Random backlog of photos....

The title says it all…….
We attempted to do a cousin photo while Barb and her crew were in town…two outtakes for you:

 We're missing quite a few people….these were my 'testing the lighting' shots.

 The girls and snow…..they'd stay out there all day if they could.

 Eating it.  Obviously.

 We did some photo shoots for the girls' Valentine day cards to their classmates...

 Emerson's comparison shot….. 2 days old vs. 1 year old.

 Ryan likes to work out with me….it's a hoot.  Ignore the house mess, this was quite obviously one of a 1,000 snow days thus far.

 Wrestling.

 These two are getting so much better at playing together.  It used to be more fighting than playing, but slowly we are getting to the point of more playing than clawing each other to death.  But don't worry, a good fight happens each and every day.

 Grandpa and his littlest peeps:  Emerson and Elizabeth

And done.  For now.  

iPhone recap

Who would think keeping an on-line baby book (aka - a blog) up to date would be so hard?  But, alas, it has been awhile with no posts.  Here is the randomness that has been life the last few weeks.

We got the Reesers school pics back - or shall I say the proof card.  This cheapo mom never orders any actual photos, I just crop and blow up the proofs.  How cute is she?  

 Ryan had fire safety week awhile back at school and she came home with some goodies.  She also then got out her notebook and quizzed me on the safety exits and smoke detectors in our home.   There is a lot of my father in that girl.

 Ryan, Emerson and I took a nice long walk up to the Farmer's Market.....before leaving the house, Ryan asked me if I would pick out something 'festive' for her to wear.

 This little sh*t (said lovingly) won't take a real bottle, but throw a little watered down OJ in there and the girl showed us what a little scammer she is.

 Nothing more sad than a sick babe.....Reese was out of commission last week for a day with a fever...or "feber" if you ask her.

 She's turning into quite the jokester....always playing around

 Laughing at Reese...

 We have hit that lovely window of time where Ryan and Reese are old enough to be good while out to eat in a restaurant and Emerson is just young enough to sit through a meal as well.   I know the clock is ticking though, so we enjoy it while we can.....

 Reese is used to napping, this is what happens when she doesn't...

 Sunday morning outing with dad....

 Grandma should buy stock in Goodwill.....she is a professional shopper there and always finds the cutest things for the ladies....monkey costume was no exception.

 Ryan is my little artist....she chalked up our entire porch last week

 I'm on a healthy eating mission....I'll save that for another 'fun' post someday but seriously after watching my mom battle cancer, reading the books below (and then some) and watching a handful of documentaries on Netflix, I can never, ever go back to buying factory farmed meat in the supermarket, crap processed foods, or drive my kids through McDonalds (or the like) ever again.

My point above is that I reached out to a friend-of-a-friend whom I know has completely overhauled her family's eating (brought about by cancer scares) and now has a helluva garden, complete with chickens --- so while the Stiff's aren't going all Old-MacDonald on you, I do want to start my own vegetable garden next spring.  Reese, Emerson and I got a nice little tour and some great tips yesterday.

 And while I save my big PSA for another post (cue the eye-rolling from some members of my family), I beg of my 4 followers to do a little research of their own and either omit or drastically cut down on meat and dairy and really, really rev up your vegetable intake for the sake of all the precious little babes like these two.....let alone yourselves.

Okay, I'll step down off my soap box now.  That's what you get when I don't post for awhile, all sorts of opinions.....

Life

On mornings that we walk Ryan to school, Reese will hang out on Ryan's school playground after we say goodbye....she usually holds court with the boys, this time she just wanted me to take random pictures of her while she posed.

My adorable, self sufficient, eater....in the cases below I should say 'snacker' - a girl after my own heart....snacking her way through the day.  

 Ryan asks for a dog about 1,345 times per day.  The answer is always the same.  Starts with a "N", ends with a "O".  So when her buddy Amelia had a visitor one afternoon, the girls were in heaven and while her parents and I were talking we turned around only to see Ryan, Amelia and the dog running into our house to play.  Ryan got her wish for about 3 minutes.

We did some closet cleaning the other day, found some gems.....

 My coffee/bagel dates:

 Ahhhhhhhh, my heart explodes:

 Reese went over to play with Timmy and Amelia and got a sweet escort home when they were all done..

 Killing time while waiting to pick up Ryan from school...

 We tested out my timer app on my phone at the park.....Reese was less than cooperative to say the least.

 When this lady wakes up from sleeping just happily playing away it makes my day.

 Nothing like a good stomach zerbert.....and as my sister so sweetly pointed out, yes that is Reese working on her underwear in the background.

 This basically sums up Reese...

 The other day Ryan came home from school asking if we could go to the bookstore to buy some books.  Never mind the thousands of books in their room.  I told her we could go to the library instead.  She said no, bookstore.  I asked her if she had any money.....that's when she suggested that I give her a chore list so she could earn money.  Ok.  We dusted off the ole chore chart and she got to work.

Imagine my surprise when the girl seriously went to town, I told her to start by cleaning her room and making their beds (which, PS, look who got bunked!)....

 Then, without telling her, I see her wiping down my stairs (hell, I rarely do that) - she's hired.

 Next up, she vacuumed...

 I got a pretty damn clean house for a whopping 4 quarters.  Score one for mom.
Dad surprised Ryan at school and joined her for lunch last week!   Good dad.  Happy Ryan.

 We had a little parade last weekend here in Kirkwood so we took the crew...

 The girls loved watching the cute high-school cheerleaders.  So did Grant.

That's it.  People are starting to stir and I need another cup of coffee..... I'm out.