Fun with Technology

Doesn't she look delighted?! That merriment in her eyes is from the funny feedback and reverberation sounds heard when one holds two connected cell phones up to each of one's ears! Chris & I had been talking to each other, then along came Jordi... I think she got Chris' phone first, then came upstairs and got mine. She could not get over the sound of her own voice coming from both inside & outside her head! It was a hoot to watch, so I'm glad I had the camera close by to capture the moment.

Caroline: Almost Mobile

I took these two pictures of Caroline a couple days ago. She is now 14.5 months old, and is getting really good at getting around on two feet, albeit with the help of a walker. All she needs is a co-pilot to help keep the walker going the right direction (steering is not yet her forte), and she's quite happy to just go, go, go! In fact, she was too quick to get a good picture from the front, which is why I've included the picture below. In this one, I think you get a better sense of Caroline being on the move!

Dance Fever

As some of you may already know, Jordi has caught the ballet fever from her older cousin, Emily. In fact, she's due to start ballet lessons in just a couple weeks! She's really excited about it, and I took these pictures of her on Sunday, trying out her brand new leotard. Jordi's been giving ballet shows in Nana's living room all summer, but this one was extra special, obviously due to the attire! The bottom picture is of Jordi during the singing portion of her show; she's the total package!

Ashland Chilifest 2006

Those rosy cheeks aren't from sampling too much spicy chili! You tell by their little faces how hot & humid it was today. Despite that, Nana & Grandad took their two granddaughters to this weekend's big event downtown: Chilifest. Seems that a good time was had by all, including balloon hats & jumping in inflatables! (Yes, she's wearing the same "pirate hat" that Caroline has on in an earlier post... more on that next post!)

Caroline is a Cutie!

There's no denying it: this girl is cute! I took this picture the other day shortly after she got up from a nap. Caroline likes to climb up onto anything, and kid-size chairs are especially convenient for that. She looked like she was having such a good time on there, drinking her juice & swinging her newly-shod feet, that I couldn't resist capturing the moment!

Happy Birthday, Richard!

August might not have any official holidays, but around here, we have two celebrations during the first part of the month. Here are a couple pictures from last Friday, when we gathered to celebrate Richard turning 12:


Jordi, as always, was an attentive present-opener-helper. She seems to genuinely like being part of the process, even though the presents aren't for her!


Here's Caroline, getting in the spirit of the day with balloons on her walker. We've been encouraging her to use it more often by bringing it with us almost everywhere we go. It seems to be working; I'll post more pictures of her using it next time!

Happy Birthday, Grandad!

Last Sunday was Tim's birthday. Jordi was excited all day, eager to get Grandad's birthday party started. (This is what I heard all day: "Is it time for the party NOW?" followed by a slight pause, then: "NOW is it time?" Over & over!) We celebrated with a delicious cook-out followed by yummy birthday cake. Here's a picture of Grandad with his two candle-blower-outer assistants!

Saturday, 8/12/2006

This picture just goes to show that kids can have fun with anything. We ordered a new trash can recently, and this is the box it was shipped in. Jordi was instantly intrigued by the possibilities of such a large cardboard toy, and immediately wanted possession of it. So, I cut a small window on one side and let the girls do their thing! (This picture is a couple weeks old; I should take a new one so you all can see how the box is now completely covered in crayon.) They love it!


This picture is of Caroline's latest stage of locomotion, or as Jordi says, "new crawling." Caroline can free-stand & take a few steps at a time, but still prefers to crawl, I think because it's faster. However, if there's a surface she's not too crazy about (like the kitchen tiles pictured here), she's taken to using her hands & feet to crawl. Looks awkward, but I guess it works for her!

Lobsterfest 2006

Don't they look delicious? Well, they were! I'll even go so far to say that it was probably the best lobster I've ever had in my life (which is saying something because I've had quite a few!) What made them so tasty was that they hadn't molted yet, so their shells, although very tough to crack, were completely full of tender, delicious meat! It was great! "Lobsterfest 2006" came to us courtesy of my dear friend, Jules, & her husband, Doug, and was delivered by the James Hook lobster company from good ol' Boston. What a meal! It included 1.5 pound lobsters, New England clam "chowdah," and steamers. Everything was sooo delicious... it was worth every bit of the massive cleanup! I was joined by Tim & Judy, who also really enjoyed it. Who knows? with any luck, this will become an annual tradition!

Pictures from a couple weeks ago...

I realize that I'm way behind on my pictures; I just got through editing a bunch of photos I took about two weeks ago... when Libby was still here! Anyway, they are so cute & capture a really fun evening we had over at the Ford's, so I wanted to post a couple of them. Here they are:

Doesn't this look fun? Muffin always finds the best toys for the girls to play with! This night, it was a bubble machine that worked really well (it's what Libby's got in her hand) And here's a tip: taking pictures of bubbles at dusk makes them really show up well!

I know I've already put one picture of Caroline in this car on the blog, I just had to include this picture, too. As she gets older, her face is showing more & more of her lively personality. Just look at that scrunched up nose & all those teeth! Adorable!

Planting Petunias

The wonderful flower box in this picture stretches across the entire width of the second story of our new house. It's one of my favorite features! So, a couple weeks ago, thanks to Judy for supplying the plants, I got to plant the whole thing with flowers. It was a big job, but well worth it. And, in a couple more weeks when they've grown back in, we'll have beautiful white, purple, & red petunias until fall!

Well, Jordi has been missing her friend, Libby, quite a bit this week. As they get older, they seem to enjoy each other's company more and more with each visit. Here is a cute picture of them drinking some nice cold juice after a strenuous trampoline session last week:


This is a picture of The World's Cutest Pirate:

Caroline is modeling one if the current prizes available in a McDonald's Happy Meal. And if it looks like she's hamming it up... she is! She's even started to say cheese ("chiz! chiz!") when the camera is pointing her direction. Too cute!