7 years

I don't think we've colored eggs in 7 years.  Yep, seven.  I don't believe it was that fun when we did it 7 years ago and so it never happened again.  Ahhh.  Oh well.  We decided to give it a shot this year, because the girls were experiencing serious emotional distress from having Grammy go home after spring break.  They can't handle the let down from visits with any type of composure.  Anyway, DISTRACTION.

They were a big fan.  We tie-dyed and we rice speckled the crap out of those poor unsuspecting eggs.  Which by the way the pressure cooker totally hard boiled in no time, since this was a last minute decision.  Two thumbs up pressure cooker.  I can't plan anything ahead of time these days. . . except Dave's birthday poster which I made, ordered, and printed up last fall before I got hurt and stopped making things on the computer.  The one time I planned ahead and it worked out. . . or it facilitated my injury.  hmmmmmmm??  I shall no longer plan ahead just in case.  But I digress, this was about Easter.

So Easter stuff. . .

 Miley thinks any video I make is some sort of youtube tutorial so here is her Easter egg commentary.



And then came the egg roll.  We rolled.  We smashed.  We left egg guts across the yard for the dogs to clean up.  And then we save some to make deviled eggs for us to clean up.  Everyone except Jo, who does the dry heaving when presented with eggs to eat.  Weirdy.

 And whose egg did the winning. . . . well no surprises but I picked the winner.  Dave the sad loser in the background.  I picked the the least flashy one, and it held up like a champ, beating six eggs before hitting Miley's knee and meeting it's end.

Easter morning and April Fool's. . .



My girls didn't think anything of finding their baskets empty.  I guess I can remember that for next year.  Ha.


 Easter dinner at Anne's house with cousins.  Love having cousins to hang out with.

Easter egg hunt with cousins where Jovey found the golden egg and $5.  Big win.  I think she found it last year too.  I didn't take a single pic while there, so thanks to Anne for documenting the fun on this one.

selfies

I don't usually take our fam photos anymore.  I have a great friend/photographer for that job.  This year, however, in a pinch I grabbed my tripod and we struggled through.

First with the weird faces. . .

Then, with the kids moving while the camera focuses so that the best pic in the whole bunch is BLURRY.

So we take what we can get, weird positioning and all.  It's a better representation of us than anything perfect anyway. ;)

Or we just resort to phone selfies.  Those work for me.  

And hiding Dave's pale arms that reflect too much light.  ;)

Miley's toothlessness forever documented.  ;)

Well my girls are pretty cute, so we'll be happy with these pics.  Until next year. . . I am storing away the tripod indefinitely. . . but probably not my phone.

And in the middle of pictures we had to cross the river to save a stupid kid who got his leg stuck under a boulder.  I don't even know how, but that kid sure could scream and panic.  Dave lost the coin toss and ventured across.  Chivalry is not dead, but it is cold.  Brrrr.  

That ended our photo session with some soggy shuffling to the car.  ;)

December things that happened even if they didn't show up on Instagram

We did stuff this month, despite what social media may show.  We did not document it well, however.  Here is a sampling of our December activities.  First, above, we painted Nativities.  This one is Jovey's.

We had our annual Grinch party with Grinch treats, which Dave took a pic of with his phone, so they are lost to me forever.  I made spaghetti for dinner and so we grinched it up as well.

 Dave took lots of naps.

 We made lots of sweets. . . Gingerbread houses

 Igloos. . .

Gingerbread houses, again. . .

 Sugar cookies. . . and orange balls, not pictured, but eaten just the same.

We made as many snowflakes as our hands could manage in one day.  Plenty to fill our living room ceiling it turns out.

And then both the girls got sick, even though she's a fairy this one ran a decent temperature all week.   And now coughs.
 
Which meant we didn't go see the Nativity this year, or walk around the places with lights.  We did drive on the rainiest day to see Christmas lights around town.  Ehhh, it was the best we could do.

It was a rough month for us.  Lots of tears and heartache for Grandpa.  The girls talked about death and heaven and families a lot.  Jovey wanted to know if Grandpa would be naked in heaven.  ;)  We are grateful for her ability to make us smile, even when we're sad.  We tried to stay busy, but cuddling up on the couch to watch a Christmas movie worked too.

This December was not what we wanted or expected.  It changed us, but it also gave us lots of time together to be closer.  We're going to keep looking forward.  The sun has come out again.

Also, we were very cold.

Randomly August

Photos from my phone. . .

Purple hair for this sassy girl.  Best day ever.

 Everything is much better after the storm.
 Ice cream in bed.

 She's sure she can find Waldo faster than me.
 Jovey's hair was enjoyed by all.

 Strawberries and troublemakers.

  Frenemies working out their issues with lightsabers.
Timeout Dave.

 Headless shopping friends.
More sweets.

Where's Miley?

Where's Paizley?

 Tiff's crusty face.

 A little time in the country.  Also known as the time I got 2 mosquito bites.
Oh and the girls rode horses.

 Eating pie.  Almost made up for the mosquito bites.

 Cute cousins.
Inspired by Rio.

 Selfies.

 And we're exhausted.

Thank you August for the crazy ride.