by request

my classroom
my 10 new friends:

sweet friends,

silly friends...
the "Water Wonders"
and my own little schoolgirls on their first day of school:

Heard and Overheard, volume 3

Since the writers here at Photographs on the Dashboard often feel completely unoriginal and even downright boring, we figured we could exploit the children that roam around our house in hopes of entertaining you, our faithful visitors and sometime-lurkers. So here you go--real-life, actual-factual quotes from the ever-amusing Anna Kate and Elle. Enjoy.
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Anna Kate: "Mom, when they do an ultrasound... how can they tell if it's a boy or a girl? It doesn't have hair yet."

Anna Kate, one night, stating her case against Elle sleeping with her: "Well, the best time to day dream is at night--it's good alone time ya know--and I don't like to do it with a bunch of racket."

We're at a party and I'm trying to get Elle to eat her hot dog. In front of the host (Mrs. Eva), in her loudest whiny voice, "I don't like that bun...it's not fresh!" p.s. it was plenty fresh.Anna Kate: "We get to read 3 books tonight? Mom, you're like so good to me."

Anna Kate on her favorite ice cream shop: "I like Maggie Moo's. But it looks more like a cow than a moose."
Anna Kate to Elle: "We usually get our fried chicken from Popeye's, but this time we got it from that old white man."

Elle when entering the room, at least once a day: "Mom...... [pause] What was I 'bout to say?"
I was trying to get Anna Kate dressed. She was intently watching TV and not cooperating. After repeatedly telling her what I needed her to do, I finally say, "Anna Kate. Am I speaking English??" "Yes," she says, still staring at the TV, "but they're speaking English, too."

Elle: "I only like corn on the bone."

Anna Kate: "This water tastes like scrap." "HUH!?," I say. "Well... it tastes like dirt."On our trolley ride, Anna Kate says, "Mom, why do we have to take pictures on the charlie? It's the only time we have to relax."

Anna Kate: "Mom, have you seen my holy Bible?"

I was having a bad day and laying on my back in Anna Kate's bed while she played. She left the room, brought back her Bible and plopped it on my stomach, "Here. Read a little of this if ya need to." and walked off.
Elle, upon seeing a truck carrying a mobile home down the road: "What in the whole wide world!!??"

Anna Kate: "Mom, you just don't understand...the problems of life."

some minds think alike

there's nothing better than dancing dachsunds, but this is the best we got:

recent pics, nothing too exciting...

it's been a bad day...

( Anna Kate, 6 months)

...please don't take a picture.

God MUST be teaching me something. Monday kicked off what has been a really bad week for me. Rafe's been out of town and Anna Kate and I have been sick with an ugly stomach virus...we've been completely cooped up in our house, which is not good for my state of mind...Elle's been talking non-stop (which is almost adorable, but it's literally NON-STOP and it's kinda driving me insane)... Yesterday, I was cleaning up an accident made by Rhoda on the carpet (she never does that--I think she's getting old and losing control of things) when AK threw up all over the couch...so I was cleaning up the throw-up when Elle called me from the bathroom to come wipe her bottom...(just typical mom stuff, I know)...I burned my hand on spaghetti sauce (from a cooked frozen dinner) and later knocked over a full glass of water all over a bunch of paperwork that was spread out on the kitchen counter...

Today, I got up extra early after hardly sleeping last night to take AK to school (I thought she was all better) and to get myself ready for a meeting with my new employer later that day...then AK's school called me around 11 to tell me she threw up all over herself (poor thing.) So Elle and I left home immediately to pick her up, Elle still in her nightgown with PB&J all over her face and no shoes. (I had to call and cancel my meeting.) AK felt miraculously better all afternoon and wanted ice cream so the three of us went to Jason's Deli for dinner where she threw up again! In a trash can--thank you, Lord-- but it was right near the SALAD BAR!!!! (poor her and poor me this time.)

My kids have been ordering me around like slave drivers--there comes a time when you cannot stand to hear another voice say "MOMMA!"--and I'm pretty much filling their requests zombie-like cause I'm too tired and apathetic to object to anything. They're bored out of their minds and I have no energy whatsoever. Rafe won't be back til tommorrow so he's no help. It's our anniversary today. And only 1 out of 9 of my ebay items sold.

This is not so bad, I know. But I'm feeling blah and being a baby.

So that's my pity party...your sympathy, encouragement, rebuke...whatever...it's all welcome :)

musings of a 6-year old

A letter to a playmate (who belongs to my dear friend Ashley) reads: "Dear Caroline Did you know that my cousin is 7 and he still wears floaties and his name is Nate can you believe it. Love Anna Kate"

This picture was on the back:

And the latest "journal" entries:Oh to have the mind and life of a 6-year old!

fun at the park with Bekah's kids!

feeding the ducks

Daniel

Caleb

Emily

Emily and Anna Kate

Ellie

gorgeous!

NYC!

Someone thought my birthday this year was a puh-ri-tee big deal. For turning thirty a few months ago, I very unexpectedly received the biggest, bestest birthday present ever: a trip to Manhattan--complete with airfare, hotel, tickets to two museums and a Broadway musical. Ummm, YEAH. Can you believe that!? Good friend, yes, and she's mine. CHERISH! I'm honored you took me with you to New York...I had a BLAST!!!

In the slideshow are some highlights from our exciting, fun-filled giggle fest in the big city. Sorry for the obnoxious number of pictures in this one.

first, some random notes:

The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is amazing--a completely surreal experience for me. I took a few photos of some well-known paintings but these only scratched the surface. Couldn't use a flash in there so they're kind of blurry.

The subway system, I will confess, I found quite complicated. There's no way to fake like you're a local (the huge camera hanging around my neck didn't help) when you have to ask which station to go to to get downtown. I did start to get the hang of it by day three, which I felt very proud about. The subway is an excellent, surprisingly safe, cheap! mode of transportation. Poring over my trusty Manhattan map, complete with subway routes, was great fun.

The locals were very nice.

re henna tattoos: all it took was a big black man wearing a sign to get us in a small salon run by a couple of Indian women. A henna in New York seemed a fitting experience for our girls weekend, after all. The question, then, was what to get temporarily inked on our bodies. After thinking for a few seconds, the obvious choice--being the conservative pastors' wives that we are--was a benign little apple (to represent the Big Apple, of course.) So Cherish got her cute little apple first. Then it was my turn. The same girl did mine, but my apple turned out looking not like an apple at all, but more like a snail. There's a picture to show the outcome. It was worth every penny, believe me. This place was also were I got my eyebrows "threaded." I had never heard of this procedure before, so I asked one of the barely-English-speaking girls about it and somehow ended up in her chair, receiving a full-fledged demonstration. Turns out, it's a form of plucking using just regular sewing thread. I still don't get how they do it, but it's pretty cool to watch. It's supposed to be less painful than waxing or what not, but no, it hurt a lot.

Several photos from our trip:

There is a sad part of this story that has everything to do with the fact that my little gumdrop is moving far away in less than a month. WAH!