Fried

Chicken, that is. 

Thank you, Mom, for helping me recreate the famous fried chicken moment with my own Granny, circa 1984. :)

I talked my mom into reviving the old Southern deep frying skill that's been languishing in these days of increased interest in healthy eating habits. :)

 Just like my Granny, she let Carolyn and Nora help her salt, pepper, and flour the chicken pieces.

 Carolyn really liked having the freedom to play with the salt and pepper shakers.

 Nora wasn't sure about the slimy texture of the chicken.

 Sticky fingers!

 Oh, it was GOOOOD! :)

Seize the Moment

 Sometimes the best moments are the unplanned ones that you simply seize. 

Yesterday it was HOT HOT HOT at my parents' house... and a big storm came through, though the lightning and hail and yucky stuff wasn't close to us... lots of rain, though, and so we let the girls have an up-close experience with a summer rain shower.

They couldn't believe I would let them outside in that!

I love this picture because the looks on their faces say it all, and also just really express the growing tenderness of sisters!

Carolyn caught the rain drops on her tongue.

She thought this was so funny! I think I'll save these cute tongue pictures for her high school graduation. :)

The rain came down very hard for awhile!

The girls got soaked!

There was a pretty big puddle in the courtyard. It might look like they are just holding hands like sweet sisters in this picture.

But really Carolyn is trying to maintain control of the big side of the puddle.

I made sure Nora got a turn. :)

Then we did something both very fun and a little stupid... we let the girls play in the little "river" right in front of the house. :) I remember doing this as a kid and thinking it was so fun. I think maybe there were not so many cars on our street when I was growing up!

This did not last long- after a car or two passed by, we restricted their splash zone to right in front of the house.

Still good enough for fun in puddles, though!

They really had a blast!

I was glad I dressed them in bright colors because the pictures really came out cute. :)

 

Can't believe how TALL Carolyn is starting to look! That dress was an impulse buy at Wal Mart yesterday... it was a 6/6X but looked like it would fit her- and it did!

Sisters jump together!

Kicking in the puddles.

Quick! Back to the driveway whenever a car comes by! :)

It was a great little "moment" together. I'm glad I had the camera handy to capture some of these picture because I think they really express who these girls are at this moment in time. It's nice to be able to preserve their natural smiles and beauty to enjoy again and again! I just hope the warning I gave them about never going in the street unless Mommy is there to tell them it's safe sticks!

Birthday Eve

Tonight is Carolyn's Birthday Eve! :) The long-awaited Birthday is almost here! :) I have been asked daily about turning FIVE for the past couple of months... and tomorrow's the big day! :) I might be nearly as excited as she is. Fun stuff planned- birthday muffins, birthday presents, birthday build-a-bear at the mall, birthday lunch with a best bud, birthday NAP (here's hoping...), and birthday PARTY! tomorrow night! Hoping we don't leave room in there for birthday Meltdown, like we had last year on her birthday at the Gymboree picking out sunglasses and having to be dragged out kicking and screaming!

Randomness, and a New Lens

Here are a bunch of random pictures from today... I was testing the capabilities of my new lens! Unfortunately my favorite lens got broken when we were at the strawberry patch the other day, so I had to take it in today to get fixed... which will take a couple of MONTHS... gasps of horror... I just can't go back to a kit lens after using the higher quality lens for almost a year... and the Pixies have been busy enough lately to justify a new purchase... so I bought a new one! Not the same one- not as nice as the one that's out for repairs- but it does have a max aperture of f/1.8, which gives me a bit more flexibility in picture taking- and I really like it! :)

 Here's a picture of Nora and her "ooh-ee."

 And a very "Carolyn" face lately.

 The new lens isn't a zoom so it's not as big and bulky as my other one, so Carolyn could hold it and take some really awesome pictures of me and Brad this afternoon (lol).

 Yes, I put this picture on the internet- here we are demonstrating what the "whiiiiine" face looks like. We have been talking a lot about whining around here lately. :)

And Carolyn got laughing enough to actually permit a picture of a real smile!

 Tonight we went to the annual intern's welcome party at Craig's Cruisers. We tried to play mini-golf... but quit after 3 holes... I think Carolyn could use some lessons on holding a club. :)

And yes, Nora is TWO!

A Snapshot of our family at this juncture... here's hoping that there will be a fifth one of us in next year's picture. No, I'm not announcing anything... just wishing... sigh...

And every time we go to this event, I can't help but remembering what it was like exactly five years ago- June 28, 2006- when I was just two days from the beginning of the motherhood adventure- and SO ready for it to get started, already!

When It's Your Birthday Party...

... you get to lick the beater from making the frosting! :) Great birthday party today with the family for Carolyn's birthday! And the rest of the family ran our first family 10K today! :) Amazingly we were some of the slowest, even though we averaged 10:25 minute miles (which is really good for me! :))

Growing Up!

Nora is really reaching that point in toddlerhood where she's starting to look so much more like a preschooler/little girl! I took these pictures today while Carolyn was at a friend's house and Nora and I were painting... and I'm just struck with how much older she looks!

 I loved her look of concentration as she worked so hard to get the paint in the lines.

 And it's so funny to have a leftie in the house! I always have to remind myself that she doesn't use the same hand I do!

I never really planned on getting "out" of the baby stage so early... part of me just aches that our baby days are over for now... but another part of me is really enjoying the stage that we are heading into with two kids out of diapers and getting into that "easier" phase of life.  They are becoming such great little friends! Of course they fight a bit like all sisters do... but overall, they have such real affection for each other, and I can see the preciousness of that sister relationship developing. Call me crazy, but I'm actually excited for when they start sharing a room- even though I know that they won't sleep as well for awhile! I think that sharing a room is such a bonding experience and the sister relationship is so unique and deep and permanent in a way no other relationship is... I'm so happy that they have each other, and glad to see them growing together. :)

Strawberry Picking

Nothing says "Summer's Here" in Michigan like some good times strawberry picking!

Today I modulated my to-do list a bit, tried to reduce my expectations of myself, and generally felt less grouchy. I still didn't juggle it all with grace and skill... but at least I did take the girls strawberry picking... and I got my 5 mile run in this afternoon in preparation for our 10K race on Saturday! So I guess that's something. 

Here are some pictures of strawberry picking this year.

 Carolyn loved eating the strawberries!

 Nora had her fair share too- I love how brilliant that red is against the blue of her shirt.

 Nora was especially efficient and industrious- which surprised me since she is, after all, only two! She really liked picking the berries. I'm excited to take her raspberry and blueberry picking later in the summer!

 This picture makes me laugh because that's how it was- Nora picked and picked and picked- she really did pick at least half of what we brought home- and Carolyn mostly sat and ate strawberries and supervised the process. :)

 I always have to take a picture of the strawberry in focus and Carolyn out of focus. :) It's a yearly tradition... especially since she still refuses to look the camera in the face!

 She found a really wonky strawberry but she had eaten most of it before I got a picture. :)

 Yum, yum!

Taking a little break from all her hard work... :)

Tomorrow we may make jam... or more likely we'll wait until the next day... :) I'm nothing if not good at procrastinating!

And now I'm done blogging for tonight. It's Night Two of "Prep for Potter..." we're not dorky enough to go to the 5am start of the Potter series culminating with the midnight showing of the newest movie (okay, we couldn't get tickets ;))- but we are watching through the movies again before we go to the 9pm start double feature! :) Gotta love it!