On the verge of cracking up.

I don't know why she restrains herself from laughing, but it's apparent she does. Her sense of humor resembles Brad's in that they both like being silly, absurd, and a bit sneaky or sly. Just check out these expressions.

 This might be one of my favorite photos of her! It's so Halle. Shes' got a bit of food on her chin, a clever little grin, a hint of curls in the back, and it's tied up nicely with the bokeh effects in the background. Nice shot, Dad!

Here are some other cute photos that I thought about turning into LOLHalles.

 She's either an imp or she's trying to sell Aunt Robin some of her magic beans. Or, y'know, both.

 No way! 

Is she performing the skull scene from Hamlet or singing a fugue?

 There's my sweeeeetie!

Fireflies and Mosquitos

Rain, sleet, snow, soup-like humidity, bitter cold, it makes no difference to our Leetles. She's an outdoor girl and recently caught her first firefly - by herself! We try to enjoy the daylight while it lasts... that is, if we're not being hunted and snacked on by mosquitoes too badly. We don't just have mosquitoes. We are the unwilling hosts to a biblical plague of them. I spend all my time focusing on slapping them away and before I know it, it's dark outside. Our outdoor lighting is minimal so things had to change.

So I bought a couple of these at Walmart (or as Halle says, "Wow-Mowt") - citronella candles to ward those evil spirits off. Except without the touch of what I call patriotisn't - tacky July 4th decorations. Sidenote: Yes, July 4th is awesome and there are tasteful Independence Day themed decorations.

 

I also bought one of these and I'm glad I did. It's all I need. Because in place of bug bites, the last thing I need to worry about is setting myself on fire. I'm not exactly a swan, folks. Seriously, these clip-ons kick some serious mosquito butt. I can't tell you how much I enjoy the thought of annoying the mosquitos in equal and opposite revenge.

In light of the lighting situation, however, it's come to my attention that solar lights don't cost as much as I previously thought! I'm browsing through CSNlighting to find one that looks the best in our yard. They don't have the one I initially liked in stock, unfortunately, so I might get one of these classy, normal ones instead:

Decisions, decisions...

It's really too bad that they're out of these. Isn't it cute?

It's like a friendly little snail, kindly lighting my way...

This post brought to you by the lovely folks at CSNstores.com! 

Holden Beach 2010

This Week In CUTE.

I've been a bad blogger. It's been a rough month, to say the absolute least. But alas... a new video has emerged! From out of the stress and fog emerges CUTENESS!

The first scene was taken moments before washing and eating blackberries we picked from our backyard. The berries were a complete surprise and since they showed up, we'd anticipated the sweet day they'd ripen. YUM! It makes me want to grow vegetables! There's something triumphant about eating a zucchini you'd watched blossom and grow, and a triumphant zucchini is much tastier than a purchased zucchini.

A quick scene shows the cats at the door... and their number one fan.

Are you ready for a new level of cute? New decibels of laughter? Get ready and don't say I didn't warn you! She gets really wound up right before bedtime. She gets hyper and in a good mood, so Brad can't help himself. Amazing what parents will do millions of times just to hear their kid laugh. (But it's so worth it!)