things we like

byoo pwincess dwesses and nooooooooo down-pants (this is the apparel of choice these days)

ah, post-nap sundays on the couch (this 'pose' lasts five seconds max, and so does that nice, hot cup of coffee in britton's hand!)

ah, sundays on the couch. that sticker on their backs says, "I've been changed with love!" Indeed, that is the form that loving me takes these days...

if it weren't for books, we'd pretty much go insane. thankfully, kaki came in town to take over some of the reading. i know you're thinking, i wish my kids liked to read this much...but it's just like anything else, many tears (weeping and gnashing of teeth) are shed over books all day long...it doesn't solve any major issues or fix the Fall or anything!

when we had the not-flu for three weeks of last month, none of us had much energy...that's mary walton reading to baby katherine (see the dolly blanket? that's how i know it's katherine)

mary walton and the new house daddy built in the back yard (thanks to grandmommy and poppa!)

Brocolli water and baby smiles

Britton is wearing white (and Mary Walton has the white bow)
Katherine is wearing pink (and Shelby has the pink bow)

Tonight at supper, after a week or so of terrible supper experiences (where 3 yr olds sit at the table for over an hour in front of their bowl of whatever, until they take 3 bites for freedom), I served a favorite dish...frozen cheese pizza and brocolli (the frozen part applies to the brocolli as well). I was draining the brocolli (after "steaming" it in the microwave) and the big girls called out, "Mommy, what are you doing???" (you know, 3 yr olds like to ask questions sometimes.) I said, "I'm pouring out this brocolli water into the sink"...to which they replied, "may I have some broc-a-yee water?" (you can see where this is going) They proceeded to down not one, not two, but THREE teacups each (princess teacups, of course) of "brocolli water" with little brocolli bits floating in it. Unbelievable. You know, I had heard that when you boil vegetables, all the vitamins go in that water...well, problem solved. We have the most granola children...maybe some of that vegetable lovin' can rub off on the parents?

Shelby's Movie Moments

Our first movie theater experience...Ratatouille
Shelby said, "It portrayed the clash between a dying feudalistic noble class and the surging capitalist bourgeois class in the post-Kantian pre-French-Revolution Paris, viewed through the lense of 1980's Thatcherian social policy, but tainted by the writers' own Pre-neo-post-modern anti-omni-structuralism with quasi Marxist agrarian undertones....of course...If you've seen Apocalypse Now you have seen the same idea presented more clearly only with Marlon Brando and a long needed nod to Trent's impact on Gorbechev's Perestroika." Of course Mary Walton and i both think that sounds like exactly what a supra-millenial libretarian neo-orthodox platonist, with Hegelian views on post-Vietnam immigration policy, and whose favorite musician is Raffi would say. She sees everything through a pre-"War of Jenkins Ear"-meso-pythagorean infralapsarian mindset.... So what can i say, you know? Stil, I always worry when i agree with Mary because I feel like she is an anti-2nd Chalcedonian Council Modalistic high sacramentarian who would have voted for Mondale but blames Korea on Locke.

Britton's grimace.

Our dear friend Martha with two happy babies. That's Katherine's best smile that we've captured to date, and that silly grin on Martha's face is one I've been seeing for about 25 years now, which is fun.

You've seen the pic...now see the vid

This is all 10 wood grandkids (the oldest of which is 4) all in bed with Grandmommy Wood.

pink pink pink

the fate of the cupcakes...

these blue blankets were knitted by our precious 92 yr old across-the-street neighbor...

and this picture's not from the birthday party, but since they're wearing pink...this is a picture of the babies so happy at the park with Kaki on our trip to Jackson this Christmas...does Kaki look happy, too? Lots of folks think these three look alike :)

At their party, the girls wore bows (thanks, Aunt Kathryn for the steady supply) AND party hats (thanks, Aunt Marne, remember these from two years ago!) AND birthday tiaras (thanks, Aunt Nissy and Uncle Scott!)...who says a girl can wear too much dazzle?

And here's the actual birthday (the party was two days later)...thanks, Mary Leigh, for the yummy birthday cakes you brought over for the girls! They shared with their baby sisters, as is their habit at the dinner table...for better or worse!

For the record, I have no idea how to format this blog...I just type and paste pictures, and it comes out whichever way it wants to...oh well!

mo' 2 come

Doesn't this picture look like the Who's from Whoville all sleeping in one bed? Doesn't Grandmommy look so happy? Christmas was amazing...ten grandchildren, the oldest of whom turned four just the month before. The 4 yr old is pictured below, and you can tell by Mary Walton's dreamy expression how much each of the other 9 love their big-boy cousin! Of the babies, Britton is the one munching on birthday cake, and Katherine is the one with the crazy grin. Shelby is the birthday princess pictured below, with the pink sash ("like Mary Poppins," they say...sister suffragettes in training I suppose), pink bow, dazzling earrings, magic wand, and birthday tiara (contributions of Aunt Nissy and Uncle Scott). More party pics to come...

You can line 'em all up, but you can't get 'em all to smile (or even look at the camera)

but here are some updated shots of what they
all look like anyhow!

more(non-pregnancy related) news to come...

Truckers in Training

Hello from our back yard...or, from the babies' perspective, just across the window pane from the backyard! If you are wondering why Katherine is pumping iron at such a young age, just check the next two scary pictures of big sister Mary Walton. (This, by the way, is about as close to the swimming pool as we have gotten so far in Columbia...all the gear, and not enough life guards--sorry, girls!) As I write, I am listening to our monitors in the big girls' room, where they are still singing "Baa, Baa, Black Sheep" (it's 9:30 p.m.).
"...and one for de yiddle boy who yivves down de yaaaaaaaane"
We just took this last picture this afternoon, again
in the back yard: Mary Walton, Katherine (and her
expressive eyebrows), Britton (and her always-animated grin),
and Shelby. Rain boots and smocked dresses are a
favorite combo in our family...I'm serious!

A few choice words...

Shelby


Baby Britton, on a big spit-up day








"No! No thank you! No ma'am, chair, no hurt Shelby!"
-Shelby (left), after falling out of her chair



"Mommy, you have...brown hair. Shelby have...no brown hair. (pause) Trees have... green."
and also...
"Mommy, you have...brown eyes. Shelby have...byoo eyes. (pause) Trees have...no eyes."
-Shelby, looking out the window on the long van ride home




"O please, flamingo!? O please, flamingo!?"
-Mary Walton, after being offered 'some mango' by her daddy

"This is Daddy's big-girl bed!"
-Mary Walton, upon seeing the guest bed


Baby Katherine, a.k.a. mosquito bait

We are settled into Columbia, SC. More pics and stories to follow soon...

You write the story...

Here are three successive pictures of play time with our buddy Coleman Clark...feel free to submit your own story of the events depicted here...

Look i am doing the best i can, cant we all just get along...

Can't i get no love? So here are some pictures and stuff and things. The most notable twin-tabloid-fodder-to-date is that the big girls are enamored with American Idol (or American Ijul). If that is a problem for you, you know the whole exposing 2 year olds to pop culture, then i ask you, "Is it better for them to learn about American Idol from their friends and MTV or from their parents?" See what i am getting at... So here is what you came for...


New Alpine Camp for Boys brochure cover?

We affectionately refer to the diaper-only style as neka-bunny




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