How To Clip Your Baby's Toenails

Dan has some magical Daddy mojo that allows him to clip Claire's toenails without any protest or squirming. Me? I have to resort to bribery - check out my latest idea:

It works! Yet another accolade for my trusty markers. Claire is so busy talking about the "Ray-ray" on her foot I can clip her fast growing toenails without a complaint!

The Not-So Itsy Bitsy Spider

What do you get after a solid 2 weeks of rain and the sun peeks out from behind the clouds for just a second? A shutterbug crazed Mom ready to take new photos of her toddler. We started of with some great pictures just playing in the grass. Then I got this brilliant idea to sit Claire on the bench in front of the blooming catmint. I took off the cushion and found THIS:



I'm all about leaving bugs and creepy crawlies to their own devices outdoors, it is THEIR home afterall. But that spider was HUGE and scary. I could see it looking at Claire's plump little thighs (with all it's million eight eyes and giant fangs) so I relocated it to a nice grassy spot behind the shed. I'm sure it will find lots of delicious treats back their to eat. This reminds me of another picture I took last summer: reasons to carefully check clothespins before hanging your laundry out.

Disturbingly enough, Claire took one look at the spider and said "Ray, Ray yums!" whilst licking her own chops (or sweater, see below). You may remember Claire's affinity for insect protein in the past...but I think Claire must have figured out the secret to Ray's "roundness" - he's eating the giant spiders that make it into the house!

Enjoy the photos below, I'll stop being gross now :-) Claire is pointing to her boo-boo on her toe in many of the photos or playing "piggies." Isn't she cute? :-)

Fashion Sense...or lack thereof

Sometimes it's great to be a toddler...enough said.

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day, Dan!
And Happy Father's Day to all you Dads and Granddads out there!
Enjoy your special day!

For Grandma Caca -

Here Caca is the video you wanted to see. Of course it's LAST years father's day video...but the sentiment still applies. Maybe one day I'll get around to making another.

Waiting to Play...

I'm waiting to play...with AIDAN!

Have you heard my baby cousin Aidan arrived yesterday? He's Aunt Nichole and Uncle Matt's baby boy. He weighed 8 pounds & 1 ounce and was 21" long. Hooray! I hope to meet you soon baby cousin! Here's a photo of him, isn't he so cute?!

hello my minions!

I am writing to you in secrecy. as mammy and da-da sleep, i have snuck downstiars, and taught myself how to use the computer. and the camera. you can see my top secret blog posting location here:























i have also been sneaking out to the garage to help da-da put the jeep engine together. he thinks i just was imitating him here, but i really was whispering in his ear at night what he needed to doo to get it working. i showed him how to put on the flexplate last weekend, see?:














i've been working on my jeep too, mommy found me an awesome one that someone was getting rid of. one day i will go for a ride with da-da. it still needs a tuneup and a new battery, but i love sitting in it, sort of like daddy does with the white jeep, see?:















well good night everyone, i have to sneak back upstairs and snuggle back with mommy, i love her so much.

by everyone!

C.C.

ps, this editor is horrible, i don't know how mommy makes such beautiful posts!

The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow...or not

I'm hoping the sun will shine again one day this month - I looked at the forecast and once again clouds and scattered t-storms are predicted for the next 10 days. Yesterday there was a thunderstorm that produced some amazing hail and thunder which shook the house. Claire kept saying "WOW!" and I scrambled around trying to locate some matches and flashlights just in case. A swift breeze seems to leave us without power here and with our well pump and stove running on electricity it's a bit of an inconvenience. Thankfully, the storm blew by quickly and left us with power. C'mon sun! We want to enjoy reading in the hammock again!

Daughter, Daddy and their 'dos

Check out the matching hairdo's Dan and Claire were sporting this weekend! I think Dan is the most tolerant guy I know...but he still wouldn't leave the house done up like this. Oh well. At least I snapped a few pictures to share with you guys if I couldn't show off my dynamic duo at the mall. Thanks for being such a good sport Dan!

      

 

 

 

 

Hmmm...No idea where this one came from but I must have been playing with the cool program "Poladroid" to make it. More photos to come later, Claire and I have caught a cold so I haven't gone through all the pics from the week yet. Enjoy the wintery flashback - before too long we'll be wishing for cooler weather, right? It's been raining for days and days here. Yuck!

A Girl, Her Dad, His Truck(s)

What a busy weekend we had! If you've been following along Dan's Facebook updates, you might have heard about the big motor swap this weekend.

After a few months of prep work, many trips to the junkyard and a bright orange coat of paint - Jeep number one finally has a working motor. So, what better way to celebrate this project's completion (THANK GOODNESS!) than to share a few videos of Claire and her Daddy "wrenching" together. It seems that as a direct result of Dan taking up a second residence in the garage, Claire developed quite the fascination with cars and trucks. At the library last week she even snagged a book on trucks!

By the way, that's not OUR Jeep she's painting (yet!). We recently attended an open house at OK 4WD . The best way I can describe them is an off-roading outfitter. There were lots of lifted Jeeps to oogle, a rock crawling competition and even a modified fork lift set up to figure out how far you could tip your vehicle before it rolls (?!).

I have to admit, even though I've loved this event in the past (especially the overnight camping and off-roading part) I wasn't thrilled about attending this year - what was I going to do with Claire? I was absolutely delighted to find a white Jeep just waiting for Claire's artistic stamp. Dishes of red and yellow paint were stacked with some paint brushes and an invitation to "Paint Me" - well that was all we needed to pass a good hour - that and the hot dog stand just behind the vehicle. Heehee. So thank you OK 4WD, we'll see you again next year!

Check out these videos, she loves to drive them, she loves to build them and most of all, she loves to paint them. Pictures of the engine swap to come soon, Dan kidnapped the camera card, but I figured I'd get some new reading material up for today - hopefully these videos will make you smile and cure any "Monday Blues."

Painting the Jeep at 4 Wheel OK

Claire driving Daddy's truck and talking on the cell phone before we leave for the Drive-In theatre.

When Life Gives You Lemons...

Lessons from a toddler - when life gives you lemons, eat them. And enjoy them. Even if they're a bit sour and strange, you worked hard to get this lemon and should relish every juicy bite. Then get really close to Mommy's and her ever-present camera to show how much you love your lemon "yum-yum." Don't worry, she'll post 'em small so nobody can tell how terribly out of focus they are!



I've been enjoying the most delicious drink. Half a lemon squeezed into a glass with a generous dollop of sugar. Stir and then fill with seltzer. YUM! I've created a lemon monster, Claire loves to scoop out the last of the pulp. I guess that's one way to get a bit of vitamin C!