"Liquorice" and "Chocolate Chip"

We have two new family members. Elsa has been saving her money for a few months with one goal in mind -- "acquire a hamster."

I found her a good deal on a pair of young fellas. (The family trying to get rid of them made the mistake of buying a female hamster at the pet store. Suddenly they had many hamsters. NEVER buy a female hamster at the pet store.)

They are both solid black. They look like miniature little black bears.

This is Liquorice the hamster:


And this is Chocolate the hamster:
When we got home with them, and Adele saw that they were animals, she of course cried and dove behind Ryan in terror. She went nearly hysterical with fear, cried and begged us not to get them near her. It took us a while to coax her back into the room. After all, fear of animals (including flies) is in her blood!

Just kidding. Sorry Tiff, couldn't resist.

Actually, Adele squeeled with total delight and almost jumped out of Ryan's arms trying to get the hamster when Elsa held it up to show her. She was soooooo excited. Then she chased one around while it ran in the ball, and she giggled like crazy the whole time. We put one in a box and let her pet it and we had to hold her arms pack because she really wanted to pick it up. We had to insist on her ONLY petting it.

Then she sat and watched them play in the cage. I had to keep telling her "no" because she would put her fingers in the wires and try to get them that way. But hamsters will bite your finger tips if you offer them to them like that (they think anything you stick in their face is an offer of food.)

I suggested to Elsa that we name them Diet Coke and Dr. Pepper, but she just rolled her eyes at me. I guess since she paid, she can name them whatever she wants. But how cute would it have been to call them her Cola Bears???

Summer Time is Coming

So Daddy mows the lawn every Saturday morning now.

Adele monitors his progress closely.
And we are getting in more playground time.

Easter Pics

Both girls were a bit exhausted by the time we took these. This was Saturday, and we had gone to a big Easter egg hunt at Thanksgiving Point and were outside for about 2 hours in what I am sure were sub-zero temperatures.

Adele ignored everything in her Easter basket once she got hold of the only thing that mattered in there, a sippee cup. She loves anything plastic with a straw.

These are the "before" pictures as we were leaving for the hunt. They look a little cleaner and brighter, don't they?

Elsa was with Paul on Easter Sunday, so the rest of us spent the day at home hiding from the snow. (Yes, there was snow on Easter, this land is really barely inhabitable.)

Adele's favorite things: Daddy, a blanket, cookies, and a cozy place to relax.

Adele's First Birthday

Yesterday was Adele's birthday...so we got CRAZY!!!!

There was to be a family gathering in Delta, so we were going to seize the opportunity to have a little party for her there while everyone in Ry's family was around, but something came up and everyone stayed home.

Fortunately, Adele's big sister is an expert party planner, and she threw together a last minute bash to end all bashes (in the one year old bash category, anyway).

First we got some wild Chuck E. Cheese's action:

Party guest. Time of their LIVES! (as you can see)

Elsa showed Addy the ropes on the rides.

Just before this pic, Del said, "For twelve bucks a plate, I am tasting the plates!"

Then they stormed the castle

And at home we had the "real" party.

Elsa decorated (she's going pro).

This present is from Elsa. It was the Zhu-zhu pet you will see in the video at the end of the post.

And Ry and I got her one of these.

And then, well, we let her eat cake. Or, we let her something a cake anyway.

If I don't post this, Ryan will. He busted me tasting the frosting when I was supposed to be clearing the mess. It wasn't bad. If you are the sort of person who likes to see a lovely cake obliterated by a baby, click here.

Mom, Grandma,

The cedar chest is fine, and I won't let her crash it anymore. Promise.

Remembering Geography Or Music...

I was taking Elsa to school and I decided to ask her if she remembered anything she learned about St. Patricks Day. Here is the conversation that took place:

Me: What is the capital of Ireland?
Elsa: Washington??
Me: No, it's Dublin. What is the capital of the United States?
Elsa: AC/DC.

Ah, Elsa, you are hilarious.

I Don't Know Which One of Them Started This:

I don't know who the leader is either:

There is some great hip work around second 32 of this one:

She's 11 months old, and finally...

She sits up!!!

Ladies and Gentltemen...My Eight Year Old!

She does not like to hold still and let me take pictures.

How it Could Have Been

At one point in my life I considered (seriously) becoming an elementary school teacher. Sometimes, when I am sitting at my desk at work writing long, boring, technical documents that no one will ever actually read I think, "I wonder what life would be like if I had become a teacher. At the very least, I would get human interaction, I would be doing something noble, and I would be out of here by 3. Not to mention, summers off!"

Then I host an 8 year old's birthday party, to which I insisted she invite every girl in the class instead of just most of them--I don't like Elsa to be "cliquey" and didn't want any one's feelings hurt.

So, three hours of 19 screaming children later, I think to myself, "Nope, life is good. Technical writing is good."

P.S. There are no pictures to post because I forgot to take a camera and even if I had had one, it's hard to be the photographer and do crowd control at a riot. I will get a good shot of my pretty eight-year-old and post it in the next day or two.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Best part of the day for me is having two little girls who love eachother so much!