Riley Cate's Christmas Reading...

There are a couple things you need to know for this story to make sense: Riley Cate has about 25 words now in her developing vocabulary. If you point to a picture of Santa, or ask what Santa Claus says, she will (usually) reply, "Ho Ho Ho." She also knows how to say "please", which in Riley Cate usually comes out "peas". So, now that you're up to speed, let's begin tonight's story...

Melanie was sitting in the floor with Cate in her lap, reading the Golden Book version of the Christmas Story (no, not the kid with the Red Ryder BB gun, although I love that movie). It is a toddler-aged account of the birth of Christ. So Melanie gets to the part where the angel appears in the sky... and the angel is depicted in bright red clothing, with a wide belt around his waist, and bright light shining around his head. So Riley Cate points to the angel and says "Ho Ho Ho". No, Riley Cate, that's an angel, not Santa Claus.

Then later on, the angel announces peace on earth and goodwill to all men. Well, Riley Cate hears "peace" and immediately says "peas peassse pease."

Christmas is going to be a blast this year!

The Cutest Kid in the World? Maybe...

I thought this necklace of Mommy's would go great with my outfit for church today. I even did pretty well keeping my hat on, which is better than I usually do with hats. My general inability to keep a hat on is proverbial in these parts.

An Average Night...

Here I am in my own Riley Cate-sized chair watching the TV. Look who's on my TV... it's Mickey Mouse! I don't mean to drop names, but I met Mickey Mouse once in Florida. He's good people. And later on I had a bathie. Isn't this just the coolest towel ever? Look, I got a bunny head! This was a gift from Aunt Beth and Uncle Jason and cousin Sawyer and cousin LeeAnna. This towel outfit wins the award for the farthest traveled because it came all the way from Africa, which I assume is somewhere around Fouke.

I'm a Mess!

Here I am showing off my first milk moustache! It's a monumental occasion, and I'm glad that Daddy was there to capture it for the ages. I like this picture because it shows that me and Mommy have the same smile! Awwww... Here's a closeup of my milk face. Don't look, but my hair is a little crazy.
And here I saw Daddy's hat on the chair, and I thought it matched my outfit. What's Daddy's is mine, and what's mine is mine.

Hanging Out With Daddy-O!

This afternoon I hung out with Daddy. First, we drove up by the lake. Daddy said we saw a drake Bufflehead. I think it's some kind of duck, but I don't have the foggiest idea what a drake Bufflehead is. But I think Bufflehead is a funny word. Say it... Bufflehead. See? Well I think it's funny. Then we went out to the woods where Daddy hunts. I found this fern. Know what I mean, fern? Here's me with Daddy's deer feeder. Isn't Daddy nice, feeding the deer like that?
Here we are, back at the truck after our adventure in the woods. I was so famished that I was just about to eat some acorns I had picked up. And you can probably guess what happened next. Daddy put down the camera and took my acorns away! He did give me some Teddy Grahams on the way home, which I thought was a pretty good trade. The one acorn I actually tasted was pretty nasty.
And then after hanging out with Daddy I had to do some things with the girls. Here's me working on my twirling routine with the girls in Mommy's class. I'm so young that I'm in my own age group. I'm the best one in my division. I'm also the only one, but hey who's counting?

Look What Daddy's Been Up To...

And all this time I thought Daddy only took pictures of me. Hmmm... You can see more of Daddy's pictures at www.jcarltonphotos.blogspot.com.
I think I'm way cuter than that dumb ol' bird.

Happy Fall, Ya'll!

Here's me in the back yard playing with Daddy. I found these spikey things on the ground. Daddy said that they're gum balls, but I think Daddy is out of his head. They're the worst gum balls ever. But I'm proud of them anyway, because I found them. Sometimes, you gotta take some time out to study things very closely. And sometimes while you're studying things, you gotta put them in your mouth. And that's when Daddy takes those things away. Welcome to my life.
And here's me, just being cute!

Happy Halloween!

Here's me getting ready to go get some candy. All the businesses on the court house square give out candy to us kids! Apparently all you gotta do is put on some silly costume and walk up there. It's a pretty good deal I think. Here I am being a ballerina. From what I can tell, downtown DeQueen is pretty much like Disney World. There are too many people, I'm in the stroller, and Daddy is taking a lot of pictures. See, same thing. I was pretty excited about this one big rock that I found in the parking lot though. I love rocks. Rocks are cool.
Here's me with some other kids who were shakin' down the businesses for candy. These are the Patterson kids. Our Daddies are best good friends. See, there's Batman, a Dracula and a witch. The Dracula costume belonged to his Daddy when he was a kid! Evidently this whole candy racket has been going on for some time.