You know you're not taking enough pictures when...

Your 2 year old says "I need to cheese the camera, Mom."

Merry Christmas everyone!

I had hoped to have a longer post, but such things are not to be, apparently. I've got a toddler whose sleep drive still overpowers her present drive, but she should be awake any minute. I've got a turkey in the oven for our late lunch with the family today, and croissants cooling on the counter for breakfast.

Just wanted to stop in and wish you all a Merry Christmas, and we hope that you are all well.

Catching up again.

We've been having issues with our internet connection this week, so I haven't been able to get updates up as much as I'd like to. But let's see if we can't get this one out at least.

Aunty Lindsay came for a visit on her way from Spain to Oregon. We were very glad to see her. Katie spotted her at the airport and flew across the room and jumped on her. Aunty seemed to think that was a good deal.

Katie monopolized ever second she could, of course. Because it's so much fun when Aunty is staying at our house. They played dress-up and Legos.

And Aunty brought Katie some fancy slippers from Morocco. Katie calls them "princess shoes."During naps, Aunty tried to get some of her work done, but the cats spotted her there with a blanket, and we all know how that ends...

And there was more dressing up. And chocolate eating, apparently.

We got the Christmas tree put up and decorated (Aunty has those pictures and she hasn't shared yet!) Most of our ornaments are unbreakable, so Katie got to do lots of decorating. We put up the stockings.

Well, some of us did.

And we went shopping for Aunty to get some warm winter clothes. She came from southern Spain and dropped about 35 degrees Celcius during her flight, so she was a bit chilly.

It's a rough life.

Wouldn't you agree?

At least until your kid joins you. Look at those grey eyebrows! That's the only indication that she'll be 10 in a few months.

Sunday evening was the town Christmas Parade. We had a great time. It was pretty cold, but the turnout was good, the floats were beautiful, and we got to see Santa. They had hotdogs and hot chocolate after, and a bonfire and fireworks. Katie was all excited to sit on Santa's lap until we got to the front of the line, so we didn't push it. Plenty of time for that later.

Lots of playing in the snow though.

It's funny to me that a kid who is so opposed to dirt doesn't mind at all when there is snow touching her.

You can't handle the cute!

This one is from Monday. They do enjoy each other's company so much.

Wednesday, we had our last "fwimming" class, and Katie passed with flying colors. She even got a little book with a badge that says she can join the sea turtle class when she turns 3. (That's the first class without Mom.)

And today's pictures.

Trey came over this afternoon. He's spending the night tonight, and so far, so good. They are in the same room, but they listen pretty well, and it's been quiet long enough that I think they are sleeping. Or maybe they're just getting into tons of mischief...

This is what happens when Trey comes.
You know, because it was 3 whole hours since they saw each other last. Seriously.

And then they play and play and play. And in between, they eat. More than you would think possible.

And they demolish the living room. No worries though, I didn't pick it up from yesterday when Katie started the demolition by herself. Now it's clean, because Bailey would start eating toys otherwise.

They talked to Grammy "on a 'puter". Katie's an old pro by now, but Trey's a newbie and it took him a bit to figure out what was going on with that.

Then Miss Bossypants tried to help Trey put his socks back on. He wasn't sure that he needed the help. Or that he really wanted them on at all.

And then they spent the rest of the evening doing this. It's 5 seconds of very blurry video, but the little squeals of delight are priceless.

I think I might be crazy

Katie had her first slumber party a couple weeks ago when we were at Andrew's company Christmas party. She's having her second this week. At our house. And Andrew won't be here.

Check back on the weekend to see if I survived!

Funnies

Trey came to play with us again today. There was some giggling and playing in the other room, then I heard "MOMMY! HIDING!"

Then I heard "Hiding! MOM!" He doesn't seem to get that my name isn't actually 'Mommy.'
Cute though. They thought it was so funny that I would take their pictures under the door.

Here's another funny thing. I look at my cats and I don't see a huge size difference. Mostly because the only time they cuddle is when they are in my lap, and a lapful of cat is a lapful of cat. Then I dug out this bed again.

It's a big bed.

And he is a BIG cat.

Not sure if I've mentioned it before, but I'm sure you've noticed the lack of Nemo pictures. He tore through the screen and the storm window in the basement and escaped. We see him from time to time and we keep a bowl of food out for him, but he doesn't want anything to do with us. He runs and hides almost as soon as he sees us.
As you can see, Remy does not share those tendencies.

The bird feeder.

It's an interesting place, really. And very educational. We have Pine Grosbeaks visit us in the Spring and Fall, and they are stunning. Dark-eyed Juncos herald the Spring. There are various other visitors throughout the Spring and Fall, and I do try to get a good picture of them but some are so jumpy.

These guys are used to me. They hardly fly off when I walk out the front door. They're also very quick, so it's hard to get a picture of their faces. These little birds will also land on my hand when I offer them some of Charlie's grain on very cold days.
Black Capped Chickadees

The nuthatches got to know me last winter, and I don't believe they ever left, so they'll sit around and pose. I had to start using pre-shelled birdseed because they would sort all the millet out of the mix and leave it all over the porch. Andrew was not pleased. So far, nobody wastes any of this stuff, so it has the added benefit of lasting longer between refills.

This little guy is very timid. I had to stand very still next to the window for a long time to be able to get this picture. Not sure if it's one of the ones that was here last winter or not, but it's fun to see them so close. He's a very tiny woodpecker. We also get big woodpeckers but they tend to stay in the trees. Or hammer on our furnace chimney. Whatever. Reminds me, I need to go get them a new suet bag.

Another play day.

Go figure. Seems like we have play days more often than non-play days.
We played Ring Around The Rosy

And then everyone fell down!

Then we needed a snack, because we played so hard.

What a fun day!

Today Trey came to play with us again, and he and Katie had so much fun.

They went for a horseback ride,

They played peekaboo.
(and let's climb all over the tower for an hour)

Then we built a fort and they were so very excited.

Then Trey climbed on top (where the tower was on it's side) and fell through.

And they decided that that game was even better than having a fort.
You'll notice that Katie is much more cautious than Trey, who just plunked his bum down in the middle.

And then Trey went home and Katie went to bed, and the cats got to play.
I guess Mooch likes the tunnel the best. Remy, apparently, just likes the blanket.

Your morning funny.

Katie likes to eat cold cereal for second breakfast. This morning's choice was raisin bran, because it has a picture of "cat food" on the front. (the scoops look just like our cat food scoop) And she was very excited because her cereal had yummy beans in it.

K: Katie found a yummy bean!
Me: Honey, that's a raisin.
K: No raisin, brown bean.
Me: Ok.

You just can't argue with a 2 year old.

Fun, fun, fun.

Today Katie found her dress-up bin.

And put on everything in it.
And played me a song.

Here are a couple more from a few days ago.
Feeding Charlie
Looking for Remy

Ack!

Lots of things happening around here. First thing that happened was I put my camera card into my card reader and then promptly lost it. It has been found, and someday soon those pictures will find their way onto this blog. Oh, I guess that wasn't the first thing.

First thing was, I misstepped off our deck stairs on Halloween night when I took Katie to look at the pumpkins and tore a bunch of ligaments in my ankle. So I'm splinted and hobbling around like a pro. Still working out the kinks in driving my 5-speed car with my clutch foot injured.

But we'll figure it out. Family and critters are healthy and well, and we've started getting snow more frequently, and it appears that it will continue as such.

Alphabet Soup

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Happy Halloween!

Katie got to go trick-or-treating this year. It's a bit different here than what I grew up with. I grew up in a temperate climate where we didn't need coats on Halloween. I also grew up in town, so we just walked to different houses. Here, the houses are sometimes miles apart, so we drive.
We do have some friends in town though, so we stopped there and snapped some pictures.

She won't say "trick or treat" she just says "yes please candy". But she's cute enough that no one seems to mind.

Even Bailey got in on the act.

But she just had to stay home.

More cooking with Katie.

But first, the pumpkin patch. No pumpkin pictures, because it was really a bunch of pumpkins in a greenhouse and some fun kid activities, but we had fun.

Katie was a ghost.

Apparently, it was cold. These poor ducks are sitting on the frozen pond.

And now, cooking class with Katie.
Tonight's lesson, Pizza.

First, you have to spread some sauce on. Make sure you get yours good and coated, but don't worry, Mommy doesn't need much on hers.

Then you lick the brush, because that sauce is "yummyummyummy."

Then you put some cheese on, but only on yours. Then you try to share with Mommy, and help her pick it off again. At least you tried.

Mommy gets tomatoes and olives on hers. You don't want any of those weird looking olive things on yours!

Then it bakes a while, Mommy cuts it up for you, and you proceed to refuse to eat it and demand to go to bed instead.