My first brrrrrroom!

-Angela Lansbury.

Van has formed a new attachment.

With the broom.

He "sweeps" everything. Shoes, leaves, mud.

Let us know if you need some service.

He has an "indoor" and "outdoor" broom for convenience.

(About to take off...)

Van has also discovered how much he loves graham crackers and goldfish. (And I love discovering half-eaten bites all over the house, in my shoes, in his legos - if only he'd put those sweeping skills to good use!).

Spring is near, as determined by my slightly inaccurate car thermometer (which has read 80 degrees two days in a row!) and I am harboring very jealous feelings towards our neighbor's blooming yard. He caught me taking pictures and laughed. Whoops! (Notice the grass line of demarcation):

I just improv'ed a "use all of the veggies in the fridge" soup. It turned out tasty!

-1/2 a box of spinach

-chopped celery

-chopped carrot

-chopped onion

-1 clove of garlic

-2 cans of cannelini beans; drained/rinsed

-1 can of black beans; drained/rinsed

-S&P

-2 cans veggie broth

-Rosemary

-Parmesean Cheese

Sautee first five ingredients in some EVOO until tender, add veggie broth, S&P to taste, and a chopped sprig of rosemary. Mash all of the beans with a potato masher (I am convinced the smushy texture makes the soup more filling) then add to soup. Top with cheese.

I let it simmer for  a while. We ate the soup with roasted red pepper and mushroom quesadillas (a recipe I snagged from Aunt Mary Beth's donation to my "Teenies Tappas" cookbook).   Making a cookbook is (in my opinion) one of the best wedding gifts to give/recieve. My loving Auntie Snags sister gave me this one for a wedding gift and I have a good laugh every time I look through it.

An excerpt from the introduction:

"This is how it usually went down as the car pulled away from the drivethru: We listened to Mix 101.5, stuffed napkins up our nose to alarm other drivers, and stashed burnt French fry nubs in the Nissan console..."

It is very special to have so many recipes donated from friends and family.

I've been cracking up at this photo in particular:

Sorry for the lack of cohesion in this post. To wrap it up, lets just say the warm, springy weather is inspiring me to try some new recipes while my little one embarks on the spring cleaning!

Rhombus!

I think I know what Van's first shape will be!

(I don't think the real Rhombus would have picked out those shoes.) Van does love his Granny Rhombus dearly! I picked up some color, shape, and alphabet charts to play around with to see if Van is showing any interest. (And because I really wanted to go to this store). :)

Early this morning we had an unfamiliar visitor.

Do any of you know it?

We were startled by the most pitiful little yelps from his nursery and hoped it was just a dirty diaper that woke him.  Instead we found him reaching out over his crib just grabbing for one of us to pull him out.  We aren't sure what was bothering him. Van quickly fell back to sleep after some rocking. And so did mom and dad.

...Until about 4:45, 5:00, 5:45... you get the idea.

Maybe it was the haircut I gave him last night?

BEFORE

AFTER

Or just wanting to get back into the tub...

Needless to say I am loading up on the coffee this morning.

On a sad note, I am thinking and praying for the families who lost loved ones in the New Zealand earthquake. I spent a few days in Christchurch and it was such a cute town. I hope for a speedy recovery effort and that they are able to rescue any other survivors. It surely puts my little problems into perspective and makes me very grateful for my family and friends.

White or Wheat?

When G-Mommy and G-Diddy bring BBQ from Shelby, you eat it!

Sunday evening, Van enjoyed his first tastes of western BBQ and BBQ slaw along with some leftover baked beans and bluegrass.

What else do you follow up a nice pig pickin' meal with?

According to Van, a big ole piece of wheat bread.

Hope this week is as warm as last week! Van loves playing outside.

He wanders around collecting sticks for Sophie, who carefully whizzes by and yanks them out of his hands.

I think playing outside is the first thing on his mind each morning!

Happy President's Day! (And yay for having Evans home on a random federal holiday!!)



Happy Valentine's Day! (Embrace Your Inner-Tenor)

What a fun weekend! Evans began our Valentine's Day celebration with a beautiful, pink tulip and lilly bouquet followed by dinner Friday evening. Saturday we had a nice visit from Auntie Suggs and Sunday did some overdue canoeing. Van and I attempted to follow Darby's lead making our own pink peppermint patties, and while delicious - ours did not turn out so photogenic :)

Last week, Evans and I had a great opportunity to hear the Canadian Tenors in concert. Since Wednesday, I have had this lovely song stuck in my head. I thought a Canadian Tenors album would be a good Valentine's Day gift for Evans.  We have been singing our hearts out (poor Van) all weekend! I was in desperate need of a quality-of-music upgrade, and these guys surely are.

Speaking of music downgrade, I believe nearly everyone in my entire life despises the Lonestar song "On My Front Porch Looking In"... but the picture below pretty much sums up my scene:

...Something about the random kitchen items scattered around the house, a worried Golden Retriever treading closely behind her beloved-yet-frightening little brother, and the most loving man reaching out to offer a hand to his sweet little boy. I wish I carried a notebook around with me to keep track of all the cute things Van is up to. A couple of stories in particular:

1. Friday night we were reading Aunt Routhie's favorite book, Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! (which is hilarious by the way) and Van was actually laughing at the funny parts! Saturday morning while stomping around in his Thomas the Train boots, he waddled back to his room then came running down the hall grinning with the book in his hands - pushed it into my hands as if saying "Mom! I want to read this again! Its so funny!"

2. G-Diddy and G-Mommy did some Sunday afternoon babysitting and made us some delicious brownies! While attempting to feed Van some boring ravioli - he stood up, confidently walked over the counter (he knew where the brownies were) pointed to the brownies and animatedly said "mmmmmmmmmmmmm" (ie: I don't want ravioli, just brownies!)

Lots of love to my precious Valentines:

Happy Valentine's Day



(RIP Lucy Lackey - We miss you!)

Tuesdays

Its hard to let go of this guy:

But simultaneously refreshing to have an entire morning to get things done. I try to balance Van's Mother's Mornings Out with work and fun.

Fun:
http://www.flemingclothing.com//
A cute trunk show! (Anticipating some fun beach trips this summer by snagging one of these for Van!)

Work:
Unpacking three of us from a weekend away (ie: washing an 8-thousand pound load of dirty laundry that has frighteningly multiplied over the past week and may or may not include figuring out how to redeem a brand new pair of Van's corduroy overalls from a scary diaper disaster.)

Hard Days, Simple Pleasures.

Some days can be difficult for me to stay at home with Van. 



Even though he is super cute and mischevious!

 I am slowly beginning to witness some of the simplest, but most meaningful rewards staying at home has to offer and want to keep track of them for some motivation to get through the more frustrating days.

Yesterday I had to leave Van in a room by himself so I could answer the door. When I returned to the playroom, I decided to do a little spying to see what he was doing. 

I discovered him flipping through the pages of his favorite book (Curious George Opposites) mimicking the hand motions and copying the intonations of my voice that I use when I read the book to him. 

The last pages of the book illustrate Curious George awake and running around, then alternatively show George going to sleep.  I demonstrate these opposites by acting really silly and then following up with "shhhh...night night George!".  Similarly,Van shook his hands over his head and babbled loudly, then quietly said "shhhh...night night night night!"

 I don't want to forget how wonderful it felt to see my little boy slowly comprehending what I have been teaching him (sometimes so redundantly you want to go bonkers). It may not sound as cute as it feels, but it is very rewarding to experience.

On a side note - Van has successfully wrapped up his swim lessons. He was such a big boy!

Kicking his legs, splashing his arms, floating on his back, crawling out of the pool, and even jumping off of the ledge into daddy's arms!

 Good job buddy.

Entertaining a 15 Month Old - (For More Than Three Consecutive Minutes)

 

Welcome to the world Tyler (Monstercheese) Corona - We cannot wait to meet you!