Maria Antonia

My grandfather just sent this picture of my great great grandmother, Maria Antonia. This would be my father's father's father's mother. Living in Italy during World War II, she was killed during the Allied landings at Salerno. Sadly, her house was inadvertantly bombed and collapsed with her inside. But here's a picture of Maria: Maddie and Caleb's great, great, great grandmother--wow!

a little craft

at the library

This morning at the library, Caleb looked up on the wall, saw big alphabet letters posted there, and proceeded to say the entire alphabet. This is the first time I've heard him say it all the way through correctly. Something must be clicking in that little brain--first numbers and now letters.

qotd

I was telling Maddie that I had bought her a pair of scissors (something she had been wanting for a while). "Oh yay, Mommy! Remember all the days and nights when I didn't have any scissors?!"

bobe

Last night Caleb was playing with little plastic eggs. For the first time I heard him count from 1 to 10 correctly. He's learning so many things.

maddie update

On Saturday over lunch, Maddie informed me that now that she is "getting oader" her new favorite color is blue.

This morning we were talking about blowing bubbles outside. Maddie said that she could blow hers all by herself but Caleb needs help. I told her that she might need help sometimes, but Maddie informed me again: "When I blow bubbles at Bubbie's house when I was two I needed help, but now when I am three I can do it by myself."

Lately Maddie's been exclaiming, "I don't believe it!" The funny part is when she exclaims it (at things that are quite believable) and how she continues on with "I can not believe THAT! I just do not believe that."

qotd

Maddie coming down the stairs after her nap:

Hi Lil Bud it's me I starting to wake up now do you like 'Josh & the Big Wall?'

What did we do for St Patrick's Day?

We gave li'l Bobe his first big boy haircut. Bye-bye wispy curls.

We knew this would be hard, so we had to talk it up really big. 'We're going to use a TOOL, Caleb! Do you want to use Dada's TOOL?!' Here he is checking it out.

Not too sure about it, but he let us begin.

It took a fair amount of coaxing, looking in the mirror, letting him hold 'the tool' again, and giving him breaks to get the job done.

A foretaste of the hairy back we hope he won't have one day!

And here's the new look.

...Well now, let's see here about this tool.

bobe

His latest, which we hear all the time now:

Whah doowee?

plants and such

One of my goals this year has been to grow indoor plants. Notorious for killing every plant I've ever received, I've been determined to do this. I always wish for summer and flowers in the middle of winter, and so this winter I decided to do something about it. I figured I would start with just one plant, and once I got it growing, I'd add another. After killing 2 plants, I finally had some success. I'm now up to seven, and I have plans to add just 2 more. By the way, an added benefit to growing indoor plants is that they clean and purify the air in your house.

Here's the bubble fern in a wall planter in the dining room.

Here's my triple wall planter, also in the dining room.

This is the Boston Fern that is currently on our dining room table, but when it warms up will go outside on our front porch in a planter.

I can't remember the name of this one, but the lady at the nursery told me it was nearly impossible to kill. Sounded like a winner to me! :) It's living quite nicely in our living room.

And here are my herbs, ready to be planted outside once it warms up a bit more. With all my gardening trouble, one thing I've always been able to grow is herbs on my deck. I think that's because they only last for a season. I got 9 herbs this time--chives, 2 types of thyme, sage, lemon verbena, spearmint, lavender, rosemary & orange mint. I've already started using them in my cooking. There's nothing quite like fresh herbs to liven up a dinner dish!

And last night I experimented with some herbs. I made some Breton Biscuits--a thick sturdy shortbread-like cookie. I added lemon zest and finely minced lemon verbena & rosemary. The herbs added a very mellow and fragrant flavor. Braden said the recipe was definitely a keeper.

earrings

Here's a little dinnertime conversation between Madeleine & Daddy:

I have a earring.
(She didn't have anything at all.)

Where'd you get it from?

My ear.

Who gave it to you?

Barbara.

Who's Barbara?

Barbara is the lady who gives earrings to ones who don't have them.

Where does she do this?

At the store.

What store is it?

Ahwaydio Lons Steakhouse Store.

octagons, pentagons, and upagons

Madeleine is quite interested in traffic lights and signs and such when we are driving, so I talk to her a fair amount about it in the car. This morning, I pointed out the stop sign to Maddie, telling her the shape was an octagon. She replied:
"Juss like the upagon that you went to with Dada on the train."
I was surprised that she connected the words and remembered that (a few months ago Braden and I finally made the trek down to the pentagon to visit my uncle).
I said, "Wow! you remember that?"
And she replied with contrived laughter, "Oh yes, I do I do!"

m & b

Some maddie-isms:
'K' (that's Caleb's new name)
outside-inside (that's when her clothes are inside out)

Some bobe-isms:

And one cute thing of Caleb's. He is a needy little boy, in that he needs lots of hugs and snuggles. Throughout the day, he'll come over to me and climb into my lap and give me a big squeeze and a snuggle. And sometimes he'll even say, "Hug."

qotd

We were driving along in our car. We passed a 'yield' sign. Maddie called out, "A uh-side-down triangle, Mommy. How silly!"

sunglasses and movies

Ah yes, this movie is great with my sunglasses on...










...hmmm, then again, maybe not.

qotd

Today's quote of the day is from our little friend KJ. He is playing here this afternoon. As he was checking out our house upon entering, he saw our special chair made by Grandpap. He noted the cross saying, "It has a dying on the cross on it."

qotd from Tarrah's birthday

No, I'M the snake and Garrick is just the Garrick.

qotd

Maddie brought her Raggedy Ann doll downstairs. Caleb picked it up and started to make the doll dance. Maddie said,
"Are you making her dance, Caleb? Are you married with her?"

qotd

To Daddy at bedtime:

Member last day when you had germs in your tummy and I couldn't kiss your mouth just your cheek?

bobe

Caleb is really into 'thank you' right now. Anytime you give him something: 'day-kuh' loud and clear. What's cuter though is when he says 'day-kuh' and you forget to say 'your welcome.' He'll wait there, staring at you and if you still don't respond he'll say 'wicome' and wait for you to repeat it. Once you have said 'your welcome' he's off and running again.