Indentured Daughters

Jared pointed out this morning that the girls will owe us lots of money for raising them, so we decided to celebrate Thanksgiving by putting them to work immediately.  We must get our money's worth.
Charlotte cleaned some windows that she had previously colored on with crayon. 

She actually really liked doing it.  She got mad when I told her she was done.  

Katie made the rolls for Thanksgiving dinner all by herself.

This is where she said "Ta Da!"  I'm not kidding- she said that just as I took the picture.

So there you go.  Indentured daughters working off their debt.  Next week I plan to get them started on cleaning gutters and then scraping our popcorn ceilings.

Time Out

And if that's not enough for you, then you can watch this video in which they express their opinions of each other, time out, me, and the entire world (If you can't hear it very well, they are taking turns doing raspberries).

Yep, that's about right

So....last night was Halloween.  Did you know?  I took this fantastic video of Charlotte running around in circles and Katie turning her back to me and both of them pretty much ignoring me.  They're off to watch tv and nothing can deter them. Yep, that's about right. 

In other news, they did briefly interrupt their tv-watching experience to say hi to Mummu and Granny. 

Happy Halloween everyone!

We like used some power tools and junk!

Sooooo. Jared and I made a heardboard yesterday.  That's right.  Jared was all manly and stuff and used power tools.  I was manly too I guess because I also used power tools.  In fact, I did a bunch of things I have never done before.
1.  Used a circular saw to cut boards.
2.  Thought about how much it would hurt if I dropped said circular saw on my toes.
3.  Used a nail gun.
4.  Thought about how much it would hurt if I dropped said nail gun on my toes.
5.  Used wood glue but did not think about how much it would hurt if I glued my toes together.  I know you thought I was going in that direction.  That's just plain ridiculous people.  I thought about how much it would hurt if I accidentally glued my eyelids together.  That is a perfectly valid fear.
So where is this beautiful masterpiece you might ask?  It's in our garage waiting to be distressed and stained. 

We were going to get started on the sanding and distressing last night, but guess what?  I took a trip with Charlotte to the Urgent Care instead where she watched Ice Age a couple times while we waited to see how many breathing treatments it would take for her airways to get back to normal.  In case you're wondering, it was 3.  The poor kid was having a terrible time breathing, but they gave her her first ever otter pop and she was pretty happy.  The doctor said that she may have lots of these recurring attacks this fall and winter, and this is the second one so far.  Lucky us!  Anyway, she's doing a lot better today.  The staining will have to wait for another day.

Our Almost Apple Picking Trip

This is where we almost went apple picking.

This is why we only almost went apple picking.

Waking up at 1 o'clock for an hour and not napping the day before makes for a very grumpy Charlotte.  Doesn't she look just as tired as can be?

Doesn't Katie look solemn in her dad's sunglasses?  I kept trying to get her to smile but no dice.

Here are some pictures of them in happier times before the long car trip and before they took out their hair bows.  I should just give hair bows a rest, I know, but I can't help myself.     

Maybe next year all our pictures will have smiles in them. :)

An Ode to Tillamook Cheese

Oh Tillamook cheese.
How I do miss yeese.
Please get distributed to Georgiaeese.

I might miss Tillamook cheese more than I miss my family. I saw this picture on Our Best Bites today almost started crying. Ok, not really but I was close. Ok, not close so much as I thought it would be funny if I actually did start crying. Love you Tillamook!!!!!!

Fashion From A Two Year Old

Isn't it awesome?  We've got a navy hoodie, a green Tinkerbell shirt, purple leggings, and hot pink slippers.  Her only competition for true fashion leader is her sister.  I'm not sure Charlotte can compete with the purple leggings though.  She went with the classic black knit pants instead.

They're not sure who the winner is, so they decide to hug it out.

And because they've been fighting a lot lately, I'm posting another picture of them hugging so I can remember it later on when they're screaming at each other.  "My daddy!  No!  My daddy! "No, not yours.  Mine!" etc......

P.S. You're not crazy.  I did post two things in two days.  It's because today is my mom's birthday, and she told me I needed to post something as a birthday present.  See what an obedient daughter I am?  Happy Birthday Mom. 

What Happens When You're Late for Church

You have children who run crazy in the foyer.

[Imagine a picture of the girls running crazy in the foyer.  It happened.  We just don't have a picture of it.]

Then you have children who chill with some of their nursery friends under the side table in the foyer.

After they're done hanging out, they run crazy in the foyer again.

[Imagine another picture of the girls running crazy in the foyer.]

And then they go to nursery where they can run crazy in a sanctioned evironment.

[Imagine a picture of Jared and me being relieved that they are finally running crazy in nursery and not in the foyer.]

Sprinklers and Happy Birthday

It's Jared's birthday today.  Instead of embarrassing him with one of those 33 things I love about my husband on his 33rd birthday blog things, I'll just write a blog post about the girls running through the sprinklers instead.  I'm sure he'll appreciate it much more.  So here it is.  Happy Birthday Jared! 

Ok people.  I'm a genius (maybe I shouldn't say this about myself on Jared's birthday).  Jared got us a new sprinkler, and I thought it would be fun to get the girls' swimsuits on and let them run through it.  And it was fun.  In fact, they had the best. time. ever.

You can tell by all the yelling when we turned off the water.  And all the shaking that little Katie was doing even as she asked for "more some" water.  You don't truly enjoy something unless you're shivering to death, right? 

This is totally random, but doesn't this picture look like the watering can is going into Katie's back?

Doesn't this one look like my new basil plant is not happy?  Oh and like Charlotte is the cutest thing ever.

Along with her sister of course.

Anyway, they had a great time.  I am a genius.  That is all.  Oh wait.... and just one more thing for the 3rd time.  Happy Birthday Jared!!!!!!!!!

After the Nap

Ok, so I came in to get the girls after their nap the other day and this is what I found.

Yes, Charlotte climbed out of her bed and into her sister's.  I had no idea she could even do that.  The weird thing is that all the sudden she seemed a little ashamed of herself. "Go away, Mommy.  Don't look at me!" 

"No really, go away!"

"Ok, nevermind.  You can stay.  I'll look at you again."

"And now I'll smile like crazy.  Yes, I'm temperamental like that." 

Meanwhile, Katie has pretty much been saying "Hi Mommy!  Change my diaper please!" this whole time.

On a completely unrelated note, my birthday present finally arrived!   Isn't it beeeeyoootiful?  I (uhh I mean Jared) ordered it off Etsy and had a problem with the first one the Etsy lady sent, so it was really late.  I think it was worth the wait.

Eating Cereal and Watching TV

So I promise this is not usually allowed behavior, but Charlotte was just so cute when she took her cereal over to the family room so she could watch TV that I had to take pictures instead of yelling at her.

Notice her broken stroller.  They both broke their strollers within a day of getting them.  Silly babies.  Anyway, she loves her cereal.

Katie loves her thumb.

And they both love TV.

Midnight Snack

So last night around midnight, Charlotte started crying inconsolably.  I'm not sure why she started crying, but the only thing that made her stop was my offer to let her watch TV in our room. Katie had woken up too and jumped at my offer.  Literally.  She was on her stomach sucking her thumb and jumped up to her feet in one smooth motion when I asked Charlotte if she wanted to watch Minnie (aka Mickey Mouse Playhouse). And what kind of midnight TV watching experience is complete without a snack? 

Need a close up?  Or course you do.  We've got all the usual suspects- Charlotte and her fafie and Katie and her ducky.   

You can't really tell that well in these pictures, but Charlotte's eyes have turned a light brown color.  They honestly took over 2 years to turn from a grey to a green and now to a brown.  I thought it was normally faster than that.  Anyway, there it is.  Our midnight snack (ours because I ate the granola bar that Charlotte didn't want).

Sleeping...... Or Not

Ok, so we put the girls down at 7, but sometimes they don't really go to sleep until more like 8:30.  I love 7.  It is my favorite time of day.  Some day we will have to bow to the inevitable and put them down at 8.  For right now, though, 7 it is.  Anyway, sometimes we hear them laughing so hard in there that we have to go in and investigate.  This is what we found one night.

Do you like the way Katie's nonchalantly getting rid of her pants?  Who needs 'em?

Yes, Charlotte still sleeps with a pacifier or "fafie" as she calls it.  She must have it or the world will end.

I caught Katie and Mickey peeking at me through the bars.

After their night time photo shoot, they did finally settle down and go to sleep.  As I'm sure you noticed, they only went to sleep after taking off their pajamas.  Well, at least they're asleep.  Could have been worse.  They could have taken their diapers off too. 

Book Slump

Well I haven't done any book reviews lately. I think the last one I did was back in December. I've really been in a reading slump. I've just been really impatient with everything- characters who are too stupid to live, plots that are too ridiculous to be believed, and endings that are too horrendous to be mentioned. You can tell I've been grumpy with books lately. That being said, I have enjoyed a couple books. Ok two. Two books in five months! Is it that hard to find good books? Anyone who has an idea, give me one please. Anyway, the books I've liked are The Evlolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly and The Help by Kathryn Stockett. I know. One is a book aimed at young teens and one is aimed at the book club set. The ways of my brain are strange.

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate is about a young girl growing up in Texas at the beginning of the 20th century. Callie is the only girl in a large weatlhy family and is expected to learn all the domestic skills necessary to run a big house like the one she is growing up in. However, she likes rambling outside more than learning housekeeping and is the despair of her mother. Her somewhat crusty naturalist grandfather takes an interest in her after she plucks up the courage to talk to him about his work, and they start to bond over collecting specimens and observing nature. Ok, I'm starting to get bored by my description. I'm a little rusty at this. What I really liked about the book and what is missing from my review is Callie's voice. It is all told from her perspective, and I thought she was charming. I particularly liked the scene where she and her best friend take part in their first and last piano recital. Ahhhh vomiting at a piano recital, who hasn't felt like doing that? Anyway, I enjoyed it and hope the author writes another book about Callie and her family.

On to the next book. Like The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, The Help is totally book club bait. But also like The Guernsey etc etc, I really liked the book. It is told from the perspective of white and black women in the South during the 60s. A wealthy white girl comes home from college without receiving her M.R.S. degree and feels a little like she's a failure for not being married. A black woman works for a young married woman and pretty much raises her daughter, but she has to use a bathroom out in the garage so she doesn't contaminate the family's other bathrooms. Another black woman can't keep her mouth shut and loses almost every job she ever gets. Skeeter, the white girl, sees how her friends treat their black maids and gets the idea to write a book of the maids' stories from their own point of view. At first none of the maids in town want anything to do with this crazy white girl, but they end up doing it. (Well of course they do or there wouldn't be a book, right?) There is a fall out from the book, and it is frequently not good. Of course, it's also not always bad, and that's what I liked. It showed the negative and the positive in the relationships between these women. And let me just say that I will never look at a chocolate pie the same way again. I laughed really really hard about that although it was really really nasty. Read the book and you'll know what I'm talking about.

And that is my measly store of good books. Hopefully I'll have a better track record in the next five months.

Mummu and Grandpa Visit

So Jared's mom and dad visited us at the end of March. "But it's May!" you say. All I have to say is, "Yep, it is." And now on to the pictures. The girls pretty much felt that their grandparents' blow up beds were their blow up beds.
Katie would have slept there if we had let her.
This was our dinner at a nice restaurant in Savannah. You can imagine what the patrons thought of Charlotte eating spaghetti with her hands and then dipping said hands over and over again in her water cup. This is Sisko in the courtyard of our hotel there in Savannah.
Charlotte thought it was the best hotel she had ever stayed at. Maybe because it's the only hotel she's ever stayed out, but that doesn't diminish its awesomeness.
And speaking of Savannah, look at that Spanish moss (which apparently is neither Spanish nor moss).
Ok, enough of Savannah. Here are the babies appropriating their grandparents' beds again. Only this time, they brought a bunch of their toys.
We also went to this German town about an hour north of our house. I know, a little German town in Georgia is pretty random.And that's about it. Their visit made a big impact on the girls. Katie and Charlotte talk about mummu and papa all the time now. Katie has started to point at strangers who have Sisko's same hair color and say, "Mummu!" Thanks for visiting us. We had a lot of fun!