updating to update

I don't really have anything much to write about. But I thought I'd share these cute pictures. The kids have gotten much enjoyment out of playing with Mom's various sets of eyewear this weekend. And Henry actually gave me a nice smile before heading out to birthday party #1 on Saturday.

Peeps!

My favorite Peeps diorama so far this year... "A Flock of Peeps and a Miracle".

Spring is Here!!

Here's Little Miss Standy McJellyLegs.
"Are you there Dad?"
"'Cause I'm a fallin'!"
"Oh! I'm up again!"
Here she is, caught in a literary moment. My baby loves to read!
Here's Henry talking to Grammie on the phone on St. Pat's day.
Yesterday the kids and I celebrated the first day of Spring by visiting the nature center at the Grove. Clara was fascinated by the big fishes.
Henry was too.
We always love to watch this giant Alligator Snapping Turtle. We got lucky and saw him stretch up for air. He does this once an hour.
This one is not a great picture, but I like how he had his mouth open. Have I mentioned before that this guy is over 110 years old?
We also got to see the kestrel be treated to a little white mouse treat. Henry didn't care to watch that.
Clara spent some time watching this long fox snake slither along. Henry had told me the day before that he would like to hold a snake, which is why we went to the center in the first place. But he seemed to change his mind as it became an actual possibility. There ended up not being anyone around to help us greet the snakes anyway, so we were both saved the ordeal.
All that snake watching did tire Clara out, though.
When we got home Henry and I made butterfly sandwiches like we had seen in his Big Backyard magazine. They were cute and tasty! We also had celebratory juice-pop...in case you were wondering.
Today I spent the morning at the dentist, then we did some room cleaning. After all that we decided to check out Sloppy Jo's, which we had heard about recently. It was a most excellent place, to which we will now be dragging all of our visitors. Rob is at the top of my list of people who will love the experience. I had a sloppy joe, tater tots and Grape Crush. Henry didn't care for his sandwich, but gobbled up the tots. Please note to the far right of the photo- they have an Etch-a-Sketch stand by the door. You can do a little sketching while you wait for your food. They also try hard to be environmentally responsible. Their containers are all paper, their sporks and cups are compostable potato-based plastic material.
For the rest of the day we're going to try to take advantage of the nice weather. Pete already took down the lights off the back pine tree. When he went to unwind them, this is what he found:
All but two of the actual light bulbs were completely missing. The wire was in bits. The devil-squirrels even gnawed through the extension cord!
This helps us understand all the cable/phone problems we experienced a couple years ago. It does not explain why the squirrels in our neighborhood are so ravenous for plastic and wire. They might be some sort of mutant robot-Frankenstein monster squirrels.

Marching along...

Wishing some happy Pisces birthdays to a few loved ones...Sharon, Rob, Darcie, Mom, Peter (Bampa) Sr...
Here are some pictures I just dumped off my camera. Henry and I were painting "Krazees" one rainy day a few weeks back. His Krazees were particularly crazy.
In the meantime, Clara and Pete had some crazy times of their own.
Last weekend we finally got back to ICIA for the first time since Christmas. Dad and Kathie took us out for dinner to celebrate Rob's birthday.
Who has the biggest cheeks here?
I love this picture. Unfiltered love.
We spent some time playing in Eleanor's basement. We have much envy for her basement. Henry made an electric guitar out of giant TinkerToys.
We only got one morning at the Java House. While there I spied these typical Iowa City natives in their typical habitat. Who knows what these odd individuals were up to.
Or these odd individuals, for that matter.
Java House has some new art. I would pay some big money for that picture on the left...if only I had big money.
The girls had some good play time out at Grandpa's house too. Clara, however, did not want to look at the camera. Eleanor had lots of things to say. "Birds! Look at!! Birds!" and "Qwarn!! Sheep eats it!! Qwarn!!!"
Yesterday Pete stayed home with the kids, as his parents are on vacation. They had a very nice time together, but no photos. Today I snapped a couple pictures before we all went our merry ways. Here are Henry and Clara in their Leprechaun Day finest.
Kiss him. He's cute.

NOT crying

Henry was watching a lovey song part of The Tune (a Bill Plympton cartoon movie) and Pete looked over and said "Does it make you cry a little bit?"
To which Henry adamantly stated:
"No. It made my eyes water. 'Cause I had that bath. And now all the water from that bath is coming back into my eyes. I don't know why."

Interview with Henry

Here's a little interview that's been going around Facebook. I added the questions about "Dad" and Clara....

1. What is something mom always says to you? "Sweetheart"

2. What makes mom happy? "When I kiss you and hug you."

3. What makes mom sad? "Like when I hit you."

4. How does your mom do to make you laugh? (Tickles his sides) "Tickle!"

5. What was your mom like as a child? "A baby and a cute puppy."

6. How old is your mom? "Three. No! You're older than three. If you were three I'd be way older than you!" (So how old am I?) "Uhh....eight."

7. How tall is your mom? "Um. Like way up to here." (stands on chair and gives pretty good approximation)

8. What is her favorite thing to do? "Um. Play with me."

9. What does your mom do when you're not around? "Be alone."

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? "Um. You would be famous to be a painter."

11. What is your mom really good at? "Making hamburgers."

12. What is your mom not very good at? "Basketball."

13. What does your mom do for a job? "Work at school."

14.What is your moms favorite food? "Hamburgers." (We just finished eating hamburgers for dinner)

15.What makes you proud of your mom? "When she does something that I ask her to." (Like what?) "Like if I ask you to let Franklin out and I can't do it."

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? "You'll be Yosemite Sam."

17. What do you and your mom do together? "Um. Play outside and play inside. And read stories."

18. How are you and your mom the same? "'Cause, we're not the same 'cause you're a little higher. But you have brown hair and I have brown hair. And I have brown eyes and you have brown eyes. And we have the same underpants. You have plain and I have plain."

19. How are you and your mom different? "'Cause you're higher and I'm lower."

20. How do you know your mom loves you? "'Cause she keeps kissing me all the time."

21. Where is your moms favorite place to go? "Barnaby's." (pizza place, we were just there on Thursday)


1. What is something dad always says to you? "Buddy."

2. What makes dad happy? "When I give him kisses and hugs."

3. What makes dad sad? "When I hit him." (Do you do that?) "Sometimes. When I'm upset with him. I kind of hit him. A little."

4. How does your dad do to make you laugh? (Tickling sides again)

5. What was your dad like as a child? "A puppy. And a little baby when he was just born."

6. How old is your dad? "Um. Thirteen."

7. How tall is your dad? "Like way up to here." (stands on chair again)

8. What is his favorite thing to do? "Play with me and play outside and watch The Tune."

9. What does your dad do when you're not around? "He be's lonely."

10. If your dad becomes famous, what will it be for? "Um. To marry someone. (Like who?) You. (He's married to me, does that make him famous?) No. If he's famous he would become a painter. Like you. If you were famous."

11. What is your dad really good at? "Um. Baseball. (What else?) Nothing."

12. What is your dad not very good at? "Um. When he tries to play basketball with me out there and when that is really low."

13. What does your dad do for a job? "He works at work. (And what does he do there?) He helps people know which boxes to put microphones in."

14.What is your dad's favorite food? "Pizza."

15.What makes you proud of your dad? "When I ask him a favor."

16. If your dad were a cartoon character, who would he be? "Bugs Bunny."

17. What do you and your dad do together? "Play. Outside and inside."

18. How are you and your dad the same? "'Cause he has brown hair and I have brown hair and he has plain underpants and I have plain underpants."

19. How are you and your dad different? "Since I have a scab and he doesn't."

20. How do you know your dad loves you? "'Cause he gives me lots of kisses and hugs. And he calls me Buddy."

21. Where is your dad's favorite place to go? "Um. Barnaby's!!"

A lot of your answers about Dad seem to be the same as mine. Why is that? "Just is. Because I love you."

What is your favorite thing about Clara? "When she plays with me."

What is your least favorite thing about Clara? "When she takes the toys that I don't want her to."

Do you love Clara? "Yeah."

How does she know? "'Cause I give her hugs and kisses!"

What do you think Clara will be when she grows up? "She'll be a basketball player."

How are you and Clara the same? "'Cause she has brown hair and I have brown hair and we both have plain underpants. (Clara has underpants?) She has white diapers and I have white underpants. That's kind of the same."

What's the most important thing that you want people to know? "That I love them all."

Happy Engagement

Last weekend Mary and Peter hosted a very nice engagement party for Liz and Van. Here are a few pictures from the event...
Lots of yummy food and pretty flowers:
The happy couple:
Another happy couple, caught making out on the couch:
Henry, Clara and Pete hid out in the basement for a while:
And, since we were all dressed up, a family photo:

Clara Speaks

Here's a little video of Clara saying Hi.

Park

Here's a small selection of photos (from the 184 I took) from the park yesterday morning.






I know it's cliché, but I sure do wish this weather would stick around.

Memphis and Trash T.V. (2 posts in one)

Clara had a big first this weekend. We flew to Memphis to visit Amber and Adelaide. We got lucky and were able to have a seat for Clara on both flights! She loved it.
We got to Memphis on Thursday evening. Friday centered around a lunchtime trip to Gus's Fried Chicken. Here are Clara and I with the signature checked tablecloth.
Here's Clara trying to sneak some food off my plate. The fried pickles were long gone by this point.
Here's what Gus's looks like from the outside...should you ever be in Memphis. You could
accidentally drive right by. Don't.
Here's sweet Adelaide Jayne. We did lots of playing with blocks. I like to think I taught her to knock them down, but she may have just figured it out on her own. She's a pretty smart cookie. Clara and I got up early each morning of our visit. Clara likes her 6:20 AM waking time. She spent a lot of time with this little fishy toy of Adelaide's. I was quite taken with it as well. There was a springy device inside, which made it quite entertaining for us both.
On Saturday we ventured out again for some Vietnamese food at Saigon Le. I'm not sure this picture does it justice. It was spicy and delicious. Amber introduced me to the hot and sour soup, which had pineapple in it. Oh my yum!
When we got back to the car it was hailing, and shortly after it was doing this:
Snow in Tennessee! Clara and Adelaide decided to hold hands to comfort each other.
Sunday morning we awoke to this scene:
I turned on the morning news, which was mostly dominated by church closings. The newslady talked about how she was "iced in" to her car. Most of us would just say "my locks were frozen". There was also frequent footage from inside the car of one of the other newscasters...he was out doing donuts in the parking lot. They extended the newscast for an extra half hour to keep talking about the snow. There were many warnings to "stay home" because it was "treacherous"!
Adelaide and Clara just spent the day playing.
Here's where I slept. Clara spent some time in the bed with me....she had a lot of mommy leaving anxiety this weekend.
She did sleep in the pack-and-play though too. I think she felt comforted because the president was watching over her.
We spent a good chunk of time on Sunday saying "Hi!!!" to Adelaide. "Hi!!!!" in a funny squeaky voice is officially Clara's first word. Adelaide is officially the first recipient of the word.
I think they were both fairly entertained by the "Hi!!!" game.
We flew back home Sunday night. Henry had put on his pajamas before getting in the car, and it was a good thing because Pete had to circle for over an hour due to our flight getting delayed.
The kids were happy to see each other, though. Here they are yesterday afternoon.
Henry's been doing lots of drumming since we've been back. He's very serious about it.

And now for the second half of the post....Trashy T.V. Last night was supposed to be the final episode of The Bachelor With Jason Mesnick, Single Dad! I've been watching with a few friends most Monday nights. Kristy was the hostess and she set up a random pool. We kept track of the girls and the eliminations each week:
Kristy made romantic desserts for our final night.
There may also have been some drinking.
Here's my friend Julie. Her vest was soft of satiny. I told her I might want to use her as a pillow. This may explain the look she's giving me.
Here's Kristy showing off the quiz she made us take last night. Did I mention she's a fourth grade teacher? They love quizzes.
If you didn't watch The Bachelor last night, let me sum up. There was lots of this pathetic behavior:
Sarah won the kitty when Melissa got the final rose. Melissa, however, seems to actually be the loser...having been dumped later in the After The Final Rose ceremony.
And tonight there's more! It's like the "P.P.S." to the show. I'll have to watch, of course. But then, I swear....I'm done with this trash t.v. for good.