red and rosie shenanigans

our 2 elves, red and rosie, returned this year with a whole bunch of shenanigans up their sleeves.  here they are, captured in their most creative year yet.  those two keep my two on their toes the entire month, reminding each other that "red and rosie are watching," "red and rosie are going to tell santa," and "don't touch red and rosie!"  harper wrote notes to them, took pictures of them with her camera, and loved to find them each morning.  we love these elves and look forward to their return each year!

 

the petrous project november

our november was busy.  enjoying some rare mild (for november) weather, eating up halloween candy, family and cousin and underwater photos, bronner's christmas wonderland, celebrating max's 10th birthday, reading, relaxing and enjoying family time, hosting thanksgiving, cutting down our tree, and the brave knight benefit dinner.  it always amazes me to look back at these snippets of our month to see all that we managed to cram in.  enjoy.  

in the alley

in order to practice for my photography class and to help my sister with some photos of her boys for their annual christmas greeting, we stole a sunday morning downtown and played.  we snatched a corner of graffiti alley and hung out for awhile.  the air was crisp and chilly, but the kids were absolute troopers.  and their smiles and compliance with my requests made it all worth it.  don't worry, we paid them with starbucks warmth in a cup when we were done.

i love crosby looking up to her older nephews in these next 2.

harper was a bit more hesitant than crosby to dance her heart away, so we let crosby just take center stage solo.

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my favorite one from the day.

and the meet went swimmingly

once upon a time, there was a swim school.  this swim school offered a pretty cool facility with 90* water, 93* air temp and classes for no more than 4 kids to teach them how to swim.  and after swim classes were accomplished, kids moved up to a rec team.  and with that rec team came occasional swim meets.  people were interested in this concept.  people joined.  us included.

it's been over 3 years since we first joined.  h took her lessons as far as she could go.  she moved up to rec team in september, and with that came the opportunity to participate in a swim meet.  she was nervous.  she did not want to participate.  we thought she could totally do it and wanted her to give it a try, so we forced highly encouraged her to swim.  together, we signed up and chose 2 races for her to complete, 2 races with the shortest distance and her best strokes.  25m freestyle and 25m backstroke.  the build up to this day was filled with so many questions, so many doubts, so much nervous energy, a few tears.  we encouraged, answered questions, build up self esteem, loved.  just what parents are supposed to do.  i knew she needed the challenge, and i knew she could crush it.

we arrived to goldfish, and she got herself ready.  and then she got more nervous as more and more people showed up.  she doesn't like to be around a lot of people.  she much prefers small groups.  she was worried and nervous, but her swim coach, maggie, and i gave her the facts and tried to ease her concerns.  i told her to breathe, and to find her bravery. 

she stood on deck after warm-up before the team cheer, one of the smallest in the group.  i watched through the window and felt my heart beating right up in my throat for her.  is this what it's like with each and every competition your child competes in?  goodness.  it can be nerve wracking!  

she was assigned to the first race.  the other 2 girls in her race were her age, one in her weeknight rec team class and the other in her class at school.  i think that eased her mind a bit.  

the coach called out.  "swimmers ready.  go."  and in she went.  

she didn't swim the fastest, but she swam with such amazing form.  her freestyle was perfection.  i think she would have swam faster if she hadn't kept looking over to her racemates and what they were doing.  but that's her, she's pretty social.  

and then in 25m, she finished.  second place.  32.23 seconds.  i don't think i could have wiped my smile away, i was so dang proud of her.  i took a deep breath.  one race down.  one to go.  

she went back in line, socializing with the other girls.  waiting for her next race.

and then it was her turn for the 25m backstroke.  this is her stroke.  maggie has been perfecting it for the last year.  and maggie was her biggest sideline cheerleader.  see her below?

harper glided gracefully to the finish and another second place.  36.14 seconds.

and we saw the biggest smile on her face when she exited the pool and was handed her ribbon.  whether it was from pride for what she accomplished or relief at being done with the meet, it didn't matter.  i saw a glimpse of pure happiness.

we left that swim school, and headed for some celebratory froyo.  i couldn't stop telling her how proud we were for her bravery and for accepting the challenge and for asking the questions to ease her worries.  she was such a rock star, and i secretly think she knew it.  

curly q

crosby has these amazing curls.  she has fair blonde hair and wide spiral curls, which are from her dad, and a layer of straight hair on top, passed down from her mama's poker straight locks.  looking at photos when michael was a young lad, he had the same bottom curls when his hair was a bit longer.  and i had the toe-headed blondness.

she is also very particular about her hair.  you have to be super careful when you brush it, because her scalp is sensitive.  she hates to have it washed.  she has to wear it down every single day.  she refuses a ponytail, pigtails, braids, half-up.  and anytime you tuck it behind her ears, she pulls it back out.

 i've been wanting to catch her curls on film, and i finally did.

my crosby catherine, curly q.

art at the lake

one mid-week night, during my photo class, i took the girls out to our neighborhood lake to practice.  harper ran downstairs, telling me she had to get a few things.  when we arrived at the lake, she brought out her bag and began to set up her easel, canvas, paints and brushes.  she said she was going to paint what she saw.  this girl continues to amaze me with her creativity and her imagination.  so while she painted, crosby ran up and down the hill and tamed maximus for a bit.  just another memory to add to our bank.  

happy 10 maximus!

hello there buddy.  i can't even believe you are 10 years old.



 you are one heck of a good dog.  we chose you because when we went to look at your litter, you came over to us and started chewing on my shoelaces.  i felt like you chose us, so we had to choose you back.  that should have clued me in to all the chewing you would do in these last 10 years- baseboard molding, wooden doors, socks, wrapping paper, paper towel cardboard rolls.  but we forgive you.  you have allowed the girls to climb all over you since day 1.  you are calm and easygoing.  you are so warm and comforting.

we celebrated your day with vanilla ice cream, candles and an ice cream cookie dog treat.  sprinkles and all.  of course, we sang happy birthday and the girls blew out your candles.  we gave you some presents- a new bone and some stuffed animals with squeakers, because those are your favorite.  

happy 10th birthday, maximus.  we hope you know just how much we love and adore you.  here's to many more candles in your ice cream. ♥