Sound of Music doppelganger

After taking pictures of Allie for my previous post, I became a little worried for my mental health when the uncontrollable urge seized me to burst out in song from mountaintops and twirl insanely around gazebos in diaphanous dresses.

Then suddenly, I made the connection, and realized what made this urge come upon me so strongly. Allie looks just like Liesl! Seriously, I think somebody switched our babies in the hospital. You be the judge.

where have you been all my life?

I KNOW! Too terribly long since you've heard from me. I've been taken captive by Facebook, drawn in by the ease of one sentence dialogue and two second posts. But, here I am, returning like the Prodigal Son, and just like him, I need something from you.

I need your opinions on which pictures to submit to a photo contest. I'm going to submit photos of my kids (yes, I'm bored) to the annual Parent's Magazine Cover Contest. I can submit up to 6 pictures of each child. The criteria is quality of photo, appearance of child, and how well the child's personality comes out in photo. The kicker is that all these award winning, earth shattering photos have had to have been taken within the last three months (I may fudge that a little). My little point and shoot camera is in way over it's head, much like it's operator. Where are Katie and Becki when you need them?!

This is what I've come up with so far. Vote on your faves and critique away. I'll also be trying to get a couple of more shots before the deadline arrives.

Allie:

1)

2)
3)
4)mmmm, smells good!
5)
6)
7)
8)
9) Sick = Queen's bed!
10)definitely shows her personality!

11)

12)

13)

14)

Emily:

1)
2)

3)

4)
6)
8)
10)

11)

12)

13)

There's duct tape, and then there are breast pads

Nipple protection, emergency burp cloths, computer screen cleaners...yes breast pads are very versatile...but who knew they were kosher too?!

SHALOM!!!

Cute pics of Ryan

Here are some fairly recent pics of Ryan...

Oh wait! The first picture is Emily! Gotcha!

Maple Sugaring in March

 Here is a post that was supposed to go up in March, but...well...you know.  

One of the cool things about Ohio is the maple sugaring season.  We have fabulous nature centers here, and the closest one to us offers free tours of the maple sugaring process each spring.  It's incredible because they set it up to show you the old fashioned way of tapping the trees and processing the sap (all the way back to the Indian times), and then also compare it to the modern day process. 

The Sugar Shack on the banks of Rocky River

The kids peeking into one of the buckets.  No boundaries here!  Stick your finger in and try all the sap you want!!!

Allie ready for the hike with the perfect walking stick.

Here are the nonexistent pictures of our kids in the Indian camp hut, our kids eating the free dollar pancakes with fresh maple syrup, and finally our kids and us looking into the steaming kettles as the sap boils down.  But, our camera battery died, so you'll have to use your imaginations or wait until next year to see our amazing pictures!

Fashionista

Emily loves to pick out her own clothes.  First thing after we get home from a day out, she rushes into her room to change.  I can hear her rummaging around for awhile, then out she comes with a big smile on her face completely content in her newly picked outfit. 

Here is an example of her 5 year old fashion style.  She definitely is an individual!

Tribute

Mrs. Ruscher was Emily's first teacher.  As our first child to go off to school, Mrs. Ruscher helped not only Emily, but us as parents as we said goodbye every morning.  She was the ideal teacher, firm but loving.  She shared with us stories from Emily's day that makes a parent smile with pride and laugh with delight.  The wonderful thing about Mrs. Ruscher is that we knew she felt the same.  

Late last week, we received a call from a fellow teacher at school.  She was letting us know that Mrs. Ruscher had a sudden stroke and passed away a few days later.  It's a tremendous loss.  She was only 58 and had taught at Bay Presbyterian for 30 years this year.  We love her and will treasure the memories and the wonderful lessons she taught not only Emily and her students, but everyone she encountered.