Year: 2008

This past weekend, the kids and I washed the van. Or more accurately, Sean and I washed the van, and Carter alternated between running away from the hose and raiding the cookie bag when nobody was looking. Sean had a blast, but I think he underestimated how much actual -work- is involved in washing a van. When we first filled the buckets and were ready to start, Sean grabbed a sponge, rubbed it three times on a fender, and exclaimed "all clean!"

I'm not sure what to say about this one - I think it speaks for itself. :)

With the steadily warming weather, the kids have been getting a lot of time outside lately. Sean is starting to want to explore the woods around the fringes of the yard. And Carter is climbing up and going down the slide all by herself now. What a big girl!

A few weekends ago, we took the kids to the beach. This was the first time either of the kids had ever seen the ocean. It was too chilly for swimming, of course, but we explored plenty. We brought home a rock that had been smoothed by the ocean and sand, and now it is on our mantle. Every night when we head up to bed, Sean says goodnight to his "special rock from the beach", as he calls it. Then, on the way up the stairs he tells me all about all of the things we saw and did at the beach. We can't wait to take them back this summer, when it's warm enough for them to experience the waves as well.

Just some cute leftover pics, that didn't have any unifying theme. But I still wanted to put them up anyway - so enjoy.

Sound the alarm! Put out an APB! Carter, the notorious master criminal, has enacted her escape! After using her dastardly cuteness to lull the guards into relaxing their vigilance, she has stolen the keys to a vehicle and made a break for it. If anyone spots her, please contact the NH State Police. She is 2 feet tall, 20 pounds, rosy-cheeked, and was last seen in a pink jacket and blue jeans. Be advised, due to the potency of her crooked grin, she is to be considered armed and dangerous!

The kids are becoming closer and closer friends as time goes by. They do everything together, and - knock on wood - they don't ever fight. The only time either of them gets upset with each other is if Sean takes a toy from Carter - but he usually feels bad and gives it back. It makes me so happy to see them together. It's the highlight of my day.

Look at these pictures - Carter is becoming quite the little ham. Every time the camera gets anywhere near her, she cracks a huge grin and says "cheese!" She reminds me of my sister, Tracy. As a little one, she couldn't get enough of the camera either.

These pictures are from a day last weekend. Sean and I played in the snow that morning while Carter took a nap. We had a blast. The snow has heavy and sticky, and made for awesome snowballs. We have determined that we can fit exactly 28 snowballs on his metal dumptruck. At some point, Lori and the dogs came out to join us in the fun. We were all have an amazing time, and then we noticed something. We were playing in the backyard, and Carter's bedroom window looks out over the yard. And her crib is right against the window. So she was standing up in her crib, watching us through the window, with this look of utter disbelief on her face. She was just taking a nice, relaxing nap, and now she thinks that every time she naps, we all basically have a party without her. I doubt if she will ever nap again, now.