Look! Pictures! So Many Pictures!

I have been remiss, not just in blogging (I've noticed over the years that I struggle to blog in September for some reason), but in posting photos of the kids. It's been all home improvement, all the time, the last few posts I've managed to eke out.

That's allll gonna be rectified right here. You've been warned. Let's just jump right in, shall we?

On Tuesday, Lucy was sent home sick late in the day from daycare. It was "picture day." She did not take good pictures (so I've been told). I'm sure the illness didn't help (fever, sore throat). But she was wearing this:

A plaid skirt/jumper (there are attachable suspender-type straps I had to take off because they kept falling down) that was mine when I was little. And an Aerosmith shirt.

This is what she does when we ask her to pose for the camera. I think we are in trouble.

This is what Finn does. Less trouble expected there.

Blue eyes

Sick, but still happy.

I pulled the "stay home from work with sick child" straw for Wednesday, and spent some quality time with Lucy. This is my attempt to turn the TV off and try something enriching - painting. A budding artist at work. I tried not to get upset at her total disregard of my instructions to wash her brush in between each color. Big of me, no? I painted, too. I made a rainbow-striped whale. It was headed toward "legendary" status as far as construction paper paintings go. Lucy insisted on painting in the tail for me, and, well... not exactly the stuff of legends anymore. I'm not upset about that or anything.

This is our self portrait. I'm happier than she is, as you can see. Also healthier.

Now we move in to the weekend, with a brief stop on Friday. A day where M. was invited to go see President Obama give a speech. Here is the proof:

I swear on the Bible that the blurry figure at the podium is Obama, and that M. took this photo. I swear that if I was the one taking the photo, it would have been in focus.

Saturday was a busy, fun day. We started the morning with a photo shoot with a friend of ours, Julie Blum. She is setting up shop as a photographer, and was kind enough to "practice" on us (if you ask me, Julie clearly needs no more practice!). We all traipsed around a county park, Brookside Gardens, saw lots of beautiful flowers and ponds and bridges and wildlife, and Julie effortlessly took some excellent photos. She has a blog post on her website up about it, and I'm sharing a few of my favorites below:








Just awesome, right? I'm still pinching myself that we had such opportunity. Thanks, Julie! And beware, family, if you are looking at these photos, you are probably looking at your Christmas presents.

The middle part of the day was filled with house stuff (more attempts to whip the dining room to shape, an effort I'll blog about more fully later), struggles to get Lucy to take a nap, and some outside play time with scooters and bikes:






Done with scooting, time for a lift inside.

A bonus video of Finn on his bike:



And one of Lucy on her scooter - she's scooting like a pro, now!:



Saturday was finished with a wonderful fly-by visit from my friend Jen, her mom Cathy, and Jen's adorable baby girl, Carmen. Carmen is just 8 weeks old, and one of the cutest babies I have ever seen. See for yourself (next two photos courtesy of Jen):

All the hair! The bright eyes! She is perfect!

I realize it looks like I am quite possessive of Carmen here. In truth, I thought about staging some sort of coup to keep her forever. But I'm done with all that, remember? The baby stuff? Plus, and most importantly, Jen is just GLOWING with all this motherhood business. I love how happy it seems to be making her - she deserves it.

By the end of the visit, it was way past bedtime, and the kids were acting like total goofballs in an attempt to show off:


Bedtime may have been a bit of a struggle, but the busy day was worth it, both in photos and memories. And early Christmas shopping :-).