Even Breakfast is a Photo Opp

Even if the frequency of my blog posting suggests otherwise, there isn't much that doesn't constitute a photo opportunity around here. Take yesterday's breakfast for example. Sarah's days in the high chair are almost behind us, and she joins us at the table for most meals. She feeds herself nearly all the time....even cereal with milk.


Bonus: She's incredibly tidy and uses a cloth to wipe up every little drip! Girls are awesome.


But it's not all sugar and spice! We are still waiting for Sarah to start communicating in ways other than grunting, whining or repeating "Mama! Mama! Dadda! Dadda! Mama?!" at top volume. It'll come. For the meantime, she continues to get her way with one flash of those pigtails!

Little Kids, Big Tree

Just a little glimpse at what camping with these two monkeys is like. Lots more pics to come.

The Day We Forgot The Camera...

....is the day we drove waaaay up a logging road on Mount Baker, right to the snow line. The day we watched chunks of ice being blown around the lake. The day Matt didn't feel the urge to jump in a mountain lake. :) The day the kids got to throw snowballs in July (I'm a little behind). The day we saw a bear. And the day we tried to capture it all with a cell phone camera. Sigh.
Testing camera phone....

Liam told us "the snow is kind of 'brrrr' cold!"


That's a pretty steep cliff behind you, Matt!


Do you see the bear?

Sick Day

This photo was taken on our camping trip at Manning Park a couple of weeks ago. Those tears are pretty "awwww" inducing. (She wasn't happy we made her wear her ladybug poncho in the rain.)
Today, our little ladybug is not feeling so well. Whatever she's come down with certainly has all the markings of a norwalk-y type virus, but so far the rest of us are faring well. (Knock on wood!) Glad we weren't in the tent last night. Because we would have had to burn it this morning.

Pineapple Psychology

Liam loves helping in the kitchen and one of his favorite activities is "decorating" his own pizza. Sarah thinks we don't notice her shoveling fistfuls of pineapple into her mouth. Truth be told, I "unleashed the beast" so that she would eat the pineapple, thus convincing Liam that he, too, must have a share of the highly coveted golden morsels. He doesn't like pineapple. But if that means Sarah gets it all...then all of a sudden his tastes have changed! (I tried this out with tomatoes last night. So far I'm 2 for 2.)

Couch Potato

It doesn't happen very often that Sarah is the first kid out of bed in the morning. Normally Liam starts chanting "The sun is up! The sun is up!.....The sun is up!" which means we are all up, but Sarah happily coos away and plays with her crib toys and books. However, skating lessons are doing a number on Liam and not only did he nap yesterday and today (wooo hooo!) but he was fast asleep at least half an hour longer than Sarah this morning. In my effort to extend that stretch I gave in to Sarah's demands for cartoons, which looks like this: crawl onto couch, cover legs with blanket, point at TV, grunt.
Here she is, totally engrossed in Curious George....


Too hot for blankets, I guess.


She is not picking her nose, here. I kind of wish she was, considering she was actually shushing me!


I was so annoying, she had to get away from the mamarazzi.

Rhymes with "Kevin"

See the guy in the yellow helmet? That's Kevin. Or, "Heaven", as Liam refers to him. (He won't budge on this.) But whatever you prefer to call him, he is Liams skating instructor!
Liam's first Snowbunnies class was yesterday and he's definitely in an immersion based program....he has class every day this week!


By the end of the week the goal is that he can stand up and maybe take a couple of steps on his own. Yesterday was a good day. Today was not. His attention was elsewhere and he did his best rag doll impression, staring up at the ceiling lights until someone else would drag him around the rainbow. Another Mom dragged her slightly older son out of the rink for a Time Out for similar behavior. I'm not sure I'm so....intense? I guess we'll see how tomorrow goes!
These pictures are all from yesterday when crashing to the ice was still novel. :)