I am sorry that we are so bad about posting new stuff on our blog. I have been meaning to but it seems that I never remember when I have free time. I wanted to share a couple of pics and a video of our "tree". We stole Jae's idea from a couple of years ago. We have said since Thanksgiving that we were going to buy a real tree this year since our old one bit the dust last year but we never found time that we were both home to go pick one out.... so now we have a paper tree. Fia and I had a good time putting "ornaments" on it this morning.




I also wanted to share a couple of cute pictures of our little Eskimo. It has snowed the last couple of days here and Fia has loved it. I opened the blinds yesterday when she got up so she could see it and she exclaimed "SNOW!" I have never known a child who likes to be outdoors as much as she does and it doesn't matter what the weather is.


These were both taken on Monday when we only got a dusting. We got a couple of inches on Tuesday but it was bitterly cold so we didn't take her out in it, though she desperately wanted to go out in it.

halloween

Many of you have been begging for pictures of Halloween so here they are... Sorry there aren't many, as most of you know my parents took her trick or treating because Ken and I both had to work that night. They tried to take her picture but she wasn't cooperating very well. They did tell me a few stories of the night.... we had tried to teach her to say trick or treat before she went over there which came out more tritree but it was close enough. Anyway they showed her what to do as far as ringing the doorbell and saying trick or treat when they answered the door. She wasn't shy when it came to ringing the doorbell, but she never quite got the hang of saying trick or treat when they answered the door. She would say it over and over until they answered the door and she would stop saying it as soon as the door opened.

Another cute story: At one house they stopped, the lights were all on and it appeared as though someone was home but for some reason they didn't come to the door. She desperately wanted them to answer the door and give her candy that she tried to ring the doorbell again. When my dad stopped her and told her that they were going to move on to the next house she got really upset and yelled "NO! Trick or Treat".

I added this second picture because she looks so grown up serving herself popcorn at my grandparents house after trick or treating.

Monkey

This is Monkey. I don't remember exactly when this happened, but Fia decided that this is her favorite toy. We have such great friends that they have expanded her monkeys to many stuffed animals and even some awesome clothes. (Apparently this Small Paul thing is popular, but I don't know it past Fia's wardrobe)

A few weeks ago Sophie and I were running a bunch of errands. We went to about 10 places. She had monkey at the first place and didn't have him at the last place. No clue where he went. Uh oh. Oh No!

So then began the search for a new monkey. I already knew, what I thought would be enough to find it with a quick google search. It was made by Hallmark and the bananas say, "love ya a bunch"

Hallmark.com? Nope, not there. google search, "Hallmark monkey 'love ya a bunch'" Nope. every variation on the words "stuffed" "monkey" Hallmark" etc. Nothing. I was shocked that it wasn't just that easy. Not on ebay, not on google, not on anything.

So I was telling friends the story of lost monkey. And as it turns out, a friend of a friend works at Hallmark, in the toy department. He asked around, found the toy and yup, it's discontinued. So he went down the hallway to the toy designer and Monkey's designer said, "I got a few of those that I used as samples. Just grab one from over there."

And voila. We have a new Monkey. What are the odds that we live in the same city that headquarters here and I was only a very quick 3 degrees of seperation for the guy that designed this toy. Amazing.

Bedding: Plants and people

So I mostly wanted to post some pictures. This year we took some pots that Mom and Dad left with us before their move and actually filled them with plants. tomato plant (tomatiI got allo to be specific) serrano pepper, mint, thyme, marjoram, and some flowers. I'm getting some blooms and with any luck, it'll be a couple weeks and I will have my first tomatillo. Here is what they look like so far and the blossom is from the tomatillo plant.

This is just Fia being silly. She has a changing table that we use as a dresser. She had cleared off the bottom shef of all her shoes and used that as a bed. But the other day, she went up a bunk. Just because she can.

Sophia's first haircut

So, it wasn't so much a haircut as it was just a trim. But it was a much needed trim to cut away the dead ends and even up the length a little- there wasn't even enough cut off that I could keep it for her baby book. Anyway, she did great! We were afraid she would squirm and cry but she had a great time and I think Kit did too. (Kit is the lady who cut it.) I promised pictures so here they are....
Before...................................................During................................................................................................













............After..............

A non-Sophia post

OK, so first of all, I have a small rant.

I hate when online companies tell you that your username / password do not fall into their "safety parameters" On my sprint account, for example, not only did they tell me that my password was too simple, but my username had to contain at least 1 number. It's my account, why don't you let me select how secure it is. If you feel an obligation to, then tell me that I shouldn't use my social security number or phone number as my password, but don't tell me you won't allow me to. It's my security, let me decide.

Now, the reason I started this post in the first place. This is the funniest thing I have seen in a harvest moon, or longer. Maybe because I am a chef. Maybe because I love seeing complex situations brought down to their simplistic roots. Maybe because I like the idea that Vietnam is a spring roll and the US is a hamburger. I hope you enjoy it half as much as I did.



So the perfect video was not available. This is the next to perfect video. You may need the Cheat sheet.

Easter

After not really doing anything for the last few holidays we decided that we needed to start. I was a little skeptical that she would enjoy it. She is still too young to really take direction. But if we don't start now, when will we start.

It was exciting for me. We bought the eggs, dye, basket, candy, etc and waited until last night.


Then she went to bed and I had to clean up. Hiding eggs in plain sight doesn't work too well if she has thrown all her toys over the floor. But we got picked up, Lynette woke up and hid the eggs while I changed Fia's diaper and got her ready to search. As you can see, she took to it wuick. We had watched Dora the Explorer and Max and Ruby find eggs. Fia had called out "Egg" every time Dora passed one. But I was still surprised to see her find every last egg.



By the way, in the background you can see our new loveseat. Sometime eventually we will replace all our furniture.

Sophia being cute

Sophia is cute everyday. But today she did her normal cuteness and I caught it on camera. I had something to do on the computer sitting by the bed, I walk into the room and she follows me. I sit on the bed and she asks up. I help her up and she immediately lays on the pillow and pulls the covers up over her so she can watch The Backyardigans on her PSP.

I get smart and take a few pictures, then I switch to video mode and she changes from the PSP to taking care of some of her moms sudoku.

Just a clip from our Christmas in Joplin

We finally made it to Joplin and this small clip is something that Lynette took. It's too cute.



Mike named it perfectly.