Harried Existence

Allow me to begin this post by apologizing for neglecting my blog in the weeks since its debut. I've been planning on adding something for a good two weeks now, but I haven't had a moment to spare. Now, before you feel slighted, let me assure you I have a valid excuse. It is no secret that we Clarks are big Harry Potter fans. Consequently, I've spent the last 2 months - and particularly the last two weeks - completely engrossed in rereading the entire Harry Potter series in preparation for the big release of the final installment this past Friday. In fact, I finished book 6 only hours before Book 7 hit the shelves. Then my copy arrived in the mail Saturday afternoon, and naturally it has required my complete attention ever since. (Hey, a girl's got to keep her priorities straight!) Aside from neglecting my blog, I thought my obession had little effect on anyone else, other than our family having peanut butter sandwiches for dinner several nights in a row, and the housekeeping falling a bit by the wayside. Apparently however, I have been mistaken. It seems my mania has been rubbing off on my children. Over the last couple weeks, Jared has expressed on more then one occasion excitement about being able to read about "Harry Potter and the dragon when [he] gets bigger," and I have strong suspicions that Emily - bright, little creature that she is - has been sneaking out to the bookshelf by night to study up on all things Harry Potter. In fact, we expect she'll be receiving an owl from Hogwarts any day. Either that, or howler from the Ministry of Magic,* threatening imprisonment for her recent, well-cast Cruciatus curse: Gratefully though, I finished Book 7 late last night, and with a little luck things will be back to normal by the end of the week. Out of respect for those who are still plugging along, I will simply say that Rowling did not dissappoint! And with Harry Potter out of my life now, all that remains is for me to do is catch up on little sleep and a few chores, and resume life as usual. And it would hurt for me to wrestle that wand away from Emily. *Though I suppose being a US citizen they wouldn't actually have jurisdiction over her.

Happy Birthday Emily!

Last Sunday, we celebrated Emily's 1st birthday. Here are a few photos of the festivities:

The birthday girl, checking out her presents. We got her new shoes and a cell phone, since we figured she'd be asking for them eventually anyway:

She was excited about the shoes, until we actually put them on her feet. Then she started walking around like a kitten with tape stuck on it's paws. Eventually, she did warm up to them though:

The cell phone was a big hit, with both Emily and Jared:

She also got a pair of stylish, new sunglasses from some friends:

Here she is blowing out the candle (with a little help from Jared and a friend):

And finally, sampling her first cake:

June Photos

Happy Summer everyone! Here's what we've been doing during the month of June:

Ah, a day at the San Diego Zoo, one of our favorite places to visit. Jared has recently developed a fascination with spiders and scorpions, and despite his disappointment that the Zoo only provides a caterpillar and butterfly cutout, he humored us with a picture.

Jared, preparing to debut his beach body. With summer officially under way, we decided to take a Saturday and enjoy the sunshine at Pacific Beach. The Easter Bunny brought Jared a Spiderman kite, which we brought with us to fly for the first time. Despite being beside himself with the anticipation of finally getting to try it out, the sand and waves proved to be far more alluring, and poor Spidey hardly got the chance to stretch his wings. Emily always gets so excited to go to the beach! Regression First spaghetti...... .... followed promptly by bath time. When the Cubs were in town, Aaron took Jared to Petco Park to cheer them on. Here's Jared on the subway, sporting his beloved "Cubbies hat."

Our little Ems

Welcome to the blog!

In response to numerous requests for pictures of the kids and due of my flakiness in responding to those requests (not to mention the fact that when I send pictures the files are always ridiculously HUGE), allow me to present my blog. My plan is to use this site mainly to post pictures, though perhaps one day I'll get adventurous enough to provide a more extensive commentary to accompany them. In the mean time, enjoy!