Spaghetti

It's not the first time the girls have had spaghetti, but I do think it may be the messiest they've ever been at dinner time... Especially Anna Claire. She was getting sleepy, so she kept rubbing her eyes...
Don't be fooled by the looks on their faces. They weren't happy I made the stop eating long enough for me to snap some pictures. I've never seen two little girls shove so much food in their mouths!

Duty Calls

Since I began summer break with these pictures, I thought it fitting to end summer break with these...

That's right. Duty calls and my summer break with the girls is over more than one week early. I'm not supposed to be back at work until next Wednesday, August 5, but a huge project which requires days of teacher trainings has called me back more than one week early. Did I already mention that?

The school bus ball pit, one of the girls' favorite birthday presents, has seen better days. They have played hard this summer jumping, rolling, crawling, and climbing all over it. Now it is partially deflated - kind of like I feel tonight after my first day back to work more than one week early.

Bright side: I do have this Friday, next Tuesday, and next Friday off. Yay!

Simplicity

Remember the good ol' days when life was simple, and people made their own clothes? Well,...

Aren't the girls' new dresses cute? I think so, too. I made them. No, really. I made them. All by myself. On a sewing machine. My mom didn't sew a single stitch for me, although she did open up a 24 hour hot-line to answer all my sewing questions.

One thing you may notice about the dresses is that they have a yoke. What you may no be able to see is that they also have zippers, facings, and bias tape. These are all things that should seriously impress you! There was nothing simple about making these dresses.

What you also probably can't see are all the mistakes I made. Hey, it was my first time (maybe my last??). It took me about a week to complete both dresses which are a little too big. I have ric-rac to sew along the hem, but I just really needed to be DONE, if you know what I mean.

I don't have any new sewing projects lined up but have been doing lots of research on patterns and fabrics. We'll have to see when the crafty mood hits me again.

Picture Day

For a couple of months now, I have been trying to have the girls' "one-year-old" portraits taken. I really wanted him to take the pictures, but it's not quite in the budget right now, and historically the girls have been a bit temperamental during photo shoots. I couldn't bear to fork out big bucks and then not have the pictures turn out (maybe we'll try when they're a bit older), so back to Portrait Innovations we went.

Of course, Anna Claire woke up this morning with a huge mosquito bite on her forehead. I doctored it all day long to no avail. In addition, she only took a fifteen minute nap. I think it shows in the pictures (the bite and the crankiness), but it always amazes me that we can still come away with some really good poses.

These are a few of the [unedited] best...
The girls had had enough by the time we switched outfits, but we still got a few good ones... And one more just for fun...

Sitting Pretty

Anna Claire and Mallory have been having all kinds of fun crawling in, out, over and around their bouncy seats lately. They have been enjoying sitting in them and playing, reading, drinking their milk, and even, maybe, kind of, watching a little bit of television in the afternoon so I can get dinner completed... Did I mention they like sitting in the same bouncy seat?

So, we were talking in the pool Sunday about how much the girls were enjoying "sitting," and how I thought they needed a little chair to sit in other than their bouncy seats especially since they had a lot of fun with Connor's lion chair while at the beach. My mom goes upstairs and comes out of the attic with early Christmas presents...

The girls love their new chairs, but they're still getting the hang of them. Anna Claire tends to roll off the edge.

And, about the television watching...here's Anna Claire mesmerized by Yo Gabba something-or-other. I am actually quite frightened by this show, but they seem to like it, and it buys me about ten minutes. But I really do need to find something a bit more educational!

Whirlin' Waters

Today we went to the water park for the first time. When we left home it was cool and overcast. Halfway there it was raining. Once we got there the rain had stopped, but the sun remained hidden - which was perfect. I guess since the weather was iffy, the crowds stayed away. If it hadn't been for two bus-loads of summer camp kids, we would have virtually had the park to ourselves!

Mallory couldn't wait to get out the stroller and on to "Otter Bay."There was so much to do and see, the girls didn't know which way to go first!Here's Anna Claire pointing at one of the fountains shooting water high in the air.Mallory loved splashing around the "Lily Pad."We also played in the wave pool and the girls went down the "baby" slide - on our laps, of course, but they loved it. Mallory laughed all the way down the slide and Anna Claire had a huge smile on her face. It's taken us all summer to get to the park; hopefully we'll have the chance to go back again. The girls' had a blast.

Anna Claire and Mallory gazing longingly at the pool...

They couldn't wait to get out there. And would you look at those chunky little legs?