
and
"look at mommy and smile"
on a very windy day --
was it too much to process?


Here's a picture of our happy boy pre-shiner!

And, of course, our happy girl hamming it up!
The weather was beautiful for the luau.
We even had an active volcano!

Monday, August 2, 2010

Our little ballerina

Just a few pics of Lil's last dance classes,
then a few more from her recital.



Isn't she lovely?
And,
YES!,
half the fun of a recital
is:
wearing make-up!
She looks so confident!

Here she is fresh off the stage!
It was so cool to have our family there, too --
Auntie Becca, Uncle Ia and Cousin Marleigh
made a special trip out to be there!
Thanks guys!
(And a special thanks to Grampa
who endured a very LONG ballet recital
just to be there for Lily's
five minutes
on stage...
we only heard snoring a couple of times! :o)

Special hugs with Gramma!
Lily was so proud to have her there
and to show her the award she'd received.
You did a beautiful job Lily!







Phinn's 1st Birthday

The family all came together
to celebrate
Phoenix's
1st Birthday
in May.
We had a simple dinner of
lasagna, garlic bread and salad.
It was so good to see
uncles and aunts
from near and far
on this special day. He was fascinated by the balloons.
(and a little overwhelmed by all the company
thus the serious face)
Lily, on the other hand,
fell in love with Great-uncle Richard
and stayed by his side the whole time!
Cake, schmake...everyone else thought it was great!


He was happy to feed cake to Mommy however.

He knew JUST what to do with a toy truck!
Many thanks to Great-Uncle Phil who provided Phinn
with his first gender-NOT-neutral gift! :o)
It was a hit!

Can't believe my baby is a year old!
So happy he is part of our family.




Better late than never

Some spring photos of my babies on the farm:



Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Farmer Frank

Frank has kinda taken to this rural life.
He helps with the mowing,
the tilling,
the fowl-ing
(is that a word?)
Here he is letting some of the chicks stretch their legs.


And here he is holding Festus hostage.
Don't worry - he deserved it!