Christmas From 42″ December 26, 2011

Lizzie got her very own digital camera for Christmas, and has been having a blast taking pictures of anything and everything. Some of them are quite good…

The very first picture Lizzie took with her new camera. Aim will come later...	See, she got pretty much the entire face this time!
Ok, some practice is still needed	Aim shmaim. I love this one.
Not all of her pictures were of people, of course	Various detritus from the stocking-emptying process
Lizzie wanted another picture of Claire. Claire, naturally, wanted the camera.	Lizzie eventually realized that she could turn the camera around and do self-portraiture
Papa took a picture from further back so that Lizzie could model the dress that Grandma made	Lizzie took a lengthy sequence of pictures from countertop level.
Another from the countertop series	I love the perspective in this one.
Here's a picture that Lizzie took during a Skype session with Kathleen's family	LED Christmas lights have a flicker that is noticeable if you move them quickly... or, it seems, if you move the camera quickly.
Anything and everything was fair game. Including a shirt sitting in a chair.	To be fair, this isn't Lizzie's fault. Pretty much any picture of Claire turns out like this.

Putting up the Christmas Tree November 25, 2011

We put up the Christmas tree today, and in what will be an official tradition if we manage it one more year, I made a timelapse video of the process…

My highlights:

• The toy cabinets are this year being pressed into service as blockades to prevent a certain nine-month-old from interfering.
• Lizzie helped out a lot this year!
• Claire decided to demonstrate on video her new skill of the day: Pushing up to a sitting position from her belly.
• Really, it’s worth watching the whole thing an extra time just to follow Claire’s activities through the whole process…
• Toward the end, Claire lost interest in the tree, found a book, and spent close to ten minutes entertaining herself with it before we noticed…

Morning Playtime November 11, 2011

We had nothing on the calendar today and the girls and I enjoyed a relaxed morning at home. I got out the camera to take a couple pictures of Lizzie playing with her train and Claire got interested. She already loves to ham it up for the camera. What followed is a great series of photos that show off Claire’s rapid tummy crawl. She is only army crawling at this point, but she is fast!!

These were all taken within a minute. She really is that fast!

First Snow! November 11, 2011

We got our first snowfall of the season on Wednesday. It was a gorgeous snowfall with big fluffy white flakes that stuck on the grass and not on the roads! We went out to play on Thursday morning in what was left. There wasn’t a lot of snow, but Lizzie still managed to make several snowballs and a couple of snow angels! Claire loved watching snow from inside, she is still deciding about what she thinks of it on the ground. She liked playing in it and wanted to touch it, but then did not like touching it at all.

Testing out the new snowsuits!

Testing out this pretty white stuff.

Showing off a "snow apple" she found.

Happy Halloween November 11, 2011

We enjoyed a great Halloween and Lizzie is still enjoying the candy. Here are the pictures:

Getting our Jack-O-Latern ready. Lizzie drew on the face. I did the carving.

Lizzie and her three-tooth Jack-O-Lantern!

The full effect!

Rapunzel is all ready to go! Many thanks to Grandma for the costume!!

Showing off her treats!

Lizzie’s Birthdays October 28, 2011

Oct. 27, 2007

Oct. 27, 2008

Oct. 27, 2009

Oct. 27, 2010

Oct. 27, 2011

Lizzie’s Birthday Pictures October 28, 2011

As I am sure everyone who checks this page knows… Lizzie is 4!!! We had a lovely and busy and very Lizzie day yesterday. It started with cinnamon rolls and berries for breakfast. Then we headed to swim lessons, followed by lunch at Noodles. The highlight of the day was meeting up with Annika at the zoo! We wrapped up the day with presents and cake! All in all a true birthday celebration day that resulted in a very tired and very happy four-year-old. There are more pictures, but here are a few favorites from my camera.

practicing kicks at swimming

 

Back to the wall after swimming on her own!! She is getting very good!

 

a full shot of the birthday outfit she put together--complete with the sticker she got from swimming for her birthday

 

Lizzie and Annika on the train at the zoo!

Lizzie and her presents!

 

Just so you don't forget about her, Claire thought it necessary to wiggle over and insert herself into a photo. She is very good at the tummy crawl now.

 

princess dress from Grandma

 

Aunt Kristy's princess dress from when she was four... Lizzie is quite excited about all the sparkles on it!

 

Lizzie and her flying horse from Joe & Amber!

 

The ladybug cake

 

blowing out candles

 

All done!

It was  a great birthday! Thank you all for the birthday wishes, cards, and presents! She looked forward to this day for months and had a great one!!

8 Months of Claire October 16, 2011

February

March

April

 

May

 

June

 

July

 

August

 

September

 

October

Apple Picking September 9, 2011

Here you go… a post. We went apple picking today.

This year's growth chart shot

 

Last year's growth chart shot (wow she grew!)

 

 

Okay now I am just having fun... this is the 2009 growth chart shot

 

Claire's first growth chart shot at Eplegaarden

we picked raspberries too!

VotD: A new “mobile” for Claire August 28, 2011

Ok, I’m going to try to get back to that “picture of the day” format that was working for a while… we’ll see if the Internet connection co-operates.

For a first helping: The reason why my back is sore today…

(All of those squeals are happy squeals, in case you were worried.)