Landslide

Our Sophie-girl

2010-07-10T14:47:00.000-07:00

Sophie just recently turned three, so I thought it fitting to capture a glimpse of our girlie. From her strut-

to her silly faces,

and her adult mannerisms,

she has personality plus.

Clothing optional, of course.

She loves her 'betchables,' always cleaning up all the leftovers,

and to snuggle with Daddy when hurt.

A moment of contemplation.

Here, Sophie is completing the obstacle course at her party. Though she was youngest to compete, she finished well and cheered others on.

She asked for a June cake this year- 'June' being a character from "Little Einsteins," not the month. (Though I did propose a calendar as a potential design- I was shot down.)

Someone asked her after her party what kind of cake she had, and she said, "Red and blue Jello and a June cake." I think the person was a bit confused... but to Sophie it made perfect sense. (She had Jello at her birthday celebration in Vancouver earlier in the week.)

She was pretty thrilled with the result, AND the nifty birthday hat. (Thanks Grandma Hill!)

Enjoying both cake with buddies...

...and her moment when "Happy Birthday" is finally sung to her. After all the birthdays she sings for in the year, I think she was pretty excited that it was finally her turn. She even had surprise birthday guests that afternoon from the Tri-Cities, which TOTALLY made her day. (Thanks Uncle Jake and Unckie Jenn!)

Just when you thought it was safe...

2010-04-02T16:04:00.000-07:00

Just when you thought it was safe to take the snowplow off of the front of your pickup-

this happens.
This is our weather today (and yet another reason I don't even think about planting anything green until Mother's Day). On the upside, snow means warmer weather for buds.

This could also be a reminder of the winter of Good Friday just before the burst of New Life of Easter. The orchards are all sprayed a Lenten grey now, awaiting the bloom of Spring. What a cool visual we have around here this time of year!

2010-03-27T20:14:00.000-07:00

Here are the girlies trying on their new cozy Christmas nightgowns (made with love) from Grandma Hill. They would live in these, if I let them!

The annual snowman- except that this year, she's a snowwoman. Check out that hairdo!! We did not get much snow this year, but at least we had enough at one time to make the snowwoman.
Daddy and Liam are so coordinated- Liam totally planned that.
Sophie enjoying some playtime with her 'boyfriend' from over the hill. These two kiddos are nuts about each other- every time we get together, they give each other a huge hug. They are acting out O Susanna (do you see the banjo on his knee?)

Age Appropriate

2010-02-28T21:22:00.000-08:00

So why is it, that when Liam blows raspberries we cheer and congratulate, but when Sophie does it- she earns a time out? Life is rough, kids. Sophie is discovering the double standard of growing up. There's an age where it just isn't cute anymore (she is pretty cute though, even in her naughtiness). Just like the dimples and rolls on Liam's legs... not so cute at age 30.

A simple box. Unlimited possibilities. This was Maggie's dogbed, as she is currently embodying the character of Martha, from "Martha Speaks." At least this dog is housetrained... well, sometimes, anyway. If you forget and call her 'Maggie,' she quickly corrects, "You mean Martha?" Right, right. I always forget.

Sophie loves her brother dearly, and I think the feeling is mutual. She takes veewy (her word) good care of him and has a pretty good handle on how things go. Recently, she introduced him as, "This is my Liam. He poops all the time."

And two more, just for Uncle Benj:

I call this her 'Sally Draper' outfit.

And so it begins...

2010-02-18T22:12:00.000-08:00

... a life of being dressed up. Since we don't have a cat to wrangle into embarrassing get ups, Liam is the next best thing. I personally think he wears it well. Sorry buddy, I think your sisters are going to have some fun with you and their tutus.

It's been a year - what a year!- since the last post. I think I'll work backwards to highlight events and post pictures to get caught up. Oh yeah, we had a baby; that's him above- he's four months old. It'll be a Benjamin Button-type thing! He'll get younger and younger with each post...

Christmas 2008

2009-01-03T16:36:00.000-08:00

Sophie feeling rather glamorous.
Maggie feeling rather hungry.

Maggie making her best effort to hug this year's Christmas tree.

Playing in the Snow

2009-01-03T16:27:00.000-08:00

Maggie and Josh inside their igloo.

A shot of the backyard igloo.

Heidi, the girls and, of course, Frosty.

Halloween 2008

2008-11-11T19:45:00.000-08:00

Here are the girls visiting the middle school where Heidi used to teach.

Sophie was a scarecrow this year,...

...and Maggie was Thomas the Tank Engine.

Here are the girls trick-or-treating at Grandpa and Grandma Goehners'.

One last shot of Maggie in the Thomas costume.

Maggie's Third Birthday Party

2008-09-21T11:10:00.000-07:00

Maggie is thoroughly hooked on the 50 states and capitals right now, so when Heidi asked her what type of cake she wanted for her birthday, she should have guessed what it would be. Below is the result of a mother's love and approximately 3 hours of cake making and decorating. When all was said and done, however, Maggie was totally thrilled, and was still talking excitedly about it the next morning.

She wanted to eat Washington.

Here's the birthday girl, ready for bed, and completely Thomased out.

Sophie's One Year Pictures

2008-09-21T11:01:00.000-07:00

These pictures were taken by a friend of ours, Ron Skylstad. We couldn't wait to share them with all of you.

A Trip To The Petting Zoo

2008-09-21T10:41:00.000-07:00

Okay, so the title of this post is a little misleading. Apparently petting zoos these days don't actually allow you to get any closer to the animals then, say, a state penitentiary would allow a visitor to get to a convicted felon. Here's a goat in the clink now. I wonder what he's in for.

No touching! No touching!

Maggie and Sophie with their good friends Emma, Aidan and Owen

Sophie's First Birthday Party

2008-09-06T14:50:00.000-07:00

This is Sophie's first birthday. Clearly, she wasn't easy to control, as one might have assumed from the rush of excitement evidenced on her face. Despite her cool demeanor, we do think she enjoyed herself.

I think Sophie's enjoying her sister's affection, and Maggie is... well, I think Maggie is busy totalling the number of Brownie points she is likely racking up with Mom at precisely this moment.

We live near a small airport, and every now and then a plane will pass over our house as it prepares to land. This, of course, intrigues most two-year-olds (ours included). The plan? As soon as she heard a plane approaching, she would grab her wooden stool, run out to the front porch, and, given the added height provided by the stool, reach up and grab the plane as it flew over.

Sophie has just learned to walk, and the first order of business was to bring us Maggie's dress-up princess outfit and gesticulate wildly until we put it on her. If you're going to be a biped, you must have a sense of style.

Coming up for air

2008-07-19T22:21:00.000-07:00

Of course they are contemplating the complex design of the native balsamroots' dicotinous nature; identifying each stigma and style of the pistil and antlers and filament within the stamen, and the - yeah. whatever. Flowers are pretty.

Our girlie does enjoy her baked beans.

With a nod to Sue Ellen Mishke, Maggie debuts the latest trend in daring fashion.

Opa reinforces the Pavlovian theory of salivation on command. What he also gets from this habit is uninhibited adoration.

Whoopsie- I think we sort of forgot that we had a blog that somebody might check sometime. Obviously we are not religious bloggers. "With family, you don't have to apologise... Sssssssorry about that..." For you faithful checkers, here's a shout out and thanks for hanging in there.

Spring 2008 - Part I

2008-04-15T23:04:00.000-07:00

By the way, the inclusion of those snowy pictures was not a mistake. This is what we woke up to on the last day of March this year.

Winter 2007-08

2008-04-14T20:22:00.001-07:00

Summer Vacation 2007 (Photos) - Part II

2008-03-29T17:26:00.000-07:00

Summer Vacation 2007 (Photos) - Part I

2008-03-29T17:21:00.000-07:00

Maggie Sledding (Video)

2008-03-22T15:47:00.000-07:00

Maggie Signing (Video)

2008-03-22T15:46:00.000-07:00

Maggie Feeding Herself (Video)

2008-03-22T15:44:00.000-07:00

Maggie Baking (Video)

2008-03-22T15:41:00.000-07:00

Sophie Giggling (Video)

2008-03-22T15:38:00.000-07:00

Christmas 2007

2008-03-20T19:04:00.000-07:00

Summer 2007 - Part I

2008-03-20T19:03:00.000-07:00

Halloween 2007 Photos

2008-03-19T22:01:00.000-07:00

Fall 2007 Photos

2008-03-18T20:53:00.000-07:00