Nature-girl

Her father is teaching her well! MK loves climbing our magnolia tree, laying in the monkey grass, and laying on her belly watching ants and whatever insect she can find. . . .

Funny Sayings

Marielle's famous house-hold sayings: 3 years, 2 months


While contemplating the wind from the view of her car-seat: "The wind is blowing like a carousel."

"Mommy, I love you so much, I cant even tell you how much I love you!" (She took this from a children's song we listen to sometimes, but she probably tells me this at least 7-10 times a day.)


"Pushing green beans is NOT allowed!" (We assume in response to our oft-repeated reminder that pushing her sister is not allowed....

"Mommy, will you help me be a peacemaker?"....Also, in response to the often-reminded truth that she must be kind and gentle with her sister. :-) Ahhh, there is much at work in this little girl's heart!

Genevieve's favorite sayings (17 months)

"Buck, COME!"--our dearly beloved dog must hear this 20 times a day from all of us around here.

"Bi-Backkkk"--Translated "I'll be right back." She tells me this pretty much every time she leaves the room. :-)

"Chsssse"--everytime she sees me with a camera.

Genevieve's favorite new word is of course the name of the girl whom she looks up to and adores with reckless abandon--Marielle.

Farm Days at NC State

Our First Field Trip! We went with some other preschoolers to explore the farms at NC State University, and meet lots and lots of sweet farm animals. . . .

Not pictured here (though indelibly written in my memory) is Marielle holding a baby chick and proceeding to squeezing it to near-death...needless to say, she had no idea that she was NOT being gentle. :-) What can I say--Marielle is a fierce lover of animals!

Marielle's new favorite past-time . . . .

DANCING!

These days we dance in the morning, afternoon and evening. Marielle is one energetic girl, and dancing both lifts all our spirits while simultaneously getting some of that crazy energy out. I highly recommend it. :-) We dance to anything from Belle and Sebastian and James Brown to Kids' music (Music Together and Lori Birkner).

Marielle's arabesque

Jumping...

And the grand finale......

A pirouette!

Some pictures to catch up....

I havent posted in awhile, and you might be wondering what we've been up to. The answer is...not much! Just living life with two little girls. Here are some snapshots of everyday life.

can you tell who loooves taking a bath?

The girls' first dress-up party together

Genevieve all decked out with her lovely faux-fur orange hat and purse...yikes!


Pretty dress-up hats.

Daddy reading to his girls before bed

Adventures in picture-taking...Foiled!

Sitting still for the camera is not Marielle's forte. The following is my attempt at capturing the girls' delightfulness and photogeny for a Christmas photo...Hopefully I succeeded at least in the former, but certainly not in the latter....See for yourself.

"Okay, girls, lets get on the couch for a sisterly picture!"" Hmmm...Bad idea"

"Okay, Marielle, let's just start with you. Can you give me a smile?.....Okay, that's pretty good. How about another one?

"Hmm, that may be a little much. Could you tone it down a little?"

"Marielle, darling, please sit still. . . . . Okay, youre getting a little too excited now. Let's try something different"

"There, that's better. Is that a good book/prop?"

"Can you say cheese?"

"Wow! That's quite some 'cheese' there girlie."

"I guess the alternative is putting a book on your head"...Sigh.

Someday I'll get a good picture of her, I'm sure of it! And when I do, you'll be the first to know.

Genevieve's adventures on the slide

Genevieve doing her new-walker waddle...

Though Genevieve has been walking for over a month now, she is just now getting steady (and confident) enough to walk outside. So, a week or so back, I finally brought her out to play on the outside deck with Marielle. Now, Marielle, as you may know, takes her play-time on the slide and on Blaze (the rocking horse) very seriously. I was glad she graciously allowed Genevieve to play alongside her on these most sacred of grounds. And she had a great time!

She (cautiously) went down the slide a few times. And she heartily enjoyed my rendition of the William Tell Overture while atop Blaze. And best of all, she could walk on deck! No more being carried all the time, lady! Both she and my arms were thankful.