Memorial Day Pictures

we had a little photo shoot on memorial day. one of bean and sprout's aunts bought them these cute little outfits and i thought they were perfect for pictures. grandma thought her peonies would make a great background....

the kids didn't want to sit still. (this is the only shot that wasn't blurry!)

so grandma picked flowers for them to hold. now sprout was too busy looking at his flower to look at me.

then bean stole sprout's flower because she needed both.

sprout did eventually get his flower back but he wouldn't sit back down.

and then, bean got the flower back again....

we are trying to get back on track here in blueberry land. let's keep our fingers crossed that i can keep it on course!! ;)

Flowers for Mommy

sprout picked it and carried it around...
he brought it over to me. he wasn't sure he wanted to give it up...
but, in the end, he decided he did want to give it to mommy. :)
hope all the rest of the mom's out there had a wonderful day!

Just Gotta Tie Dye!

my former employer has a bar-b-que and tie dye party every spring. we were invited to stop by and see everyone. well, bean found out about the tie dying and Oh My Goodness she just HAD to do it. she begged to go, she begged to make a shirt. so at the last minute i searched and found her a t-shirt to dye and we headed out the door.

she listened to the directions on how to tie her shirt...(notice the strawberry juice all over her face)

and here she is showing us the tied up shirt...

and now adding the dye... magenta! turquoise! purple! :)

she wanted to add more colors but there was no white shirt left to put it on...

and after letting the shirt sit for a couple days we washed it and she HAD to wear it...i think it turned out great. better than expected actually. thanks to everyone at former work place for including us. bean had a great time!! :)

Bike-a-thon!

bean's school had a bike-a-thon to raise money for all the programs that they bring in. it was an exciting day. we brought her trike in to school and we waited for her class's turn to ride...
after an introduction and lots of instruction the director to the preschool set them loose on the track!
go little bean, go!!!after 15 minutes of non-stop riding the kids rode over to an awards platform. each of them got up and was given a gold medal and was declared "a winner" and everyone cheered and clapped for them. the kids were SO happy and proud. they got popcicles to celebrate the terrific job they all did.
bean had to show off her bling for the camera.

bean did a wonderful job. she rode carefully and never stopped to take a break- i thought for sure she would, she has never peddled for that long before. i said "wow! you did great. i thought that you would be tired." and she said, "i was tired mommy.... but i really wanted to finish!" how awesome is that?! i am very, very proud. and bean? she just wants to know when the next bike-a-thon is! ;)

Mii Too!

we were visiting my brother. he challenged me to a game of wii bowling. bean would not stop badgering us for a turn. being the good uncle he is he agreed to teach her how to play...
and after many attempts she finally knocked down a pin...
she was the most excited little wii bowler i have ever seen!
she can't wait to go back to uncle's house and play again!! :)

Climbing the Slide

the new obsession....



...some day he'll make it to the top. :)

Really!?!

in an attempt to make herself and her brother "fancy" bean put silly putty in their hair. she really mashed in it there. it is bad. how on earth that is supposed to make them fancy is beyond me!

so, does anyone know how to get silly putty out of hair.... without cutting it out that is. help! please and thank you!!



******ask.com is my new best friend. thanks to "them" and some facebook friends i got the putty out. if it ever happens to you- baby oil or olive oil are the preferred methods of removal. i should have taken a little more time and had a little more patience and then the kids probably wouldn't have lost any hair but frustrated mommy doesn't always think things through that well. next time i won't pull quite so hard.... BUT there better NOT be a next time bean!!!!

An Interview With The Bean

1. What is something I always say to you? i love you



2. What makes me happy? if i didn't be naughty



3. What makes me sad? if i did be naughty



4. How do I make you laugh? tickling me



5. What do you think I was like as a child? happy



6. How old am I? 36 (almost right, i turn 35 in july)



7. How tall am I? that tall (stretches her hand high over her head)



8. What is my favorite thing to do? play toys and games and puzzles of mine



9. What do I do when you're not around? play with sprout



10. If I become famous, what will it be for? getting a baby (????)



11. What am I really good at? everything



12. What am I not really good at? school



13. What is my job? to clean up



14. What is my favorite food? peanut butter and jelly (while it is good it is not quite my favorite....)



15. What makes you proud of me? cleaning up



16. If I were a cartoon character, who would I be? alice (in wonderland i suppose...)



17. What do you and I do together? make crafts, cook cookies, and everything



18. How are we the same? both girls



19. How are you and I different? you wear glasses and i don't



20. How do you know that I love you? 'cause you say i love you



21. Where is my favorite place to go? the store, shopping, and every place



22. What is one thing you wish you could change about your mom? your hair (i wonder what is wrong with my hair??)



23. What would your mom do with a million dollars? buy lots of things... like giant toys that weren't on sale



24. What do you wish you could go and do with your mom? go to the farm (???)

Spring Pick Me Up

for all of you that are experiencing the drearier side of spring, here are some reminders of why spring is good...

the view of the bright spring sky when lying with your child under a large oak tree...
the discovery of tiny buds in the bushes...
and what they will become once they open...
now, mother nature (if you are listening) can you sprinkle these kind of days into the dreary days a little more liberally?? it is difficult to be stuck inside with two kids for more than a couple consecutive days. please and thank you.

The One Year Old Sprout

sprout turned one weeks ago and i never really gave an update on him did i? hmmm. seems mommy is more lost in space than she thought!! ;)

so sprout at one year is:
23 pounds 8 ounces (60th percentile)
29 inches tall (25th percentile)
48 1/2 head circumference (95th percentile)

he used to be tall- 97th percentile at 9 months. but it seems he really hasn't grown any taller and now he is a short little dude. people actually giggle at him and tell me he doesn't look tall enough to be walking! i'm just waiting for a mega growth spurt.


what does he do? well... everything. no not really but it seems he is into everything all the time.

*he spends far too much time figuring out how to get to the dog's water dish and far too little time learning to speak words. i mean, throw me a bone kid! there are 300 things on that side of the room. i don't know what you are pointing at. it doesn't matter how emphatically you point. really. gah!!!!!!!!
what is funny is that the gesture that he uses to tell you he wants something is to hold his hand out and rub his fingers with his thumb. you know, that gesture that most of us use to mean "money". ha! cracks my ass up! ;)

ok, so he does say "dada" and sometimes "ma" or "mum-mum". every so often we hear "daw-ghhhh" or "baaa" (bark). and a couple times we have heard things that sound something like "sis", "block", and his own name BUT we just really aren't sure. he does understand things quite well. he will bring you something if you ask for it. he will occasionally stop when you tell him no. he makes gestures in response to some questions to convey his desires. it would just be so much easier if he would try to speak. (he is remarkably silent at times... do you think it is because his sister never shuts up??)

*he walks all the time. crawling is almost unheard of. as a matter of fact he has started to run. well... try to. he gets about 3-5 steps and crashes to the ground.

*he throws balls and loves to watch them bounce away. he also likes to throw assorted toys over the baby gates.

*he has 9 teeth- 7 in front and both right side molars (this includes the molar he got on easter sunday)

*he will eat just about anything.... except eggs or potatoes. he loves meat- ham, turkey, hamburger, chicken, steak- if it's meat he's gonna eat it. (bean HATED meat when she was his age.) he also loves almost all fruits and veggies. but he can't have oranges or tomatoes- OH THE DIAPER RASH! eeeeeeeek!!!!

*he really has no interest in learning about his body parts... except one. he LOVES his toes. if you ask him where his toes are he will reach down and grab them. and today when he did it he said "tahhhhhs". cute!

*he used to wave bye bye. but he seems to have stopped doing that. i've only seen him do it twice in the past month. i tried FOREVER to get a video of him doing his two handed "jazz hands" wave and he just stopped doing it. like he knew what i wanted and decided he wasn't going to let me have it. he is a turkey like that.

*he gives hugs.... to bean. he loves to hug his sister! well, if you count grabbing my legs tightly i guess he hugs me too. and yesterday he hugged his nana. :)

*he kinda gives kisses.... but only to baby dolls. and it is more like slobbering and licking than kissing. it is actually kinda gross and i think i'm glad he doesn't do it to me! ;)

there is probably something else i should be saying but for the life of me i can't think of a thing! so we will just end with these shots from sprout's 12 month photo shoot....

we have sweet sprout.

tough sprout.

and silly sprout.
ain't he just the cutest thing?! :)

Marshmallow Bunny

no matter how sick you are. no matter how miserable you feel.
eating a chocolate covered marshmallow bunny...
will make you happy.very happy indeed!

Easter Afternoon...

so i mentioned that bean was a big fan of the egg hunt, right? she wanted me to re-hide the eggs right away. i told her that "if she was good" i would do so after her brother went down for his nap. and i even said i'd do it outside if it was warm enough. well, of course as soon as that boy's head hit the matress she was raring to go outside. she had her eggs all piled in the basket and her coat on so out we went.
grandpa helped hide the eggs. he hid them harder than mommy. here he is helping her find one he hid- inside a magnolia blossom!
mommy was a little easier on her and hid one in the tree trunk...
she was so excited about the hunt. truly. she even wanted a turn hiding them, which was hilarious! she hid them for grandma then ran around the yard telling grandma where to look. she would stand right next to the eggs and say things like, "grandma, i think you should look over here." and "did you see this one, grandma?" HA HA! there is no challenge when the bean is hiding the eggs. :)

after the grow-ups got tired of the hunting. daddy and bean played a little soccer. bean practiced her kicking while daddy was goalie. daddy does not go easy on her- he does not believe in letting anyone win... or even going easy on them.
but eventually she did score a goal on daddy and she was quite pleased with herself...
it was all quite lovely....
until sprout woke up screaming. seems easter afternoon is a perfect time to cut a molar. sigh.

Easter!

i hope everyone had a nice easter. we did. :)

we started the day by getting the kids dressed in their adorable easter clothes. bean's dress from last year still fit so she got to wear it again, but it was given new life with the addition of this fabulous floral crown that was made by my lovely friend christina- isn't it gorgeous! (it was sliding off her head in this picture but it is still cute... this girl just didn't want to sit still- there were eggs to hunt for!)

then (once i had exhausted every last ounce of their patience taking their pictures) bean lead her brother down to the living room to hunt for eggs! awwwww, they are totally holding hands and being sweet to each other.... its an easter miracle! ;)
then we looked for eggs. sprout's were easy to find- the bunny just scattered some on the floor for him. bean had to look a little harder, soon she was peeking under just about everything!
sprout loved his eggs. these two were particularly interesting because they are some what transparent and he could see that there was something inside! something that looked a lot like food! but... how does it come out??
at some point sprout did break one of his eggs open. it had banana nut cheerios in it and they spilled all over the floor. the magpie was quite pleased. so she hovered around sprout quite a bit that morning. she even checked out the contents of his basket hoping for another quick snack...after that there was a fun breakfast and then the arrival of grandma and grandpa. it was a wonderful day of food, family and egg hunts.... bean is a huge fan of the hunt it seems but that is a story for another day.
:)

Crafty Tuesday?

i can't really say that i've been particularly crafty lately but my daughter has. but i'm going to take credit since i have to plan these things, right? of course i am! ;)

first, on friday, we dyed easter eggs. i got to use the white crayon to draw on the eggs and bean got to dye them. she love watching what i write or draw appear as she colors the eggs. this year we had orange, green, purple and (of course) pink eggs. here you can see the artist hard at work...
then on saturday we made an easter bunny craft. it involved feet and paint. it was surprisingly less messy than i thought. sprout did not care for paint between his toes though... not at all. bean did an excellent job of drawing faces on our cute little bun-buns. she used pink for her bunny's face and blue for the sprout's. here are the adorable results...

oh wait! i was crafty all by myself this week! i made the kids a special breakfast easter morning- bunny face pancakes. i thought of this saturday night, it didn't turn out as well as i'd hoped BUT it was still freakin' cute and the bean LOVED IT. i used blueberries for eyes and a cherry (from the can of fruit cocktail) for the nose. what do you think?

so that is the crafty that we had at our house this week. what have you done?? :)

Beanisms Return!!

bean is babbling away about some thing or other, i think about how snakes smell with their tongues... sorry, she talks so much that i tend to tune her out sometimes. (terrible i know!) and she pauses like she is waiting for me to respond so i say....

"is that so!"
and she says....
"yes! i know that because i'm an excellent knower!"

he he!
yes bean, you are indeed an excellent knower!
:)

Magnolia Funny

while trying to take pictures of some of the magnolia blossoms lying in the grass i accidentally got this shot.
it seems someone invaded my picture! ha! i never even noticed that i got a picture of magpie running by until i got this on the computer! i guess all i can say is that she is really fast sometimes! ;)

Magnolias

i simply love my magnolia tree. it makes me happy. (despite the fact that it is a messy messy tree that you have to rake up after several times a year!) it is the very first thing that blooms in my yard. it is the thing that tells me that spring is really here. and it is SO gosh darn pretty.

this year we had some wind in march that knocked a few blossoms down just as they had started to open. but they were still pretty even though they were lying in the grass...



and the pink and white petals of the ones still on the tree look so lovely against the clear blue, blue sky of spring.

i hope everyone else is enjoying spring as much as i am!