Audrey my animal lover...

Yesterday we drove out to Mesa for brunch with Nona and some friends who happen to have a big beautiful property with horses and dogs. I think Audrey thought she had died and gone to heaven.

Lili was pretty happy, too.

What little girl doesn't love horses, right?

It was a treat for everyone, but Audrey especially. She has always had an affinity for animals. Lili loves them too, but Lili has always been first and foremost a baby lover. If there is a baby in the vicinity, then chances are she will try to steal it from its parents. If that fails and she can't actually hold said baby, she will violate the baby's personal space by talking/bouncing as close to the baby as she can while the parents slowly inch backwards.

Audrey is similarly obsessed whenever there is an animal nearby. So she was in heaven on Sunday.

There was only one moment when her gigantic smile faded: Lili, being older and more capable, got to use a bridle and ride without an adult leading the horse. When Audrey saw this, her face dropped and she walked slowly back to a corner to quietly wrestle with some jealous tears... sometimes it's hard being the younger sister.

Anyway, the experience made me think back on how Audrey has always loved animals so much, even as a baby when she had such a strong bond to our dear departed Sam.

She used to crawl over to him and use him to pull to stand.

I'm sure her little fingers pinched, but he always patiently stood firm.

Oh, Sam...there will never be another dog like you...

but I better stop digressing before I start weeping uncontrollably.

I love the fact that Audrey is a born animal lover. Hopefully we can have animals as part of our family again sometime in the future, but for now, we'll just have to enjoy moments like these as they come.

Contrary to popular belief

Disneyland is NOT the happiest place on earth. Rose's Donuts (Or as Kateri now calls it; "Rosary Donuts") isn't either...although it has got to be in the top ten.

It's the beach!!!!

I've said it before and I'll say it again...we love the beach!

Atlantic, Pacific, we could stay here forever.

Especially when there are Aunts and Uncles and Cousins to play with.

Till next time...

Grandpa's Wedding

We all ventured out to California to celebrate Grandpa's nuptials. It was great to see the Speier clan again...

...the highlights included playing with cousins and beating up on poor Uncle Justin.

It was so nice getting to catch up with the Speier side of the family; we really don't get to see enough of them.

We were so happy we were able to be there and wish Grandpa and Katie well on their wedding day!

What we're reading:

Because I forget about books like I forget about Baby milestones, I am going to start posting the girls' current favorites.

Lili: The Enchanted Forest Chronicles and D'Aulaire's Book of Greek Myths I am SO happy she is loving D'Aulaires. This book was a favorite of mine and my brothers' and I think that it is so helpful for anyone pursuing an education with an emphasis on the classics. I must admit, however, that her butchering of the pronunciation of all the Greek names is hilarious.

Audrey: The Princess and the Goblin. C.S. Lewis is one of my top favorite authors, and he gives George MacDonald a lot of credit for his influence. I am reading this for the first time as we read it together, but Audrey loves it and always is begging for an extra chapter. Some of the chapters are very easy for her to follow, but others need a good bit of paraphrasing and explanation. Lili has been eavesdropping on us with interest on more than one occasion, so maybe she'll read it next.

Kateri : Where the Wild things Are. I guess Kateri's posts are not going to be too interesting, since she just loves reading the same books over and over again, but that is a two year old for you.

Our Halloween in Wonderland

We had an Alice in Wonderland Halloween this year...it was a blast. If you want to see more photos, check out this adorable post from my lovely and talented friend Emily.

All Saints' Day Preview

Audrey and Lili are gearing up for their school's All Saints' Day presentation on Friday. Audrey has chosen the Blessed Mother. Here is her dress rehearsal.

New Sleeping Arrangements

A couple of weeks ago we finally got some bunk beds for the girls so we could move Kateri into their room and out of what us attachment-parenting folks call "the family bed." You would have thought it was Christmas morning based on the level of excitement in the house. We had to assemble the bed ourselves, so I forbade the girls to set foot in their room until construction was finished. They wedged themselves in the doorway to watch what turned out to be a long and frustrating process of assembling the bunk bed almost completely, realizing that the instructions were terrible and we had put a crucial piece in wrong, disassembling the beds almost completely, than reassembling them properly. There were a few tense moments in there brought on by the fact that Luke thinks I am just as strong as he is despite the fact that he is twice my size and I have carried three of his Luke-sized babies to term (and then some,) which did not exactly work wonders for the strength of my core muscle groups. Anyway, to make a long story short, I dropped something I was supposed to be holding steady, there was a horrible, ominous splintering sound, Luke contemplated divorcing me, the damage turned out to be negligible, Luke decided he'd keep me around, and the bunk beds were finished! Hooray! The girls are happily squished together in one room now...sort of.

Kateri mainly enjoys pretending to sleep in her new bed.

She spends the first half of the night there before I hear her fat little feet slap-slapping on the tile in the hallway right back to the family bed.

Lili and Audrey, however, couldn't be happier with the new arrangements.