Barbies

This is Charlotte with her Barbies. Notice she has a Prince Philip doll, because we must always make sure the Princesses can dance with a Prince. After all, what is a Princess without her dashing Prince?

Attacked by Pirates!

So, here are the pictures of Halloween! We decided to dress up as a family of swashbuckling pirates this year! I know there are pictures of Mom and Dad all decked out in costume as well, but I'll be darned if I can figure out where. Not that I am sad about that, necessarily, because we all know how much I love being photographed. But, here are the kids!Savannah the Scary Pirate
Charlotte the Pirate Princess (that was the only way we could talk her into being a pirate.) We eventually decided that she could be the beautiful Princess from a country far, far away that we pirates kidnapped and turned to our side!


The Scurvy Barrett Buccaneer

Have you ever seen more adorable pirates!?!

Jack-o-lanterns

Here are the jack-o-lanters that Colby carved for Halloween. He is an awesome pumpkin carver, don't you think?

This is the Halloween Princess we carved for Charlotte, because we couldn't quite figure out how to make a crown work. This pattern is actually called "Spooky Diva" but we won't tell Charlotte that, right? It is a princess, no doubt!

Savannah picked out this howling werewolf.


Barrett wanted this pirate pattern, which kind of worked out well with our little pirate theme we had going on this year!


And all three of them together.

Baseball Cont...

I cried...I am still in mourning at the loss to Tampa Bay. It was a sad day in the Hill home after game 7 of the ALCS. Nevertheless, 2008 World Series Champs was not meant to be for the Red Sox. I suppose I will be resigned to watching the 2004 and 2007 DVD's of the World Series.

I know - I am one of the most pathetic creatures ever to live on this earth.

-Colby

Baseball

So, our beloved Boston Red Sox did not advance to the World Series this year. I'll wait a moment while you all dry your tears and compose yourselves (mostly because I have to). Okay, all better now? Good. So, with the Red Sox out of the competition, we must all root for the Philadelphia Phillies. I know, I know- they are a National League team; they don't have the Sweaty Greek (or Kevin Youkilis, as he and the rest of the universe calls him) on their team; and they don't have The Ridiculously Hot Dustin Pedroia on their team either. But, what they DO have, is mostly RED uniforms, which is a BIG plus :o) , and they are playing against the Tampa Bay Rays. We must always root against the team that knocked the Red Sox out of it, right? Good.

Okay, so although it pains us to say this, "Go Phillies!!!!" Seriously, they won the first game of the World Series last night, so keep up the cheering and root for the team in red, even if it's not the best team in red. :o)

Countdown

So, we all know that Charlotte dearly loves her dance classes, right?? Okay, so yesterday she asked me at least 20 times during the day "Is it Wednesday? Is it my dance class tonight?" Well, we FINALLY make it to 6:15 and we go to dance. Then, no joke, the instant we come home she asks Colby "How many days until dance?" Sigh. It is going to be a very long week. The bonus is that she starts dance twice a week from now through November, in order to practice for their performance at the Festival of Trees in December. So, that means she can ask me 20 times a day "Is it Tuesday? Is it Wednesday? Is it my dance tonight?" Yikes. Come quickly, dance classes! On a related note, Charlotte was measured for her recital costume last night. She was oh-so-excited. I cannot wait to see it. In Charlotte's estimation, it will be very nearly perfect. The twirl-factor was a tad lacking, but it has plenty of frill and fluff to compensate. Countdown to the costume, now!

Pumpkin Patch

The kids got to go to the pumpkin patch to pick out their pumpkins. Charlotte wanted to find a pumpkin that would make a "Crown" jack-o-lantern. Only Charlotte would think of carving a princess crown into her jack-o-lantern!

Riding in the wheelbarrow looking for the perfect pumpkins!

Name changes

So, I have decided that I need to stick to one nickname for the kids. I have too many, and I think they are getting confused by them all. Today Barrett and I were at the grocery store- just the two of us- Savannah and Charlotte were both in school!!!!- and the bagger asked Bear what his name was. He promptly responded "Handsome." The checker and the bagger were both laughing hysterically and told him that he is indeed, very handsome. But then I asked him to tell them his real name, to which he responded "Handsome Bear Bear." And then he followed that with "I'm Mommy's Handsome."

Hmmm, now I do know that he is handsome, but maybe I should start calling him something else? It was so funny. So, Barrett really is his name, despite whatever else he may tell you!!

Thoughts for my Daddy

So, this is something that has been on my mind for a little while. My Dad is the most amazing person I know. He just is. The funny thing about saying that is, when I was the typical obnoxious teenager who thought I knew everything, I thought my Dad was sooo lame and that when I grew up, I would never talk to him again. Honestly, I could not have been more wrong. My Dad has been through some challenges in his life, some have been foisted upon him, and some have been self-inflicted, but what is so amazing and inspiring to me is how he has adapted to the changes in his life. In all honesty, my Dad now is almost nothing like the Dad I knew as a kid. He has made so many changes in his life that were, and continue to be difficult, and he sticks with it. He is such a wonderful father to me, and such an adorable and sweet grandpa to my children. I love to talk to him, he is the first person I want to turn to for advice when I need it, and he just inspires me to be a better person. Really, Daddy, if you could read this, (and you can't because you hate modern technology, which, sadly, includes computers!!!!!!!) I could try to put my feelings and thoughts on here, but they just don't translate well.
I just love my Daddy and I am so grateful that I have him in my life.
Love you, Dad!

Savannah's sweetness

Okay, so I don't have a picture that "matches" or goes along with this post, so I just attached some random picture of Savannah! So, Colby was telling me that the other day, out of the blue, Savannah tells him "I want to be taller than Mommy when I grow up." Colby's first thought was something like "Well, that shouldn't be too hard to achieve!" but he remained sensible and asked her why. Her response was classic Savannah sweetness: "Because then I can reach things for her and she won't need a step-stool for everything." Honestly, is there a kid out there any sweeter or more thoughtful? Absolutely not! She is such a sweetheart, and I feel kind of bad, because I think I sometimes focus on things that are not that important, like the fact that she still sucks her thumb (aaarrrggghhh!), or that she has a tendency to be just a tad whiny sometimes. But, more than any of the trivial things that really do not matter in an eternal perspective, she has such a caring, loving and thoughtful soul, which is so much more important and worthwhile to focus on. Really, if I had not been there when she emerged from me, I would not believe that I had anything to do with producing such a wonderful and sweet child. She amazes me.

Amateur photographer

So I thought this was pretty funny. I was taking a picture of Bear, and he wanted to take a picture too. So, I let him, and he decided to take a picture of his "cute little feet." It was so hilarious! And, the picture he took didn't turn out too badly!

Barrett and Hobbes

So Barrett was looking at one of Charlotte's scrapbooks and noticed that we have a picture of her with her favorite little toy, a stuffed monkey named George. So, of course, Barrett decided that we need pictures of him with his favorite little toy, a tiger named Hobbes. So here is the wonderful Barrett and Hobbes!

Soccer

Barrett decided that he wanted to play soccer. So he put on Savannah's shin guards, got his little soccer ball, and asked Savannah to play soccer with him. Being the sweet big sister that she is, Savannah played soccer with Bear!

Dance Class

This is Charlotte on her first day of her dance class. She loves it, and loves to wear her dance stuff all the time. She is excited to learn to dance just like Princess Genevieve. Which works out well, because much of the time she chooses Genevieve as her Princess Personality of the day!

School Days!

So, Colby has taught me, again, how to load pictures on the computer. So, once again, I am able to post pictures along with the posts. That is, until I forget how to do it again and he reminds me again. :o) So, here we go....

This is Charlotte on her first day of preschool. She is so excited, and so darn cute! She has her own "cubby" where she hangs her jacket and bag, and her own desk with her name on it. Charlotte's class is called the Red Ladybugs. She was pretty excited about that because she thinks ladybugs are "cute."