hazel vs. nature

grant took the girls to the houston arboretum nature center again last saturday. they saw the usual swimming turtles:

they even found a box turtle:

hazel was. . . . well, hazel. running around casting spells on the poor woodland creatures:

making friends with the flora:

and climbing over their fallen brethren:

kids will be kids.

a fond farewell

this weekend we're moving. we're pretty excited about it. we have enjoyed living here for the most part but it'll be nice to have better parking, quieter neighbors (hopefully), more security, carpet, a bigger kitchen(!) and, best of all, cheaper rent. i am sad about leaving this park behind. we spent many a sunny afternoon there. last night for "fammy homies" we went again. lucy ate some wood chips:hazel made goofy faces and took off her shoes:lucy tried to fit her head through the bars:luckily it didn't fit. hazel dropped elmo off the bridge:he was a good sport:and grant threw the girls up to the "top a the sky":
and they loved it:mostly:

the end.

monday night flashback #21

three exhibitions of speed from the oregon bike trip stick out in my mind.

ken came flying by me and mike on a particular downhill road. he had slipped in behind a truck and camper to avoid the wind drag. i couldn't say how fast, but it must have been up there. (do you recall? you had a cyclometer, right?)

mike and i went to idaho city one day to ride a trail he had raced along previously. i thought i knew what it was to sprint before, uphill and down. but no.

eldon left us all to be devoured by an enormous dog. we were passing by on our bikes. after the dog bounded over several fences that it should not have been able to clear, we decided to 'run' for it, and eldon was by far the quickest.

sing along

if you chance to meet a:

do not let it stay. quickly turn it up-side down and:

that frown away.

no one likes a:

change it for a:

make the world a better place by smiling all the while.

{almost} monday night flashback #20 & stuff

technically, it's grant's turn to share, but after two nights of 'yeah, i'll do it. . . later', i decided to take over. i posted the recipe for homemade playdough on my other blog. i remember my mom making the playdough for us all the time. i even remember eating it and enjoying the salty flavor. i'm not ashamed to admit that. at least i never ate glue.

here are some pictures from this evening. remember how lucy loves pulling stuff out of the ottoman? well, sometimes it becomes difficult to do that when it's almost empty. she still tries really hard:and sometimes she gets a bit tangled up:she stopped just after that picture because she noticed that daddy had something she wanted:
she's a big fan of her bottle. i'm a little nervous about the thought of one day taking it away. hazel never had a problem falling to sleep without one, but lucy needs one for her nap and bedtime. we'll see how that goes. . . the next picture is complements of grant:

several things should be noted: hazel just got out of the bath (winnie the pooh too.), she was 'weawy cold' and needed a popsicle. she's not possessed, she's counting the lights above the table. grant thought she looked creepy, so he decided to take a picture.

a fat lip & revenge @ the swimming pool

what do you get when you take a swivel chair: and add an energetic 2 & 1/2 year old?:(she's covered in tomato soup, just so you know) you get this:a one year old with a fat lip. poor lucy. yesterday, hazel decided to spin the chair around when lucy was standing on the other side. . . next to the tv stand. that's not the best picture, but if you look on the left side of her upper lip you can see that it's a bit puffy. there's also a little scrape to the left of her chin.

.

this morning, the girls and i went swimming at a friends home. we went last week too, but hazel refused to get into the water until 15 minutes before we were going to leave. she never would wear her water wings. she did better this time and even let me hold her in the deep water. mostly she just hung out on the steps, splashing and throwing balls at the rest of us:i just hold lucy in the water and last week she let me. today, however, she wasn't such a fan and just wanted me to let her go. she spent about half of the time there wandering around outside of the pool:i was only able to take these two pictures before i was stopped by hazel's crying. remember this story? he got his revenge at last. he bit hazel's finger when she refused to share a toy boat with him.

yesterday & today

last night, grant initiated lucy in to the 'what do the animals say' club:

she now answers the question, 'what does a snake say?' with a quiet 'ssssss'.

.

we went running today and stopped off at another park that is by the memorial park trail. hazel is particularly fond of this playground because it has a maze of bridges to run around:lucy likes being able to wander too: around the pathways are boards of knowledge. one has the braille alphabet, another sign language, capital letter alphabet, lower case, shapes and numbers:impressive, until you see the solar system:i thought copernicus had moved us past the theory of the earth being the center of the universe.

lucy found that dried up flower soon after getting out of the stroller and she carried it around for most of the time we were there.

next up is the funniest picture of lucy:

she looks so sassy. i wonder what she thought she was saying to me, on second thought, maybe i don't want to know.

hazel loves climbing up these stairs. it's pretty steep and the last time grant brought them here, she fell down them. very scary for us, but apparently it hasn't deterred her.

escape artists

the weather here has been dreadful for the past month and a half. it's unbelievably hot and humid. because of this the girls run around a lot in their diapers. hazel really enjoys this and when we get home from wherever she quickly removes her shirt. this morning, while i was blissfully wasting time on the internets, lucy took it to the next level by removing her diaper. i didn't notice until a postal worker came to the door. embarrassing. about 20 minutes later, hazel asked me a question and i saw that she had removed her diaper too. monkey see, monkey do. lucy has now figured out how to get on the couch. she doesn't fall off. . .very often. she also got her third tooth this week and it looks as though she'll be getting her forth soon.

.

in other news, i finished another quilt. you can see pictures here.

monday night flashback #19

july 1, 2009: october 12, 2007:

so similar, yet so different.

adventures with a chinchilla

do you remember when hazel got attacked by a bear? well, last sunday our home teachers came over and brought another rare pet: a chinchilla.

this visit wasn't nearly as eventful as the last pet showing. hazel became pretty confident once she realized sebastian (the chinchilla) was more scared of her and her nursery buddy, emily (who came with her dad). she and emily chased the poor thing around until it hid under the tv stand. before it was scared into hiding, we were all able to hold and pet it. that thing was so soft and cute.

in lucy news: last thursday we were eating out and lucy was lucky enough to be in a high chair rather than her carseat. while sitting so happily, she started blowing kisses at the waiter. it was so sweet. i'm not sure when she learned it but i'm glad we saw it. today, grant got hazel her breakfast and said, 'time for a prayer,' and lucy folded her arms. all through church, she was folding her arms when we told her it was time for a prayer. she is so stinking cute. she's also figured out how to stack the blocks and makes mini towers. she grows so fast and is getting smarter and smarter.

lucy's birthday

yesterday was my little beautiful bald baby's 1st birthday. i can't believe we've only had her for a year! i can't remember life before her, the little stink, i love her to bits. we decided to have a party for her since we did it for hazel's 1st birthday too. i made her a bumble-bee cake and i must say it turned out awesome:

i also made some mini cupcakes and lollipops:

i posted the recipes i used on my other blog, here. we decorated just a little bit:

and had lots of good friends over:

we sang to lucy while she looked on, confused:

and hazel helped her blow out her candle:

and then lucy dug in:

kind of. the chunks that are missing are from me pulling out the wings, not lucy's enthusiasm. it took her a few tastes to decide that sugar is indeed a lovely thing:

she didn't need anymore encouragement after that:

after cake, we opened presents:

at first she was content to sit on amanda's lap, but as soon as the first piece of tissue paper fell to the floor, lucy decided to dive off and play with it. it took some time to get all of her presents open, what with all the paper to eat, so it was a good thing she had an eager helper:

she got a nice haul: measuring cups (to keep her out of the kitchen, yeah right.), play keys (so she'd stop demanding ours, i don't think she's fooled), a stuffed bird (we forgot to wrap the bird and hazel keeps stealing it so lucy doesn't know it was her present), many items of clothing (a wonderful things since between stains, mould and growth, it's hard to find things for her to wear), a stuffed kitty and cards from wonderful grandparents and great-grandparents.

we love you, lucy and hope that your birthday was, if not memorable, at least enjoyable!