Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Thursday, December 17, 2009
I see fishes.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Visit from DeeDee
Janet (Aaron's mother) was here for a long weekend visit. She and Juniper had a fantastic time together.
Scraping slime mold off of a fallen branch in the backyard.
Reading "the big yellow book." This is Sally's tattered childhood copy of Richard Scarry's Funniest Storybook Ever. It's larger than most of her books and has a yellow cover, hence Juniper's name for the book. It's one of her very favorite books right now. She'll often ask us to talk about stories or characters from the book. ("Talk about Uncle Willy was a monster." "Talk about Sergeant Murphy/Huckle/Tanglefoot." She doesn't seem to have picked up on the fact that Lowly Worm is the star.)
Did we mention that it's one of Juniper's favorites? Janet happily spent much of her visit snuggled up on the couch reading and re-reading the big yellow book.
Scraping slime mold off of a fallen branch in the backyard.
Reading "the big yellow book." This is Sally's tattered childhood copy of Richard Scarry's Funniest Storybook Ever. It's larger than most of her books and has a yellow cover, hence Juniper's name for the book. It's one of her very favorite books right now. She'll often ask us to talk about stories or characters from the book. ("Talk about Uncle Willy was a monster." "Talk about Sergeant Murphy/Huckle/Tanglefoot." She doesn't seem to have picked up on the fact that Lowly Worm is the star.)
Did we mention that it's one of Juniper's favorites? Janet happily spent much of her visit snuggled up on the couch reading and re-reading the big yellow book.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Setting up the tree
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Visit from Aunt Ann & Uncle Keith
Despite the fact that we don't live near any of Aaron's family, Juniper will get to see lots of Brooks/Dill relatives this holiday season. Last weekend her great-aunt Ann and -uncle Keith spent a night at our house on their way from Texas to Maryland. We all enjoyed the visit, and Juniper was particularly smitten with Ann.
Ann let Juniper play with all of her toiletries and try on her very cool sunglasses.
Juniper enjoyed getting to play with Ann and Keith's two dogs. Most of the dogs in Juniper's life are much bigger than she is; the little dogs were obviously a treat. "I softin' it. I bein' gentle." She was, indeed, very soft and very gentle.
Ann let Juniper play with all of her toiletries and try on her very cool sunglasses.
Juniper enjoyed getting to play with Ann and Keith's two dogs. Most of the dogs in Juniper's life are much bigger than she is; the little dogs were obviously a treat. "I softin' it. I bein' gentle." She was, indeed, very soft and very gentle.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Mmmnh...
Juniper has discovered the joy of the mixing beaters. At this point it's just whipped cream; the fear of toddler salmonella means that Sally has at least a few more years of not having to share the cookie dough.
Note the shirt necklace. Juniper has solidly entered the stage of "wanna do it by mysef." She was on the verge of being sad that she couldn't put a small stretchy shirt on over her thick and puffy fleece, but we managed to turn it into an exciting shirt necklace and distract her from the sadness.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Rainy Day Violet
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Jorge the Vampire Robot
Monday, November 30, 2009
Thanksgiving, part 3
This is the last one, we promise! Is it obvious how much we enjoyed having Juniper as an active participant in our Thanksgiving holiday?
Happy Thanksgiving from Sally Honeycutt on Vimeo.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Thanksgiving, part 2
The day before Thanksgiving, Violet and Juniper helped measure out and mix the dry ingredients for pie crusts. Thanksgiving morning, Sally, Aaron, and Juniper made apple pie.
Flour everywhere!
Violet studiously and seriously moved the flour mix back and forth between cup and bowl for about half an hour. Kayla helped to clean up everything that Violet spilled.
Juniper was a good mixer, when she didn't get distracted by her desire to eat the flour-sugar-salt mixture.
Rolling out the dough. (Thanks, Sunanda and Richa for the chapati roller, which doubles nicely as a child-size rolling pin!)
Juniper enjoys her first Thanksgiving dinner. (Yeah, she was here for Thanksgiving last year, but she didn't eat any of the food and certainly didn't have any awareness of what was going on.)
Flour everywhere!
Violet studiously and seriously moved the flour mix back and forth between cup and bowl for about half an hour. Kayla helped to clean up everything that Violet spilled.
Juniper was a good mixer, when she didn't get distracted by her desire to eat the flour-sugar-salt mixture.
Rolling out the dough. (Thanks, Sunanda and Richa for the chapati roller, which doubles nicely as a child-size rolling pin!)
Juniper enjoys her first Thanksgiving dinner. (Yeah, she was here for Thanksgiving last year, but she didn't eat any of the food and certainly didn't have any awareness of what was going on.)
Friday, November 27, 2009
Thanksgiving, part 1
Last weekend, we went to Nature's Harmony Farm to pick up our Thanksgiving turkey.
Juniper had a fantastic time running around the fields and seeing all the animals.
The only downside of the day was that she didn't understand why she couldn't touch all of the animals. A particularly pathetic moment was when I carried her away from the pigs, while she desperately squirmed and tried to run back to them, sobbing, "I NEED TO SOFT THE PIGS! I NEED TO SOFT THE PIGS!!!"
But she did get to soft a peacock, a baby chick, and a couple of farm dogs.
We saw cows...
...and, of course, turkeys. The toms were all showing off and trying to impress the visitors. Birds like this are obviously the inspiration for the ubiquitous image of the Thanksgiving turkey.
The toms weren't the only ones with personality.
We feel really lucky that there's a local farm where we can buy free-range, heritage turkeys, a rare thing in a country where almost all meat is produced on factory farms. It also made for a really delicious Thanksgiving meal!
Juniper had a fantastic time running around the fields and seeing all the animals.
The only downside of the day was that she didn't understand why she couldn't touch all of the animals. A particularly pathetic moment was when I carried her away from the pigs, while she desperately squirmed and tried to run back to them, sobbing, "I NEED TO SOFT THE PIGS! I NEED TO SOFT THE PIGS!!!"
But she did get to soft a peacock, a baby chick, and a couple of farm dogs.
We saw cows...
...and, of course, turkeys. The toms were all showing off and trying to impress the visitors. Birds like this are obviously the inspiration for the ubiquitous image of the Thanksgiving turkey.
The toms weren't the only ones with personality.
We feel really lucky that there's a local farm where we can buy free-range, heritage turkeys, a rare thing in a country where almost all meat is produced on factory farms. It also made for a really delicious Thanksgiving meal!
Monday, November 16, 2009
Mama's girl
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Toddler Love
In case we haven't gushed enough about Juniper and Violet's friendship, here are some absurdly adorable photos of the two of them loving on one another.
Note Violet's interesting alternative to conventional footwear. Shoes are the one thing the girls just can't share, so when we left Violet's shoes in her parents' car, Aaron had to get creative. She's wearing a pair of Juniper's sock, covered with a pair of men's athletic socks.
When Juniper fell down and bonked herself, Violet came up to her, gave her a kiss, and told her, "It's ok, Junper."
Note Violet's interesting alternative to conventional footwear. Shoes are the one thing the girls just can't share, so when we left Violet's shoes in her parents' car, Aaron had to get creative. She's wearing a pair of Juniper's sock, covered with a pair of men's athletic socks.
When Juniper fell down and bonked herself, Violet came up to her, gave her a kiss, and told her, "It's ok, Junper."
Monday, November 9, 2009
Juniper discovers black-eyed peas
This video is from early September, but Juniper continues to enjoy black-eyed peas whenever they are served. We're lucky that she is such an adventuresome and enthusiastic eater! I sometimes fear that our very vocal delight in Juniper's approach to food will somehow condemn us to a second child that's as picky as I (Sally) once was, but for now we're enjoying our very omnivorous family.
Juniper chows down on rice, apples, raisins, and BLACK-EYED PEAS! (If you look closely, you may notice that there aren't many black-eyed peas left, since she was studiously picking them out and eating them first.)
Black-eyed peas from Sally Honeycutt on Vimeo.
Juniper chows down on rice, apples, raisins, and BLACK-EYED PEAS! (If you look closely, you may notice that there aren't many black-eyed peas left, since she was studiously picking them out and eating them first.)
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Halloween Sunflowers
We continue to benefit from hand-me-downs from Violet's cousins. These sunflowers are the perfect toddler costume. It's a fleece hoodie--warm, easy, and adorable. Just pair with brown pants and you're all done.
Both girls were having a great time on the tire swing...
...but Violet had more tolerance for spinning than Juniper.
Why?
J: I want some more peas.
A: If you finish those peas, we'll give you some more.
J: Why?
A: Because we're nice to you.
J: Why?
A: Because we love you.
J: Why?
A: Because you're our daughter.
J: Why?
(pause)
J: Because I'm a cutie-patootie.
Completely unrelated, but this morning Juniper came up with a great, complex, and grammatically correct sentence:
"I want to take my shoes off so I can put on my robot socks."
A: If you finish those peas, we'll give you some more.
J: Why?
A: Because we're nice to you.
J: Why?
A: Because we love you.
J: Why?
A: Because you're our daughter.
J: Why?
(pause)
J: Because I'm a cutie-patootie.
Completely unrelated, but this morning Juniper came up with a great, complex, and grammatically correct sentence:
"I want to take my shoes off so I can put on my robot socks."
Friday, October 30, 2009
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Slumber Party
Friday night was Cheryl & Jason's 5th wedding anniversary (congratulations!) and Violet's first night away from Mom and Dad. We wanted to make sure that she had a really good time and would look forward to her next overnight visit.
Bath time was extra fun with bubbles. Violet was having such a good time that she didn't even mind when we washed her hair and face.
Long after the bubbles faded, the girls were still playing with toys and having a blast.
Violet's rocking was more roller-coaster than lullaby.
Well past bedtime, the girls were doing somersaults and other gymnastics. Running so fast, stomping, dancing. All sorts of exciting things we normally don't encourage during the (supposedly) calm time between bath and bed.
Sort of back on track with the normal bedtime routine, the girls absconded with Sally's book and went off to read by themselves.
They were obviously delighted to see one another first thing the next morning. We read and played and jumped in bed and had blueberry pancakes for breakfast. All of the Honeycutt-Dills agree that Violet can spend the night any time she wants to!
Bath time was extra fun with bubbles. Violet was having such a good time that she didn't even mind when we washed her hair and face.
Long after the bubbles faded, the girls were still playing with toys and having a blast.
Violet's rocking was more roller-coaster than lullaby.
Well past bedtime, the girls were doing somersaults and other gymnastics. Running so fast, stomping, dancing. All sorts of exciting things we normally don't encourage during the (supposedly) calm time between bath and bed.
Sort of back on track with the normal bedtime routine, the girls absconded with Sally's book and went off to read by themselves.
They were obviously delighted to see one another first thing the next morning. We read and played and jumped in bed and had blueberry pancakes for breakfast. All of the Honeycutt-Dills agree that Violet can spend the night any time she wants to!
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Reading with Gramps
Monday, October 26, 2009
Violet Fashionista Redux
You really want to wear this hat. from Sally Honeycutt on Vimeo.
If you missed it, here's part one in this series.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Victory!
Friday, October 16, 2009
This time last year...
Packing, moving, and now unpacking hasn't left us with much time for other activities. We're starting to settle in, and glad to be in our new house.
In the meantime, here's a fun video of Juniper playing in the bath last October. It's amazing how much she's changed in the past year!
In the meantime, here's a fun video of Juniper playing in the bath last October. It's amazing how much she's changed in the past year!
Bathtime, October 2008 from Sally Honeycutt on Vimeo.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Monday, October 5, 2009
Friday, October 2, 2009
House renovations
We're doing a few home repair/renovation projects before the big move. Most of them are behind the scenes (fixing some pipes, reinforcing the living room floor, adding insulation, etc.). However, we do have a few fun projects mixed in with the more practical ones. Our biggest one is opening up the wall between the kitchen and dining room.
Before:
Standing in the kitchen, looking toward the dining room. (That's our real estate agent in the doorway.)
In process:
Same view, plus a big hole.
From the dining room, looking into the kitchen.
After photos to follow...
Before:
Standing in the kitchen, looking toward the dining room. (That's our real estate agent in the doorway.)
In process:
Same view, plus a big hole.
From the dining room, looking into the kitchen.
After photos to follow...
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