Oh Lu!

One day last week, the girls came home from school, and Lucia went upstairs to change into her jammies for nap time. Then it was quiet. For a bit too long. When Jay went up to see what she was up to, this is what he found: naked Lucia, sitting in the sink, covered in body lotion and Vaseline. Both were taken from the medicine cabinet that she would have had to stand on the counter to reach. I now notice the open toothpaste tube on the counter, and I'm betting she probably sucked on that too. Sometimes I'm glad that I'm at work... the pictures were the only evidence left by the time I got home.

Happy 5th Birthday, Isabelle!!

I have not forgotten Miss Belle's birthday blog post! Just trying to find time to sort through the 500+ pictures! In the meantime, a few pics of my big girl! Can't believe she'll start kindergarten this summer!

NC State Vet School Open House

Last Saturday the NC State Vet School held its open house, so the girls and I went and toured the various exhibits and activities. At one stop the kids could dress like "future vets" and have their picture taken with a dog (it's real, though it looks fake, doesn' t it?). Just got this via email. Will upload other photos once I get them off my camera.

School Picture Preview

The girls had school pictures taken on Friday, and while we were out shopping for a birthday present the night before we saw these cute dresses. I'm not sure when we'll see the official pics (nor how cheesily the girls may have smiled), but I snapped a few before we went to school...

Gymnastics!

After about a 2 year hiatus, Isabelle was ready to tackle gymnastics again, and she is loving it! Lucia and I are doing the parent/toddler class, so I don't get to watch Isabelle much, but she is happy and proud at the end of each session. Lucia had a bit of a scare last week after getting separated from me and cried through the rest of the evening, but she rallied this week and despite saying, "I no want to go to gymnastics, I want to go home and go to bed," on the way there, had a good night.

Isabelle posing in the parking lot with her "rehydration" bottle.

Lucia trying to put on a brave face in the pit. She was clearly scared/sad, but kept trying to plaster a smile over it. Mr. Corey did what he does best and talked to her and then threw her in the air a few times and saved the night. She even picked bars as her first set on the obstacle course, despite saying she was scared of them in the car! She is one strong monkey!

Mud Bath

Clearly I have a lot of updating to do, but this one inspired me to actually upload photos and post on the same day! Isabelle had her "Vaseline" moment (as Brelsfords and affiliates will understand).

We were outside working on decorating the girls' bikes for the Spring Parade at their school. Lucia was running in the yard and slipped in a mud slick. She slimed her whole right side, filled her shoe with goo, and wasn't too happy about it. So I took her inside to clean her up, leaving Isabelle and two neighbor girls out front. When I came back 5 minutes later, this...

"Are you mad at me?"

Nervous waiting...

"I think I might get away with this."


"Yeah, in fact, I'm proud of myself!"


"Gonna dance a jig!"


I was a bit mad at first and sent the neighbor girls home (I'm not a big fan of them in the first place, especially the older one, who was miraculously clean), but when I went in to get the camera, I had to compose myself so I wouldn't laugh when I took these pics. Aside from the fact that Isabelle was wearing her patent leather shoes (her only nice pair) and that it took a LOT of effort to get all of the grass, clover, and other botanical elements out of her hair, a pretty funny way to celebrate the first day of spring!

Birthday Party Season!

Everyone loves a spring baby, right?! Apparently so, with the number of birthday parties we've gotten to celebrate lately! Here are a few pics from the big number 1 of Maverick Osterhoudt (baby brother to Isabelle's birthday buddy, Chandler).