Glitches

I haven't been able to link photos from my photobucket in what feels like forever, so until then there are no posts happening.  Yet another Blogger glitch to work through.  (If I upload directly it fills my storage capacity too quickly.)  So hang in there... hopefully we'll be back in business soon.

All Four!!

We had to do a little tank cleaning recently, and digging up the crabs was a part of the fun.  Normally you shouldn't dig up a buried hermit, but we knew for certain that none were molting.  Having all four in view and active at one time was really thrilling.

Evan particularly was overjoyed at this chance to see his little friends -- since they are nocturnal, we see them for about 3 minutes a night before bed and that's pretty much it.  Other than an empty food dish there really isn't much evidence of life in the tank! 

Larry is still the most active and Kermit is still the most shy.  Little Pagoo has grown and Garfield is huge and probably ready for yet another new shell.  The kids really know these crabs despite their minimal interaction with them.  We're hoping to see more of them when we set the clocks back here soon.  If not then, we'll have to wait for summer and warmer days....

Chloe wanted to put Larry back in until he popped out of his shell suddenly and startled her.  I took this picture, she dropped him and ran out of the room in tears.  He didn't pinch her, but he may as well have!

Tickle Fight

She loves to be tickled and her Dad loves to tickle her!

Chloe Elise

I have several pictures of Chloe floating around with no real cohesiveness between them, except to put them all in one post like this.

A few weeks ago, on Sunday morning, Chloe was suddenly inspired to have her hair fixed up.  She imagined the whole thing out, told me how to do it and then accessorized.

All this from the girl who gives me the same response every Sunday (and every regular day) about fixing her hair up, "I would just like it down."  She was so super proud of her three braided idea :-)

Also that morning, she was wiggling her loose front tooth all around.

She loves to stand by the door trim where we've measured the kids since they were 18 months old.  She is either checking her own height to see if she's grown since her birthday or gloating over how much taller than Evan she has been since her 5th birthday.

She has five fall outfits in her drawer in rotation right now -- all monochromatic, all very bright, surprisingly only one is a bit sparkly, but she wears glitter shoes every day so those make up for it.

She has a red outfit, a royal blue one, a turquoise one, a purple one and a green one.  The green shirt has colorful dots on it though.  She is in love with this wardrobe. 

I still pick out her Sunday clothes, but it's all very bright too, to match the rainbow stripe tights.  Oh, and of course the leopard print she adores is still around in the form of pants and a matching jacket .  I even gave in and let her get the shoes.  I think after the age of seven we'll probably be done with animal prints, but for now she can enjoy them to the fullest.

Anyway, back to that loose tooth:

It fell out on Thursday.  She still tries to stay awake all night to see if the tooth fairy is real.  She decided that she'll be able to know for sure when she's a mother someday and her kids lose their teeth.  If they get money, she's real.  :-)  

She has the cutest little lisp that makes us smile at every word she says, and her other front tooth is loose now too, so it will be even more adorable.

Cooling Down

As the weather cools down, the kids have been in the house a bit more often.  Wrapped up in fuzzy blankets at breakfast (since they insist on sleeping in shorts even when the heat turns on overnight) and playing with toys they haven't really touched since spring.

They are both obsessed with Jeeps right now.  Real ones and toy ones. These tinkertoy Jeeps were Evan's design, but Chloe did a great job imitating.  They even have back window crossbars and working axles :-)

Currently, the "Jeep Town" set up in the basement is what they play every single day, sometimes setting it up before they even eat breakfast. 

The tiny clay Jeeps they made a while back are the residents. Evan's are on one side in little garages, and Chloe's on the other.  It's sort of the indoor version of Car City with roads, jails, stores, rules and personalities for each Jeep involved.

They are also loving the Hex-Bugs (which are little robotic things that eat batteries).  They make really elaborate tracks for them to travel in.  Todd and I cannot figure out why this holds their attention so much, but they love it.

Comic Strip

Chloe loves to make me picture stories -- stacks of scrap paper covered with animals and flowers and some narration as to what is going on here in the world of her imagination.   Here is just one of dozens and dozens of stories she has given me.  They flow like comic strips.


Life is peaceful for country-dwelling cats... lovely scenery, pretty flowers, quiet....

Here in the backyard Tom (on the right) and his friend are having a little visit while the dog next door is thinking about them ....

All the barking, burping and yipping noise bothers Tom and his buddy who are more refined and intelligent.

Notice the bird feeder lure on the cats' side; squirrel house lure on the dogs' side.

So they leave.

They come face to face with a giant dog from the neighborhood. Tom is worried when he hears the growling.

They started to run, and when they heard a faraway bark, they looked back only to realize the dog wasn't fast at all.

What a dumb dog.

Ironically, Chloe loves dogs and would never say they are dumb or just lazy burping slobs, but that is the influence of the lovely Garfield on her work.

To the Beach

An unusually warm day in October found us enjoying the beach in a very fall-season sort of way.  The wind was whipping and the water was pretty chilly.  There was more hole digging and rock collecting than a summer day, and only wading, wave-jumping and shore-running allowed since there are no lifeguards on duty at this time of year.  The sandy expanse was mostly empty except a few young families like ours.  The kids frolicked and Todd and I sat quietly watching seagulls riding wind gusts like roller-coasters in the air.   Refreshing!