Saturday, March 18, 2006
Beach Bash at the motorcycle shop
I'm told this was an invitation only open house party. Emma loves motorcycles so it seems like a natural fit. Noni said she was the hit of the party with her grass skirt. Maybe she can elaborate in the comments.



OK, I've seen kids not much older than this doing motorcross.


Another working Saturday
And I have a heinous head cold. It was not such great fun this time. The crowd was down a lot compared to last Saturday. But then we're comparing a day in the 70's to a day that hit 40 for about half an hour. I was cold. M. had the heat blasting but my feet got cold and once they're cold I'm miserable. Throw in the head cold and I basically asked to go home at 3:30. All I wanted was my bed. Even in bed I couldn't get warm. So I finally sat in front of the woodstove and turned the ceramic heater on my feet until my shins were about to ignite. I'm hoping a good night's sleep will fix me up a bit.

I am grateful that at my moment of misery I was confident that Emma was being cared for and I didn't have to do it. I would not have been much good to her this afternoon.
Morning at Noni's
One of Emma's favorite drawers to play in at Noni's contains Mommy's toothbrush, which is now apparently Emma's and Mommy's toothbrush.




Where's Popi? I'm ready to go!

A visit to Great-Grandmommy
After morning nap Emma went to visit her great-grandmother.


She's sitting in a chair that belonged to her great-great-great-grandmother.


This is the deck outside Great-Grandmommy's apartment.


After visiting a while they headed down to lunch in the cafe.


Noni's clowns.

Friday, March 17, 2006
She's gone...oh-oh...she's gone
A little Hall & Oates for you; I can't remember the rest. Noni and Popi came and took our Emma away. She's going on a valley adventure for the weekend. I asked them to get her some culture while she was gone. They've lined up a Beach Bash at a motorcycle dealership, church on Sunday and a visit to great-grandmother. I even sent her grass skirt along for the Beach Bash. We'll see what pictures they get for us.

We were scheduled to meet halfway for an exchange but Popi ended up having to come over to make some deliveries for the festival. In the process he managed to collect three boxes of maple donuts. So if you see a middle aged man running through your neighborhood at 3 a.m. in the morning, it's probably my Dad hopped up on maple donuts and chocolate milk.


Here she is at the exchange; bathed and dressed in her optional pajamas.
Sometimes...
I want to tell Emma "Don't be a crybaby."

Then I remember she is a baby. Sigh.
Happy St. Patrick's Day, Y'all!
She wore her green beads all day today. Look at that face! What a sweetie-pie. She's trying to hand me magnets she found in the drawer she was rifling.

What super hero am I?
Your results:
You are Spider-Man
You are intelligent, witty,
a bit geeky and have great
power and responsibility.



Click here to take the Superhero Personality Quiz



Taken from RM. I just cut out the part that wouldn't cooperate ;)
I wasn't slacking
Blogger has been incredibly unreliable lately. It seems to be chronic. One night you can't post pictures and then the next night you can't publish posts. It's a bit aggravating to say the least.
Book swap riches


For those of you who didn't join Andrea's children's book swap, you should have known better. Did you not realize that Andrea hangs with the cool kids and would have cool friends eager to swap? Ha! Your loss and my gain ;)

Emma received this wonderful collection of goodies today. First and foremost, Lori sent Emma the pentultimate children's book (in Mommy's mind) Olivia. I am such a fan that I have a tiny stuffed Olivia on my desk. Then, Lori sent it in a lovely sewn felt cover. Finally she included a gift for me, a set of the most adorable greetings cards. It turns out that these are Lori's cards, she designs them and sells them. I always like to support entrepreneurial women so here is a link to her website Marzipan Inc. I think you'll agree that these cards are delightful!

To Shim: I'm sorry, I don't even own a sewing machine. Artful presentation is not my strong suit. Hope your boys enjoy the books.
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Lots of wishes today...


Noni and Popi, 37 years and going strong! Best Wishes!



Happy #5 Sweetheart! We love you!

and Happy Birthday to Jeanne!

Blinkies courtesy of GJ Designs.
Very stylish chapeau
I have no idea where she gets her sense of style ;)

Dead end tunnel
Well, this gives me ideas for what to buy to put outside this spring.

The window seat
Is not usually available. This trunk is where all of her stuffed animals are piled. I sit in the glider beside the window. Today she handed me every single toy, one by one, until the pile was high in my lap. Then she navigated the moving glider stool to climb onto the trunk and look out the window. She was pretty pleased with herself.

Starting Early
Her next project was to inventory her shoes. She pulled a few size 5's out of the closet and arranged them on the stool. Then she was into the basket with the old size 3's. She walked back and forth, bringing them shoe by shoe.

Tuesday, March 14, 2006
My latest food discovery


I picked up a box with all three of these at Finders Keepers when we were at Noni's last time. I love them! They're slightly sweet, tasty and very filling. For WWers each bar is only two points.

When I'm on a diet I avoid nuts like the plague. Just a small amount is very high in points. These bars have whole nuts in them. Almonds, peanuts, or sunflower seeds. I can't decide whether my favorite is the Trail Mix Bar or the Peanut Peanut Butter. The Honey Almond Flax ain't bad either.

Now I just have to pray I can find a steady supply of these things or I'll be very sad. Finders Keepers, being a liquidation/scratch-and-dent store is definitely hit or miss.
Hello there
She found the paci somewhere. Usually it's just for bedtime. Still, interesting perspective...

I can't stop feeling myself!
Get your minds out of the gutter, pervs! Anyone who has lost weight should know what I'm talking about. It's just a marvel to feel your body changing every day; to find that you're taking up less space than you were. To run your hands over your contours and feel that they are smoother and tighter. I mean, dude, what could be more fun! ;) Oh, besides finding that your clothes are hanging off of you. Yay!
Monday, March 13, 2006
Mortified and thankful at the same time
I went to make popcorn a few minutes ago and got lost. I opened the microwave and knew immediately that something was wrong. It was white inside. And shiny. Someone stole my microwave! Wait...Noni was here. Ack! She cleaned my disgusting microwave. Oh the shame! Oh the horror! Wow...thanks a million! You rock, Noni! (Does this mean I owe you hazard pay?)

Making History this weekend
Albeit ultralocal history. We had a record day in the store Saturday. Most we've ever made in one day. Woo hoo!

Thanks to Noni and Popi for being here with Emma and making it possible for us to concentrate on business. We're both very tired, but I think M. was invigorated after counting up the weekend take this morning. He said business was hopping today too. We'll take it. Tomorrow he's off to the valley to buy a new cooler to replace the one that conked out right before the weekend. He hogs all the fun. Hee hee.
Interesting...
I'm thinking that my child will be one of those who colors outside the lines...

The answer to Noni's question
25 lbs. That's what she weighs now, according to the American Family Nursery Scale Grandma G. loaned us when we brought Emma home. She had kept it from her days as a home extension agent. Emma doesn't appear to have gotten any taller. We did the height measurement on the "Guess How Much I Love You" growth chart Noni gave us. We put it up and took the first measurement to mark on there. So I guess it will be a baseline. At the doctor's office they always seemed so haphazard with the measurements. Standing against her bedroom door in stocking feet she was just about 31.25, give or take 1/8".
Cool hat, yo!
She put it on herself.


Here she's using it to play peek-a-boo:

Sunday, March 12, 2006
Blood on the pant cuff
Yeah, it finally happened. The reason I wasn't happy with the chair approach to the end table. She lost her grip on the side of the end table and smashed her mouth on the edge. She howled. I held her while she cried and cried. Then we saw the blood. She split her lip. Then she started puking. We were thinking afterward that it might be because of swallowing blood. It was a pretty wrenching experience for all of us.
On the swing again
Noni and Popi really started something when they were here. Popi had her in the swing twice today. They vowed it was close to an hour each time. So now she's well aware the swing is on the porch. God help us when the temperatures drop below freezing again and we can't explain why we won't take her out. When we got home from our day at work, she wanted to go again. She stood at the closed door and did the please/more sign. That's very hard to resist. Daddy took her out. #3. These are pictures from Noni and Popi's camera.


Leopard Girl in full regalia
By the afternoon it had cooled of a bit and was sprinkling.