Muriel + Owl Hat

Just got this hat in the mail yesterday, made by the very talented Kat, found here. If she hadn't closed her Etsy shop because her third baby is due in a few weeks I'm pretty sure I'd be ordering at least ten more of The Cutest Hat Ever.

Finishing Her Lunch at Snack Time is Tough

These are the looks Muriel gives me when she doesn't eat her entire meal at lunch and I make her finish it in the afternoon before she can have the super gross special snack Rowan somehow talked me into buying at the supermarket.

On a different note, in these pictures Muriel is sporting her very favorite "moon" shirt. When she started asking for her moon shirt every day a month or so ago, I told her over and over that she didn't have a moon shirt. It took me quite a while to figure out what she was talking about.

Green Beans and Lettuce

I'm pretty sure she's the sweetest two year old around--chapped lips, chapped cheeks, crusty nose, attitude, and all. Her language has really taken off the past couple months. I hear a lot of "What that for, Mama?" and "Why, Mama?" I really need to try and get her little voice recorded. Sometimes I wonder if she's really related to Rowan and Niamh. On Saturday the only thing she ate for dinner was green beans and pile after pile of plain shredded lettuce. Yum.

Instagram Experimentation

I've been playing around this past week with a new photo app called Instagram. I love the filters, but I'm not sure about many other aspects of it. It does not save photos at full resolution, which is a huge downside since I like to print out iPhone photos. The photos do look great on the screen though, so I'll print one or two out just to see how less than full resolution photos look. It's supposed to be a great way to share pictures easily and interact with other photographers by posting your photo simultaneously to many different places besides Instagram. It was fine for Flickr. But when the thumbnail posted to your Facebook wall is clicked on you are rerouted to an Instagram site, instead of the photograph simply being enlarged. And between Flickr, Facebook, and this blog do I really need another place to keep up with?

In looking at other people's photos I notice that there are indeed a bizarre number of cat shots. Also quite a few photos that I'm skeptical were taken with an iPhone. Such as fairly close and detailed moon shots, as well as pictures with a lot of bokeh. Of course there's no iPhone-only rule, but in a photo app like that one kind of expects to be looking only at iPhone photography.

In spite of all that I'm going to give it another couple of weeks. I'm @emilyfrances for anyone who wants to experiment with me.

Static Electricity

The static electricity in our house since we came back from CA has been out of control. It's not only doing crazy things to the girls' hair, but every time we touch a light switch we get a nice jolt of electricity. I hope that this won't last the rest of the winter!

Muriel & The Big Red Thomas Book

Muriel + Paint

Sweater by Grammie Annie

A perfect fit! Thank you, Grammie!

Party!

We went with slightly duck-y theme for Muriel's birthday celebration, given the attachment she has to her little duck. It was a good time, with all the birthday necessities-friends, family, balloons, cake, ice cream, and even a few gifts. More photos are up on Flickr.

Birthday Morning Photo Session

I took Muriel out early on Wednesday morning to get a few photos of our brand new two-year old. Here are a few of the photos, and I have some more up on Flickr.

Happy 2nd Birthday, Muriel!

Our little Swiss Miss turned two years old today. We had a lovely day, and will post more photos of that later. But for now, will just end with this photo I took this morning.

Muriel and Her Bike Helmet

Muriel has been wearing her bike helmet constantly the past couple of days. When I try and take it off she screams like it's the end of the world.

Nevermind that I couldn't get her to wear a sun hat all summer!

Conductor Muriel

We don't have a train layout yet, but we sometimes set up an oval the kids to play with. In this case Muriel is in control of the New York Central's 7795 steam engine.

Bug Hunting

The kids have been enjoying hunting for bugs a lot lately. Actually, it would be more accurate to say that they enjoy helping me hunt for bugs, which is not quite what I envisioned when I got them the nets and bug "houses". I really don't like bugs. I've found lady bugs pretty gross ever since my dorm room in college was invaded by swarms of lady bugs one autumn. And every time one of the grasshoppers we've got jumps I've have to work hard to suppress a squeal of disgust. Guess what the most common kind of insects are we've been finding? Yep, ladybugs and grasshoppers. Also a few roly-polys, and some sort of little hopping/flying beetle that lives in our grass. We almost caught a month/butterfly once, but it got away at the last second. Anyway, I'm really hoping with some more practice that this is something the kids can do somewhat independently!!!

Backyard Sprinkler Fun

There were no thunderstorms yesterday afternoon (somewhat unusual), so the kids spent some time in the backyard playing in the sprinklers.



For some reason Muriel is not very fond of sprinklers in our backyard, though we go to a spray park with sprinkler-like things, which she likes quite well. The sprinkler in the first two photos waves back and forth, and she would not go near it. The one in the last photo doesn't move around, so she'd play in it a bit more...but not much, as you can see from the photo.

But all three were up for popsicles afterward!

Playing Dress-up in the Backyard

Saturday Morning at Horsetooth Falls

On Saturday we were out of the house by 8:15 for a hike to Horsetooth Falls. It was a really lovely hike, and just about perfect for the kids. Short, but still long enough to feel like a real hike. The weather was a bit cooler than it has been, and there was small, clear pool at the end for wading. I think this is one we'll have to do again, especially in the spring when the falls are more of a waterfall and less of a trickle!

Muriel 7.21.10

Colorado Train Museum

Is anyone surprised that we went to the Colorado Railroad Museum last Sunday, on our second weekend here? Or that we bought a year membership? It was a big hit with the children, so I think we'll be putting that membership to good use.

Rowan's favorite engine, though it was frustrating to have to share it with other children who wanted to play on it. Especially because he was too shy to play in there unless he was alone or with one of us. There was a rope you could pull which rang a bell on the outside of the engine.

this was through the window of an train car that held stacks and stacks of old bound copies of the Rocky Mountain News.