Trying to get a good Christmas picture with two kids and two dogs is impossible...

Attempting the Christmas Card Photos, 2009: We had a LOT of great pictures of Ellie, a LOT of great pictures of Quincy, and some really good pictures of Cosmo and Otis....but not one single picture with all four of them looking good at the same time. It was fun trying, though!

Holding up their new ornaments that they picked out this year....a frog in a life-preserver??? I don't quite understand that one as an ornament, but Ellie LOVES it!

This is a futile attempt by me to keep both dogs (and two three-year-olds) focused so Tim could snap a photo---without me in it. Yes, I am wearing my pyjamas.

Cosmo didn't make the actual Christmas card this year...but this a fabulous photo of him (just not of Ellie and Quincy!).

Oct/Nov/Dec #5---Picking out the Christmas Tree

I thought I would throw this picture in with all the others as it shows an apparent theme for the year: Overalls. As I was looking through the HUGE amount of photos to choose pictures to post on this blog of the last three months, about 90% of the pictures were of the girls wearing their overalls. I PROMISE that they do have other clothes....their overalls are just sooo easy to wear!

Oct/Nov/Dec #4---A Day at the Farm

Once again, we took a Fall trip to Cagle's Dairy to ride tractors, go on hay rides, and ride a pony. The weather was beautiful and the kids had a blast.....

Quincy absolutely LOVED the pony ride...Ellie, not so much...maybe Ellie was just too tired to enjoy it; she was fast asleep in the car five minutes after it ended!

Oct/Nov/Dec #3---Halloween

We spent Halloween with our good friends, Andy and Jenny (and their daughter, Tess), again this year in our old neighborhood. Uncle Mike and Uncle Eric were also there since they only live four doors down from Andy and Jenny.

Ellie was a bumble-bee and Quincy was a lady bug (an over-the-top, super-frilly lady bug). Yes, they were absolutely adorable!

Apparently bubble-bees were popular this year...

Quincy trick-or-treating at our old (sob!) house.....oh, how we miss it!

Oct/Nov/Dec #2---Quincy's 3rd Birthday!

We celebrated Quincy's 3rd birthday the same night we celebrated Uncle Mike's 21st (or is it 22nd?---ha!) birthday. I made them a Pink Pig cake---for no reason except it was the only pink thing to make as a cake I could think of that day. When Quincy and Ellie woke up from their naps to a house full of pink balloons, they were ready for a party. But...we couldn't begin until Uncle Mike and Uncle Eric arrived. For close to 20 minutes (which is a lonnnnggg time for a three year old), they both just stared out the window and kept saying (over and over), "Where are Uncle Mike and Eric?". It was very cute!

The birthday boy finally arrived......

After a delicious meal of tacos (Quincy and Mike's favorite), it was time for presents: A new potty (that makes real flushing noises) and baby wipes set for her Chocho doll. She loved it! And still does.....two months later...

Oct/Nov/Dec #1---The Babysitters!

Above are Amanda, Sara, and Emily: World Class Sitters.

I have THE BEST babysitters in the world! At least for one year at a time. I teach primarily juniors in AP Physics and while they are my current students I get to know them pretty well (okay, super well actually!). During the period of time I am their teacher, I use this time to make up my mind who will be my babysitter(s) the following year. When that group of kids become seniors, I have them as sitters for one year before they go off to college, during which I am grooming the next set of kids (my current Juniors) to be my sitters the following year. I love these kids (above) like my own children and I hope that Ellie and Quincy grow up to be like them in sooo many ways: Intelligent, funny, modest, silly, and GOOD. When Tim and I need a sitter, we usually get two or three at a time (for the price of one). They come over as a group and play with our kids until bedtime, after which they hang out with each other and watch TV and eat junk food like they would on any typical Saturday night at their own homes. This is genuinely what they like to do on a Saturday night...and Ellie and Quincy reap the benefits of it.

Amanda and Quincy.

Sara and Ellie-bean.

Quincy and Ellie chowing down on cookies (which they NEVER get to do unless the sitters are with them!).