A Year in Pictures

OK. Not really. Close to 6 months? Yes.

Here's Phoebe's soccer team in October. The Fall season was very odd. Lots of rain means make-up games. The last 2 weekends of the season, we had 7 games. Wheee.

In September, we celebrated Allen's dad's 70th birthday. Lots of fun.



Phoebe's first day of school in August.


In July, we went to the beach in Alabama with two other families. While we were there we also celebrated Josie's 3rd birthday!
Nate enjoying a cupcake.

Jo wearing her birthday crown. She and Emma are eying the cake.


Mmmm. Cake.


Wearing self-applied lipstick, no less.


Beach beauty.

Now that I'm posting, I'm realizing Phoebe seems to have stayed away from the camera at the beach. Must search....



At the beginning of June, the girls and I went to East Texas to hang out with grandparents.
Nothing beats an elephant spraying water into a wading pool.


It may not look like it, but she really enjoyed herself.


Phoebe and Josie with my dad on the swing.

This is my parents' street. Their house is at the top of the hill on the left. Jo and Phoebe are almost to the top of the hill.


This is the intersection near their house.

Staying at Granny's house means going for nature walks with Granny!



Now you're caught up. I think. I'll see if I can find more beach pictures!!!

The Day After

I took a couple of more pictures of Josie today with her hair pulled back. You can really see the new hair style. And yes, somehow she tapered it around her face.

That said, I think when it grows out, I may have to leave her with bangs. They're just so darn cute and she'll look like such a big girl.

Too Long with No Pictures?

Well.

HAVE I GOT PICTURES FOR YOU.



Phoebe and I decide to take a short break from homeschool. While walking through the living room, I notice what looks like black marker on the floor.

I reach down to touch it. It isn't marker. It's fuzzy.
What is it?

Then I turn and my heart stops for MANY reasons:


Guess we need to find an even better place to for those scissors.


It could have been SO much worse. Even when you don't consider the danger of the scissors, it could have been much worse. It looks short on the right, but don't worry, she didn't cut off her long hair in the back.

Luckily (Thank You God) earlier we had put her hair into a ponytail and then clipped the ponytail to the top of her head so that the bottom end of the ponytail was sticking straight out over her forehead.

SO, she got her bangs and a little snip of the pony (which explains the shortness on that little part in the picture). Her bangs were quite thin and wispy, but still.

She's a fun one.

Adventures in Dressing

It's fabulous to be almost 3!





She like tights. And as many pieces of jewelry as she can find.

Phoebe's Birthday Party

Last Friday, Phoebe turned 8 years old! I can't believe she's so big. We measured her when she got up that morning and she's 4'2"! That means she's less that a foot shorter than me.

Conveniently, Night at the Museum 2 was released on her birthday. So, for her birthday she decided she wanted to see the movie and have a sleepover. Her first sleepover. Being the practical and silence loving mom that I am, I told her she could invite 3 girls. In the end, only one girl actually spent the night. The unforeseen bonus of only inviting 3 is that the party favors (I refuse to call them loot bags) can be a lot more fun.


Boas, crowns, beaded feet decorations and TWO things to color all in a cute pink metal bucket. Apparently having 2 crafts pushed the party over into the "best party ever" category.



Here are the girls all ready to go to the movie. They decided not to wear the boas. Phoebe is the only one who made it into the theater with her crown still on. Of course, she'd been wearing it since she got out of bed that morning, so it had become part of her head.


Phoebe's cake from Steins. Yummy.


She seems to be having a good time.



Craft time... a very important part of a birthday party for these girls.



This face says, "Look at me! I'm still up at 10pm! And I just had cake and ice cream!"


Opening presents:



She actually opened this earlier when Allen got home, but she wanted to show her friends the tennis clothes Allen's mom sent her - along with tennis balls and $$ for tennis camp this summer.



All in all, it was a great day.

Jo the Photographer

Josie has been wandering the house with my camera. I love digital cameras. There's no "wasting film". Here's a little look at things from Jo's point of view.

The stairs

Her room

Big sis

Mom

Senna

Her lamb

The living room

Yeah. She's a prodigy.

Two Years Ago Today!

Then



Now

Phoebe's Idea of Heaven?

May 3, 7 months after the exhibit opened, we finally made it to see King Tut. The exhibit closes on May 17.

Last year, in first grade, Phoebe studied ancient Egypt and King Tut so she's been wanting to go to the museum since before the show opened.

I have to say I set myself up to be disappointed. A friend who went a month ago told me that the mummy isn't in the exhibit (which makes sense) and that the death mask in all the ads (yes, that one Phoebe is standing next to above) isn't in the exhibit. What could that possibly leave?!

A silly question, of course. Phoebe even took a spiral notebook to draw and write in as we walked through. I must say, that was a proud mama moment.

Jo...is 2. So she enjoyed it as much as you may expect. Allen was quite the dad and kept Jo moving in the stroller while Phoebe and I went at a more leisurely pace.

It was a great experience. It made me want to renew that museum membership we got at this time last year, even though this was the first time we used it!

New Family Photo

Finally....