Christmas Photo

It's a real chore planning for Kodak moments like these....Miri needed to go down for a nap, the horse needed to eat then be brushed, the matching jammies needed to be found, then we need a horse wrangler and a camera operator, but then who's gonna spot for the kids on the beast? (OK, Shorty, you hold real still now, ya hear?!)

Shorty channeled the little donkey who carried The Virgin Mary. He was a very good boy.



Christmas means goodies!

Making the first of several batches of Christmas goodies.

Pecan tassies for Daddy. Any excuse for a special pan, dough, and a tamper....

A nearly-instant gingerbread house. Just add stragegically-placed candy with pre-made, supplied frosting.  (made while little sister was napping - budgeted an hour for this task and was done in 25 minutes. Love that!)

The house came with 2 gingerbread people and a tree. Once Miri was up, it was time to get back at it.

I took this picture (above) because I thought she was done. Oh Noooooooo.....

She needed a few more squirts of goo.



And while Aleaha carefully applies a little "snow" to her tree, Miri reaches for some additional objects d'art.

She began to wonder why sprinkles would no longer stick.



Yes, she did enjoy eating it.

Squirmy Worms

It's hard to get those two to stay still for a photo. And when they do, they have silly expressions on their faces. Or someone isn't looking at the camera.

Silly bath girl.

Very silly bath girls.

Harvest Lunch with Miri's Class

For the last few years, our daycare center has put on a fantastic "Harvest Lunch" around Thanksgiving time, and all the families are invited to join the kids. It's a great event, and we always try to maneuver our schedules so we can go. This year, Daddy was able to bring Aleaha with him.


Miri patiently awaits our turn to fill our plates. The toddlers entertained us with some singing.


Daddy and Aleaha gobbled some mighty fine fixin's.

Miri ate well that day too.

Recent Happenings

Daddy made some rockin' tinker-toy and lincoln-log designs with Aleaha. They made a scale together, attaching two little plastic bowls to some now-dedicated pieces. Let's have more of that cool engineer stuff, Dad!

Aleaha's class did some work to sort donated food for a local food drive. Here's her class, singing a little song about being thankful and playing nicely with friends. (Let's have more of that, too!)

Aleaha made cavatelli one day. So fun. So easy.

Daddy told her "cavatelli" is Italian for "little maggots." Nice, eh?

Mommy made a special pork roast, dubbed The Three Little Piggies....pork loin, stuffed with pork sausage, wrapped in prosciutto. Tasty!

The day before Thanksgiving, Mommy took a day off to get a head start on cooking. Aleaha was sous-chef.

Random horse shot.

Beautiful hair shot.

Mischief Makers

I was going to title this post "Those Darn Cats", but in reviewing the animal-related photos off my camera, I realized I had this one, taken at the barn:

That's our beautiful automatic stall gate for Jake that Daddy made last year. It's supposed to look like this:


See, straight up-and-down. Not bent into a C.

Apparently someone who was in the stall wanted to get out of the stall very quickly. That must have hurt a bit. :( Fortunately, Daddy is a mechanical and metal WhizGenius, and he got us back to a working state quickly. Design updgrades are in the making. (And none of the horses have any marks or bruises. Go figure.)

And now for the latest cat antics. (Cuz there always are. You know that, right?)....

The Juice often disappears for many hours. I finally found this napping spot a few weeks ago. He's asleep in a piece of fabric draped over the top of our master bedroom closet. (Yeah, I know, why is there no real roof to the closet?? I put that up when we moved in to minimize the dust on my clothes. And yes, the irony is not lost on me for that attempt.)

Here's Mr. ClimbyFeet up on the top of the fireplace. He seems to think he can't be seen. A tiger's stripes has a purpose, for sure.

Aleaha was helping Miri set up the train track and little trains.

"
And it looked like things were good for a moment.

Until the little black turdlette began wiping out her trains!


Miri is loaded to shoot!

Oh, but they can be so cute, too.

Shorty's Carrot Trick

Here's Shorty, gobbling up a carrot. Sluuuuuuuuurp. Chomp-chomp-chomp.....

You must be a Miller kid

Overheard from backseat yesterday:

"The farmer in The Dalles, the farmer in The Dalles, hi ho the dairy-oh the farmer in The Dalles....

The child takes the horse..."

Miri says....

A few quotes of late from Miss Miri:

Wook, Mom, I made a hand-glove! (handprint)

Oh my darling,
Oh my darling,
Oh my darling LemonThyme....

Mom, I need a wightsaber. (lifesaver)

.... H I J K Omenpee...

Oh Mom, it's beery smooooooky! (very spooky)

Hurry, Mom, we're woosing daylight!

It happened wastmorning. (yesterday morning)

And, her favorite song of the moment: "In Desert, Can't 'Member Name"
(Horse with No Name, by America)

Halloween and Other Dress-Up Fun

Halloween 2011 -- we all got to go! Aleaha was a vampire queen and Miri was an equestrian (that's her horse, Pablo, she's riding).

In 2010, Mommy had a business trip, so Daddy had to manage on his own (with help from Holly, thank heavens). This year we had some other challenges, but we managed to get out to a nearby neighborhood in town and hit up a few houses.

Of course, Halloween isn't the only dress-up opportunity for us.....


It's fun to put on Christmas dresses and other queenish attire....


Aleaha's room is dedicated to the wardrobe changes.

When deciding what to be for 2011, the girls had fun looking through the bin of costumes. We agreed Aleaha was too tall for this skeleton.

And this? Well, that's no costume, honey. It's supposed to be a night for being something you're not.

Chores and a Road Trip

There's always a lot to be done, but fall is an especially chore-laden time for us. We have to take advantage of the last bits of decent weather, to get things done and to savor the rain- and mud-free time. For it will be 8 months until we see regular dirt again. *sigh*


Here's Daddy on the barn roof, sweeping a year's worth of fir needles and branches off and cleaning the gutters. Arby the Ever-Curious stands close by for anything yummy or interesting that might be cast off.


Aleaha got to have a little sit on her boy, Shorty.


Don't have to ask her to smile - she just does when she's horseback.

Aleaha begged mom to braid the horses' manes one day. Poor Jake - he stood still, but he didn't seem all that excited about being dolled up. He's not a show horse - he's au naturel! (plaits were removed shortly thereafter, for comfort, safety, and his personal reputation).

Aleaha's class went birding. How do you get 18 kindergardeners to be still and quiet?? You don't, of course. But the practice and exposure are good for them.

Sly says, "Let's see.....what's for lunch....chicken or chicken? I think I'll have the chicken." (But of course, they could have him for lunch!)

Aleaha was happy to show me how Friendly will eat from her hands.

We took a short road trip together, and Miss Miri got to stay overnight with Mommy in a hotel. She was pretty good, considering the circumstances. But she kept calling it a "hospital". When she woke up the next morning and looked around, she said:

"Mommy, I wike dis bedwoom. But, where are de doctors?"

I can't get enough pictures of her sleeping. So peaceful.

R&R

I wish I could say this was a special app....like her tie-dyed shirt triggered the swirling of the camera. But we know better - mom just can't take a good picture.

Getting ready to feed horses.

Sitting on all that hay!


Relaxing at the end of a long weekend.