Eeeek!

On our way back into the house after a walkies, Jack perked up at something inside the big Red Wing crock outside our front door. He occasionally sniffs places where someone who has a dog has walked, or where he last saw a chipmunk dart into a drainpipe, but this time he was committed.


His tail, usually quite dormant for a dog, went berserk, whipping in every direction, his ears stood at taut attention, and his neck strained at his collar and leash.


And this is why:


It was so cute! After I snapped these photos, we brought Jack inside, came back out and carefully tipped the crock on its side. The lil' guy wasted no time and bolted out of the crock, down the porch, and under a crack in the cement. He's probably related to if not complicit in the group of mice that have been leaving their little black calling cards in our kitchen recently. But finding him/her helpless in this crock gave me hope that we could use the dangling toilet paper roll method to catch one of 'em one of these days and actually find him/her in the garbage can in the morning. What we'd do if we actually caught one? I don't know. I guess if we release them outside, they'd just come back in and think it was all just a fun field trip. I don't want to kill them either. And, in case you're wondering, I don't want to keep them as pets either. We already know what Jack thinks of them. :)

If you've got any tips, let me know!

Monday Morning

Both girls had the day off from school this morning, so we took advantage of that and a gorgeous morning and headed downtown to our local main street.

After dropping a few things off at the post office, we indulged in some treats at the bakery. The girls shared a cookie, while I had my favorite combination: a pain au chocolat (or "Chocolatine" as they were called in France) and a double espresso. Decadent and flavorful. Natalie provided a little "whine" to our petit dejeuner, but otherwise is was parfait. ;)


We wiped our crumbs from our laps and walked down to the water with some expired buns, set on feeding the myriad sunfish that gather at the end of the dock. On the way, we found some spent rose bushes. Since we couldn't stop and smell the roses, I stopped and shot the rosehips. That counts, right?


The fish were a no-show, but I told the girls to throw in a few bits to see if any lunkers (a.k.a. gi-normous carp) came up from the murky depths for a nibble.


Still, no fish, but soon entered about six or seven gulls, squawking and screeching and eyeing the goodies. They were timid about entering the water while we watched, but they hung around, modeled a bit for me, and continually pestered one another.






After a bit, they all flew away, and at the same time some crows began calling to one another. Soon thereafter, two bald eagles flew overhead. I'm guessing these events were not coincidental, and I kicked myself for not bringing my bigger zoom lens -- not that I could have changed it AND shot a decent pic anyway.


Still, the avian wildlife we saw more than made up for the lack of fishies. We said good bye to the birds and took a spin through the tiny pet shop. I paused almost too long at the baby dumbo rats for sale -- they were SO CUTE -- then we kept moving and ended our trip at the library. With a bag loaded with new books, we came home happy and satisfied.

It was a lovely way to spend some free morning hours, and I couldn't imagine two girls with whom I'd have rather spent it.

New Camera = Loads of Fun

With the actual NEED for both of us to have cameras coming up more and more, Matthew and I decided it was high time to finally buy a second camera. We've really enjoyed the shots we've taken with our Canon Powershot SD 1000, and we wanted to step it up with number two. We looked at the lovely Panasonic Lumix with the ample digital zoom and HD video capability, but ultimately, I persuaded Matthew to take the leap of faith with me into the world of dSLRs. After some research online, a few, informative chats with friends and camera store employees, and deep soul-searching, I selected the Canon T1i as my golden ticket. Costco had a lens and gadget package offer I couldn't refuse and I am now a proud owner of this beautiful device.
I am still a complete novice with it, but the controls and menu are fairly in line with the point-and-shoot we're used to, so that helps. Basically, it's a thrill to use, and I am amazed at the difference in not only how the photos have turned out, but also in what conditions I've been able to shoot. It's opening up a whole new world of photo capabilities that were previously impossible in our shady house and yard. Oh, and yes, I do love the cha-click of that shutter opening and closing.

Knowing that I'm still new at this, that these were not taken under ideal circumstances, and that they've been reduced to fit on your screen, please don't throw any tomatoes at my recent batch of show and tell pics. Here we go!

Jack was my first official subject, and like a good greyhound, he stood statue-like under the golden canopy of changing leaves for this one, my first favorite photo from my new camera:


Then, onto some flowers still showing their colors in mid-October at the Arboretum. I could quite get the vividness of the purple in these little flowers, but I like the depth of field in this photo:

Here again, the red is a little too pink, but I think I nabbed the softness of the petals, the perfection of the rain drops, and that lovely yellow glow from the inside of this rose blossom:

On to moving targets, here's my papa (hi, Dad!):


Leah, with her growing collection of these infectious Silly Bandz:


And Natalie, posing on the deck in her Halloween costume:


Speaking of Halloween, here are the girls in full outfits. Natalie is a chef who says she'll cook us all a mean-a pizza pie. Leah is a veterinarian, poised with syringe and stethoscope, and evidently not wearing any shoes.


Both girls brought home enough candy to last them until next year, and enjoyed the entire weekend in their alter egos.

To close, one last photo of Nattie on her bike. With practice at preschool, she's getting this peddling thing down pretty well and can cruise up and down the street a few feet at a time on her own (with training wheels, that is). Something about those little rosy cheeks makes me like this one a whole lot:


I can't promise the blog posts will be any more frequent, especially as we near the holiday season and my work picks up big time, but I will do my best to take even more kick-butt photos to include with the posts I do manage to write. Thanks for joining me! See you soon.

Day Ones

Another year has passed, the Earth has completed another race around the sun, the air coaxes goosebumps on our arms, and the 2010-11 school year is off with a bang. Last week, Leah began her year as a first grader, attending the same Spanish Immersion program as she started with Kindergarten last year. She exuded confidence and, thankfully, lacked any sense of that "Yeah, Mom, I knoooooow" attitude that I expect many of her peers have by now. You can sense her enthusiasm in her porch photo here:

This week was Natalie's turn for a first day. She'll be attending a half-day pre-school program a few days a week. Starting "slow and easy" is probably more for my sake than hers. She is my baby after all. She was very excited, super prepared, and quite thrilled to be able to use my old backpack from college. I washed and dried it the night before and left it on her chair for her to find in the morning. According to my morning report, she had it on since 6:30 a.m. She even picked out her own outfit and dressed herself head to toe. This girl was born ready. Check it out:

Am I ready? I think so. I will make really good use of the time she's playing, and hopefully be able to enjoy more of the time we share. Knowing she is so adroit at fitting in and playing well helps a ton. Now if only I could do the same. ;)

How to Age your Kid in 5 Minutes

I finally cut Natalie's hair. Maybe it's because she's the baby and I don't want her to go through any of those rites of passage that signify aging, maybe it's because I had hopes that she would be the kid that didn't mind having her hair brushed every day, or maybe it's because I didn't want to risk marring her innate "cute" factor, but I haven't cut Natalie's hair at all. Not even to get gum out.

By this age, Leah had been having her bangs cut fairly regularly and was nearing her first major haircut. But, and I sadly admit this, Natalie does not have Leah's hair. Incidentally, Natalie's fingernails, ear wax and hair grow slower and less abundantly than Leah's. So, on a bit of a whim last night after dinner, I asked, "Natalie, would you like to get some bangs tonight?" To which she giggled and cheered in approval.

Out came the good scissors and a comb, and we set up a makeshift salon on the back deck. A quick "Before" shot...


And we dug in. Look at how much these long bangs pain her. They have got to go.


And go they do! And already smiles and laughter from the little one!


And here's the "After:"

Who is this bright-eyed three-year old? It couldn't possibly be the same little tyke sitting in this chair five minutes ago! As soon as I'd cut it, I kicked myself a bit for not doing this sooner. It is such an improvement to be able to see her face!

This past week, we also rang in Leah's birthday. We rode through the rain in the Tour de Tonka before heading up to the cabin for the lake association's annual picnic and games, as well as some delicious homemade pizzas for dinner. It turned out to be a very busy and beautiful day. A week later, Leah had her friends join her at a nearby community farm for a belated birthday party. A fun mix of small farm life, amazing cupcakes, and mega crazy kids.


I also tried to recreate some scrumptious and substantial corn flake crusted, french toast that I enjoyed at Wishbone in Chicago years ago. Using this kid-friendly recipe, the girls and I putzed through the steps and turned out some rather tasty dippers. By themselves, they're not that sweet, which is fine considering we drowned them in syrup, but I'm tempted to try different, more sinful cereals to coat these bad boys. Coco Roos, perhaps? :)

That's it for this post. Go Twins!

G-bye, June. HiYa, July!

Once again, I've left you with a sizable gap in time between blog posts. I did this so you could fully absorb the awesomeness of the last post and prepare yourself for still more awesomeness in this one. Yeah, completely planned this out to the minute. Yeah. ;)

Enough of that. On to the goings on!

Natalie has recently taken to drawing little people with great big eyes and heads, and little bitty arms and legs. Here, she's posing with one of her creations on the big Magna Doodle.


We all took a trip up north to visit family and take in some nearly perfect summer days. We enjoyed the newly renovated park by the lake:

Natalie on the springy sea horse:


Leah, halfway up the swirly slide:


Then we returned to my folks' house for some outdoor sightseeing of Mom and Dad's hard-earned gardening efforts.

Mom de-weeding between the brick border:


A peony with salvia in the background:


A clutch of boldly bright dianthus (my camera couldn't seem to grab the color as it was):


Yellow, evening primrose:


And a monarch foraging in a huge lily blossom:


Of course, no June tour of the gardens would be complete without seeing some bug pornography. These nasty little buggers are the dreaded rose chafers, or what Mom calls "f*ckin bugs." When they hatch from the ground, they swarm the plants, eating and mating, mating and eating. I still cringe when I see them:


Soon after we returned home, we welcomed some of the up north crew to our place to gather and attend a Twins game. Before the game started, my brother was honored in a ceremony for his outstanding commitment to keeping DUI-ers off the roads. He was in an elite group of officers from across the state and we cheered like obnoxious children when we saw the group emerge onto the field. I was too zoomed in at the time to make it clear, but this is my brother on the gi-normous t.v. screen at Target Field:


And here he is making small talk with T.C. Bear (mustachioed in honor of pitcher Carl Pavano that night):


We are so stinkin' proud of you, Lyan! Keep kickin' butt out there!

This was my first time at the new ballpark, and I think it is GORGEOUS! We found Matthew's family name on the Tradition Wall (a gift to his Dad and uncle):


Took the obligatory "in the seats" shot:


And the obligatory "from the seats" shot (I loved how monochromatic the skyline looked as the sun set behind us):


Back home once again, we've been thoroughly enjoying our CSA share this year -- our first, officially. We also bought a meat share from an organic lamb, beef and chicken farm. One night, we dined on this feast: A huge beef sirloin (most of which we saved for another meal) and a sugar snap pea, potato, fennel and mustard salad. Delicious!


Most recently, we rang in Nat-o's third birthday! She picked out a chocolate cake from the grocery store. It was decorated like a picnic blanket with plastic ants and a lady-finger/pink frosting hot dog. Natalie went straight for the hot dog and it was gone in a flash.


And finally, we leave you with another shot of one of the elusive "Whitey" squirrels in our neighborhood. This one perched atop our short woodpile to munch on something tasty.


Thanks for tuning in once again! I hope you've enjoyed the show! As always, I encourage you to visit my shop blog as well to see what I've been doing there.

Might as well JUMP!

Fewer words. More photos.
Things we learned last week.

1. Jumping is fun.*

2. Jumping is very fun.*

3. My girls fancy themselves budding supermodels.






4. June flowers are purdy.





* Photos 1, 2 & 4 taken by Rebecca. Thank you for sharing!