Day 31: Mini-me

January 31

Vicki learned how to make Worry People from the Daring Book for Girls.  This one is supposed to be me - you can tell by the hair.  She sits on the monitor and worries about school for me.

Day 30: Curls!

January 30

The curlers worked!  She left for school this morning with a mass of Shirley Temple ringlets.  They weren't quite so springy by the end of the day, but still pretty darn cute.

Day 29: Curlers

January 29

I bought these sponge rollers quite a while ago, and Lexi's been asking for me to put up her hair in them ever since, but we never think of it until it's too close to bedtime.  This afternoon she remembered with plenty of time, so hopefully she'll have a head full of ringlets for school tomorrow (if she can stand to sleep on them, that is.)

Day 28: A Great Honor

January 28

Ellie really wanted to make a dessert for us this evening, and I happened to have a brownie mix in the cupboard, so she and I whipped up a quick treat before bedtime.  After we put it in the oven, she insisted that it was her privilege as chef to get to lick "the spoon of delicious honor."

Day 27: Waiting for Mom

January 27

There was no school for middle schoolers today, so Vicki went on a "field trip" to OMSI with three of her friends.  She was supposed to walk home afterward, but her foot's been hurting so she texted me and asked if I could pick her up.  I was on my way to the elementary school anyway, and she didn't mind waiting outside a little while on a rare sunny day, so we met up on this corner and I couldn't resist a shot of her chilling with her phone.  She's growing up way too fast.

Day 26: A Daisy Girl Scout was Here!

January 26

Yesterday Ellie's Daisy troop learned about being friendly and helpful.  We gave them each a stack of these little papers that they're supposed to leave behind when they do something friendly or helpful for someone.  This morning when I got out of the shower, my bed was made and this was on my pillow.

Day 25: Biology 112

January 25

My Biology textbook, which I bought new and opened for the first time three weeks ago, didn't last long.  Think they'll still buy it back at the end of the quarter?

Day 24: Mission: Music!

January 24

Vicki's piano teacher is amazing.  Last year she had her students playing a music version of Monopoly as an incentive.  This year they're traveling around the world.  We love that she's made music fun for everyone.

Day 23: Chicken Friend

January 23

I made friends with this chicken while trying to return her to her owners.  She was hanging out in the street in front of their house, and I figured they weren't interested in eating her for dinner if she was run over by a car.  She was super friendly, but a little camera shy.

Day 22: Duckies

January 22

This is a small fraction of the rubber duckies living in our bathtub right now.  Ellie has been slightly obsessed with rubber ducks, so for Christmas her sisters gave her a box full of them.

Day 21: Mythbusters Live!

January 21

Mythbusters is our family's favorite show, so the girls were beside themselves seeing Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman live and in person.  We had a great time and reminded ourselves how awesome science is.

Day 20: Project Runway, Here She Comes

January 20

Lexi designed this dress for herself using a long skirt and a scarf.  Then, when I told her I needed to take a picture, she struck this pose with absolutely no encouragement.  Heaven help us.

Day 19: A Really Bad Photo, Made Worse

January 19

These are the candles on our headboard.  The original photo was really grainy and poorly lit, so I played with it a little bit, and this was the end result.  It looked a lot better on my phone's little screen.

Day 18: Snow Day (not!)

January 18

Apparently it takes more than we thought for the city to shut down.  Despite a remarkable (for Portland) 1.5-inch accumulation overnight, it was business as usual today.

Day 17: Proud Parents

January 17

Vicki was so excited to make the honor roll her very first trimester of middle school.  All her hard work paid off!  Now I guess we'll get to be the target of the "My kid can beat up your honor student" bumper stickers, but we're too proud of her to care!

Day 16: Elf Girl

January 16

Ellie was playing with an old ski hat of mine, and I was playing with the camera.

(As a side note, I took this picture with the new camera app on my phone, but this was before I had it set to save the pictures to the camera roll, so for a miserable half hour I was convinced I had missed a day already.  Thank goodness I remembered to check the app!)

Day 15: Tower o' Books

January 15

I waited all day, hoping to get a picture of the snow we've been promised, but, apart from a few flurries here and there, it appears to be a no-show.  So instead I took a picture of the books that have been scattered in random piles around my bedroom, waiting to be read or moved to permanent homes.

Day 14: That Time Again

January 14

All three girls are selling Girl Scout cookies now.  Ellie's elated to finally be in on the fun.

Day 13: Defender of Hogwarts

January 13

I downloaded a new camera app for my phone and was playing around with it.  I'm not sure I love this picture, but it was the best of the bunch, and it uses a filter called "toy camera", which I thought was appropriate for the subject.

Day 12: Lecture Notes

January 12

I'm taking Biology and Human Development this quarter, and I spent a good part of today online watching lectures and taking quizzes.  In case it wasn't clear, my biology professor is a Beaver fan.

Day 11: Shoe Relay

January 11

Vicki and her friend Shelbie are demonstrating to their little sisters' Daisy troop how to play the shoe relay race game.  I'm not sure the kindergartners quite understood what they were supposed to do, but we had fun anyway.

Day 10: Fortifications

January 10

Ellie's favorite way of staying entertained during Vicki's piano lessons.

Day 9: Are We There Yet?

January 9

After spending all day yesterday on airplanes, we got to hop in the car early this morning and drive home.  297 miles to Portland = more than halfway there!

Day 8: Exit Row

January 8

Time to get back to real life.  Right as we boarded, my seat was for some reason switched to an exit row, so here I am enjoying all my leg room while Chris was stuck somewhere at the back of the plane.  Don't feel too sorry for him: he was upgraded to first class on our flight out.

Day 7: Chilling

January 7

We spent the day at sea, and it was a little windy outside (and kind of crowded), so Chris and I found some sun-lit couches in the lounge at the front of the ship and read for hours on end.  So nice.

Day 6: What Else Would You Do With Coconut Halves?

January 6

Brother-in-law Blaine and sister-in-law Erica on Cozumel, Mexico.  More awesome snorkeling here, including a spotted eel who charged Chris, and some tiny jellyfish that still packed a powerful (but thankfully not dangerous) sting.

Day 5: Sun Hat on Cemetery Beach

January 5

My brother-in-law Blaine found us this perfect beach on Grand Cayman.  It's called Cemetery Beach because, well, it's right behind a very beautiful cemetery.  We snorkeled off this beach and it was truly like swimming in an aquarium.  The water in the Caribbean is so clear!  There were schools of fish that swam right up to us, hoping we'd feed them, I guess, and if you were fast enough you could touch them.  And Chris and I saw a big, mean, ugly fish that changed colors when we got close.

Day 4: Jamaica Zipline

January 4

I can't even begin to describe how much fun I had on this excursion.  We rode 9 different ziplines through the Jamaican jungle, including two that were almost straight down (although the guides sort of lowered us down those two; the rest were closer to free-fall.)  Unfortunately none of my pictures of people riding the ziplines turned out, but I like this one of Chris and me in our awesome hard hats.

Day 3: Cruise Ship Bowling

January 2

My sister-in-law Erica insisted that we bowl Texas-style.  Apparently the only difference between Texas-style bowling and normal bowling is that whenever you get a strike, you have to ride the ball return.  My father-in-law was having waaaaay too much fun with this.

Day 2: Great Stirrup Cay

January 2

Our first stop, in the Bahamas.  This tiny island is owned by Norwegian Cruise Line, so the only visitors that day were our fellow shipmates.  That's our ship, the Norwegian Pearl, in the distance.  You have no idea how much fun it was to say "The Pearl!" in a Captain Jack Sparrow-like voice over and over on this trip.  It never got old.  At least to me.

Day 1: Sailing Away

January 1

For Christmas this year, Chris's parents gave their children the gift of a Caribbean cruise.  After a red-eye flight and an extended layover in Atlanta (I've chosen to spare you the picture of my father-in-law sleeping on the airport floor.  You're welcome, Ron) we set sail this afternoon.  If you enlarge the picture, you can barely make out the Miami skyline in the distance.