Anywhere but Hufflepuff

I finally saw part II of the final Harry Potter movie tonight, and I'm not sure which is more awkward: Lord Voldemort hugging Draco or Harry and Hermione dancing in part I. Honestly, it's a toss-up.

This Year's Family Pics

The Sweetest Thing

I have been to Heaven and it tastes like Yum Yum donuts. Pennsylvania just earned itself a place in my heart. And I guess also because my parents live there now.

So Good, It's Evil

You know how sometimes you anticipate something and build it up in your mind so much that the real experience can't possibly live up to it? Seeing Wicked on Broadway a couple of weeks ago was the complete opposite of that: it was awe-maz-some-ing! It actually surpassed my highest of high expectations. So next time you're in NYC, stop by the Gershwin Theatre. Best 100 bucks a ticket you'll ever spend.

She's Been Smurfed!

Cute Faces

"Mom, Take a Picture of Me 'Cause I'm Mad"

Death of an Old School Boombox

Kincade's old stereo, purchased in about 1994, finally wheezed it's last wheeze. Farewell, loyal friend. You're off to that giant beach party in the sky.


To commemorate, we played Duck Hunt. Stella now likes to "shoot those ducks" as well as "hit those birds."

We've Been Phineas and Ferberized!

Stella (she chose pink hair of course)

Macy (purple hair on Stella's insistence)

Paige

Kincade

Hiking, Splashing, Swimming

July was a busy month. Remind me to take a big nap before it starts next year.

The First Lie

When I told Stella she couldn't pour her cup of milk into her bowl of mac 'n' cheese, she told me, "Macy said I could." Does this look like the face of a girl who tells tall tales?

Yeah, maybe. That mustache is pretty sinister.

Life in Plastic, It's Fantastic

This is what I found in the bathroom one day next to Stella's toilet:


Can you tell what Barbie and Ken are doing? Look a little closer.


That's right. They're sitting on mini toilets. Not just any kind of toilets though: Bubble Tape toilets.

When Stella and I were looking through old Barbie stuff from my childhood, she discovered what I used at Barbie toilets back in the day. Six feet of grape flavored fun. I also used Kleenex boxes stuffed with shoulder pads as couches. Don't judge me.

How They've Grown

Macy has learned how to drool,

sit up in the Boppy,

stand tall (with a little help),

and fly

while Stella discovered that wearing a ballet costume is perfectly acceptable clothing in the daytime as long as her mom is still wearing pajamas herself.

Bedtime Behavior

For one random week, Stella preferred curling up on her carpet at night instead of in her bed. You would look like this too if you woke up on the wrong side of the...floor.

Luckily, she improved as the day went on without any obvious side effects to carpet camping.

Fresh Diapers

Is it weird that when I refill the diapers in Macy's drawer, I pull the last few old ones to the front then add the new diapers behind, like they'll expire if I don't rotate them?

Happy Easter!

Time for Cadbury mini eggs, matching dresses, and egg salad sandwiches for days.

What Stella Does for Entertainment

Particularly when I'm not looking.

Crazy? I Was Crazy Once

In case you were planning on coming to my house, don't. We're sick. Poor Macy sounds like a piglet snorting and grunting in the mud and her naps are turbulent while I had a temperature of 104.4. That's probably not too far away from brain-melting point. As I lay in bed last night, burning up but freezing cold, I mentally created a list of things I needed to remember to do today. The more I repeated the words, they formed a shape in my mind that reminded me of one of Stella's Lego pieces. Does that make sense? Well, it did last night, thanks to my fever-induced hallucinations. And now that I've admitted this, someone is probably going to come take me away and put me in a rubber room where it'll be cold, I'll die, they'll bury me, the worms will tickle, and it will drive me crazy.

For being sick, Macy still smiles occasionally. Just not when I try to take a picture.

(Just look at how sad and sick yet adorably vulnerable I am.)

Twinners

Wondering where Stella's fine, curly hair comes from? Wonder no more. I'm hoping one day she'll actually need a haircut for that glorified mullet of hers.

Hazardous Fruit

Notice the babies playing with the plastic food? Now let me direct your attention to the fine print at the bottom of the label that says, "WARNING: CHOKING HAZARD. Small parts. Not for children under 3 years." Obviously, communication was lost at some point while making this product.

Halfway There

Almost two weeks now since I've had dessert. I wish I could say it's been a piece of cake, but it hasn't. Literally. There's been no cake for me. Even though there have been sweets aplenty, I've partaken of none. Only eleven more days to go. I think I can survive with only a small part of me dying (hopefully the flabby part).

Snip Snap

Can you find the difference between these two pictures?

Well, obviously I'm wearing black in the first one and burgundy in the second. Oh, and I cut my hair too.

We Dig Chuck