no more we stop to see pretty cherry blossom...

Ok, so the pictures are backwards. This first set is actually Friday, and the second set is Tuesday. My silly blogspot page will sometimes move pics around quickly, and then other times I can't get them to move for the life of me.
Anyway, Friday we went with Mom (who had just returned from Charleston--see pics on Leah's blog) and on Tuesday, Renee, her kids, Me, and my kids all went to the Central City park to see the tigers and ride rides. Both days were fun. But I figured out last year that I'm allergic to Cherry Blossoms, and two days at the festival this year confirmed it. I came back Tuesday with little headache and stuffiness. I came home Friday with a Horrible! headache and stuffiness. How can I be allergic to one of my favorite flowers (and festivals)? Waaah. Anyway...

FRIDAY

Because the forecast was rainy, the Cherry Blossom folks moved everything down to the Terminal Station. Everything except for the free carriage rides, that is. Since no one was downtown, we were first in line. Matthan didn't seem to be that happy sitting in the floor, but it was too shaky for me to hold his carrier in my lap.




This is the pink train inside the exhibits building. Just the sort of train Aubie loves. Pink is her favorite color, you know. (As I am reminded daily.)



Nope. I didn't get one picture of a cherry blossom. Isn't that pitiful? But we did stop at our house to get some pictures of the azaleas. Aren't these in the back yard gorgeous? (Please ignore these 2 of our neighbor's 30 cars.)

Friday was a repeat of what happened Tuesday (as you'll see further down). The day started off so gloomy, and by the end (the hottest part of the day) the sun showed up! It turned out so pretty.



(You're thinking, "Didn't she already post this picture like 3 times?" Just splitting things up so you won't get confused.)

TUESDAY



Aubie, Jill,and Daniel all got pretty hot at the tiger show. Who knew that when the forecast said 80--the day started off sprinkley, foggy, and so, so dreary--they actually meant it?




The kids rode 2 rides and went through a bouncy something-or-other. They had so much fun. Of course the girls got the pink boat and the purple dragon.




Matthan had already eaten when we got to McDonald's so, he was left to entertain himself with his feet. Jill looks like she's still going strong, but Aubie's smile is starting to fade by this point.




And here is the picture I told Renee I would title, "Two Crazy Moms" or "What Mothers Will Do So Their Children Can Have a Day of Fun". Really, I can't remember how bad it was having 5 children aged 5 and under squished into the same minivan. I told Renee at the time (during someone's fuss about someone else having done something), that one day, we'd look back at this and laugh, and not really remember how "horrible" it was. And you know, just 3 weeks later, I've already forgotten. I just see happy kids. And maybe that's what they'll remember too.



P.S. Can you guess which movie the title is from? Its one of my favorite vintage movies (see Lyndsay's post).

yesterday...

all my troubles seemed so far away (at the beginning of the day, anyway).

Matthan has been pulling up on things for about a week now, but yesterday morning was the first time he pulled up in his crib. (Some folks might recognize this little face from about 27 years back--here he reminds me so much of some of Daniel's baby pictures.)
Renee brought her kids to the park in our neighborhood and the kids got to feed the ducks and geese. Aubie, Jill, and Daniel had so much fun, and as you'll see in the video, the free food caused quite a stir!




Matthan so enjoys the outdoors. He was quite contented watching the kids and the geese for... well, a little while.


When we got home, I started getting excited about our ladies group's craft night. I planned to go late so I could feed Matthan and put him to bed before I left--I knew it would be impossible to do crafts with him getting into everything. I did that, and got there around 8:00. Still plenty of time to eat, fellowship, and work on crafts. But 7 minutes after I got there, my far-away troubles called me on the phone. With a very worried voice, David told me that the spot on Aubie's face that we had discussed at supper was not a bug bite, but poison ivy. : ( "Oh, and Matthan's awake now too." Double : ( So, I hurriedly finished up my piece of pie and stuffed the rest of my baby carrots in my mouth grabbed a cup of coke and was out the door again. Off to CVS to get poison ivy stuff and back home to treat the poor dear.

Here's David putting the stuff that gets rid of the poison oils on her fingers.

The girl loves pink, but its so sad to see it on her face : (
(Speaking of pink, I'll post the pictures of the Cherry Blossom Festival soon. They've been hanging over my head for far too long.)

fish for a day

We walked to the pond today (started this post 4 days ago). And though I desperately wanted to catch a tadpole, I only saw one. When I finally figured out what to catch him with--Matthan's baby food jar--he was gone.



So, I caught a minnow instead. Up with that scoop came some pond sediment, and some form of larvae that I'm hoping wasn't mosquito. I also got a a small lily pad so the minnow wouldn't feel too out of its element. Aubie named it Lolly. Since I had no way of finding out if this centimeter-long minnow was a girl or a boy, I figured we had a 50/50 chance of it being a "Lolly"*.



Though she came home in a Gerber container, she quickly graduated to something much bigger--a frappucino jar.But, by the afternoon, I started to realize that Lolly may want more room to swim around in, and I wasn't going to buy a fish bowl for a minnow that I didn't even know how to feed. So I convinced Aubie that we needed to take Lolly back. After several I-don't-want-to's, Aubie finally said, "Yeah, her need to go back to her family."
That evening, Leah, Aubie, Matthan, and I walked to the pond (only Matthan was in the stroller) to take Lolly back home.



If you click on this picture, and you stare really hard at the upper middle of the jar, you can see Lolly.


Aubie saying goodbye to her fish.



A parting glance.



Aubie and the rest of the farewell party, sans photographer.



Getting a fish and then taking it back all in the same day was too much excitement for this little fellow.




It was such a nice evening, David went for a ride and met us on our way back home.



Goodbye Lolly. We miss you :)


*Besides the name Sally (and now, Wendy), Aubie's favorite name is Lolly. If a Lolly has a sister, its Tolly, and after that, its anything else that rhymes.

Becki from My Little Blog recently posted that her baby (who is very close in age to Matthan) loves this video, so I thought we'd check it out. Matthan, Aubie, Leah, and I all love it! They Might Be Giants is my new favorite! I pretty much love all of their (kids) songs. They were a band for a long time before deciding to do children's music in addition to their other stuff. This second video has two songs, so its a bit longer, but the first song is about my favorite number, and the second is about something we have probably all done at some time in our lives. Both are just great! I hope you enjoy TMBG as much as we do.

Elenor

Take the Quiz here!

Like Lyndsay, I am Elenor. I figured this is who I would be most like. Even though I tend to be a bit more like Marianne at times. But then, sometimes I'm Jane or Lizzy. Leah says I'm a cross between Jane and Mary--the horrible hypochondriac sister in Persuasion. I'd love to take the quiz that comes up with those results!

The adventures of Matthan (aka Curious George)

The Little Prince.
<------- This is why we bought one of those fences to keep him contained. I left the room to get something, came back, and found him here. Yeah, he did it all by himself. Oh, and that's sweet potatoes on his nose ; )
<-----This is what happens when you let
this happen ------>
Actually, there was a method to his madness. Somehow he had hit enough buttons to make the computer "doink" every time he hit a key, so to him, he was making music.

Though you can't see her, Aubie is dancing around making him laugh. He absolutely loves everything she does. He thinks she's the best big sister--as do we.

Computer Tip: Oh, and if ever your computer screen gets turned upside down, the way to fix it is hit: Ctrl, Alt, up-arrow-key. It took me forever to figure this out. Of course, you probably already knew this... but maybe I'm saving someone some heartache by posting this tip : )

meme

Several weeks ago, Heather tagged me with this meme. Thank goodness she didn't tag me with her "50 Things About Me" meme, 'cause, I'll just tell you. It wouldn't be happenin'.
Ok. Here goes:

1. What translation of the Bible do you like best? KJV, but I really like my new English Standard Version and I really want to get a NASB.

2. Old or New Testament? Old Testament

3. Favorite Book of the Bible? Proverbs, definitely.

4. Favorite Chapter? Proverbs 1

5. Favorite Verse? Proverbs 30:28 (KJV)The spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in kings' palaces. (I realize that the literal translation is not spider, but something like a gecko. I don't care. I love the way this verse sounds--even though I hate spiders--as well as what it means.)

6. Bible character you think you’re most like? I would love to be like Esther--beautiful, brave, totally dependent on God--or Jochebed, Moses' mother, who did whatever it took to save her child and trusted God with the outcome. As far as who I'm most like? I don't know.

7. One thing from the Bible that confuses you? I'm sure there's something, but I can't think of it at present.

8. Moses or Paul? Moses. Read Deuteronomy 34. (Thanks Heather for putting this passage in your answer. Sadly, I didn't know where to find it.)


9. A teaching from the Bible that you struggle with or don’t get? Paul's teachings about women (I'm just leaving Heather's answer here, because I think that's probably my biggest struggle too.)

10. Coolest name in the Bible? Matthan, of course. That's why I picked it!


Sorry. No pictures for this post. But I'll post one of my coolest-name-in-the-Bible boy and not-in-the-Bible-but-still-a-cool-name girl tomorrow.

Oh, I almost forgot. I'm supposed to tag someone else with this, right? I pick Leah ; ) (imagine this winky face saying "he he". Only, its not, because she and I both can't stand it when people say "he he". All the more reason for saying it after tagging her with a meme.)

Matthan's first feeding

Matthan's first feeding --February 6th, 2008. Its obvious he liked it based on his reaction in the second video--hes' a bit upset that its all gone.
Well, that's one promised post out of the way. Now for the meme...