Thursday, March 31, 2011

Reduce, Reuse, ....

Tess saw this symbol on the side of a garbage truck and asked me what it meant.  
I told her it was for throwing away trash.
She corrected me:  "No, Mom.  It says recycling."

Monday, March 28, 2011

More Signs of Spring


What the ...?!


So, it hasn't exactly been feeling like spring around here lately.  I was cursing the brief snowstorm we got on Sunday and Tess said to me, "Don't worry, Mom.  It's OK.  Spring come back soon."



So we've been living in denial that it is positively frigid outside and we just keep telling ourselves that spring will be here soon.


I took the kids out for our first long walk in our new-ish stroller.  I bought it off Craigslist for a steal and it's practically brand new.  It's been great for both the kiddies.  Drew's carseat snaps to the front and the back can either be a full seat or a bench, which makes it easy for Tess to hop on and off.  We had a great 3 mile walk, but next time I will bring a hat for Drew and a Pull-Up for Tess.  (Let's just say there is a flowering dogwood tree that is now well-fertilized.)  On the way back from our walk, Tess said, "Now let's go to the ice cream store!"

The stroller also served us well on a trip to D.C.  My cousin Matt and his family were vacationing in D.C., so we met them for lunch at the Natural History Museum.  This is the first time we've met their 2 adopted sons, Jacob and Levi.


Tess had a great time at the museum with her second cousins. 


Anyone get the feeling that Jacob was trying to put the moves on Tess?


This weekend we had dinner at Nana & Papa's with Ryan's cousin Tyler, who recently moved to D.C.  Nana got out an arsenal of Easter decorations, much to Tess' delight.  Tess has only been asking me 5 times a day if Easter is here yet.


This week also marked Drewey's 4 month birthday!




Tess has been honing her stand-up skills with Drewey.  We're not sure why she thinks some of the things she does will make him laugh.  When she talks to him, she makes these loud, exaggerated noises that are a little off-putting.  I can't help but wonder if I sound that bad when I talk to him.



Drew has an appointment this week that I've been saving up all my questions for, like:  "Just how flat a head is too flat a head?" and "Just how constipated a baby is too constipated a baby?" and "How do you know if chronically dry skin is really eczema?" and "Why won't this durn kid sleep through the night?!"  But other than that, he's a great kid and we love him bunches.





Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Signs of Spring

We've had a couple warm days here, so it's time for my annual cherry blossom / Tess in a new spring playdress post!


 I trimmed the bushes, mulched and planted new spring flowers.

  Our pretty pink cherry blossom tree is in full bloom!



And a new spring wreath that I made with Wendy.  Inspired by Ann's spring wreath!

It's supposed to get chilly here again in a few days, so we're not putting away our jackets just yet.

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Easter Ham

The question on Nana's mind:  
Which baby looks more like the Easter ham?  

Both Drew and his 7-month-old cousin Caroline certainly have their porky points.  And there's no question they both like to ham it up.  

But which baby looks more like the Easter ham?  Inquiring minds want to know, so cast your vote on the sidebar now!

Caroline "Petunia" Piggy





"Porky" Drew Pig



 


Thursday, March 17, 2011

Blame Obama

Looks like we'll be rolling eggs on our front lawn this year.

Thanks anyway for letting me enter you!

Maybe next year?

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Little Green Men

We had a St. Patrick's Day celebration for preschool today.  We started things off with "Show & Tell:  The Green Edition."  Tess decided to show an art project she made and a fake piece of rubber lettuce.  



We learned about shamrocks and tricky little leprechauns.

"Leprechaun, leprechaun, come out of your hiding place.
Leprechaun, leprechaun, we want to see your face!
Leprechaun, leprechaun, dressed so nice and green,
Leprechaun, leprechaun, never to be seen!"


I bought Lucky Charms as decorations for their shamrock craft.  That didn't work too well since they only wanted to eat the Lucky Charms.


Then that tricky leprechaun started in on his tricks.  First, he colored the potty water green!  This created quite a stir because bathroom break is a favorite preschool activity.  We usually have about 3 breaks during the 2-hour period.  Danielle made me flush before she'd use the potty.


Then the leprechaun hit snack time.   Tess helped me make the vanilla pudding for our snack, so she was pretty stunned to see it green!  They were all surprised to see the green milk.  Cade wanted to open the fridge to see if everything was green.


Danielle kept saying, "Oh no, leprechaun!" over and over again.  When they were coloring, Cade would pick out the green crayons and ask, "Who turned this crayon green?!"


Green milk = green milk bubbles.  And just so you know, Tess wears these sunglasses all the time for no apparent reason.  I actually bought three back-up pairs from Target's dollar aisle because she is always losing them.

Tonight I was touching up my roots and Ryan told me to be careful, or the leprechaun might turn my hair green.  Tess became very concerned:  "Mom, I want to see it when it done.  OK?"


Some pics from Sunday.  Drew wore this adorable preppy outfit from Laura.




Ryan coerced Tess into taking a Sunday nap.


And some pics of the other tiny man in our house.  
I could eat him up.






Friday, March 11, 2011

Thinking of Mayumi

Another update from Mayumi:


As many of you know now, Kazuki and I made it home last night.  When the earthquake hit Japan,
we were on the plane and going about landing at Narita, but the runaway was shutting down and we
were turning over about one hour and ended up landing at Haneda, another airport, in Tokyo area.  I had to stay over at the air port with Kazuki.  We got a blanket and emergency food.  While I was tending Kazuki trying have him sleep, some old lady saw me and asked JAL worker to let us stay in a quiet room with the priority (usually only special members and business class) because I was alone with Kazuki and returning from long international flight.
They kindly arranged and let us stay at baby lounge. There, Kazuki could crawls on the clean floor and had some better sleeps.  He even made a cute girlfriend there, her name was Natsuki (Summmer and Hope, Kazuki is Peace and Hope).  I don't know how many times I was encourage by my son's smiles on this trip.  He did hang in there also.  The following day, I was not sure that there was going to have a flight for Yamagata, my hometown.  I had only standing-by
ticket.  I was constantly praying and finally could a seat and there was a flight, and I wasable to go back to Yamagata. I took a taxi to home because there was no power at the time and it was unable to reach to my parents.  Made them relieved and so did I.  Justin had asked me to film their reactions of seeing Kazuki for the first time, but couldn't film because it was too dark.  They just repeatedly said, "So happy to see you."

My all family is also safe.  Yamagata has no major damage miraculously, but Sendai,
Fukishima, or Iwate, the pacific areas.  Some those areas are part of
my home stake.

I will try to stay positive here while being here and show them my
love and share my testimonies with my parents.  First of all, I
offered a prayer last night.

Kazuki and I are slowly recovering from the trip, and I am enjoying
Mom's cooking and Japanese Bath. Kazuki is also getting used to being
around my parents and showing his cuteness to them.

There are many lessons I have learned from this trip and disaster. 
But, I will write town another time.




Mayumi's husband posted the following update on Facebook:


Mayumi is fine and so is Kazuki. They never stayed at a hotel, but a worker from JAL broke the rules and allowed both of them to stay in a special Family room for JAL business members only. There Kazuki played with other kids while old grandmas and families shared onigiri and other treats with my family.

Also after many cancellations, a flight to Yamagata finally opened up. Mayumi bought the first ticket and arrived there safe. She took a taxi to her home and amazingly her Mom and Dad were fine and their home received no damage. They had coals warming the futons, and a non-electric kerosene stove cooking food. No electricity until just now. They still haven't been able to contact her two sisters, but will try now that they can use the phone.

While her parents place was miraculously preserved from damage, Yamagata was not all safe from the quake. Just before calling me, the opposite side of town just had their own quake separate from all the tremors related to the big quake that happened. She said many in Yamagata are seriously injured, (in another neighboring town 300-400 dead from the tsunami).

I cannot help but think her family is in such good shape because of one thing. All the prayers that went out to them. I know God hears and answers prayers. Answers do not always come soon or how we expect because it is always according to God's will, but in this case God blessed my family.

Thank you all for your help, generosity, and love.
I'm going to sleep easy now.




I'm sick at the news of the earthquake in Japan.  My friend Mayumi was on a plane with her baby to visit her family in Japan for the first time since her baby was born.  The earthquake must have struck while she was still in the air.

A friend in the ward posted this update on Mayumi:

Ladies,

This is Angie Archibald. I am Mayumi Wright's visiting teacher and am sick and
shaking right now upon hearing the news about the 8.9 magnitude earthquake in
Japan. Mayumi left yesterday with her baby Kazuki to visit her parents in Japan.
The flight had to make an emergency landing, as the earthquake occurred at some
point during her flight and the airport for which she was destined was
destroyed.

She is at a Hotel with Kazuki (in another Japanese city) and not able to reach
her parents. She left a voicemail for Justin, using a stranger's phone. The
earthquake occurred exactly where Mayumi's parent's live.

I am extremely concerned for Mayumi, as she was very nervous about the flight
and taking the trip alone with her baby. She is now alone in a strange city with
the baby, and not able to reach her family, which may or may not have survived.
Interestingly, a couple nights before her flight she had a bad nightmare about a
horrible earthquake in Japan and in the dream, she was wearing 6 watches. She
went out and bought a watch before her departure, just in case. :-)

I spoke with her husband, Justin, this morning and he is watching the news and
trying to find some peace as he awaits any news. He will keep us updated via his
facebook account.

Also, be aware, a tsumami is headed toward Hawaii today.

Please, please put Mayumi and her family in your prayers today. She needs more
than my VT companion, Jennifer Austin, and I can give.

Thanks so much,

Angie


Your prayers on behalf of Mayumi, her son, her husband and her family in Japan would be appreciated.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Lucky Ducks