Dirt Fish

Anyone who has known my guy for any amount of time would be well aware of his love of speed. Today that love was a teensy bit satisfied (and quite possibly intensified) when he and a friend got behind the wheels of a couple of rally cars. Of course proper instruction occurred in the classroom first and they were never without a professional in the seat next to them to provide further coaching and to pull the emergency brake if need be...he swears it only happened once.
















The course had all these cool old structures that were made even more awesome by their dilapidated state.
It made for quite an impressive backdrop.












And what would a racing-type event be without the cheering section? And a colorful one at that...the only thing brighter - their personalities!

The following pictures were taken by the Dirt Fish photographer.

Looks like he's having a horrible time...

Goggle Girls and Coffee Table Cutie!

I love these little crazies, they are 'terrifical' (a word that the Girl came up with) at making funny faces.
And this one, well...she likes hanging out in the coffee table that Poppie made.

Girl Scout Cookies

The Girl joined Girl Scouts a few weeks ago and her first meeting was a 'Cookie Rally' to get the girls excited about selling cookies. Ever since we have been in the midst of pre-sales. Up until this morning, the Girl has done a pretty great job of selling cookies to our family and friends. Today we thought we'd take her to a couple of houses in the neighborhood as practice for the site sales when she'll have to ask complete strangers to buy cookies. I'm not gonna lie, it was difficult for her. Of
course she didn't want to listen to J's pep talk.

















As with almost everything else the Girl does, Little Sister wishes she could do it too and doesn't understand what her age has to do with anything. That being said, she had no qualms about marching up front porch steps and ringing doorbells.



Have you ever seen a more enthusiastic Girl Scout? More importantly, would you buy cookies from her?! Ha!












At least Baby Miss enjoyed it!

One, we are the Vikings...

One, we are the Vikings.
Two, a little bit louder.
Three, we still can't hear you.
Four, more, more, more, more!

We will be hearing this around our house for weeks, maybe even months to come! This week was junior cheer camp for the Girl and a couple of her friends. They practiced for a handful of hours over a couple of nights, all in preparation to cheer their little hearts out tonight at halftime of the high school boys' varsity basketball game.

Practice was fun if not a bit chaotic.
And when it was time for the big performance, Little Sister looked on eagerly with a mix of admiration and envy. She so badly wanted to be right out there cheering with them. She knew the cheers, even if they were her own special version:

One, we are the Viking Kings.

Two, we can still hear you.

More, more, more, more!

From the look on her face you'd think it was all work and no fun but this is the look she gets when she is concentrating.

Of course any job well done calls for a little celebration and what says celebration better than frozen yogurt topped with white chocolate chips, gummy worms and sprinkles?!

Baby Steps

Baby Miss may be riding in it now but normally she likes to push it around or use it to steady herself when standing as was the case this morning. She used the side of the basket to assist herself into a standing position and then she let go and was standing for quite some time before she realized that she was no longer holding on. Upon realization, an excited grin spread across her face and she looked at me like, "Look Momma, no hands!" I cheered for her and then moved the laundry basket just out of her reach. I expected her to slowly drop to her knees and start crawling, as is always the case, but she totally surprised me when she took, one, two, three little baby steps until she was back within reach of the basket before grabbing the side. Needless to say, Daddy was extremely disappointed that she chose to take her first unassisted steps when he was at work.

Be Still My Beating Heart!

Last summer we got a new dining table and eight chairs. Just recently Baby Miss has discovered that there are various

manufacturer stickers on the underside of the seats and table. She has made it her duty to remove all of these labels and just when we thought there couldn't possibly be any left, she finds another and is always filled with such glee. I caught her at it again this morning
and just couldn't help snapping a handful of pictures. This one is by far my favorite. Have you ever seen a more adorable grin?!

Miss also displayed her balancing prowess with this move which I like to call, 'foot on the rung, balancing on my bum.'
And this is the first real good shot of her two new front teeth, or chiclets (like the gum) as my friend has dubbed them.

Resemblance?

This doll belongs to the Girl, she's had it for years. Kinda reminds me of someone else I know...
And we are getting ever closer to the final stage of unlimited mobility - walking. Baby Miss has been cruising around furniture
for so long now that J and I were sure she'd walk by Christmas. But the holidays are long gone and our Baby Miss still feels the need for the stability that unmovable masses provide. Recently she has begun pushing the laundry basket around and this evening there was this. Another step closer as she put the first few yards (and certainly not the last!) of strolling behind her. And as cute as it will be to see her 'toddling' around, I am in no hurry. As the term implies, it will bring her days of babyhood to a close and I'm just not ready for that yet.