A Weekend Review

Friday we ALL went to the Zoo (including Jason). Jackson showed him the rhinos and cho cho train, while Abygail showed him the Sea Lions and Polar Bear. It was so much fun spending time with him and the kids doing something we all love.

Saturday Abygail and I went to the farmers market and got some strawberries, cherries, apples and summer squash. Abygail single-handedly ate all the strawberries (1 quart) by the end of the day. We also enjoyed the summer squash in a stir-fry that night with carrots, snap peas and green beans from the garden. Last night (Sunday) we ate the same stuff but sauteed with lemon butter - it was quite yummy and the kids loved it both nights. (Jackson actually liked the rice the most - his favorite food of late).

We have pictures ... but we can't seem to find the cord to download them. This is why our blog is barren of pictures lately :) Hopefully we'll find it soon and you can see what we've been up to - and for those of you outside of Buffalo, you can see my new hair cut Jason gave me :)

An Email To My Mother In Law

(The following is an email I sent to my MIL this morning. I've deleted a few parts that were personal but since I haven't posted anything in a week and this email contained the exact discription of our week I decided to post it as a post. I've added some extra thoughts in () and blue - Enjoy!)

I hope your day yesterday was in the moment and stress free. (excerpt from her email to me: I read yesterday that stress comes from resisting the present moment (what ever is happening in your world) And that joy and fullness of life comes from accepting and giving 100 % to the present moment. I am experimenting on that today.) The weather here has been gorgeous this week. We've been playing in the back yard, doing some yard clean up work and we went to the zoo on Monday. (The Polar Bear was so funny and active. He was splashing in his water and playing with his toys. Also one of the Sea Lions was sleeping and every once in awhile he would stick his full head up out of the water for a good 3 mins and then go back under and float while sleeping.) We are planing on going back to the zoo today. Jackson road on the carousel for the first time and he wasn't quite sure what to think of it until the end, he finally started smiling. (Another first for Jackson is that he has discovered how to stand up in his high chair. We have been putting the buckles on him now, silly boy!) Did you go to the zoo with us? I can't remember. The carousel is NOT as fast as the one at the mall but it is a long ride too. By the end I'm so ready to get off that I start to contemplate jumping (but the kids, I decide not to for the kids sake - who would hold them on if I jumped?)

Jason is gearing up for a service project with the elder's quorum this weekend. Hopefully he'll have enough time and energy afterward to do some work on cleaning up and cutting down all the dead trees in our yard, if not I guess it will wait until next weekend (if it doesn't rain).

Jason signed up to teach at Trocaire again this summer, for one session instead of 2, it's the same class as last year so there will be less prep work for him.

For me: I'm reading a book called Eat, Pray, Love right now. It's pretty good but it's not holding my interest as much as I'd like. I've been reading it, this SHORT book, for a few weeks now. I like a lot of the things she talks about in it but I just can't get entirely into it. Next up will be our book club book call Influencer. While working on the lawn Tuesday I discovered a huge grouping of bulbs coming up. There is one lone daffodil already up, I think daffodils are so pretty, like little sideways tea partys.

Abygail is in a 5 1/2 shoe size now (my little girl is no longer in the toddler sizes, "cry, cry"). It's a little big for her but she likes wearing her shoes that are 5 1/2 better than her 5's and they stay on so we just hope she will be able to use them for awhile.

Well, that's about all. I know I haven't posted anything on the blog lately. It occurs to me as I'm writing this that portions of it would be perfect for a blog posting. Hmmmm, maybe I'll just copy it, modify it and post it. I've got a few other posts in the works but haven't completed them or compiled my full thoughts on them yet so they are sitting in my un-posted file waiting for my attention. It seems as the weather has gotten nicer I am on the computer less because we are home less.

Have a great day and LIVE IN THE MOMENT. (I think I'll adapt that as my new motto).

Note Worthy

Sunday morning as I made cinnamon rolls for our ward's conference breakfast we watched the birds fly in and out of the backyard. There were Robins and Sparrows but there were 2 other visitors that we took special note of. One was a Cardinal that also visits our front yard from time to time, gracing us with it's presence right in front of our living room window - offering a perfect view of it's beauty. The other was a wood pecker, we didn't get the best look at it but we hope to see it again.

When we arrived back from the first session of conference we took note of flowers pushing up out of the ground (irises, tulips, daffodils - we know not, that's the joy of new home ownership and suprises left from previous owners), we were very please and excited.

Cauliflower and Broccoli

The seeds I've planted so far are coming right along. The Zinnias sprouted quite awhile ago, the Cauliflower and Broccoli came soon after, now I'm starting to see the Tomatoes emerging. This has been an exciting process for myself and Abygail, who loves to help me water them and even helped me drop a few seeds in.

Sunday afternoon we enjoyed a lovely chat with our neighbors in the back yard. We are so excited the weather has gotten so lovely. It's nice to come out of hibernation from a long winter.


Last week we went to the zoo with lots of friends, Abygail loved playing on the playground and 'hanging' out with her friends. She also loves to see all the animals. Mostly, I think she just likes being outside and able to walk freely around (close by mommy of course).


Today we visited the duck park and enjoyed seeing that the Mallard ducks are back from their winter homes, the squirels were scurring about and the birds were singing their songs.

Just When You Think It's Safe

Yesterday was a great day weather wise. Sure it was still in the 30s but it was partly cloudy and little wind so it felt great. The kids and I went to the zoo. They were both bundled up and I was in a t-shirt with a hoodie over it - again, it felt great. (we all wore hats to help keep our heat in)

There were some people there but it wasn't very crowded. Abygail walked most of the way and by the end she was so tired she wanted to crawl, then just sit on the ground. We finally got back in the car and she fell fast asleep.

This morning we woke up to this:

Just when you think the snow is pretty much over, you've got to shovel again! O well, it's really beautiful.

Another first happened yesterday morning. Just when we were starting to think the McFallville tragedies were over...Jackson fell down the stairs. He got some bumps and a scratch but he seems none the worse for it.

Some other milestones: Abygail counts to 10 now, she loves playing hide-n-go-seek. Jackson waves good-bye, he was doing this at the zoo when we would say bye-bye to the animals and it was too cute.

Mistakes Of A First Time Mom

I couldn't decide on a good title so I choose 'Mistakes of a first time Mom' because that's what I feel like I do, all day and everyday. Hopefully I will learn from them and actually remember what I've learned the next time the same situation arises.

Photo 1 left to right: Garret the birthday boy, Parker, Ciela and Abygail

Photo 2 left to right: Westin, Parker, Ciela and Abygail

The Zoo with Friends:

Thursday we went to the Zoo. We invited everyone we could think of to come and meet us there so that it would be fun for the kids and the grown ups could socialize. It was really fun to see so many people come...and it was nice to see so many familiar faces at the zoo, there were at least 10 parents plus their kids. I think the kids really enjoyed it and it's always fun to see the animals. I really enjoyed it to because I have really been craving adult interaction lately. Jackson wanted to go a bit faster than everyone else so we had to split off from the group for a little bit. Then he wanted to be fed so we headed to the play ground. Normally I don't stop at the play ground because it's so busy I'm scared that my child will wind up missing, but this time it wasn't very busy so it was a great shady place to sit. Abygail didn't discover the slides until the very end and then she didn't want to go...but being the first time mom that I am I forced her to get back in the stroller and continue on when the other kids/parents were ready to go. This started a screaming fit that got us lots of looks ('I've so been there' and 'O, that's so funny' - you know the nice kind of looks not the 'your a horrible parent' kind of looks). In retrospect I realize now that I should have stayed and let her play - the zoo was really for her, who cares about my socialization needs or wants, I should be making sure she is having fun and remembers the zoo fondly. In situations where it can't hurt to stay longer...than just do it, the kid will remember the fun time rather than a mommy that makes her stop playing. O well, I make lots of mistakes. Impatience is my biggest.

Story Time with Miss Lucy:
Today we went to story time and I'm so glad we did! We should have gone so much sooner.
Miss Lucy is the Librarian that directs it and she is so good. Abygail got to sing and dance. They talked about colors and body parts. It was a lot of fun. Abygail seemed to be very out going though, since we were in a closed room I decided to let her do her own thing. Most of the time she was paying attention and participating...but she also walked around, tried to open the door, tried to take another kids food (why are you feeding your kid at story time?) Handed several books to another mom and asked her to read.. and the list goes on. I'm not sure if this is because we haven't taught her manners very well or if she is a confident and secure child or just a free spirit. I will try to believe it's that she is a confident and secure child. Oh, I should mention, we were at the library early and got to wait outside until it opened, we saw a huge flock of geese and Abygail wanted to go and play with them. I didn't let her for fear of them getting mean and 'bitting' her. She took it ok, I just distracted her by showing her the beautiful flowers that were planted all around. I really feel like I should be doing more with her...story times, art projects, educational one on one time, singing and dancing, GOING TO THE PARK, and kid/parent stuff like that. I love doing these things with her but I have to remind myself to put forth the effort and remember to do them.

If 15 mins of sleeping in the car doesn't equal a nap than 90 mins of crying must...right?:
She didn't want to take a nap today because she had fallen asleep in the car and unfortunately woken up before I could lay her down once we got inside. So I thought, ok well, we'll just act like you haven't had a nap yet and do everything just like we normally do...well...it didn't work. After an hour and a half I decided that it just wasn't worth trying anymore.

Sweet Kisses:
Abygail has been such a kisser lately. When I buckler her into her car seat she gives me kisses over and over again. It's so sweet and cute and endearing. She also does this when she goes to bed, and when she wakes up. I really should just enjoy those moments instead of rushing around to get places or hurrying her to bed.

The Zoo

Tuesday Jessica and Westin came to the Zoo with Abygail, Jackson and I. I was really worried about going to the zoo without Jason to help but it turned out fine. Jackson rode in the front pack on my chest and Abygail enjoyed riding in her stroller. Abygail went crazy when she saw the carousel, which she loves, she said "neh, neh, neh, etc." and started 'dancing' in her stroller, it was very humorous.

While there we saw a few animals up close and Westin and Abygail couldn't take their eyes off of them...they were the anteater, turtle, zebra, and some monkeys playing 'tag'. It's so fun to see their reactions to the animals. Abygail knows lots of animal sounds so she 'said what the animal says' when she saw them.

As a side note, you will all be happy to know that Abygail did not get sick in the car on the ride there or back!!!! Ya! She got sick both Friday and Saturday of last week, let's just say that our car doesn't smell like roses right now :(.

All in all we had a wonderful day and it was so nice to get out, and good for my sanity.

I don't have any pictures of them at the zoo this time but here is a picture of Abygail feeding the Giraffe when her Meema was here.


Here are a few other pictures, hope you enjoy!
Abygail reading to Jackson.

Jason and Abygail taking a nap!
Jackson in his excersaucer for the first time - this was taken today.