Photo Tales - Week 4

On Monday my darling little one had a fever, and with daycare involved there are firm rules about that. Sniffles are okay, whining is okay, but fevers end the conversation about whether or not to send a child to daycare. I totally get that - better to keep any illness in the house of one instead of passing around the whole group!

After a morning of taking Abby to my office to get some Monday-essential work done, we went home and just vegged. By the time dinner rolled around I jumped at the chance to make it, because it was more exciting than reading another Caillou book. After dinner I insisted on doing something, anything, outside of the apartment, so we settled on blowing bubbles!

I don't know anyone who does not enjoy blowing bubbles - it's simple and amusing, both of which are right up my alley. In the past we have even bought bubble machines so that we could all enjoy without the "work" of blowing? I have never felt as lazy as when I bought a second bubble blowing machine in two years.

Someone on Facebook commented that the reflection is cool - the sun was beginning to set on a beautiful day and the two apartment buildings behind us lit up beautifully. Well, as beautifully as three-story brick buildings can look. Turned out really great for the reflection, though!

Follow the link below if you want to participate in this fun Meme! No word requirement, just a picture and a story to go along with it!

Summer is Coming, and BUSY!

Abby is already focused on her birthday, but is aware that there is a lot that happens between now and June 12th!

• Next weekend is Paul's birthday and Renaissance Faire
• The week following is the last week of day care for the year
• Then a holiday weekend
• Then a day at work with mom & dad (half at each) and a day at a friend's to finish out Anny's school year
• Then a driving adventure to Wyoming to celebrate the retirement of Nana and Grandpa
• A week of Bible School
• and then Abby turns Four!!

It's only a month away, but when you look at all of those things, it's going to be a long and fun month of waiting!

After her birthday things will be calmed down...for about ten days! Here is what the next five weeks look like, as it stands now...

• A trip to Maryland (long weekend for me, a week-long trip for Abby and Anny)
• Fourth of July fun, and a long weekend too!
• Two weeks of swimming lessons
• A week of downtime (for now anyway)
• Then a week of Green-Focused Vacation Bible Camp

Wow - I thought that after a crazy summer like last year it would be hard to be so busy, but I was clearly wrong! What do you have going on that you're most excited about this summer?

Photo Tales Tuesday (Week 3)

Took this picture on Mother's Day. What is funny is that I had no expectations about the hike, just wanted to get Abby out of the apartment and give her a way to be in charge, which we did. Last fall Abby and her friends at daycare went to this place - Quarry Park in Kirkwood - and there was a whole story about one of them pushing the Park Ranger Emergency Call button and then having to apologize and learning a VERY valuable lesson about buttons and emergencies and such. Good lesson, and it stuck.

We wanted to go on this hike several times, but were never sure where it was. I broke down and asked Abby's teacher for a list of all of the fun places they go to - she put together a list of 25 places by the end of the day! Talk about being jealous of all the fun places that Abby gets to go while I sit at work, that list just reinforced it.

For Mother's Day I wanted to go somewhere new, and made a choice to go somewhere that Abby would be an expert and could lead us. Recently she really likes to be "in charge" of things. Unfortunately she usually only plays that card when I am running late in the morning, or while we are trying to get dinner on the table - not good times. We like to set her  for success, and this was an easy way to do it, and an easy way to celebrate what her ladership had gotten us! Win win!

So, the picture is one that I cropped specifically for the desktop of our laptop, so that explains the funny cut. The boulders were blasted and set into place to be easily taken out of the quarry and loaded onto the trains at the tracks on the top side. Since they had to abandon ship, quickly, they are exactly in teh same place, but now surrounded by an awesome, dense forest.

I hope to go back soon, and to take the more adventurous route down by the creek, maybe even scout enough to find the cave mentioned on the parks' website!

Mother's Day 2011

Alternate Title: A Week of Fun in 13 Hours!

First off - Anny got her first Mother's Day Card from me, on this, her third Mother's Day. I didn't want to do it, I'm stubborn like that, but I was stranded at Target for five minutes, and cards are cheaper than other things I could have spent money on!

On Saturday I asked Abby if she wanted to get Anny flowers for Sunday, but she insisted against in because she had potted a merigold at daycare on Friday that was already given. Bummer for me, because I like to be sneaky when it is on a whim. (I am notoriously a bad secret-keeper at home!) So bottom line, no cut-flowers for Anny.

Sunday was fun -

Breakfast made by yours truly - Abby refused to have eggs and instead had her normal granola bar

Walked to church - a favorite past time of Anny's, though we bicker every time about how fast is too fast

Had brunch for the first time in forever! Local microbrewery was packed to the gills, but we managed to get in without reservations

Ran home for a quick change, and then headed out to Laumeier Sculpture Garden for their annual Art Fair. It was huge, but too hot for us to really enjoy it much. We did have some summery treats (ice cream for Abby and I, fresh lemonade for Anny) and danced to a so-so band, so that saved that part of the day for us!

On the way home we hit up the grocery store, you know, so we can eat this week!

After dinner we went out for a hike at a place only Abby had been. She doddled on the first half, but once we got to the view spot and the forest part she was really into it!

All of that meant that Abby went to sleep really quickly when we got home at the end of the day, so we got to catch up on SNL and such on Hulu.

The real "present" part of Mother's Day this year is that she has gotten a coupon for Auto Detailing from a local cleaning company. She cares about keeping the car clean, so it is ideal. She found it herself and I did not have to keep a secret, which is ideal for me!

Photo Tales - Week 2

(or Friday Photoblogging, or whatever - here's a picture and a story!)

Our Little Reader

Abby has always wanted to read. We have made a point of reading to her at bed time, or any time she asks, since she was about six months old. I am not a reader, but I seem to be the only one in my family line that feels that way. I blame laziness - on my part - for my lack of reading!

Abby and Anny go to the library every other week while I am still at work, so I always brace myself when I get home for what crazy books they have decided to bring home. This week they brought home "How to Raise a Dinosaur" by Natasha Wing (Pablo Bernasconi on illustrations). It's cute, and Abby became immediately obsessed with it - we have been reading it at bed time, before going to school and before dinner. She loves this book. Good stuff - it has a cute story that has a lesson (spoiler alert - if you don't feed your dinosaur it will eat you!).

The cutest part was that when I was eating breakfast yesterday I heard her "reading" the story. I looked down the hallway and saw the picture above - she had assembled her favorite toys - lots of royalty, a fairy and a bear - so that she could read the story to them!

That's my story, and I'm sticking to it! (new signoff for the blog? probably not - seems lame in the long run.)

Photo Tales - Week 1

Alternate Title: New Meme to Join in On!

My friend Beth over at Laugh until you Cry is starting up a fun Meme that I have been thinking about for some time now. In my head I've wanted a weekly "Picture and a Thousand Words" type of thing, but as soon as I was ready to get it out the gate I started working a job with less flexibility on time - mostly the issue that I don't get home with enough "fun" time after work. Easier, now, to grab on to Beth's fun game!

The Picture:

The Story:
I took this picture at the end of a very wonderful afternoon of just Abby and I hanging out. I set off with the goal of taking the "perfect" Easter picture of Abby. This was before the official Easter Dress arrived in the mail, but just barely. Anny was off with friends for the afternoon touring a local attraction, so I got Abby to buy in to the picture-taking fun!

We had lunch at home and then posed for some just-for-Easter types of shots with some silly eggs we got the day before. They were filled with candy, and just perfect for that day. We took some pictures in the courtyard that were really fun, and then headed to the park. Abby insisted on playing a game of chase more than playing by herself, which turned out to be uber fun for me, too!

The day turned out to be hotter than I had expected, and by the time we walked home Abby was done, or so I thought. She discovered that the brick walls were cool to the touch, even on a hot day. I had put the camera away already, but pulled it back out. With a little coaxing, she let me have another three minutes of pictures - which was just right to get this shot. I really love the contrast of her bright dress with the dark wall, but I mostly love that it was the end of a perfect daddy-daughter time!

Apartment Living

I've told you that we live in an apartment, right? We are up on the third floor of a corner unit and it makes for good stuff most of the time:

We save on energy costs because of the shared space
We do not have to shovel when it snows, or deal with water issues when it rains
Do you know how much cheaper it is to have Renters Insurance instead of Homeowners?

We lucked into a great place with lots of space, and a friend from church that helped us find the place too. Since I've blogged about how much we love this place before, I wanted to point out that not everything about living in an apartment is great for us.

1 - There are smokers that live below us, and that sucks. Now that winter is over, we are starting to notice the smoke more again, since windows are open. The worst part is that when we had windows open for a week it seems that the smoke built up in the duct work, so when we turned the air back on it took two days to get rid of that stench. Ugh.

2 - The third floor is fun for lots of stuff, but some times it would be SO much nicer to just walk right in from the sidewalk to the front door. Add a preschooler who is sometimes deathly afraid of stairs you can see through and sometimes it's downright miserable. I am just really hopeful that none of us ever sprains or break anything while we live here, or it with be unbearable!

3 - While it is nice to not have to be responsible for issues around here like when the sink stops up, we also have to know that sometimes we won't get the immediate reaction of calling a plumber ourselves. Two weeks ago we had a bad clog and had to wait for Monday to roll around because I forgot to call on Friday! We did just enough dishes to get by in the bathroom sink. Also makes you think about how many pans and such you use when you have to be mindful about how much washing needs done.

4 - (mostly from Anny, who opts to do 100% of the laundry) We do not have laundry facilities in our place, and we live on the third floor. I finally convinced Anny that we could leave the laundry soap and such in the car to ease some of the weight up and down. It was a really big issue when Abby got stomach-sick a couple of months back, but we're managing. Once we have fun-money again I think we might look into laundry service, but that's several years off.

We love living in the apartment, and now that spring is here we can see our neighbors again and have fun in the big yard! Good times.

Two Videos to Share

Alternate Title: Who Actually Wants to Watch These?

I know, I know. Anny has asked me in the past not to post video's because nobody wants to watch them. I beg to differ, or choose to ignore. Oh well. Both of these are from Saturday, a day which will warrant it's own blog post. 

Ice Skating

Abby had a different teacher and she really connected by offering a different approach to how to get moving. (That and Abby threw away her fears again!) Here she is at the end of the lesson, skating from about halfway across the ice to the doors!

Abby is SKATING! from Anny and Rob on Vimeo.

Flute Dancing

We also went to a Native American Pow Wow. Very cool in many ways, but Abby's favorite find was this green whistle - which she immediately began to entertain others with! 

Flute Playing from Anny and Rob on Vimeo.

With that I apologize for posting two videos - I'm sure Anny will be annoyed, but that's why I am posting before I tell her. 

Friday Photoblogging

Alternate Title: Wow what a week!

Saturday:
Went, on a whim, to Wetlands Day for Kids at the August A Busch Memorial Conservation Area. We got a hike in, but first Abby got to "fish" on a blue tarp, and we got to see some cool owls:

 Sunday:
A different picture from the hike at Powder Valley Nature Park, which brought about the previous post about Throwing Away Abby's Fears.

Tuesday:
Abby was going to The Butterfly House with her friends, so she got her butterfly shirt and butterfly shoes on, and of course she had to wear a silly face!

Wednesday:
Teddy Bear Pajama Party at The Magic House. By the time story time rolled around Abby was actually ready for bed, but it made for a wonderful picture:

Kind of made Thursday seem boring, so I didn't take any pics. :)

Throwing Away Her Fears

Alternate Title: Our Daycare Provider is a Genius!

Abby has had issues with playground equipment since she was run down by too-big kids on some equipment when she was 18 months old. Yes, she still holds onto this two years later. She was on the playground equipment at Greenbelt Lake, one of the kinds with the metal structure that has holes all through it - you know the kind:

We have tried repeatedly since then to assure her that she is safe. We have walked up with her, held her hand from the ground, given encouragement and gotten other kids to take her to reassure. Each of these things has worked, for an immediate fix.

This year Abby is in an in-home daycare with preschool curriculum. It gives her a continued educating experience, but more freedom to do things like daily trips to the park, library or museums. We have talked about putting Abby back into a classroom next fall, but we decided that she can do that the rest of her life, we want her to keep on having the freedom she has now.

One day last week Abby was able to vocalize for Karen that she was scared, so together they decided they would throw away her fear. Karen picked up some bark from the ground, handed it to Abby and told her to throw it. When Abby threw it she was also throwing away her fears.

And. It. Worked.

She spent another hour on the equipment. And on Sunday when we went to the park she did not even hesitate running all over the place.

When we went for a hike on Sunday evening Abby went out of her way to walk over a big bridge. We had only planned to do the short loop, but she could see it through the trees. We went over that way and she picked up a small stick. She was going out of her way to conquer a fear - she wants to be braver. She threw the stick over the edge about halfway across the bridge. On the way back she didn't need us near her and did not need to throw anything to not be afraid.

Ms Karen is freaking brilliant with our Abby. We are SO glad to have her as a partner in our parenting journey.