Science Class

The girls came over to see what remains of our Giant Swallowtail Caterpillar colony - three were around last night and this morning Becca could only find one. Two hours after the TriPrices swirled out of here, there were no signs of the last one even. It was precious - the girls asked about chrysalis stage and guessed where the missing caterpillars had gone... then jumped up and down with excitement until we went outside to find them.

Even Madeleine who came over late last week, asked to return on Saturday morning to see Aunt Memmily's caterpillars... and remembered exactly where they were in the backyard!

Oh, the excitement!

We have found one chrysalis but that's it. Hopefully they are just heading off to form their cocoons and not getting picked off by neighborhood owls. Looking forward to butterfly watching...

The Very Hungry Caterpillars...

We have a meyer lemon and key lime tree in the backyard which Mr. Price has done a fine job at cultivating. About a year and a half ago, they were ready to be tossed out but now are thriving.

A couple weeks ago he noticed a dozen caterpillars suddenly appeared on the lemon tree, all about 3/4 an inch long and ~3cm wide. Then, not even 4 days later, those little caterpillars were now larger than my pinky finger.

So the Very Hungry Caterpillars have taken up residence on our lemon tree. In less than a week they have grown 4x and taken out quite a few leaves. We were shocked to see how quickly it has progressed. Tried to get a video of one of them chowing on a leaf but he was done by the time I got the camera and got outside. Pretty sure they are about to spin their cocoons. We considered plucking them all off, but figured at this point- may as well let them do their thing.

Of course we thought of the TriPrices and their insect interest and knowledge of crystalises and such. So I took pictures of the crazy little things and decided to document their progress.

and then....we apparently became obsessed. well, Mr. Price was, and now I'm along for the ride. We looked it up and check it out:

Giant Swallowtail Caterpillars and their later Butterfly form

after worrying we might have some massive moth colony in our backyard... looks like we are in for some 4 - 5.5 inch butterflies, 10-12 days after crysalis! guessing there are about a dozen back there. our lemon tree might be doomed, but it might be worth it for the 4 lemons it might have produced this year.

Going Down in Flames

Charming TriPrice story of the week:

The girls went to Colorado for Spring Break and hit some massive turbulence. Apparently enough to really upset some of the passengers. But not the darling girls! Nope - didn't seem to phase them.

In fact, sweet little Claire, looking out the window and in her sweet little girl voice loudly announced "We're going to fall from the sky!! We're going to hit the ground! Look, we're falling!!"

What I would give to see the faces and hear the thoughts of the white-knuckled passengers nearby.

Easter Sky

Tonight we watched a beautiful sky with pastel colors and gold disc the sun set behind the newly budding trees. It was a great Easter weekend. My baby boy was christened at the Easter vigil service and we were surrounded by family all weekend long. to finish the weekend our little family sat upstairs watching the sunset and listening to Willie Nelson sing 'Georgia on my mind' and 'blue skies' -- the song we sing to Jackson each day -- and it was magical. if only we could replay the special moments every night -- Mr Price's dad flew in from North Carolina, mom and step dad, of course all my family from around the neighborhood, and Jackson's godparents: the triplets parents Eric & Jackie, as well as Eric's parents (Mr. Price's dad's brother).

A good time was had by all. Especially the happy mom.

Who's your Daddy?

Did I mention that the TriPrices refer to Mr Price in the third person as my "daddy"? As in, he belongs to me and he is an old man so clearly he is in the category of "daddy."

Mr. Price finds this endlessly hilarious.

Sure, they still call him 'uncle' but when inquiring where he is or what he's doing they'll ask me: "Where's your Daddy?" A little confusing to me (and wanting to gently set it straight) since they could be referencing my real Daddy... but no, they consider him my Grand Daddy or just get really confused as to why I'm asking for clarification because "what's wrong with me that I don't know who they mean by 'Daddy'?? I mean, don't you know who your Daddy is?" ...at least that's the look that's the look I get in response...

so it remains.

The Best of Intentions

Story I have to post because I still giggle at it:

Hanging out with the triplets a couple weeks ago and A & F got in a squabble so Claire & I went to the play room while her sisters got sorted out. Sweet Claire asked if I was going to spend the night and I told her if I did, Uncle Joe would be sad. She looked up at me with those beautiful big brown eyes and the sweetest, concerned face; then in a delicate little voice replied: "But I want him to be sad..."

Graduation

Did I mention that the whole fam damily was in town last weekend? well, they were and it was fantastic.

Friday night on the lake Austin was a serene kick off to an otherwise crazy weekend. Preceeding that was two nights of back-toback work dinners and prior to that: a dinner with Mr. Price's classmates. Before that: I was busy bee and Mr. Price was back out at the ranch with an underwater metal detector and a buddy Gene (in a wet suit), in an unsuccessful attempt to recover his wedding ring from the bottom of the swimming hole, somewhere under the rope swing (don't get me started).

The rundown goes like this: after a beautiful sunset and stopping at a friends' house on the lake (where Matt, Kim & Madeleine were dining), we got take out from Hula Hut and ate in the boat. Afterwards: late night airport pick up of brother Ted - in from Tuscon.

Sat morning: the onslaught. Everyone arrives for lunch. I mean everyone: my fam, Price fam (NC, Dallas, Arizona and local contingencies present), my grandfather even drove in for the occassion (!), BJ Andrews (our sweet neighbor), Frank and Janie (our faux-parents). Lunch at our house catered by Santa Rita (yum) and none of the shorties fell in the pool (although Ava was throughly soaked. Everyone scattered after lunch at... um, 4:30. which was good since we were reconviening at 6 for wine and cheese prior to dinner at Fonda San Miguel (no shorties this time.)

Sunday:

Little Treasures

One of the things I was most excited about coming home... was to see the girls and give them their sussies. I was spoiled with too much jewelry as a little girl and it only seems fit to continue the tradition. So, I bought each of my darling nieces a pearl necklace, long enough to later be made into a double strand bracelet. But for now, they look stunning.

Even at 1 1/2 and 4 years old, these little dolls were thrilled about their pretty little things.

Madeleine laughed and smiled and tugged on her necklace as we looked in the mirror. she had tried to pull it on over her head and then patiently waited with her arms sticking straight out to the sides as if to balance herself as I put it on her. In appreciation she gave Aunt Emmie a kiss. (melt)

We joined the TriPrices at Westwood for an Easter afternoon swim, which was lovely. Faith, while wet and curled up in my lap, asked me why I had a necklace (the girls often ask about my necklace or play with it). After a series of very funny "whys" she concluded that I must have gotten the necklace for my birthday and she didn't get a necklace for her bday.

I later used the 'ol "Girls... I have a surprise for you..." trick to distract Ava & Faith from hopping back in the pool (which at this point was quite cold). It worked! =)

So it was about time to leave and we started all walking out together when Ava said "but what about our surprise?" Ah, yes... I assure you I hadn't forgotten. Good to know they were eager.

Claire had wandered off so Faith and Ava got theirs first and were so thrilled - Ava immediately requested Uncle Joe take her picture. Faith because very content and pensive... resting her hand and thumb on her chest, over her new pearls, for the rest of the day. Funny how that reaction is so natural for a girl. Claire on the other hand, was having a rough time with leaving the pool, who was going to be the 'leader' and otherwise. She wanted her necklace on but then promptly wanted it back off so she could see it.

As we said our final goodbyes, I was tackled by A&F with a sweet, digging in kind of hug - complete with their wet little swimsuits and all.

Totally made my day.

Cupcakes & Cocktails

Sadly, this year has not (yet) seen a repeat of last years hit: Cupcakes & Cocktails. Which is ashame, because this cupcake could use a cocktail... or three. The thought has floated through my head occasionally over the past few days but usually when standing in line at the grocery store on while driving to work -- not ideal time to try to plan a party. Even if halfass.

Not quite giving up yet, but things aren't looking good.

On a brighter note: for Valentines Day, I brought cupcakes over to the TriPrices and we decorated. I PLANNED for the containing of the potential explosive mess. My planning worked! What I DIDN'T plan for, was the explosive excitement coming from the power of 3-year-old-cubed. Wow- totally blew my plans out of the water and became quite the balancing act. However, it was loads of fun and worked out just fantastically.

We actually had two date nights this week (!) Thurs & Fri so I was feelin' the love. Sat night:

we cooked in (made sushi) with a The Griers and our precious next door neighbor - totally casual, completely lovely.

Back by popular demand...

pictures of poopsie!

these are a week old - it just takes me that long to process pics lately - which actually is pretty quick: I just had a few pictures from sunday dinner and the downloading, editing was moved along due to an event I photographed on thursday night and i had to get those pictures to the client asap.

damn, she's cute.

'tis a shame she isn't more expressive...

(this emotion lasted approximately 4 seconds)

I spent most of the day saturday with the triplets (after photographing a 2-year-old's bday party) and it might have been the best stress relief I could have possibly found.

Honestly, I didn't think about the sky-is-falling nonsense of work. Even Sunday as i prepared for the start of the work week (and my blood pressure and anger started shooting up again), I would just think of little Faith curling up in my lap, or Claire wanting to swing with me or Ava asking when she could get a necklace like mine... and it all just faded away.

Unfortunately, I was too enamored with their sweet nature and hilarious antics to bust out the camera for some snaps of the little firecrackers.

So enjoy the pics of Madeleine and I'm going to try to focus on happier times =)

in the meantime, happy monday.

Blog Backlog

Dear Blog Readers,

I am remiss, my sincere apologies. Here it is, the begining of the year and nothing to read online during your downtime ...and I am not helping.

You see, dear reader, I have a backlog of blog posts that I have not yet posted because I have not yet uploaded the pictures to the posts. I've not yet included the pictures because I hadn't downloaded the pictures from my camera. Seems that it took me so long to do that, there was a backlog of pictures to organize and back-up. Turns out, once I realized that task was a bit more overwhelming that I'd realized (that of sorting), I just kind of ignored it - went along my merry holiday way... celebrating too much, sleeping in too much, watching movies and teaching my nieces to say my name (successfully, I might add!! more on that later). As you may know, I did start editing down pictures from the beginning of the year which leaves -who knows how long- until I get to the end of the year and to the task at hand.

This is no excuse, dear reader. I have heeded your call for reading material and I pledge to do better-- to catch up on my blogging backlog! NOTE: this is NOT a new years resolution, as I haven't and clearly shouldn't. My goal is to upload the pics tonight to the blog backlog and post those puppies! (wish me luck)

Best,
me

P.S. Madeleine can now say "Aahh Meh-Muh" for of Aunt Emmie (she can't say her 'E's just yet) and she's quite proud when she says it, too. Meanwhile, we had a delightful Christmas Day with the TriPrices - who refer to me as Aunt Em-lee and freely pull me from room to room for various adventures. My heart swells with pride. =)

Fishing for Christmas

It was a perfect Christmas this year.

To put it plainly, things haven't been the same since Annie passed away. For the first 27 years of my life, holidays consisted of: driving to my grandparents, having a massive delicious meal at Annie & Boppa's long dining table with china, silver, linens and such... with all my aunts, uncles and cousins running around. Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, Mother's Day, Father's Day, random Sundays to celebrate birthdays... always the same: lots of family, lots of activity, lots of food.

The past several holidays have been quite different and frankly, seemed kinda empty. Last year for Christmas, we partied with my family on Xmas eve, brunched together at our house and spent the day watching the triplets play with their new toys. This year was pretty much a repeat.

Maybe it is the creation of new traditions (in that it was a repeat year, not a first year), maybe it was the constant activity of the girls and their excitement for their new toys, rain gear or musical instruments (toys that make noise!!). Maybe it was Jackie's beautiful dinning table and all the delicious food. Whatever it was, it felt complete.



And who could possibly resist fishing from the play house pier with Uncle Joe? Somehow, all three flailing plastic fish (that would make quite the noise when 'caught' by the magnetic worm) broke by day's end... shocker.

Galoshes & nightgowns: just in case there is a torrential downpour in the middle of the night.

Christmas Cards from Aunt Emmie

I've been taking some pics for (other people's) Christmas cards lately and took three of my absolute *favorites* yesterday, so I thought I'd share some Christmas spirit.

And let me just say this: people who think there is 'economies of scale' in having multiples-- are mistaken.

That and: damn they're cute:







Faith (whispers) "I'm ready for my picture... cheese."


Ava hollas "I'm part of a group? I'm Part of a GROUP!"


Claire asks wide-eyed "Aunt Em-lee, can I have candy now?"


Little Madeleine-lou-who from Whoville:

SHARKS!!

Better watch out... there's a whole swarm!

Getting ready for vaca this week. We leave on Sat morning-- this is a great way to remember the dangers lurking.

I still laugh every time I see this pic. It's been my desktop wallpaper for two weeks now. Don't you just want to hug 'em??

Back story: the triplets have been in swim class and Eric got them these 'shark goggles' --which they love-- and wear around the house, well, they wear them everywhere, really. Here, the darling little sharkies are spaced out watching TV. Claire saw the pic coming... Faith is redirecting attention and Ava is sufficiently spaced out. I LOVE it. (FYI- the identical girls were wearing the same pjs that night...)