Monday, November 26, 2012

School's in session

Daddy here.

Caroline is playing school this evening with an eclectic group of students.  Here's a class picture:

(left to right:  Hello Kitty, Cute Monkey, Raggedy Andy, Loon, Curious George, Sheep, and Baby Rancor)


And here's a picture with teacher.


Thursday, November 22, 2012

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Ziplining in a tutu

Daddy here.

The title pretty much says it all:



That's our daughter, a dance-loving, fall-and-get-up-again, pink-wearing, blue-is-her-favorite-color, adventurous, life-living little girl.

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Continuing to explore the world

Daddy here.

While I was mowing the front lawn this afternoon, Caroline decided that today was the perfect day to try climbing the tree in the front lawn:


This was, to the best of our knowledge, her first attempt at this.  But this first attempt was also a first success:


That was as high as she got, as the tree didn't offer viable purchase beyond that point, but she was quite happy to get where she did.



It's wonderful to see that Caroline's sense of adventure and can-do-it-ness remains strong.

Bonus bit of information: 

Caroline decided last week how to tell the difference between boy stuffed animals and girl stuffed animals:  girl stuffed animals have hard eyes and boy stuffed animals have soft eyes.

And now we know.

Saturday, September 15, 2012

When Mommy's Away...

Daddy here.

Sarah had an evening dinner/meeting/gathering tonight, so while she was able to have Happy Hour with us before leaving, dinner was just Caroline and Daddy.

So we had gluten-full, yeast-risen pizza that was topped with, among other things, cheese and sugar-sweetened chicken sausage.  All of the above are no-no's for Mommy's diet.

During our weekly grocery shopping this morning, Caroline picked out what she wanted on her pizza:  shredded Colby-Jack cheese, green olives, green bell peppers, and something called "Sweet Apple Chicken Sausage" which is flavored with apples, cinnamon, and brown sugar.  All this went on a homemade pizza crust with Kroger-brand pizza sauce.

This is a combination that I probably never would have come up with, but it was really, really good.

Here's a shot from assembling the pizzas (we made two of them) before baking:






And here's the baked result:


And here are Caroline and Dixie, Jr., enjoying the results:



The pizza was a hit (though in the middle of the second piece, Caroline declared that "I've had enough peppers" and removed them from the rest of the pieces she ate).  That she liked the pizza is also notable as she has for a very long time now had an aversion to melted cheese.  She was initially mildly distressed that the cheese had melted on the pizza during baking, but after trying it she declared that she did like it.

We both had fun making, constructing, and eating the pizzas, so we might very well be witnessing the beginning of a Daddy-Daughter tradition for the evenings Sarah's away for dinner gatherings.

I'll try to remember to post any future ventures into pizza creation!


Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Learning to dance

Daddy here.

Caroline has started a dance/movement class this fall, having expressed a strong desire to learn ballet.  She's had a great time with the class, and at this past Monday's make-up lesson, she picked out a set of tap shoes from the "Take a pair, Leave a pair" box.

Here's what she did with them this morning:


Friday, July 27, 2012

New Year's Day 2012- Photos by Tina Lesley-Fox

If you ever need beautiful, natural portraits and you're anywhere near central new york, please see if Tina Lesley-Fox is available!  I had a hard time selecting from the hundreds of gorgeous shots she captured... here are MANY.  Enjoy!








































Christmas Trip 2011

It seems we're always on the road, doesn't it? Or at least that's the main time we remember to take pictures. We headed to upstate New York for Christmas with the Sanderson fam. Twas the first time my parents had all three of their kids home for Christmas in a LONG time... at least five years. This dawned on us as we gathered around the dinner table one of our first nights home. My dad smiled and exclaimed at the miracle of our assembly. Of course we had all been together for the wedding the year before, but such special occasions do not necessarily and did not gather the clan around the family table. Anyhow... We stopped in Wooster on our way to Syracuse visiting a few dear friends, Bruce and Carolyn Beery were, as ever, our gracious hosts. C had some wonderful time with Bruce, especially! Note the Syracuse sweatshirt... she was ready for Mamie and Papa's!
Shortly after we arrived C had a building session with Uncle Dan.
And of course there was some fun with Papa!
And some t.v. viewing with the fam...
And then Christmas morning... Actually, perhaps these pics were taken on Christmas afternoon. Christmas was a Sunday afterall... Mommy preached for Papa as a Christmas gift...
Twas so good to have cuddle time with both Uncle Dan and Aunt Khaki...
And of course there was much playing with new toys. A representative pic...
And a Christmas nap was in order... You can see one of her favorite Christmas presents in this pic, a baby penguin puppet. She ended up naming it Dixie, Jr. despite Aunt Khaki's valiant efforts to inspire a more original name.
It was great to have time with Aunt Lauren and her twin sister Katie and their mom Laurie!
And a special Christmas treat... another chance to blow out candles and make a wish.
Much cuddling with Aunt Khaki...
And we had a lovely dinner a day or so later at Aunt Debbie and Uncle Terry's house. There was an adorable dog to play with...
And marvelous music to dance to...
And generally good times all around...
Aunt Khaki took C for a visit with two of her favorite little girls in Syracuse. They had a kitten which was, I gather, the highlight of the visit!
And of course we had some fun at Uncle Dan and Aunt Lauren's house... C was enamored with a certain pillow!
And we made our way back to Lowville for the first time since leaving. We had a marvelous meal with the Adsit clan. They showered C with gifts, including Fancy Nancy and Bree dolls... C and Kelly got on famously! Not sure why we don't have any pics from the other folks we visited...
We stopped in Pulaski on our way back for time with Cousins Wendy, Patrick, and their kids Ben, Josh, and Gracie. Again... not many pics... and no good ones, but here's one of the girls...
And we shared New Year's Eve with Alisha, Tom and family! A delicious Indian dinner followed by much fun. Logan, their youngest child, was born about four months before C and he and C could certainly be siblings. They were both entranced by the iPod allowing quite a photo shoot.
I will next post a smattering of pics from the amazing photo shoot that Tina Lesley Fox did for us on New Year's Day, but I'll close out the posts on 2011 with just one more solo shot of C from New Year's Eve.
And there you have Christmas/New Year's... in July! Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!