One Golf Ball

A more responsible parent would not have leaped for her camera.

Our First Bubble Expedition

Presidential

Confidential to Jenni & Andrew

You win.
It was a good hiding spot, no?

Dirt & Worms

I stumbled on this article while taking a quick look at the news during Luke's nap.
I think worms for dinner,no?

Personal Health
Babies Know: A Little Dirt Is Good for You
By JANE E. BRODY
Published: January 27, 2009
The hygiene hypothesis suggests that organisms that enter the body along with “dirt” spur the development of a healthy immune system.
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Winter Lunch

I’m on day three of inside adventures.
Our snow has turned to rain and ice.
I might be teetering at the edge of momcrazykidcrazyletusoutside black hole.
We needed a special lunch.
Something fun.
Something jazzy.
Luke i n h a l e d it.

How exactly I came to have the necessary ingredients for mini-pigs in a blanket is beyond me.
I don’t remember buying crescent rolls and only vaguely remember purchasing the mini hot dogs.

Blue Chair

This innocent chair was a deep source of frustration yesterday, as sweet Luke pretended it was Mt. Everest.

But somewhere around 3:30am, I was grateful for my blue chair. Rocking my sweet Luke who woke-up at a most unfortunate hour. We rocked for two hours. I was happy for my cuddle time despite the hour. Thanks, blue chair.

Snow Day

Tuesday Morning

It’s snowing!!











Talking on the phone is serious business in our house now.
Luke talked to Tata.






















And to Papa Joe.













He was crazy about this chair this morning.
Climbing on it.
Jumping on it.
Trying to launch himself off it.
Attempting a headstand for crying out loud.
But standing on the armrest was the most fun.

Turns out I was crazy abut this chair too, but in a totally different manner.

Father & Son Talking

Occasionally Faris and Luke will talk on the phone while Faris is driving home from work.
Here is a quick snippet of their conversation tonight.

Disclaimer: If you aren’t related to Luke or Faris you will likely think this video is extraordinarily boring and are thus excused from viewing.

Nap Head

We are in the sometimes painful
and sometimes joyful
process of dropping the morning nap.
Today it was joyful.
No morning nap but a glorious three hour afternoon nap.
Three hour naps are practically unheard of in my home.
Apparently three hour naps create adorable nap head.
By the looks of his hair he was doing some serious napping.

Cold Day = Warm Winter Dinner?

Update: I would say a mediocre dinner. Short ribs were delicious. Sauce was grape juicy.

It’s cold outside.
Flurries have taunted us with hopes of snow.
Cold days just like this one call for a special warm winter meal.
I’ve got braised beef short ribs cooking in the oven.
But I’m skeptical.
1. I’ve never cooked with short ribs before.
(thank you to the Whole Foods butcher who made them boneless and trimmed the fat for me!)
2. Recipe called for 6 garlic cloves. It didn’t say to mince, crush, or chop. I’m thinking it was accidently omitted.
3. I used grape juice instead of wine, I don’t like meat cooked in wine.

So we will see.

Swoon

If you were at my dinner table tonight you would have heard my onetruelove profess, “It’s the best meal of all time ever, on the planet, except that it wasn’t fish.”

It was good; I’ve got to give myself that. I don’t usually swoon over meals I make myself but I kind of swooned over this one. I raved about Indonesian Ginger Chicken before but tonight I got it all right, I think because I used chicken thighs.

Make it for the ones you love and they will swoon too.

Our menu, almost all Barefoot Contessa.
Indonesian Ginger Chicken
Roasted Carrots
Garlic Sautéed Spinach
Basmati Rice

Well Rested

I didn’t finish my Saturday morning coffee
sitting in quite but I didn’t mind one bit.

Morning Roll Call

My sweet boy went to bed at 7pm last night.
It's 8am this morning and he is still asleep,
not even the faintest of hints that he is starting to stir.
He is fine, I checked a moment ago.

So I'll enjoy my hot cup of morning coffee
sitting
in quite.

For as long as it will last.

Frontier Women

All week I’ve been admiring frontier women.
Frontier women had to
love
feed
clothe
nurture
teach and train-up
correct and discipline
and enjoy
their husbands and children.
All under a covered wagon, with no running water, no indoor plumbing, no electricity, no washer and dryer, no dishwasher, and no grocery stores overflowing with already prepared foods.

Glee

I was giddy with inauguration glee today!
Luke and I went to Virginia to watch with my mom and dad.
Disclaimer: Since my son and I might not share political views one day (insert a dreadful gasp sound!) I blurred out you know what you know where to protect his rights. Aren’t I super thoughtful? But I know one day he will thank me.

Brrrr

Our weekend was SO cold that the Chesapeake Bay started to ice.
Can you spy the icy water?
An unintended consequence of the cold arctic weather? Luke learned to say brrrrr when we went outside in the arctic air.

Friday in Pictures

Pedal Extremities

We have a fabulous jazz CD that is supposed to be for kids
but really it is for anyone with working ears.
We bop, rock, hop, and do a jazzy sway to the

music almost every day.
Most of the songs are hysterical, and right now Faris and I are especially enjoying Your Feet’s Too Big by Fats Waller.

And I just had to share the lyrics with you.

Who's that walkin' round here, Mercy

Sounds like baby patter

Baby elephant patter; thats what I calls it

Say up in Harlem at a table for two

There were four of us

Me, your big feet and you

From your ankles up, I'd say you sure are sweet

From there down; there's just too much feet

Yes, your feets too big

Don't want ya, 'cause ya feets too big

Can't use ya, 'cause ya feets too big

I really hate ya, 'cause ya feets too big

Where did ya get 'em

Your girl, she likes you, she thinks you're nice

Got what it takes to be in paradise

She said she likes your face

She likes your rig

Man, oh, man, those things are too big

Your feets too big

Don't want cha, 'cause ya feets too big

Mad at you, 'cause your feets too big

I hate you, 'cause your feets too big

My goodness, guns, they're gunboats

Oh, your pedal extremities are colossal

To me you look just like a fossil

Got me walkin', talkin' and squarkin''

Cause your feets too big

Yeah, come on and walk that thing

Oh, I've never heard of such walkin', mercy

Your pedal extremities really are obnoxious

One never knows, do one?

For Lindy

Winter Walk

Unless it is in the single digits
I try and get us outside for a bit.
My winter strategy: after lunch but before the afternoon nap, when the sun is at its peak.
Yesterdays walk was brilliant.
We enjoyed the ducks that migrated to our part of the Chesapeake Bay. (I need to track down their name and life story)

































We enjoyed watching our standard ducks eat…
can you see a tail in the air?














A winter walk self portrait.

Swiffer

He carried our swiffer around a l l d a y.

Mini Cowboy

Faris and I gave Luke a rocking horse for Christmas.
For several days he would only lock eyes with the horse and saunter pass.
No real interest in ridding him.
They have made friends with each other
and now Luke loves to go for a ride.

Luke can get on and off by himself.
It scares me to no end watching him
lift his leg and navigate over the horse body,
while trying to rock the horse at the same time.
Or at least it scared me until
I found him standing on the horse body (the blue seat).

Gym Class

Early this rainy morning
(9am to be exact)
I took Luke to his first gym class.
Now that he is climbing I thought
he might enjoy it.
Except for the trampoline,
it was uber lame.
And except for the trampoline,
I can do it at home but better.
So sadly we will not return and I am
grateful it was a free trial class.

But who cares about that right?
This is what you really want to know.
Mommies are the kids helpers during
the class so naturally I wore exercise clothing to the class.
Unlike every other mother and the sweet grandmother
who had on jeans.
No one else saw my tushy.
But I saw their tushies, even the grandmothers.
Jeans: a caregivers best friend and worst enemy.

P.S. Can you believe my 300th post is about tushy exposure?

No TV Update

We are loving
and I mean
L O V I N G
life without tv.
News on the BBC and NPR
is SO much better than network news,
you should try it.
We have to get better about checking the
weather report online.
My sweet Faris misses not watching the football playoffs
but seems to be managing.
As for me,
tonight my heart twitched as
my beloved Masterpiece Theater Classic
began the new season at 9pm.
It is starting with Tess of the d'Urbervilles.
But guess what I just found out.
I can watch it online starting tomorrow for a limited time!
I am besidmyselfthrilledbeyondimagination.
This wasn’t a Masterpiece Theater option just a month or two ago!

I Parked in Russia Last Week

I’m sifting through the stuff I accumulated last week
and a little card gave me a chuckle.
I might have failed to mention that
the trip to the museum was a
people and car madhouse.
I had to park in the Ronald Regan Building
and when I got to the parking garage elevator
I nabbed a parking space location card.
(think business card but with your parking location information on it.)
The front (I guess) says:
Remember Your Car and Elevator Location
Atrium
Lobby
North
Parking Level
B-2
Russia
The flip side (the back) says:
Complimentary Services
Battery Starts
Tire Changes
Tire Inflation
Escort Service
Lost Vehicle Assistance

Can you now imagine the enormity of the underground parking at the Ronald Regan Building?
So big they give you a card to remember your elevator and level?
So big they name an area Russia (because that is what it seemed like minus the cold!).
So big they offer Lost Vehicle Assistance which must be used 349 times an hour.

Overflowing Heart

Our Sunday morning church service was filled with wonderful amazing hymns.
I sang with an overflowing (and loud) heart.
One of my favorite hymns was on the line-up:
“Hark, I Hear the Harps Eternal.”
I almost always cry during verse 3:
Some have cross’d before us safely
to that land of perfect rest.
Can you hear them singing faintly
in the mansions of the blest?
Hallelujah,
Hallelujah,
Hallelujah,
Praise the Lamb.
Hallelujah,
Hallelujah,
Glory to the great I AM!

What a joyous way to think of our loved ones who believed in Christ and have been called home!

Task Completed

I hated every second of it.
But I did it
and
it looks so pretty.

Tasks

We all have the one.
You know.
The one household task you
triple hate
and
put off until you are at the edge of home pandemonium.
I H.A.T.E cleaning out the refrigerator.
I’m a push it to the back/stack it on top of/ cram it in as if your life depended on it
kind of refrigerator organizer.
I’m at the edge of home pandemonium
so I’m going in.
If you don’t hear from me please call
The hazmat people and tell them they might need a bulldozer.

Books!

We went to our local library for the first time today
and had the entire children’s area to ourselves.
Luke has his very own library card and
checked out his first two library books.
(a truck book and a cowboy book)
All of my pictures were blurry.
My subject was in constant motion.
Maybe I should investigate the sports setting?

Can You Guess It?

There are two games that I like to play:
Cranium and Scene It.
Tonight Roula and I battled Nader and Carolyn in Cranium.
(Until I had to depart to put Luke to bed for the night!)
I’m good at the clues you have to act out.
And bad at most of the rest.
I’m a fair to good guesser.
This picture is a clue that Roula drew.
The hint is a thing.
Can you guess it?
I did.
Scroll down to see the answer.

Answer: Campfire

Now you want me on your Cranium Team, don’t you?

Roula is a w s o m e at the molding things out of clay tasks.
You should have seen her sculpt a cubicle.
I totally guessed it too.

Our First Trip to the Museum

It was our first trip to a museum,
the Smithsonian’s Natural History Museum.
I’d been looking forward to it for w e e k s.
Lindy is on her winter vacation so she went with us
AND
we had a special guest, Aunt Genia from Mississippi.
My plan now is at least one museum a month.

The Insect Zoo

The Mammal Exhibit

I think this was his favorite part, the TV’s in the floor.