And now...Charlotte's photo session!

Don't you just L-O-V-E powdered doughnuts!!! Charlotte does!

Showing off her "powdered up" hands.

Look at my "powdered up" face!

And how about a close-up of all that yummy doughnut powder!

The rest of these pictures are from Charlotte's own photo session. She picked up my camera, and just went to town.

Her first picture- her yummy cup of milk, because after all, she is, in her own words, a "milkaholic."

Her blankie. Yep, we still have one of those...

Hmmm, Mom's shoes. Wow.

And another picture of milk, but this time, the whole dang gallon! For the record, we buy "blue" milk because it matches Charlotte's blue eyes. At least, that's why we buy it according to Charlotte.

(but seriously, why do I buy "blue" milk? I like "red" milk better. Of course, if I could somehow manage to have a dairy cow in my backyard, that's what I'd want! YUM! Thick and frothy milk. Dang it, now I wish I had some half-and-half to drink. Dratted "blue" milk...)

And a (slightly blurry) picture of Barrett's blankie. He LOVES this thing. It is starting to unravel and come apart from being washed and dragged everywhere for the last 4 years. Thank you, Judy and Shirley for making him this blankie! He is very attached to it!

Barrett's newest favorite toy- a rocket ship. Complete with a green alien, too. Awesome.

The I-pod dock. We were listening to "Girls and Boys" by Blur. Just in case you were curious. Great tune. Pretty much the only one of their's that I like. Charlotte loves it too. Guaranteed to make her (and me) dance around.

Poor Savannah. Charlotte accosted her the instant she came out of the bathroom. Surprise!!

My kitchen floor. I have decided I LOVE this picture. It is practically impossible to see just how icky and dirty and badly-in-need-of-a-mop it is. Yeah.

Charlotte's Princess Ballerina book.

Charlotte taking a picture of her own feet. Honestly, she must LOVE her feet. This is only one of SEVENTEEN pictures she took of her feet. In various poses, and with random props. I only included this one. And, no matter how many times I tried, blogger refused to load it with the correct rotation. Sorry.

Charlotte's "school work" magnet.

An extreme close-up of the camera bag. Not sure why. Just because.

A coaster. A christmas coaster.

So, there you have it, Charlotte's first official photo session. She had so much fun, and I just laughed watching her take the pictures.

She is such a riot!

Ralph the Night Hair Dresser Invades...

Or, in related news...

It is actually...

Crazy Hair Day at school today.

Angry Birds

So you know that infuriatingly addicting game Angry Birds? The game where I have been stuck on the same blasted level for days?

DONE!! LEVEL COMPLETED!!!

But let me tell you how-

I let Barrett play.
Yep.
He beat that stupid level on his third try.
In about three minutes flat.
Grrr.

I wish I could....

Figure out how to work the camcorder...

or figure out where I put the blasted camera...

or figure out how to take a picture with my cell phone.

Because Charlotte is seriously about the cutest, funniest thing I have ever seen right now!!!

She is wearing the shoes I wore at my wedding, holding one of Barrett's racecar track pieces and using it as a microphone, and dancing around the room as if she was on stage.

And singing.

Singing her heart out.

This is the song she is singing... Man, why am I so technologically challenged!!!!

Defending my honor...

Savannah came home from school the other day with something to tell me.

Apparently, her teacher, Mr. Gallagher likes "real" music. "Real" as in Led Zeppelin, Ozzy Osbourne, etc. Real guitars, real drums, real bass...real instruments.
Savannah mentioned that her mom really likes a band called Muse, and they have lots of guitars and bass and drums.
Evidently, Mr. Gallagher was NOT impressed, and told her that Muse has keyboards and fake music, and that they're not "real."

Savannah was so irritated.
She was defensive- all on my behalf.
She was defending my honor- musically speaking.

So cute!
Thank you, my dear sweet Savannah!
Although, I am really used to the fact that many people disagree with my opinion of what music is awesome and good and cool and worthwhile.

I love the fact that Savannah was so annoyed, just for me.
Bless her heart, she is such a sweetie!!

Happy New Year

It's a new year.

YES!!!

This year, I did not have any Christmas spirit.
None.
It was torture for me to put up decorations, shop for gifts, hear silly Christmas songs and carols, etc.
Usually I like Christmas. But, honestly, this year, I just didn't feel 'christmasy' at all.
Not even a little bit.

Am I the only one who was actually REALLY, REALLY excited to kiss the year 2010 goodbye?
Bring on 2011, and may it be a whole lot better than its predecessor.

Here's hoping that all your New Year's wishes and dreams come true.

Yay, 2011!!!

Busy, busy, busy...

So, we have been quite busy today...

We have spent almost the whole day watching "ThunderCats" cartoons...

and reading "Garfield" comics.

Don't be jealous.

Oh yeah, and we ran the dishwasher, too!

Saved by...

It is the day after Christmas.
Which means that I am totally, officially, and absolutely
SICK
of hearing holiday songs.
I am usually pretty bored and tired of them around the first week of December, actually.
Because immediately following Halloween, every radio station in the world seems to start playing christmas songs.
Almost two solid months of "Jingle Bells" and "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and dozens of others. I just can't take it! Even holiday songs that I like become tiresome after hearing them several times a day, for two months in a row.

So, on the way to work tonight...
Radio Preset 1: Blah (christmas song).
Radio Preset 2: Blah (another christmas song).
Radio Preset 3: Blah (yep, another freakin' christmas song).
and then...
Radio Preset 4: Oh, how wonderful!!!!!
Thank you, oh so much, for playing The Clash. "London Calling" was just what I needed! The Clash is good anytime, but, it was
especially awesome just now.
Saved by The Clash!
Thank you, thank you, thank you, newly resurrected 101.9 The End!!

And So This Is Christmas...

Hope everyone has a wonderful and merry Christmas!

Homework

Today Charlotte had homework to do.
Not unusual, because she gets a new homework packet every Monday.
Today's section of homework?


Kindergarten Physics, I think....

"Place an ice cube in a bowl, and a scoop of ice cream in another bowl. Which melts fastest?"


LOVE IT!


All things considered, I am a big supporter of homework that involves ice cream.
I just hope tomorrow's homework will require doughnuts, cookies, or Twix!

Thanks...

Thank you...sooooo much.
To everyone who called or e-mailed to check up on me because of my last post.

I was honestly overwhelmed with gratitude.
And, just to let you know, I am doing much better.

Thank you.
I wish there was a better way of saying that but, I can't think of anything better, so...

Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.

Bye Bye

Dear Universe-

I quit.
Long, complicated story, but...
I quit.

-Dani

An Open Apology...

Hey, Dad and Mom- remember when I was younger? Back when I thought I knew it all?

Okay, remember how I thought it was so horrible and cruel that you wanted me to put away my clean laundry, and not just leave it in piles on my bed, or floor, or dresser? Or how you hated it when I put everything into the dirty laundry basket, regardless of whether it was even dirty? Remember how I thought it was sooooo stupid that you made a fuss over rewashing 'clean' laundry? Remember how I thought you guys were sooooo lame for that?

As in, "What's the big deal? You're doing laundry anyway, what difference does a few 'not-necessarily-dirty' items make?

Remember all of that?

Okay then....... From the bottom of my heart, I apologize.

You were right.

Rewashing clean laundry bites.

Seeing clean, neatly folded laundry end up in piles all over the place bites.

Having all of this come back to bite me........bites!

But, maybe you'll think it is funny.

I deserve that!!

Happy Turkey Day...

Gobble Gobble.

It's the end of November already?

So it is nearly Thanksgiving. As in, the turkey feast is only 72 hours away. And you know what that means.....That's right! Pictures from Halloween! Because after all, I am nothing if not consistent. And I think I have posted pictures of the kids very late, no matter the holiday or occasion. So, here they are, in keeping with my unofficial motto in life: "Better late than never."

Barrett + Ninja= Happiness!

He LOVES the movie "G.I. Joe." And his favorite character is the awesome, silent-but-deadly ninja, Snake Eyes. So, of course, when we found the Snake Eyes costume, it was a no-brainer. He loved it. Can anything be more adorable and cool than seeing your little son dressed to kill and wielding the sword with deadly skill and fury?!!

Charlotte as Princess Ariel. Surprised me. I have never known Charlotte to love Ariel all that much. I mean, we are talking about Charlotte, so any princess is definitely not going to be a bad thing, but still. She was super excited to find a "real Ariel hair" for her to wear. I think she has secret plans to be every single princess for Halloween. Awesome. I have the easiest costume finding job now!

Savannah. Oh Savannah. She has begged and pleaded for this costume for the last three years. So, I give you, Savannah- Batgirl. She was so excited that we finally let her have it. And, she just looks so flippin' cute!

I had to post two pictures of Savannah, because it was just so funny and cute to see her all wrapped up in her batwings, ready to fly away, and then....wingspan! So cute. She loved her costume. And I think it just may be my favorite costume she has ever chosen!

All three of the cutie-patooties!

Not sure why or how, but we failed to get a good picture of Colby's awesome pumpkin carving skills this year. You can see Charlotte's owl pumpkin, next to Barrett, which was very precariously held together by three toothpicks. You can see a little of Barrett's bat pumpkin by Charlotte. He was pretty excited for that. And Savannah's pumpkin? Well, don't ask me, because it did not appear in any of the pictures, and I honestly don't recall!!

They had a fun Halloween, despite the wet, wet weather. We still have Halloween candy at our house. Maybe I should let my kids have more than one or two pieces every other day or so. Hmmm....