Horse Gate, Thanksgiving, Etc.

Daddy worked really hard building the coolest thing -- an automatic gate for Jake! The picture is awful, unfortunately. But the gate is so neat, we just have to brag about it some more....Jake goes right inside, we pull a handle to close the gate, then flip a switch. We feed him his Very Special Jake-Only Food, and about 20 minutes later, the timer automatically opens the door and he goes out. IT ROCKS. But not as much as Daddy. :)


Two purple girls on a purple horsie blankie.


A barn goddess in the making. (Glitter skirt optional.)


Miri and Mommy on a Bob-stroll.


On a rare snowy day, we traipsed outside for a little adventure. (Hey, the schools were closed and we were cooped up at home, so we NEEDED a little outside time.)


We fed the birdies a lot of food that day. Miri is not unfamiliar with the scooper, of course.


Downing a little pie after Thanksgiving dinner. She knows where her pie-hole is, eh? And you should see her sign for whipped cream! She moves her hand in a circle, as if she's applying it to a pie, saying "SCHTTTTTTT". She gets the point across.


Aleaha enjoyed the pie so much, she asked for it sans whipped cream. And she even knows it's made from a vegetable!


After a long weekend of Mommy cooking and Daddy doing dishes, we enjoyed a night out at Ixtapa. Gee, is that more whipped cream Miri spied?


Aleaha is quite the ham.

Our girls

Taken in October at school. We have individual shots too, and hope to post those soon. Miri was not having a good time with the photographer (and vice versa, I'm sure!). She didn't really smile much. We decided to do retakes when they were offered a few weeks later (read: Mommy stresses AGAIN to get the dresses clean, find the shoes and tights, fix hair, etc. ). But apparently those turned out worse than the originals, because he printed the ones from the first round. Still, we think she's a cutie-pie. She just knows clearly what she likes and what she doesn't.

A few more pictures

Mommy finally learned how to save photos received in text messages from her Droid to her PC. Then she had to learn where they were being stored on said PC. Sheesh....

Courtesy of Daddy and Holly, the girls are ready for trick-or-treating!

Here they are, eating dinner out (and being silly) with Daddy. Aleaha is looking forward to Mom going on a business trip again, because she loooooooves going out to restaurants! (she still doesn't eat much though - Miri puts away more groceries than Aleaha)

In one of our final projects of the season, Daddy is installing a custom-made automatic gate at the barn. Jake will go into his new Private Dining Area and eat his special feed without Arby nosing him out (here is Daddy, installing the corner feeder). Then, after Jake is done, the gate will magically open to let him out. It means Jake will get lots of special feed, Arby won't (he doesn't need it!), and Mommy and Daddy don't have to make 4 trips to the barn everyday. We call it "equine-eering". (And lest you worry that Jake will get stuck in there all day, have no fear....we can look on our barn-cam to see that the doors opened on time and Jake got out) Yes, Daddy totally rocks. And we love having a geeky farm.

Miri likes projects at the barn, especially if they involve riding on the tractor or 4-wheeler, scooping up lots of pellets, and feeding the horses apples.

Halloween 2010

Mommy had to be on a business trip over Halloween (yeah, does that suck or what?!). But Daddy was the perfect prime parent, and took the girls out trick-or-treating that night. (Will try to get a few of those pics posted.)

The girls got to wear their costumes to their school for a day-long party.


Miss Ladybug Miri



Aleaha with her friend Lucero. Aleaha was a "Battarina". A ballerina meets a bat. Like that's some natural critter from the animal kingdom.


Love this shot.

(Special kudos to Daddy for taking such good care of the girls. He rocks!!)

Mommy Escapes!

Mommy met up with Aunt Jodi, Aunt Kelly, and Gramma Bon for a fabulous short get-away. It was the first ever night away from Miri. And all turned out just fine. (Thank you, Daddy!!)

Didn't get many photos, but here are a few....


Breakfast at Mother's Bistro. How appropriate!



Silly girls in the back seat. Took a few minutes to move the carseats around, and Kelly thought that Miri's bib was a great accessory for anyone dining 'round the town.


All smiles!

A Productive Weekend

We made good use of the great fall weather to get ready for the icky winter we know will come: We stacked the last ton of hay in the barn; filled the freezer with pork; and cut and stacked a bunch of well-seasoned fir for next year's wood. Chores of the season!


Here's Aleaha atop the stack. We have 130 bales in there today (just over 7 ton), which will get us to next summer.


Miri helps Daddy on the 4-wheeler. Here they are getting ready to go check on the goats & llama.


Miri has a good time feeding the horses each day, especially if it involves giving them apples or working in the alfalfa pellets.

And of course, amongst all the chores, there's been a little playing too.....


We brought back Mommy's toybox from Gramma & Grandpa's house. It's fun to play in!



Miri is at that stage of opening the cupboards and working (not playing!) with all the contents. She is allowed to get into most of them, and is learning to be gentle with the glass ones (you'll be glad to know that following this photo and realizing she's barefoot, the glass jars were quickly removed!). Here she whips up a little something special.


The girls go for a short horse ride through the livingroom.


This was a creepy thing. Notice the spider in the web (against the background of the goat feeder at this angle, it's pretty easy to see). Well, Mommy saw this just before Aleaha was about to walk into it. Whew, glad we didn't do that! Then Mommy walked right into one just like it. She freaked out quite a bit.


Halloween is a favorite time of year in our house. Aleaha gets brave and smooshes the pumpkin guts between her fingers in order to get the seeds out.


Final result. Aleaha's (on left) is pretty basic, at her request. Miri's is a moon and stars (also per Aleaha's request), but it's not lookin' so recognizable. Oh well, we don't get any trick-or-treaters anyway!

Overheard

Aleaha: "Mom, remember when GrammaBon took me and my sister on a walk up at the cabin? It was fun. But Grandpa didn't go. Cuz, you know, he's sort of old. And rusty."

Aleaha: "Mom, we were out of toilet paper in my bathroom, so Daddy put on a new scroll."