I should probably clarify something -- my daughters aren't really named Smedley and Sparky.

When I first began blogging over a year and a half ago, my original blog, Foolery, was more about my kids than anything else, and using nicknames for them seemed to insulate them from the world. I don't post their pictures, either, for the same reason.

Several things the girls have said over their very few years have become legendary among some of our friends and family. They may want to crawl under rocks some day, so I have given them the gift of relative anonymity.

My brothers are referred to as Bocci and Mantel Man, for the same reason. They are often mortified by their big sister's silly, frivolous, and completely undignified behavior, so I'm protecting them from too much scrutiny.

And, breaking my own rules, here are recent pictures of my daughters, the scruffy farm girls of the Pushing Water Ranch.

This is Smedley, age 6.

And this is Sparky, age 4.