Pictures from the small camera

Hazel on her first day of ballet. She had a cute little ponytail that Geoff put in and she looked like quite the ballerina.
Pictures from swimming lessons. Hazel took this picture and wanted me to include it. So, here it is.

Hazel at swim lessons.

Hazel & her cousin Sadie. Could they be any cuter? Highly unlikely.

A lovely picture that Hazel took of me while driving.

This one is all blurry and whatnot. But I think it is a great picture. Taken by Hazel.

When we were all sick, I went up to Bountiful to go to the Instacare. Since Hazel was freshly diagnosed with jah-monia, I didn't want to take her with me and asked Lynne to watch her. She agreed and this is how Hazel spent the afternoon. Propped up on pillows, watching TV, and eating noodles in bed. She was a very happy girl.

Another picture by the Hazel. I love that her finger is in 90% of the pictures she takes.

Hazel, Tayvia, Shauntil and I all went to the zoo. We had a great time and the girls mostly got along.

I love when Hazel does the sketchy eyes. Sadly, this will probably be our last zoo trip for awhile. I am ticked they raised the membership price by 1/3 RIGHT after we voted a bond for them. Ungrateful jerks.

Finally, I leave you with this fantastic video of Hazel and Gloria dancing to Grandpa Ray playing the accordian. They loved it and kept asking for more and more and more.

We have a cat.

So, there has been a cat outside our house, basically since we moved in. First it was living on our roof. But lately it has been on the porches and meowing loudly. Hazel really wants a cat. In fact, she is waiting for Geoff to die so she can get a cat. And then along came Rufus* the Reindeer** cat.

*because he lives on the roof

** I don't know why the reindeer, except that reindeer live on the roof.

And then I fed him dog food and he was happy. And then Hazel asked to buy him cat food. So I did. And I guess this means we have a cat. Maybe he is a mouser... Anyway, here is a picture of Rufus. While he was meowing loudly at me from the front porch. Also, a bunch of lathe from the basement. Because apparently we need to keep that. On the front porch. Because our house isn't junky enough.

Hazel's outfit today. Candy cane (sic) dress and hat. And crazy interpretive dance hands.
She is showing off her ponytail holder. It is Hello Kitty and she is very proud of it.
And those are the only pictures I have from the big camera. I am going to do a separate post for the little camera. because they are mostly from Hazel.

We are much better, thank you.

Okay, just a quick update (no pictures because I don't know where the camera is, or it is not sitting next to my elbow and I am too lazy to find it). We are all feeling much better. Geoff is still a little sick, or just worn out. Or something. But Hazel and I are almost back to full strength. And I have a couple of stories:

1. When Hazel was getting her x-ray I was explaining how the machine would take a picture of her insides to see how she was doing. So, she stood with her tiny little back to the machine and then opened her mouth as wide as she could. It was hilarious. And then I explained how the rays would travel through her body and she didn't need to open her mouth.
2. Hazel and I were at the U-scan, which I tolerate and she loves. The cashier came over and was talking to Hazel and telling her what a great job she was doing and how maybe she could work there when she got older. Hazel looked at her and said, "No, I can't. I am going to college." And I was simultaneously mortified and proud that she knows she must go to college. Luckily, the cashier was fairly young and probably in college herself.
3. We had dinner tonight by candlelight. Hazel was thrilled. The magic of candles is awesome.

The sickness....Oh...the sickness.

Hazel and I went to the KidsCare today (urgent care for kids). And it turns out she has RSV. Which is essentially a really bad (and super-contagious, but they didn't tell us that, which would have been nice to know before I invited Jenni to go to the Target) cold. Anyway, here is Hazel account of the doctor:

We went to the doctor and they take a picture of my bones(1) and we hopped on one foot (2) and I got to pee in a cup and then I got a sticker and a sucker.

(1) They x-rayed her chest.*

(2) We played Simons Says while we waited for the doctor to finish sewing up another kid.

*Live update: We just got a call from the doctor. The x-ray machine wouldn't process the film and so they didn't have results until now. Anyway, she has pneumonia. Awesome. This means Geoff and I are going to have to actually go to the doctor and get tested. Blah.

Fingerpaints and destruction

First, a picture of Hazel and Triscuit. I think this one is sweet. Notice they are both wearing pink. Awesome.
I find this combination of clothing odd. Or funny. Or something. Whatever. It is late, and I am tired.

On Saturday Geoff and Michelle decided to pull down the ceiling in our basement. It needed to come down but it also need the stuff removed first. Notice the STOVE still in the one room they destroyed?? Yeah, I don't think Geoff noticed. Anyway, it was filthy work. And Geoff hurt his back.

And why didn't I get to help? Because Hazel had a birthday party. And it was awesome. Here she is in her "fancy birthday party tea party dress" with the Hello Kitty bow in her hair.

And a whole couch full of cute. Since Geoff hurt his back on Saturday, I got to spend time on Sunday cleaning in the basement. Between working at my job (aaaaagggghhhhh!!!!!) and holding a sick kid, it was not fun. But, I made some progress and even though my arms, back, shoulders, ummm... torso? is/are sore I am still upright and mobile, unlike Geoff. So, I have that going for me.

I busted out the finger paints tonight. Hazel had a rough day. She is has a bit of a cold and thus is mopey, Geoff threw out his back and is, in HIS words, "useless", I had to work late and so on and so forth. Plus, I had some really big sheets of paper from work. Thus, throwing caution to the wind, we finger painted. Let's put it this way, I should have waited until summer when I could put her outside. I thought pushing her sleeves up would be adequate. Because I am an IMBECILE! Hazel had a great time. I freaked out a lot.
I put Hazel in the tub with all her clothes on and made her scrub herself down. And then I had the brilliant (actual brilliant, not sarcastic "brilliant") idea to let her finger paint in the tub. Aaaaahhh...It just wipes off, and she is already wet so the paint doesn't really stick to her, and she is nekkid so I don't have to worry about her clothes. Perfect.

This was her masterpiece. I actually like it better than the finger paints on paper. Plus, clean up was much easier.

Finally, three things Hazel hates:
1- Jupiter
2- Going into space
3- Scuba diving

Randomly, on Saturday she told me this list of dislikes, and counted them on her fingers. It KILLED me. Still does. Because I am a nerd like that. Seriously, JUPITER!! Who hates Jupiter? My kid, that's who.

Hazel's Dress

Okay, I made this dress: And I think it is for sucks. Which means, of course, that Hazel loves it. It is basically a fleece sack with arm and neck holes and purple edging. She won't let me do anything to it because she, "loves it just like this!!" Also, bare arms and bare legs = bad mom.

This pose is funny. And look, arms AND legs covered and warm.
Hazel and Geoff rode the elephant together the other day. Geoff did not want his picture taken, which is lame because I have way worse photos of them. I made this dress too (Hazel has it on backwards) and it is way better. But a year old and getting kind of small.