Sorry May (and sometimes Fletch)

Poor, poor Maybelle. While she has cost us a (not so) small fortune in medical bills - she has more than paid us back in patience with the girls. Here are some of her finest moments. (and if you're tempted to call animal control on us - I can assure you that she was rescued mere moments after each of these pictures were taken.)
p.s. Kate just said, "Anneliese just freaks me out!" Yes, Kate - sometimes she freaks me out, too.

Just waiting on her Oscar

Kate was born to direct. At first I thought she might be an author or storyteller because of her complete love of and devotion to books. Now I realize those were just screenplays. Here's how 101 Dalmations (+ 1 more - which was Kate) played out over a couple of hours last Friday: Kate as director (mostly in character as "1 more" barking her commands at me (the crew). Occasionally she would throw me a line if she needed me to fill in for one of the characters - but my main duty was to arrange the 101 dalmations into scenes for her to play out. Aaaaaaaannnnnnnnd ACTION:

This is Perdita birthing all 99 puppies (+ 1 more, Kate) Poor Perdita! (Oh, and yes, Kate did pick out her jammies - why do you ask?)

This is all 99 puppies "drinking milk from her boobs" (-Kate) with the loving support of Pongo. Really poor, poor Perdita!

All 99 puppies watching TV at their home. (Notice that Pongo and Perdita are in the picture this time. You'll need this information later.)

Shhhhh! The puppies are sleeping.

Oh no! The puppies have been stolen and taken to Cruella DeVil's mansion!

At least they can watch TV at the mansion! I had originally put Pongo and Perdita in this scene - like the previous TV scene. Sadly, Kate had to come out of character to reprimand me for not remembering that Pongo and Perdita never made it to the mansion. I hate disappointing the boss. (notice that all the very small puppies have been confined to the lunchbox for ease of location change. that was the crew's idea)

Quick puppies! Follow Sgt. Tibbs out of the mansion!

Whew! The puppies have excaped. For now.......

Finally - the end of those stinkin' beach pictures

Since we're too poor to afford real portraits this year - I decided to take a crack at it myself at the beach. Seriously - taking a good picture of more than one kid at a time is miserable. Do they ever both look normal at the same time?! Here's the best of what I got. Let me know your vote for the "Christmas present" picture that we'll give to all the family!

Random beach pics

Including Omi and Papa. Thanks for the beach house!

Back from the beach!

Well - it went by super fast, but we had such a great time at the beach. I also took tons of pictures, so prepare yourself! Kate has turned into a crazy, wave jumping dynamo, which occupied vast amounts of our time. Gotta love the free entertainment! - And check out that form!

The Unforgettable Fair

Next month we're taking Kate to Disneyworld for the first time. While we're in Florida, Anneliese is going to be pretty well spoiled by both sets of grandparents - but since she's not going on the big trip this time, we decided to take just Anneliese to the Dixie Classic Fair (it's the second biggest fair in NC, y'all!). She had a blast petting the animals (every single goat that stuck its head out at the petting zoo got a hug from anneliese. we decided they didn't appreciate the hugs as much as anneliese thought they would), running around trees, riding on shoulders and swinging. So thank you, Dixie Classic Fair, for being Disneyworld for Anneliese!
p.s. we're headed to the beach for a few days - so check back next week for pics of beachy fun!

Funnest Wedding Ever!

So this weekend, we had the pleasure of attending the funnest wedding ever! (I originally told Blake that I thought that after our wedding - this was the most fun wedding we had been to. But then Blake said, "Yeah - this is actually better than ours." He was right.) My friend Laura and her pretty great guy Derek put together a really fun day at this awesome camp in Chapel Hill. It all started with an afternoon of giant trike rides and water balloon races (plus loads of other games) and ended with a super sweet wedding back in the woods overlooking the lake. Oh - and did I mention that it was catered by Carrburritos? Seriously good burritos. If you're ever in the area, I would highly recommend them! Congratulations Laura and Derek!
And also (for you girls) - one of the best wedding dresses ever!

Quiet Time

Kate gave up the nap long ago - which leaves us with "quiet time." Some days it's not so quiet. And then there are the days that are so quiet, for so long, that you begin to wonder - "what could she be doing up there?" It's a mixed blessing that long quiet time. Today I discovered CAMPING - Kate Style. This involved removing everything from Anneliese's closet (in the playroom), bagging/basketing it up and moving it to the bottom of the stairs. As Kate reminded me, it's really "much more faster to get Anneliese dressed when her clothes are already downstairs." Why didn't I think of that? One thing's for sure - the girl knows how to clean out a closet.