Lipstick is better

A conversation with Ruby the other day during dinner:

"Hey Ruby, let me get you some chapstick for those dry lips," I offered.
"No Mom, I don't want chaptick, I want lipstick," Ruby replied.
"Oh, you mean lip gloss?"
"No Mom, lipstick."
"Lipstick?" Clearly it was taking me a while to catch on, but I was truly confused. Not only do I never wear lipstick, but it is something that we have never talked about and I don't own any, not a single tube.
"Uh-huh. Lipstick is better. It stays on your lips for a long time and it doesn't ever come off."
"So, who told you so much about lipstick?"
"No one, I just know."
"So, do you know anyone who wears lipstick?"
"The princesses," she stated very matter of factly.
"Excuse me?" and I thought I was confused before....
"Yeah, like Cinderella and Belle and Snow White, they wear lipstick and it never comes off."

I had to laugh, in amazement really. She has had such little exposure to all the princess stuff that I was floored that this one detail was important to her. But clearly she had spent a lot of time thinking about it, and to her credit, she's right. Lipstick does stay on for long time, and as far as she knows it never comes off. Chapstick and lip gloss do. So while that none of that will change the fact that I don't own any lipstick and that she won't wear any until she is 21, among all the things that Ruby is sure of, she is also sure of this: lipstick is better.

Ruby's Birthday

A little late, but here are some pictures of Ruby's 3rd Birthday

A special package from Nana and Papa

'Ruby' Pancakes for Breakfast

The traditional Gibb Birthday Dinner of Spaghetti

A Great Mommy

One of my favorite things about my wife is her unending

enthusiasm for anything our girls do.

Large or small, she always is excited.

Exhibit A:

Stella finally figured out how to blow the top off of a dandelion.

Emily is excited.

Pickin' Berries

One of our favorite family activities while in Minnesota was to pick wild blackberries.

Ruby and Stella ate more than they put in the bucket,
but they always had a great time.

Berries, not Blood.


You may notice our clothes.
July weather in Minnesota was amazing.

Super Hero

Ruby can be a bit silly, often.
It includes large amounts of giggling, ear-piercing squealing,
and wrestling on the bed.
This alter personality is called Undies Bundies.

If these pictures don't make you smile, you may have no soul.
Seriously, you should get it checked out.

Ruby's Bike

One of Ty's co-workers gave Ruby a hand-me-down bike.
She loved it.
Almost as much as she loved her balleria outfit.

Half Marathon

Emily ran a 1/2 Marathon (13.1 miles) in the spring with some of her friends.


She looked great and finished under her goal of two hours!

Ruby and Daddy made some signs to "encourage" the other runners.
There was also one that said "My Mommy is Beating You!"
But it was deemed inappropriate.

Stop looking at me goose!

While in Minnesota, we went for a walk to a nearby park that had a huge number of geese.
We thought it would be fun to feed them some bread...

at first they were cute...

then Ty threw a couple of pieces of bread and every goose in the park turned to look at us...

and started moving closer...

then it got a little creepy.

This little bugger got too close to Ruby's fingers and Ty had to deliver a swift boot.

In the end the geese got all of our bread, but we got to keep all of our fingers.
Happy ending.

Bath Time

I guess one way to ease our way back into blogging is to post
some pictures of the girls being silly in the bath tub.

Daddy was supposed to be watching Stella...

But Stella was too quick to the potted plant.

First Taste of Spring Weather

There is almost nothing that our girls love more than being in swings.

Snow Fun

A good snowfall and some snowtime fun in our tiny front yard.
Our neighbors thought we were nuts.

It's a funny thing...

A funny thing happens when you've gotten used to winter weather where the highs are in the teens with wind chills making it even worse, 40 degrees all the sudden feels like spring. I realized that today after I put the girls in the stroller and started navigating my way down the ice and snow covered sidewalk to meet some friends at the library. As fall turned to winter you couldn't have talked me into taking a walk with the kids in the weather we had today, but after months of collecting dust in the corner, today seemed like the perfect day for a stroll in the stroller. It was a bit windy and a little slippery, but the sunshine was good for my soul. Tomorrow it's going to be back in the 20's so we had to get out while we could. Oh, and the girls were all bundled up and toasty, so don't you worry about them.

The other funny thing is that we haven't posted anything in almost 3 months. Pretty funny, huh? I know what you really want is pictures of the girls. We'll get some up, pronto.

H-A- double L -O-W- double E-N Sno-Cones

Emily is a genius. She thought up the idea of these costumes and then executed the plan to make them. Obviously they were a hit.

Getting interviewed by local TV anchor.

Stella v. Solid Food

You may not be able to tell by looking, but Stella has not eaten solid foods much.
We attempted to make the transition the other day.

She started out looking optimistic and hungry.

The food was appealing and big sister was there for encouragement.

Bite #1...

So far so good...

Houston we have a problem...

Maybe a bit overly-dramatic...

WARNING!! WARNING!! Reversal! Reversal!

Glad that is over.

Pumpkin Faces

Since Ruby is not so handy with knives, we drew and cut out some face parts, then glued them on our pumpkins this year. They turned out great. Another fabulous Emily idea.

Apple Pickin'

On Tyler's fall break, we went to a local "pick-your-own-apple" orchard and pumpkin patch. It was great fun. Here are some shots from the adventure.

Juicy apple eating + dirt = scary dirty fingers.

If you maximize this last shot, you may be able to see the Arch right in the middle, over the horizon. We were all a bit skeptical of the Arch when we moved here. After all, what is it for? But over the past few months we have grown to really love it. It is so elegant and powerful. We have made some great family memories there. Our friend Barack Obama came to play there one Saturday afternoon. Ruby still talks about how Marc and Sunny and Harper went to see it with us and how she gave it a hug. Tyler soundly whipped both Marc and Sunny in backwards foot races on the Arch grounds. Auntie Mel went there to see it with us.
Truly the most beautiful of America's man-made landmarks.