Tag: pictures

Grass Between Your Toes

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Due to the extremely hot Arizona summers and a slight to severe allergy to Bermuda grass, I don’t spend much time in the green stuff. But this time of year is a different story. The winter Rye grass seeds are all coming up and after two cuttings, our back yard looks like it has been redone with a lush, shag green carpet. But in a good way.

See what I mean?

Bay and I have spent many afternoons laying in the grass, looking at the sky or down into the ground. Kicking a ball or rolling around. Taking pictures and chasing each other. Just enjoying the simplicity of such a lovely thing.

(and yes, I know my Yellow Bells need trimming)

Fresh cut today…if only you could smell how good it smells!

How Fast They Grow

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I was struck by a picture I took of Baylor this weekend. I occurred to me just how fast she has grown. Here’s what I mean:

                       March 20, 2010                        October 22, 2011


Same kid. Same bench. From cruising to climbing.  Several inches and a lot more hair in just a year in a half!

Happy (belated) Halloween!

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Yeah I know this is a day behind, but trying to create Halloween too far in advance is just too much work!

We had a great weekend filled with lots of pumpkin carving – or drilling in Peter’s case (don’t ask because I can’t explain). We had a blast scooping out the guts, trying to interpret what Baylor wanted hers to look like and watching Peter create a master piece using pipe cleaners. Here’s how they turned out:

{Baylor’s classic “pumpin”}

{Peter’s. Enough said}

{And the pièce de résistance – Cannibal Pumpkin!}

This is the first year that Bay really got the whole enchilada. She likes to dress up and she totally got the hang of trick-or-treating once she realized there were M&M’s involved. We were also lucky to inherit a hand me down Minnie Mouse costume from Bay’s cousin Madi. It was the real deal too; dress, ears, gloves, ring, tights and shoes. She was in love. Minnie is one of the only characters she really knows so she was excited to look like one of her favorite “amimals” or stuffed animals.

The gloves didn’t last long and the tights were too hot, but the important parts were there! Including a Minnie bracelet from our super cute neighbor.

First stop of the night

Aunt Christiane  (Titi) and cousin Zoe the Gnome

Enjoying all the candy she could eat!

It’s Nice to Know

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I think every mom worries/wonders/prays they are doing a good job raising their children. And I think often, the little buggers are quicker to pick up on the “bad” or less favorable things we say rather than the good stuff (read Baylor yelling “WHAT DID I SAY?? DID I SAY YES OR DID I SAY NO??” in my tone and inflection).

But once in a while we see them doing something that we know they learned from us. And it’s a nice thing. And it shows that maybe they are getting as much of (or more hopefully) of the good things we’re teaching them and not all the “patience lost” moments. I got a little of this reward on Saturday when I walked by Baylor’s room and found her snuggled in her chair with Minnie Mouse, a blanket and a book. She was quietly “reading” the story to Minnie. I watched her for a few seconds before she looked up and smiled and then went back to her book.


Will You Be My Neighbor

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Saturday night we hosted a neighborhood party. We decorated our front patio with the straw bales from Trunk or Treat (which were actually quite handy), iced down the drinks and set out snacks and set out to chat with our neighbors for a longer stretch of time than it takes to walk by their homes with Bear.

I was a little nervous about it because we know and like a good 70% of our neighbors, but we’ve never had a social setting where we were all together. I was worried people wouldn’t get along or wouldn’t talk – and I was totally wrong. Everyone had a ball and stayed until the wee hours of the night (thank you MH for the delicious wine, however my head did not thank you on Sunday am). The kids ran around like banchies and there wasn’t one fight or tear. They were all having a fantastic time playing tea party, pushing baby strollers and dressing up in capes.

As usual, I got great before pictures, but I was having such a good time, I didn’t get any during the party! But here’s our lovely patio:

{I love the lime green and the orange together}

{Straw seating – we also used it to corral the kids and keep the Bear from running away}

{Our newest Halloween decoration – Baylor shouts “BOO!” at him at least once a day}

{I couldn’t get over how beautiful the Yellow Bells were against the blue sky}

{Looking down the street for her buddy, Britain}

{I always complain that I’m never in any pictures because I’m always taking them – but my little lady was not in the mood to cooperate (I’m literally hanging on to her). Oh well!}

Trunk or Treat

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We went to our first Trunk or Treat at Bay’s school on Friday night…and we have 4 bales of hay to prove it.

Trunk or Treat is a big event where families volunteer to bring their cars and decorate the trunk. Then all the munchkins dress up and trick or treat – or trunk or treat –  at each car. It’s kind of like a tale gate for trick or treating. And it was awesome.

I signed up to be on the planning committee and when I explained the process to Peter, he immediately said “We’re going to do a trunk, right?!”. A little shocked by his enthusiasm I said of course we were. We settled on a western theme and set out to find bales of hay to put in the back of the truck. I got cowboy hats and bandannas to decorate several pumpkins and LOADS of pretzels, Goldfish and candy to give out. I had two crock pots of chili cooking all day (our house may never get the smell out!) and my mom brought a third to contribute to the total of 18 crock pots and 100 hot dogs! And not one drop of chili or one singe hot dog was left at the end of the night.

We handed out candy and crackers to tons of Bay’s friends and watched her play and interact with all of them. It was so cute to see all the kids and all the parents put so much work into their trunks. One of my personal favorites was our friends Stephanie and Jeff. Their trunk was filled with luggage and departure and arrival time signs. Stephanie was dressed as a flight attendant and Jeff was a pilot. And Morgan their daughter was a gnome…get it? She was the Travelocity Gnome! So clever and adorably executed!

{Holding down the fort}

{So excited to get started!}

{Good grief! When did she get such long legs?!}

{Noni!}

{Handing out Goldfish}

{Hanging out with our “trunk” neighbors who also had straw}

{Other trunkers}

{Did I mention that she and her work team solicited flight attendants for extra peanuts so they could give out real airline snacks?!}

{The Roaming Gnome, Morgan}

{Baylor said “Truck or Treat!!” because we had a truck, not a trunk. Cheeky girl.}

Fire!!

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Last week, Bay had Fire day at school. I came to help heard the two-year-olds towards the trucks and to the hoses. While I thought the fireman that came was a little underwhelming and not used to being around small kiddos (fire alarms? Sirens? Not smart to do with 2 year olds!) they did have a blast taking turns squirting the fire hose and sitting the back seat of the fire truck.

I never get as many pictures as I want and this time was no exception. The truck was parked near the road (because it had to be) so I was on high alert for runners. But I did manage to get a few good pics in when Bay wasn’t freaking out over the siren – normally she’s a big fan of fire trucks, but being that close and that loud was a bit overwhelming!

{Waiting for their turn with the hose}

{She loved that she was the same size as the tire!}

 

Weekend Recap

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There are a thousand adjectives I can think of when describing our weekend; fun, exhausting, sweaty, family oriented, precious, memory making…the list goes on. We planted flowers, played in the yard, made waffles and watched College Game Day, went to a friend’s surprise birthday brunch, to a school carnival and read lots of books and snuggled in to watch a movie. In a word, I need a weekend after our weekend. But my favorite part is this picture of B after the St. Theresa’s carnival:

The look of sticky satisfaction over the cheap stuffed animal she won and her sucker is priceless!

One Sad Puppy

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Mr. Bear, our sweet old man Wheaton Terrier had a little doggie lypo suction this week. He has had two fatty cysts for over a year and one keeps getting infected. The vet said they were having a teeth cleaning special that included anesthesia and then while he was under, they would lop off the offending lumps.

I was nervous dropping him off yesterday. All I could think was “Are we being silly about this? What if he doesn’t make it through surgery? What if he doesn’t recover because of his age?”. But I trust our vet and have always appreciated her realistic approach to pet care so we kissed him and he scooted through the swinging doors.

They called a few hours later and said he did great. The surgery went very smoothly and the cysts didn’t look cancerous so that’s another win. I picked him up that afternoon and they carried my old man to the car practically held together by what seemed like 1000 metal staples. He sat next to B in the backseat and she said softly “I no touch your ouchies, ok Bear Bear? Feel better Bear Bear” all the way home.

After removing his cone and making him a special dinner of kibble and chicken stock, he started moving around. He is standing awkwardly which I’m praying it temporary, but he’s wagging his tail and moving around so I think he’s on the mend. I can’t believe I’m actually excited about the return of our kid toy eating, jumping on guest, rug peeing fur face. But I am. Get well soon Mr. Bear!

“Seriously Girl? Pictures? I’m trying to recover here. I’m so peeing on your rug when you leave today.”

Wall ‘O Baylor

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I love this. I hang each hand painted animal she brings home from school on the office door. She loves seeing her handy work and it makes me smile each time I walk by.