Winter wonderland

This picture was taken this time last year, when Ginger saw her first snow. (From inside, anyway.)

This picture was taken today, when Elphaba witnessed her first snow. Cute!!

She was fascinated.

In other news, Aunt Laurie and Uncle Mark's pup Autumn is getting huge! I met her for the first time since they were in town for the wedding. She's precious!!

And Elph and Ginge are going to want nothing to do with that monkey from now on. (Isn't she beautiful?)

Jenny and me at the rehearsal dinner, happy to be getting another sister-in-law!

D and Dan at the rehearsal. (Needless to say, DC's attention span was stretched to its limits.)

See?

But Dan and Jenny had a blast. Recessional.

Processional.

Day of! DC and the Three Godfathers!

DC was easily the handsomest man at the wedding. No offense, everyone else.

Siblings!

And... the new extended family!

Uncle Ted comes home to roost

Allow me to introduce... Uncle Ted! He came all the way to us from the wilds of Alaska, just to chill out in our stairwell.

He's named after Ted Nugent, who has a phenomenal show on the Outdoor Channel called "Spirit of the Wild," which, I understand, is a lyric from one of his songs. He's hysterical, and he refers to himself constantly as Uncle Ted. The choice was obvious.

He fits perfectly!

And Dan is thrilled. :)

In related news, I got this chic new scarf.

And, while the girls are not thrilled about the new addition to our family, they really enjoyed the ladder.

Ginger had an unusual interest in the smoke detector. (Good thing it didn't go off in her face!)

Elphie seemed very concerned about having Ginger at the top of that ladder. She sat like this for about five straight minutes, with Dan and me dancing around playing Wii between them.

But when it was her turn at the top of the ladder, Elphie was much more relaxed. Look at that little paw!

It's beginning to look a lot like...

... Election HELL! Can't wait until all this garbage is over with. I hope it doesn't drag out like the 2000 election.

November is officially here, but the weather isn't acting like it. It was perfect for trick-or-treating last night with the Little Man, though! It was Mom, DC, and the Aunts! So fun.

Luigi! 90% of the people we passed were thrilled out of their minds with his outfit.

So sweet.

Aunt Emily helps him down the steps. His pumpkin was enormously heavy, but he wouldn't let anyone else hold it.

Those crazy aunts!

Sisters!

And now on to those felines. Since there won't be many pictures of plants this winter, it'll invariably turn into "How Do Your Felines Grow."

Elphaba really is such a good sport.

Look at her face on this one. Click on the picture to see it bigger. She's doing a Calvin face. It's really priceless.

See how much my girls love to snuggle with me?

*Irish voice* Are you winkin' at meh?

Another Calvin face.

We finally started using some dishes from our wedding registry, and Dan shoved Elphie into a box as a joke, and it turns out it's now her favorite place.

Look at her pupils!

Sleepy-head!

Ginger looks like an angry dragon.

Greetings from the North!

Here we are in the Great White North, watching as the cold rolls in and the flowers roll out. My garden is in its death throes at the moment, except for the potted hibiscus I brought in (which the cats are infatuated with, much to my frustration) and the cute little pink snapdragons that are still holding on.

Anyway, I feel terrible for not updating more, especially with winter coming on and subsequently fewer and farther-between posts. (Did that make any sense?) However, I'm sure I'll be able to bug the living daylights out of everyone with pictures of the cats and of Dan's indoor projects, so fear not!

We Don't Like Ike

Here's a more recent picture of my lisianthus. Isn't it pretty with all those purple blooms? I was having second thoughts about it when it started drooping, but its resurrection has impressed me.

My Sarah Bernhardt peony. Should I maybe plant it in the ground if I want it to get a whole lot bigger?

The dianthus that Granny thought she'd killed. It doesn't exactly look like it did, but at least it's got green!

I love it when the sedum start to bloom. The red/pink/fuschia colors all look so good with the pale green foliage. This is the most striking contrast.

Our two goofballs.

Case in point.

And not only does she peek at us out of the sink -- she's HOMICIDAL!!

That would actually be a great punk band name: Homicidal Kitty.

Hurricane Fever

Boooooooo Gustav!! I tell you, that's one name I'll never give to my children now. That and Katrina. And probably Rita, which is just a shame, since I like the name.

Anyway.

I'm sorry I've been lazy for so long about updating. Like I told Mom tonight, it's been kind of a "bloom lull," so it's been hard for ADD Girl to get excited about posting. Terrible.

However, that hasn't stopped me from taking pictures. Here are some older ones that I just couldn't pass up sharing.

The lisianthus is now blooming again from this new stalk that's grown up and pushed out the old one. I was wondering why it was tipping like that. ;)

The last stalk of my Wine and Roses when it was budding. So pretty!

Kind of blurry, but sooo pretty!

The last of my little Siloam Reds. At least that's what I'll call them since I don't know their real name.

These pansies will definitely make a reappearance next spring. I love the color.

Now we're up-to-date.

This is the succulent that Reba gave me before she left. It's doing this crazy reaching thing. Not sure what to make of it.

My pink African violet is blooming again. They've been taking turns. The white-with-purple-edges is recuperating now.

And the girls. Eating some wet cat food. So funny! Elphie just doesn't seem to be growing too fast anymore. But then, I see her every day.