Princess Chloe

This is Chloe in her Lady Jane Grey costume for the Reformation Festival. The day after we went to Squire's Castle - (imagine that! a castle in Cleveland!) - to have a photo-shoot. (Photos courtesy of Rachel.)  As they were taking pictures, a two young girls with their mother passed by.  One of the little girls exclaimed when she saw Chloe: "Look mommy! A real live princess!" :)

Reformation pics coming soon!

The Post With No Name

Hey y'all!

It's been awhile since I posted... Sorry 'bout that. At any events, I've found some things to post about....

On July fourth a lot of families met at the Clarkes to have a time of fellowship with each other. Even though the knights in shining armor decided that the damsels needed to be in distress, thereby "helping" them into the cold pond, the damsels were quite forgiving as they readily saw that the knights in shining armor were under-aged and yet in training. :D

Peter agreed to "bounce" the kids on the trampoline. Or, using his weight to bounce them with force high into the air...

This picture was the best yet of the activity... Click on it to see Rachel's expression. :D

Daddy and Mommy found this little baby bunny on a walk. Actually, they were on a walk and Asher the dog "found" it, and they rescued it from his jaws.... It was a cute little thing, although awfully shaken up. She liked sleeping in the pocket of my hoodie, though. The Connor family took her home to care for her. As for as I know she's still alive, and named Miss BunBun. :)

Well... What can I say! Chloe and I were terribly hungry late one night... And would you imagine it? The only thing to eat was ice cream. Unfortunately, the ice cream was unopened.... Problem easily solved: open the ice cream. We at it not be taking scoops, but by shaving off thin layers. Then we carved on the surface: "Chloe and Ruby were here" so that Gabriel, the ice cream police, would not have to go searching through the house finding the culprits. :D

Adrenalized With La Rochelle

So, yesterday Rachel came to visit! (Oh, and I call her La Rochelle because... I do...) Actually, she came up because she participated in something called National History Day. She wrote a paper about Thomas Edison, and went all the way to the State Competition, won first place, and is going to Nationals in Washington DC in June! Hurrah! But anyways, there was this reception for the National History Day people in Cleveland, and... uh... she came for it and took advantage of the opportunity by staying with us! (Hurrah, again!) Right now she's hugging me saying, "I'm so happy I got to stay with you guys!" What can I say!

So anyways, whenever we two are around each other, ever single care that we've had is entirely abandoned, because of the immense encouragement we are to each other. But this goes really far... I mean, we get not just hyper, but adrenalized. I've posted some pictures of her visit so far. As most of you know, she's an amazing photographer, and so I posted some examples of her amazingness. :P



Talk about red lips... :P

Isn't she sooooo cute??

Um, no comment?

Rachel seems to have a talent for taking pictures of people when they're in the middle of doing something... Like, chewing an apple. :p

My little boy Boo! :)

Okay, so the only reason that I posted this blurry picture is because one of my eyes is blue, and the other is green. I just thought that was weird/cool!

Aw...

This picture is amazing... She's so sweet and "innocent" in it... I just wish it was like that all the time. *huge wink*

I don't know what it is about Tirzah... She's so photogenic and I can't help posting pics of her. :)

And the only reason I post pictures of me is because this is *my* blog. ;)

I *love* Rachel's face! It's so classic!

Is that really what I look like when I read my emails?? I need to smile more. :P

On the way to the Western Reserve Historical Society for National History Day reception. :)

Wow... Talk about beautiful.

Okay, so I love this picture of Rachel. She hates it. :P

aw...

She's so unbelievably adorable...

Sisters, sisters, there were never such devoted sisters...

LOL! Olivia's face is hilarious!

And WHY do I post embarrassing pictures of myself on my blog? I don't even know. My self-esteem level has dropped 40%.

*****Because I Think We're Nonsensical*****

I don't even know why I humiliate myself like this. ;)

"parting is such sweet sorrow..."

Cemeteries of Hickville

Today Rachel, Gabriel, Asher and I went on a confused ramble with the ultimate point of getting to an old graveyard. With every quarter mile or so we decided to change the direction we were taking. But we finally got there, after all. It wasn't even a cemetery, as you can see... Just a few graves scattered here and there, battered, old, unreadable, and probably forgotten by most people. They drifted from early 1800's to the 1900's. Gabriel immediately sobered down and observed, "It seems like we're being watched." Of course this was rather absurd, but we got that kind of feeling. I guess it was because we were on the top of a hill, surrounded by old barren trees, a bunch of dark clouds coming together, and the wind blowing ever so hard. But we did have fun after all, AND GUESS WHAT?! On the way home, it started raining really hard... And we weren't anywhere near the house at all. We got soaked, obviously. But that was really fun. :)

Gabriel meandering thoughtfully around with Asher "for protection against the ghosts" he said.

Okay okay... Gabriels the only one who really LOOKS like he's crying... Rachel and I don't really have a general idea of what we're trying to accomplish. :P

Explanation needed? Well... I was trying to fix my hair... Only place to hold my hat was... there. Gabriel thought maybe sitting on Asher would be fun. But he didn't end up doing it after all, despite of the picture.

"FINE RACHEL! BE THAT WAY!"

Little boy on a country road.

Just finishing telling Rachel what sort of place this really feels like.

Couldn't catch the full name, but this was our favorite grave. The poem underneath read:

"An obedient child,

A Sister dear

A faithful wife

Is slumbering here."

Studying the graves... Trying to read the dates, but this one was so weatherbeaten it was almost just a blank stone.

"Guys... Is this place haunted?"

Good ol' Asher.

He's straying from the straight and narrow path....

Rachel and I.

I really like this picture. She was laughing at... *cough*... Gabriel. He gave us enough to laugh at. :P

No comment.

"Oh, no, I'm not related to him at all. Really... I'm not." :P My wonderful brother...

I get really happy in the country.

We didn't plan that.

"Hi kids!"

Happy Birthday Rachel!!!

(Because, you know, today IS her 14th birthday!)