A Day at the Park, Part II

Here is the second installment from our day at the park.

I like to call this first group my "action" shots. I know there is one of A. and N. that are not even remotely in focus, but I like them anyway.







This next group is from the nature hike portion of our outing. I love A.'s hands in the nut photos. Actually, I love the girls' sweet little hands in general.

Change Is Bad...

And let me tell you why. My husband is much more tech-y than I and loves to update SUSE whenever a new version comes out. Every time this happens I can never find my pictures or the programs I use to modify them. I am going to use this change as a part of my excuse for neglecting my blog for such an embarrassing length of time. I will also use it as an excuse for the less than stellar quality of some of these pictures.

Let's begin our journey of the holiday season with Thanksgiving (yes, I am that far behind). The girls and I went up to my to my brother-and sister-in-law's house for a few days. Les was sick and stayed home with Zeke. Here's a couple of pics of the girls with their cousins. They had a BLAST!





Moving on to Christmas, our next stop is the week of gingerbread houses. Here are the ones they made at school. I went in that afternoon to help, and it was a blast. As you will see, they also thoroughly enjoyed eating them.






A few days later my mother-in-law came down to babysit the kids while hubby and I went to his work's Christmas party. They made a beautiful gingerbread house that became our centerpiece for the rest of the season. Marvel in its splendor.




Christmas morning.






And 3 lovely ladies in their Christmas best.

Slacker

Yes, that is what I have been when it comes to this blog--a slacker. However, I do solemnly swear that I will new posts and pictures up by this weekend. In the meantime, I would like to share with you a new blog dedicated to getting healthy and losing weight that a couple of girlfriends and I are starting. It's primary purpose is to provide motivation and support to those who need it (read we three gals--we're not the most internally motivated people around) while embarking upon a healthier lifestyle. We'd love to have you all join us there!

Fantabulous Photo Shoot Extravaganza

We had a little photo session yesterday because we are too cheap to pay for professional photography and I thought you might enjoy some of the results.

Our first model is E.






Up next is A. She takes her modeling very seriously.






We can't forget N.






And finally, the twins showing the love.

Artsy Phartsy

I have been trying to improve my artistic skills, such as they may be, and thought I would share what I I have been up to with the class. I did these folders for the girls.

This is a snippet from an illustration in Ferdinand by Munro Leaf. I LOVE that book.

Obviously, this is from Thumbelina. I spent hours of my childhood staring at this picture. It made such an impression on me that I saved it all these years.

Last but not least, is Toad from the Frog and Toad series. Toad kills me. I identify with him, as sad as that statement may sound.

One of my favorite illustrators of children's books is Jan Brett. She is so amazing. Even if you don't have children I strongly recommend checking out her work. Especially The Hat and The Gingerbread Baby because there is so much going on in every page. So what are some of your favorite children's books?

Trick or Treat

Just try and tell me you don't want throw candy at your computer screen right now. They were so excited about trick or treating this year. All in all they made out pretty well. They even scored some good chocolate for mommy and daddy :)

Drum Roll Please

And now presenting the a-mazing E! Watch as this 6-year-old girl makes dogs out of balloons--after only seeing it done twice--right before your very eyes!

If only I were technologically advanced enough to maximize the technology that I possess and knew how to transfer what's on my video recorder to the computer, but I can't so I suppose we will have to settle for a still photo. Please try not to cry, I know you are disappointed. I have to say my jaw about hit the floor when I saw her do it. She seriously only saw them do twice and then retained that information overnight to perform it the next morning. Kids are amazing.