Four

Halloween

I am so done with Halloween. How many times can our kids need to have candy thrust at them in one month? I mean really. I didn't even buy any candy this year because we had so much given to us at parties and activities that I had a huge bowl of it before Halloween ever dawned.
That said, we do love dressing up. Jake's costume kills me! He insisted on being Legolas (Lord of the Rings: for all you non-geeks out there) Ethan is a knight, and Emma is an elf princess. To round it all out, we'll say Lily is a hobbit.

Biden

So, every time I get Lily out of the bath and comb her hair Tom laughs and says she looks like Joe Biden. What do you think?

Sunday

It's too bad I took this picture with such bad lighting but if I can get a picture of all four of them without any pouting, sneezing, or fingers in any sort of hole, I'm publishing it.

Warped

The kids and I often have fun with pictures on the computer. These had them in stitches and me clutching my painful ribcage.

Childproof

Did I mention that Lily can get the top off any imaginable kind of bottle? So aside from becoming a drug addict today she found the printer ink. She was like a chubby little Rorschach test. I didn't take a picture until I got her in the tub when most of the damage had already leaked onto the bathtub. She was terrified when the bathwater turned black and kept trying to climb out, her inky hands grabbing everything within reach. I'll be finding smeary little handprints til the year is out.
It could have been worse. The ink washed out pretty easily which was much easier than when I found Jacob covered head to toe in Vaseline. Have you ever chased a squealing greased baby?

Jake and Lily

I'm starting to notice some uncanny similarities between my two youngest children. They have always been the best of friends and love to make each other laugh. Jakey has always been able to cheer Lily up when she is sad and she loves to rub his fuzzy head. Lily has been starting to act more like her big brother of late, showboating, cracking jokes, and general tomfoolery in order to get a laugh. I'm just waiting for for the day she starts burping on demand, too.

Waiting for Daddy

Here's a typical image of Lily waiting for Dad to get back from the gym.
She waits for ages (in baby years) at various front windows
after doing a thorough check of every room in the house
to verify that her Daddy isn't home.

Belly Button

Growing

Lily is losing her babyness and turning into a toddler. Luckily my kids don't tend to be early developers so I get to enjoy babbling and crawling much longer than most moms. Lily will take a few wobbly steps, and only says, "Da!" That's what she does when she hears Daddy, and also how she reads. We will often find her sitting on a pillow with some giant book in her lap open to page 4, "Da!" page 5, "DA!" page 6, "DA!" The End.

A Day at our House

Here we are just after lunch. Ethan and Emma are working on their Math. Jacob is not doing his workbook yet because he has to finish eating the lettuce from his sandwich which was surreptitiously dropped on the floor throughout lunchtime. Lily is eating Playdough.

Bad Hair Day

Yes, she does have them.

Lily

Lily is all clean and ready for church. Here's what she looks like today.

Pirate Lily

Ethan dressed Lily up in his Halloween costume...

Bubbles

Karen's Birthday Video