If James was a happy leprechaun…

If James was a happy leprechaun with super long eyelashes, rosy cheeks, and stormy-sky blue eyes in a pink onesie…

…And a giant, toothless, I’m-going-to-eat-you smile… …Need I say more?

So what put Lannie in this kick-your-legs, flap-your-arms, and belly-laugh-better-than-Santa mood? The talking Einstein bobble head from the Air and Space Smithsonian of course.  It must be a sign of good things to come.

Pictures that Randomly Appear on my Camera

Kristen and Loryn thinks it’s really fun to take pictures with mommy’s camera.  If I’m not paying attention it is usually returned to me completely full of pictures and the batteries almost dead.  Here is a sampling of some of their photography.  It’s kind of fun to see what’s important to them and what they think is neat.   

The Mall...No I Mean "THE MALL"

The day after we arrived in NC we left the kids with Grammy and took off to Washington, DC with Dave's brother Darren and his wife Ruthenia. The first thing we did was visit the monuments along The Mall. We happened to be there during a huge inter-congressional-office softball tournament. There were dozens of games going on everywhere. Almost every playable lawn was being used. Needless to say it was really hard to find parking.

But random soft-balls (which aren't that soft) flying though the air, didn't stop us from stepping out into the made-up field and taking our glamor shots. (We ran out between innings.) We are standing near Washington's Monument and you can barely see the Lincoln Memorial in the background.
It was the magic hour, that perfect time of day when the light is just right for taking pictures. It makes everyone glow. Now if only I'd opened my eyes...

Not the best shot of either of us, but I guess that's what happens after thirty. Even the "magic hour" can only do so much.Next on to the WWII Memorial the was just recently dedicated. That is to say it's new since I was at The Mall last--twelve years ago. It was pretty amazing. It made me think of my grandpa who fought in WWII and feel proud of his service to our country. War is never pretty, but some wars have to be fought and that was one of them. Thank goodness for brave men like my grandpa, who in their youth, were willing to serve their country.
Not to disrespect the memorial in any way, or the importance of D-Day, but we couldn't help taking a picture of the two D. Day brothers with the inscription in the background.

The Trip to NC 2010

Waking up at 4:00 in the morning, traveling all day on two planes, and then driving another two hours to Greenville, can really take it's tole. Luckily we have a boy who loves jokes about Presidents of the United States and thankfully someone out there wrote such a book.We are also very grateful to the people who make all the Barbie movies, especially Barbie and the Twelve Dancing Princesses. Dave calls it torture in movie form, but the twins LOVE it.

But in the end there is nothing as comfortable as falling asleep like little gerbils in the back seat of Uncle Darren's suburban.

Adventures in Baking--Kid Style

The kids did all the work in baking the cake for Nielson's birthday on June 6th. As I was poking along in preparation to pour the pudding frosting on top, my fork suddenly hit something foreign. Upon further investigation we discovered a spoon had been baked into the bottom of the pan. Oops.