Christmas Pictures

Well now that everyone should have their christmas cards here's the rest of the girls chrismas pics.

Happy Happy Joy Joy

The only thing that likes snow more than kids is dogs. I had a lot of fun taking pics of the dogs charging around at the neighborhood park.

Jingle Bells

This picture really needs a great caption . . .

Santa

Well we headed to the mall yesterday to get pictures done for the kids, only to encounter the most inept photographer on the planet. The first indication that things weren't going to go well was that she had a list of poses she wanted the kids to do. Apparently she hasn't worked with many toddlers. She did manage to get one nice picture of Moira, but it really wasn't worth it since I was going to have to go somewhere else to get pictures of Kiah so we ended up with nothing. We did however decide to stop by Santa. Moira has had a healthy distrust of beards since she was born and last year she took one look at old Saint Nick and ran off in the other direction. This Santa was an old pro and took the time to read her a story while the folks before us settled up with the photographer and while we couldn't coax a smile out of her she did agree to sit with him and even squeaked out that she would like a "train present" So all in all I'll call it a success.

Kiah was completely enamored with Santa. It was VERY cute.

Oh the things you can do online . . .

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Christmas pics

Well we took the Christmas pictures today and were fairly successful. You'll have to wait for your cards to see the keepers . . . here are some of the more amusing shots.



I don't want to take the Christmas Picture!!

Moira and Kiah's unbridled enthusiasm for the activity

Where's that ringing coming from??


You can't get out antlers and not expect some dog torture.


As usual we're insanely busy around here. Nick worked anywhere from 12-21hrs a day at work last week. Luckily they met their deadline so things should be back to normal around here. We're all looking forward to some time off around Christmas.

Where does the time go

Well I've been a total blog slacker this month. November's almost over . . .

For starters here are the kids Halloween costumes. Moira was a dragon and Kiah was a knight. Of course despite my best efforts I never managed to get them both in their costumes at the same time which made the adorable picture with both of them impossible. Oh well there's always next year. Moira was pretty anti-costume until we actually went trick-or-treating. Once she scored a few pieces of candy she was really into her costume.

In other news Moira has been really into this butternut squash lately. She carts it all around the house even though she can barely lift the thing. Kiah has figured out how to pull herself to standing and gets really frustrated when she can't.

Nick and I also replaced the molding in the living and dining rooms and repainted both rooms with some help from Gabe. It turned out really nice and I'll put pictures up as soon as we figure out where to put all of the art. In other home improvement news we also purchased the tile for the kids bathroom. We have ambitions to install the floor tiles this weekend. I'm really excited to move forward on this project as our bathroom is also in need of some major remodeling.

Fall

With the weather so nice today we decided to head out to the UW arboretum to enjoy the colors of fall. Both the kids really enjoyed tromping around outside. Mora was full of what's that? and what's it doin'? It was a nice break from our generally hectic weekends.

Kiah hammin' it up

Oooh what's that?

The motley crew

Moira and Dada

Afternoon photo session

Kiah woke up from her nap with a beautiful blush to her cheeks so I pulled out the camera . . . here are a few of my favorites.

Kiah strikes a pose

Vice Presidential Debate

Sick, sick, and more sick

Poor Moira has now been sick for two weeks. She started out with a nasty cold which lasted about eight days. She was better for a day or so and then was really sick again. After a trip to the Dr we discovered she had a severe ear infection in both ears. The poor girl is in so much pain she just goes up to her room and lies in bed. Every night about the time her pain killer wears off I can hear her start to weep in her room. It just breaks my heart . . . and gives me a new respect for what a tough job being a mom is. There is nothing worse than to see your little babies in pain. Not to be out done Kiah caught Moira's cold about a week ago and according to the Dr the ear infection as well. Luckily it had not progressed as far and she seems to be avoiding the pain associated with it thanks to the antibiotics. According to the trusty Internet the antibiotics should start to alleviate Moira's symptoms today.

You never know what you'll find at the thrift store . . .

After Moira was born I started buying kids toys and books that featured border collies. Moira pretty much showed no interest in them and so I've adopted it as a collection of sorts. I figure that it has a fine enough scope that I wont be getting border collie themed toys for every christmas.

Here's Kess helping to model the giant stuffed border collie I scored at value village today. It was only $3 and that will be more than worth the look on Nick's face when h sees it. I also got Moira's halloween costume, but that will stay under wraps until I get Kiah's.

Full House

Well our house is filling up in so many ways! The once demolished bathroom has now been filled with a tub and hardy backer, just the first steps of a very long process as any sort of construction is hampered by sleeping babies. Our Family room has been filled up with Keron's living room set and soon our dining room will be filled up with Ross's parents table and china hutch. Last but not least our bedroom is going to get a make over with a kingsize bed, dresser, and end tables. In addition to all this the current total of living creatures in our house is 4 humans, 4 cats, 3 dogs, and a bunch of fish. Luckily half of the cats and one of the dogs are just here for a short bit because it's starting to get a little crowded around here!

The other big news around here is pigtails! Moira has decided that pigtails are where it's at.

Suki Brings home the Bacon

Suki Wowed us all by winning in three different events at the Regional Disc Dog Championship. She had to compete in the expert division since Kess and I had placed first last year so I was really proud that she won anything at all. She was only 1 point away from making into the finals in the Distance and Accuracy competition, and had it not been for a nature break in the middle of her turn she would have most likely made it into the finals. All in all I was very proud of my silly little dog.

Afternnon photo session

Well it occurred to me today that I had not yet taken any naked baby pictures to torment Kiah with when she got older. Here are just a couple of the many adorable smiles . . .

Blogging Bonanza

Well for a while now our hard drive on the computer has been to full to hold anymore pictures. That problem has been temporarily resolved. I had intended to have everything in neatly organized topics, but time is always of the essence around here so instead here is the summation of the last couple of weeks in no particular order.


With all this hot weather we've been heading down to the beach. It's only about a 10min drive from our house to a nice park right on the water. Moira knows it's her job to convince daddy to go swimming after work and she puts on all of her charms. "pwease da da go swimming, and run and jump in the water pwease

For reasons unknown to me the frisbee dog club uses tie-dye for their performance uniforms. Jennie headed over a couple sat. ago and helped me make some things below are the more successful efforts. Next summer sometime I want to organize a tie-dye bbq before the country fair.

Herding cats . . . getting two kids to smile at the same time is quite a challenge.

Nick officially starts his 1 month off today!! We're looking forward to getting some things doe around the house and plan on spending a week in Bellingham so we'll see everyone soon.

Weekend Projects

Well every weekend seems to fly by. Nick's got several projects in the works, but because of the kids he rarely gets more than 30 min at a time to work on them. A big boon to our home improvement efforts will the the truck Nick purchased with some of the money he got from selling the jeep. It was hard for him to see the Jeep go as he had fond memories of driving around Bellingham with the top off during the summer, but it just wasn't practical for many reasons the least of which being that it could not accommodate two car seats. A nice young guy bought it for his first car and brought the whole family over on the day he handed over the money it was pretty cute, he was calling all his buddies on his phone while he was here to tell them about it.

Within an hour of bringing the truck home Nick was off to pick up dirt and gravel to finish off his drainage/path project.

Dog Days of Summer

It seems like there's always just one more thing I need to get done every day. To think that just a few short years ago I was able to fill my time with 1 husband and 1 dog and 2 cats. There's always room in my heart for more love, but it seems like there's just not enough time in the day to appropriately dole it out to all of the people and critters that would like a slice of the pie.

Luckily it seems like you always find the time for the important things and so the house is a little dirtier and the grass gets a little taller, but it works out in the end. Nick and I manage to find an hour or so every evening for each other and I can generally get both kids to nap at the same time for a little while each day, and believe me I take full advantage of that rare magical time to get everything else done!

As some of you may know Kess was injured pretty badly at the start of the summer, she ruptured a disc in her back. This weighed very heavily on my heart since we couldn't afford to go to extremes for treatment. Luckily it looks like she will not need surgery, but she will have to retire from her various sports. She might be able to compete in some capacity in a few years, but she'll never be the jock she once was. I'll just be happy to see her run again . My dogs mean a lot to me. Taking Kess out for some exercise is one of my favorite activities. I could watch her run all day long, I think she's beautiful and graceful and she's the most athletic dog I've ever encountered. Since she's been injured it has taken away the one thing I did to get some me time. As a result Suki and I have finally had a chance to bond. Now comparing Suki to Kess is a bit like comparing a thoroughbred to a donkey, but she's come into her own and is a sweet little dog who always tries her best, which is something to be commended.

This summer has just flown by with so much on my mind and I'm almost looking forward to the quiet grey days of winter. Nick is finally taking his paternity leave starting in mid August. Having another set of hands around all day will be amazing, and hopefully we can conclude a few of the many half finished projects throughout the house.

Moira's and Kiah's first Sailing Adventure

Saturday was beautiful in Seattle, there was a light wind and calm seas so we headed to Juju and Pauls boat after the kids naps for an afternoon on the water. We sailed over to Bainbridge Is. where we dropped the crab pot and anchored for a bbq dinner. We had a great time and Moira quickly got over her fears and was trying to clamber all over the boat by the end of the trip.

Capt. Judy

The first mate and his trusty sidekick

Kiah gets a quick sailing lesson from Juju

The motley crew

Nick decides to jump in . . . Brrrrrr

Moira chillin'

Moira discussing just how big the crab her and Juju caught was. Obviously she's a born fisherman.