Tea party

Pink kitty cat and Purple kitty cat

Every night, we have an ever more complicated routine for getting the little sweeties to sleep. For now, one of the final steps is a request for "Story! Story!" Call me lazy, but rather than argue about, No, no more stories, now it's time to go to sleep, I just tell stories that are shorter than that argument. And they always feature pink and purple kitty cats doing happy and fun things (quickly) then laying down in their kitty cat beds to take their naps. It works. And pink and purple kitty cats have become a well loved part of our family culture. As more evidence that I am lazy (or efficient, extremely efficient : ) ), what did I suggest for the girls halloween costumes? Pink and purple kitty cats!

In the afternoon, we happened to be at the cafe without our costumes, but in need of them. We improvised. I love these looks.

We went to our neighborhood Halloween party in the park and saw friends, hit a pinata, got round 2 of candy before round 3, and had fun. I caught this sweet moment while they were listening to a story together at the party.

Sweet eats

I have a sweet tooth. Thankfully Durham obliges me in this respect with an out of this world donut shop and a crazy good cupcake bar both within walking distance of our house. It's a long walk, but all the better if you are walking for a donut!

Art

 So, we make a lot of art these days. Nora love to make lists. Or wists, rather. Here she is carrying a special wist around town with her one Saturday. Also, Daddy is silly.

Ella's style of expression is a Jackson Pollock-esque layering of marker, crayon, pen, stickers, tape, and more of each again until her papers are completely covered and are twice their original weight. She was a queen this day too of course, but if you look on her desk you'll see some samples or her work. They are really interesting looking

Do these distinct creative preferences reveal one organized person and one freethinker?

Silly songs with Nora

A queen and her castle

Ella's alter ego is Queen Ellasanyas, or Queen Ella-asanyas, or Ellasantas depending on the mood. She loves to be a queen and dresses up in her royal garb for any activity. This next photo was taken at school. I love it.

We often talk about what a queen would or wouldn't wear (especially for certain activities, i.e., a queen would certainly wear her sneakers instead of her fancy shoes to go on the playground) and what she would or wouldn't do (queens are kind and brave, especially where little sisters are concerned).

One day Ella would love to meet a real queen. She knows they are real, but only live very far away. Maybe next summer when we all go to Cornwall? Can you pull us any strings British citizen family members?

Nora's 2nd birthday!

Our sweet little lady had a birthday last month! Somehow these photos got lost in the shuffle, but better late than never to post all the fun we had!

Whenever she was asked what she wanted for her birthday, again and again Nora replied, "cupcakes and pink flowers." We tried to oblige her small sweet request!

I feel like for Nora and for Ella, the second birthday was so special. They sort of understood that a birthday would be a cool thing going into it, but couldn't remember their first birthdays. When they actually got presents and cupcakes and parties, they were just so delighted with it all. It's like seeing your favorite movie the very first time. You'll love it more and more with each watch (and then maybe not as much after many years have gone by . . . ), but the first time is where you're swept off your feet.

Gramma and Granddaddy were here too which made everything that much more exciting. Here is Graddaddy planting us our beautiful zinnias while his helpers dig in the new sandbox.

In between Nora's party day on a Saturday and the actual big day on Monday, we had a beautiful walk at the gardens, I'll put those photos in too.

Then it was birthday morning!

Happy Birthday darling 2 year old Nora!

A scary moment in Bubble Guppies

Sweet Ella watches tv with her heart and soul. She mirrors facial expressions, nods, cocks her head to the side while characters are speaking etc. And if it gets scary, (there was a sad alien growling because he needed a nap in this scene) she hits the floor. We are obviously pretty careful about what we let her take in. Bubble Guppies is fairly tame, as the name implies. For instance, as scary as this moment was to her, it was way less of a reaction that the first few times we saw Swyper on Dora. That guy, seriously sinister.

Lovely light

And lovely night for a beautiful walk at Duke Gardens.