Pirate!!

I came downstairs a few days ago to find that Caroline had Anna all decked out as a pirate. Complete with dish-cloth sash and Mr. Potatohead earring.

Don't get the wrong idea and think this pirate is cute and nice. She's a MEAN pirate. GRRR!!!

Elf girl

Caroline dressed up in a princess dress with a necklace around her head. I thought she looked like an elf from LOTR. All she needs are pointy ears...

Kitchen Remodel 2

These are some pictures taken at roughly the same angle as the before pictures, to make the changes a little more drastic.

All that's left is to finish painting cabinets, get baseboards and a backsplash and our kitchen should be just how we want it.  Then on to the rest of the house...

Kitchen: A Work in Progress

Aaaahhh...the kitchen remodel. Possibly the homeowner's greatest joy.

Even in the face of such beautiful, green-and-brown marbled countertops, the homeowner will not be deterred.

Or the lovely laminate/carpeted flooring.

And there's always the gorgeous strangely-stained, light-brownish dark-brownish blackish cabinets with fantastic circa 1970 hardware.

Goodbye countertops!

Goodbye, floor!

New wood flooring.

New countertops.

Ballerinas and Nutcracker

We took the girls to see Ballet West's production of The Nutcracker. They both loved it. Caroline insisted that she needed a nutcracker for Christmas from Grandma Carol. Then the ballerinas had to have a tea party with the nutcracker as a centerpiece.

Anna and Elephant

Anna loved playing with Elephant at Grandma Carol's house.

Liner and Xena

And Caroline loved playing with Xena at Grandpa Larry's house.

Pajammy Jammin' Band

Presenting the newest, hippest band in the land--the Pajammy Jammin' Band. Featuring:

Hattie on maracas.

Anners on drums.

Caroline on violin.

And the novice member of the band--Nate on xylophone.

Hits include "Twinkle, Twinkle" and "Mary had a Little Lamb." Check your local high-class music store for their latest record.

More Halloween Pictures

Nate and I had pretty original costumes.

Anna's Nemo again.

Caroline's Sleeping Beauty again.

The whole Halloween fam.

Independent Anna

Anna doesn't like me to walk her to preschool anymore (which is just across the street). She wants to go by herself. I snapped a few photos of her riding her "bike" to school this morning.

Halloween!!

The girls had a great time trick-or-treating on Halloween. Our neighborhood is really kid-friendly and they got lots of loot. In addition, they wore themselves out and went to bed early. If only every night could be Halloween...

Caroline as Sleeping Beauty

Anna as Nemo

New Cutest Picture of the Girls

I got the girls to sit next to each other without fighting for about the five seconds it took to take this picture. Then they were back to their usual ways...

Ready for school

I thought Caroline looked so cute in her hand-me-down zebra dress from Ella that I took a picture of her before school this morning.

America's Top Models

We can't take a picture of Dad and his fish without taking pictures of our beautiful selves. Note Anna's beautiful new haircut. Courtesy once again of herself.

Something's fishy around here

Nate's fish he caught up Mayfield Canyon. She fought him so hard that she broke his fishing pole and almost had to sacrifice his cell phone as he dove into the water to wrestle her down.

I told him we should mount it on our wall. But I think we'll eat it for dinner tomorrow, instead.

Future G-gettes

The girls went to a mini-drill camp this week with the high-school drill team. They (or Caroline, rather, since Anna decided she didn't want to) danced at the football game last night. The dancing was really cute, but the football team was down 28-0 when we left just after half time...

The girls with our neighbors Katie and Allie Wegener.

Gee...

We hiked up to the "G" on the hill for FHE a few weeks ago.

The girls thought it was fun to throw rocks down to the town. You can see one of Anna's rocks in midair. I'm such a good photographer that I can get action shots...

Our little town. 

Grandma's Girls

The girls were wimpy a few Sundays ago and thought it was too cold to walk to church without sweaters. They both picked our the sweaters that Grandma Parnell made for them. They looked so cute I made them pose in front of our door that we are oh, so slowly finishing.

San Diego 2

We lost our camera before we could upload the rest of our pictures from San Diego. I found it last week in our underused diaper bag. These pics are from our trip to the dock.

Out of the Mouths of Babes...

Exasperated at Anna, who is a smart three-year-old but who has absolutely no interest in potty training, and upset at having to change my one millionth poopy diaper with no foreseeable end, I said, "Anna, why can't you go poop on the potty? Why is it so hard for you?"

To which Anna's reply was, "Because I'm so so special."