New Purchase: Bouncy Ball

I forgot I took these pictures. Monday, Memorial Day, it rained most of the day, so we didn't do anything outdoors. We did, however, make a trip to Toys R Us in search of a bouncy ball. You know - the kind you sit on and hold on to the handle and bounce around on? Our church has two that we use at Mother's Day Out, and Maggie just loves to play on them.

It turns out they are great for IN the house as well as out. I think Maggie hopped around the rec room and kitchen for about an hour on it! The weather has really been nice for some time now, so she is really used to being outside to play, getting cooped up in the house is not her cup of tea.

Corn on the Cob

The other day I picked up corn on the cob. We had it for dinner, and Maggie thought it was a blast! She did not like it getting in her teeth, though. She kept saying, "Mommy, I haff summin in my teef!" I love her little girl voice, it warms my heart!

Time is Flying!

This is a guerilla shot I just took of Maggie sleeping in her now toddler bed. I know you can only see the back of her head, but isn't it the most peaceful back of the head you've ever seen?

Yesterday I got a seriously uncontrollable wild hair and made Maggie's crib into a toddler bed (it's one of those convertible cribs). I just felt like she would do well with it, even though EVERYONE says to keep your munchkin in their crib until they just about outgrow it... I did it right before her nap, and she was SO excited about a "big girl bed". I told her VERY sternly that she was not to get up and out of her bed during nap time unless she needed to use the potty. Which is also another big step - I put her down for her nap without a diaper. She's been dry nearly every day for the last month, so I thought we'd give it a go. The nap was a total success! She took a regular-length nap yesterday and didn't wet at all.

Last night I think she either had a bad dream (I'll blame that on the Lion King) or almost fell out of bed around 1 a.m., but she wanted to get up and use the potty instead of her diaper. She did wake up around 6:30 (urg!) but I think it's because it's been so light in the mornings despite the black-out shade we've got in her room. Nap time today also went well, stayed in bed and didn't wet. She is constantly chattering about her big girl bed, and how she isn't supposed to get up. And it's working! I just love it. As for right now I'm leaving the front portion of her crib in her room against the wall to remind her of my very serious warning that if she gets out of bed when she isn't supposed to I'll make her bed back into a crib (I have repeated this warning to her almost every time she tells me about her big girl bed). Can I say HOW MUCH I enjoy being able to sit on the floor and cuddle with her at bed time? It is so fun to read her books and sing and pray right before bedtime this way, and to give her kisses at night before I go to bed without having to just about get into her crib or pick her up and wake her?

On a side note, I hope she doesn't have bad dreams on a regular basis- that 1 a.m. wake-up jarred me all the way awake and I didn't fall back asleep until 5 or 5:30, I am not joking. At 2 I finally got up and went into the living room and watched a movie to see if it would zonk me out. No luck. Needless to say, I was a zombie until lunch time.

In which I demonstrate how NOT to make chocolate chip oatmeal cookies

Recently I had a craving for chocolate chip oatmeal cookies, thanks to Meredith at Like Merchant Ships. So after Maggie hit the sack one night last week I got to work. I had been saving my last bag of Ghiradelli double chocolate chips for a special occasion, and this seemed like the perfect time. Boy, was I wrong and I still miss those chocolate chips!

Now, everyone who really knows me knows that I am just too ditsy for words sometimes. I RUINED the entire batch of dough! Once I forgot to hit start on my timer and cooked them to blackened hockey-pucks, the second batch I also forgot the timer and cooked every last lovin' bit of moisture out of them, but didn't burn them, and the last batch I took out too soon and they were too too mushy. Good grief Charlie Brown! The burned ones had to be chucked. The dry ones and the mushy ones did end op getting eaten, but not by Maggie. I gave her a piece of one of the dry ones - she took one bite, grimaced, declared it was yucky and marched over to the trash can with it. Ha! I will be scouring my Sunday ads for coupons so I can get another bag of those chips - they are to die for!

Taking a breather

Here's Maggie sprawled on the couch this morning. I am cooking for our church's High School graduation banquet, and got started this morning, so she got to watch a movie while mommy did things at the hot stove.

Funny Sayings from This Week

This morning Maggie races into the bathroom while I'm getting ready for the day, "Mommy! I luss Dissie and Zay-ee (I love Dixie and Zayli). I need go on trip, too." Dixie and Zayli are away visiting family, and we told them they were going on a trip. Now I hear about her needing to go on a trip about 50x a day.

Then right after that I ask "Maggie, do you love Daddy?"
Maggie: "No, I luss Dissie and Zay-ee. ... I love Gaga and Papa John!"
Mommy: "Do you love Mommy?"
long pause - "yeah (slowly, and with reserve)" She really loves Dixie and Zayli.

Yesterday was free iced coffee day at Dunkin' Donuts, so of course when I went in for a free iced coffee we came out $2 poorer but 2 donuts and an iced coffee richer/fatter, take your pick. Maggie rushed to the door when Daddy got home and proudly proclaimed "Daddy I have donut 'day!" He had visited the Dunkin' by his work for the same reason, and then Maggie saw the empty Dunkin' bag in his hand and without skipping a beat said, "Daddy have donut, too!" How's THAT for brand recognition?!?! We NEVER go to Dunkin'. I am a Krispy Kreme diehard, so I can hardly believe that after one visit she remembered the logo on the bag.

And, my favorite addage of hers right now is "I'm so excited!" She adds this to the end of many many many sentences. I am so in love this stage in her life. She is a constant blessing and source of sanctification for me! I can't thank the Lord enough for my little girl!

5-13-08 Robins Update

Here are some update pictures:

Robins on the patio: one egg didn't hatch of the 4. But there are three hungry babies!
Here's the mama robin to the nest on the patio.
And, the nest in the car port. Still waiting for them to hatch. This mama is a lot more skittish than the patio mama - she flies out of her nest every time we come outside. The patio mama will only fly out if we are on the patio or in the yard close to it.

Tricycles and Patent-Leather Shoes

Here's a clip of Maggie riding her tricycle. She's got it down now where she can start from a stand-still 100% of the time now, and can go more than a couple of feet. Riding her tricycle gives her a lot more stuff to do when we're outside now, which is really nice! Sorry for the motherly encouragement in the middle of the clip, I caught her as she was winding up playing on it.

The patent-leather shoes make a loevly fashion statment with her pritned t-shirt and knit capris, don't you think? They are her dress shoes that she insists on wearing all the time, probably because I don't make her wear them ever (they were for her winter dresses). I had to take her out in public in that outfit yesterday, I was mortified. =)

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy belated Mother's Day! No pictures of the day, but I was seriously blessed by Tyler picking up the whole house and doing all the dishes, but other than that it was business as usual: I made lunch and dinner - easy dishes that didn't require a lot of work, but they were yummy! I made french dip subs for lunch with au jus - with fresh! deli roast beef (that is such a treat - I never pay $8.99# for meat). Then dinner was grilled chicken sandwiches. As I was eating dinner, I realized that my meal choices were a bit man-ish being sandwiches and all, but that's alright. I love good roastbeef and any time I can cook on the grill make me happy.

I also did something that seems anti-Mother's Day. I went swimsuit shopping. I know. Scary. Especially me and my blinding-white thighs. But I did. And I returned home VICTORIOUS!!! I got a swimsuit at Target and a new cover-up to match. And even better, it got the Tyler seal of approval. And to top off my swimsuit find, I got a great deal on Pampers "Kandoo" wipes for Maggie: 2 packages of refills (2x more than what you get if you buy a container) on clearance for $3.22 each, and a $1 target coupon and a $2 Pampers coupon. So for $3.44 I got 2 packages of refills. Yay! I of course treated myself to a mocha frappachino at Starbucks afterward, so all savings were negated by that purchase. =) Oh, well.

A Colony of Robins

That's right. My backyard is becoming a robin sanctuary. Since my last post on them, the first batch of robins fledged (left the nest) on April 17th. Maggie and I watched the last baby fly out of the nest. Within a week the mama robin was sitting on the nest. I got up there Tuesday afternoon, and sure enough! There were 2 hatched babies and two eggs left (they will fledge about May 20th). I have become a robin watcher and now I know exactly which robin she is - the sides of her head are really sleek and she's got kinda ruffled feathers that make her look like she's got a mohawk on each side of her head. She's the same mama from last year. The picture is blurry, but though I want to see what's going on in that nest, I want the mama robin to stay.

Then a week or two ago I noticed a new bird nest in the rafters of our carport. that's right! Another robin's nest. This mama has 4 eggs. I don't know which robin in the yard this one is, but I am working on watching the nest a little more carefully so I can identify her.

I have to say, I really love having these fun birds to watch in the backyard all the time, and I can put up with the bird poop on the cars. Tyler probably wishes their nests were in the trees, away from the cars, but then I wouldn't be able to take pictures... And I am so thankful for God's Creation, even in something so trivial as robins in the yard.

Messy Faces of Maggie

Yesterday was "Messy Face Day", not May Day as many of you might think. In the morning, Maggie got into my lipstick. She proudly announced "Mommy, I put chap-chaps my face" which is translated: Mommy, I put chapstick on my face. I have to say, I love her bright eyes in this photo. It's very Paula Deen.

At lunch, she had spaghetti (all by herself) but I didn't take a picture because she's always messy with that ... but then for a snack I gave her a slice of fresh bread with peanut butter. I'm not sure HOW peanut butter ended up on her face from ear to ear, but she was pretty pleased about it. Note her snarky nose. She's been doing that a lot lately - scrunching up her nose. I just love it.

More of my flowers are populating the web

There are now TWO websites that have pictures of my work in their pictures:
Mint and Sage Photography - home page and several weddings listed on their blog. Krystal makes everything look so ethereal and awesome!
One Fine Day Wedding Planning - home page picture on the right and gallery pages 2 & 3. Mary does a great job pulling everything together.

What an honor!