turn the radio up

day 7: a song to match my mood, and why.

today it would be vampire weekend's, "horchata".

why? because annie dances to it every time i play it, and i love it (both annie dancing and the song).

and they just keep on comin'

day 6: a photo of an animal i would love to keep as a pet

a newfoundland ("newfie")

this fur-ball of love is what would be romping through my house if kevin would just give the go-ahead. no breath holding here. he's not a dog person. at all. even after telling him that this dog has webbed feet, a waterproof coat, great lung capacity, can take on any rough ocean wave, propel through freezing cold water, and licks toes, he still denies me. it's like having your own furry duck/michael phelps/wave runner in one. one day, big boy, you will be mine.

let's crank these out...

day 5: a photo of myself 2 years ago:

besides some body parts shrinking, others expanding, and a large handful of missing brain cells, i really haven't changed much. so to shake things up a bit let's do 10 years ago! crazy, i know.

senior year photo (classy emerald green backdrop, huh?)

double the pleasure double the fun

little miss scored big with 2 parties. she scored even bigger by having a grandma and grandpa/papa at each one. she thinks she scored the biggest because she actually got to eat something from the 'fats, oils, and sweets' food group at each party.

happy birthday, sweet baby girl!

we love you, annie mae!

family, friends, and furry pets

spending time with grandma and grandpa ballard

little miss got the chance to meet some of her great-grandparents:

great-grandma rosell in california

great grandma and grandpa ballard (it's not them...it's her)

annie LOVED being pulled on the blanket and riding on the long board with uncle benji (by riding i mean him sitting down with her and me pushing them...fast)

a visit to catch up on the woods family, eat some delicious food, and make sure annie's beau, trevor, is still committed.

a little dip in the pacific ocean

daniel's dog, annie (not to be confused with little miss), had 10 puppies! we thought annie (little miss) would love them as she loves all things fury and four-legged. she really didn't like them and just wanted to play with the annie (four-legged annie). go figure.

cousin time!

my talented sister-in-law, leanne, made these adorable outfits for the girls. i couldn't get over how cute they were (both the outfits and the girls)! thanks leanne!

stealing food from claire

these girls would sit by and bang on the sliding glass door until someone let them out to play. they love being outside. literally rain or shine, cold or hot...they're there.

this became the favorite activity. claire would push annie up and down the halls until annie crashed into a wall.

it was a tight squeeze. annie just couldn't quite suck in her gut enough for a comfortable fit.

other festive happenings

minute to win it...and win it we did. well, actually everyone was proclaimed a winner (you know, its always a tie at the 'y'! type of thing) but i've taken it upon myself to declare kevin and i the real, real winners (i'm sure everyone else has done the same...no probably not).

candy elevator

candy-cane hook

just kevin shakin' his groove thang (and trying to get the jingle bells out of a tissue box)

panty-hose bowling

shaking the cookie into my mouth from my forehead. be nice. i know i look mentally unstable and physically deformed...i don't need to be reminded.

pti

pardon the interruption from my enthralling 30 day post (which is obviously taking longer--much longer--than 30 days) but its time for a little holiday recap...

before we took our festive party cross-country to celebrate christmas in az, we had a little christmas cheer with mama and papa b:

once we landed in az the party didn't stop 'til 8 in the mornin'! well not really. it's more like it started at 4 in the morning...little annie mae's internal alarm clock was set for 4 am each morning for the first week, and slowly reset to 5:30 am for the last week. she gave us a christmas gift by sleeping in until 6:30 on christmas morning. that was the best gift we could've asked for...well, that and a new pair of running shoes.

annie's first christmas and she is already showing off her skills by winning the christmas present contest (santa and his elf might have been a little biased)

christmas eve:

leanne had made angel costumes for annie and claire to wear at the annual nativity reenactment. i'm pretty sure angel's didn't have binkies back then but when it's past the angel's bedtime and things get desperate, we'll trade tradition for peace.

it's not christmas eve without the stocking march!

brown paper packages tied up with strings

so when the dog's start barking and the bees start stinging, these are what i think of

(day 4: 20 of my favorite things)

1. annie's stink/cheese face (still to be captured on camera)

2. annie waving "bye-bye" and blowing kisses to me when i lay her down for a nap

3. ebelskivers on christmas morning

4. utah in the fall time

5. skiing

6. annie insisting on always keeping something in her mouth at all times while she goes about her business

7. sushi

8. finding a cold spot in the sheets

9. orange rolls

10. gator football

11. duke b-ball

12. the outdoors

13. discovering a really cool band that no one has heard of

14. kevin with scruff

15. mom's granola

16. french toast (one with butter, powdered sugar, raspberry sauce/jam and strawberries on top, the other with butter, powdered sugar and syrup on top. and they can't mix or touch each other).

17. i'm getting hungry and 20 is too many favorite things

18. the beach

19. staying up late with the bernhisel clan for game night

20. made-up backyard games at the ballard's.