What She Said

This was Gwen's party outfit for Henry's shindig last month, complete with shiny shoes.

Jim has work! He's doing wireless security installations. It's contract work, no benefits, but it's keeping the roof over our heads and food on the table.

I, on the other hand, have poison oak. I have to write that because that's the thing about posion oak - when you have it, it takes over everything. We've spent the last two weekends doing yardwork, which in our yard means pulling out Scotch broom and Himalayan blackberry vine (all stickers, no berries,) and poison oak. The yard looks - well, like the woods, only with a lot fewer invasive and/or hazardous plants. But we did clear out the area around the cement pad. We want to turn that into a play area for Gwen this summer.

Gwen's been busy in the yard, too. The neighbors handed down a pair of little gardening gloves and a trowel, and she carries around her bucket from last Easter, collecting dirt and "worms."

My friend Staci was asking me if I wrote down what Gwen was saying,and I said I blogged about it. So I guess I'd better.

The big phrase in the past few weeks has been "Come back here!" As in "hey, 'quirrel, come back here!" or my favorite, "Horsie! Horsie,come back here!" That one's usually in the car, and Gwen shouts it as we drive merrily away. She uses it for the neighbors' cats,too, and occasionally her mom and dad.

"It's my favit" is big right now, too, used for just about anything she fancies at that moment. She used it just now when I put the kettle on for my tea. "It's my tea!" she exclaimed (honestly, that's the word for it, I'm not just being a lit major.) "My tea! It's my favit!" Then she took a long pull on her sippy cup. "My _______" is another favit around here, too.

She's still a cuddly little thing, handing out hugs and kisses to just about anybody who spends more than five minutes with her. Those were a big hit at Auntie Timi's birthday party this weekend. She gives all her little friends hugs and kisses, although Ryan is not so sure he's into it. I think he'd prefer a handshake most days. Adessa thinks it's great, as long as she's prepared for it.

Gwen loves her Curious George books, Dragon Tales and Sesame Street on TV, Winnie the Pooh, and her "beebee" Rutherford. She 's a little disturbed this morning because I cut a lemon for last night's dinner: "Tha's beebee's fooood!" Beebee has blankets, diapers, and a crib. And I have issues, because Beebee's crib is actually the ottoman, and Gwen dumps him in there and puts the lid on it. She puts Rutherford in a box! My Rutherford! In a dark box! I hate it. Gwen's insistent, though, and since I insist on her sleeping in her crib, I have to honor the fact that she wants her baby to sleep in his. Even if I do want to sneak in and get him in the middle of the night.

My favit things right now? I got a snuggle and a "I love my mama" as I carried her to the breakfast table. She loves to help me cook. She loves music, and she sings and plays her instruments all day long. I love to watch her run, with her knees prancing in the air, and her curls bouncing on her back. I love the way she holds my face while I'm reading her stories, and the fact that she's starting to "read" them back to me. Most of all, I love the way she says "Le's haf a fammy hug" and then throws herself between Jim and me, with her little arms squeezing us tight.

The Dread Pirate Blueberry Beard

The Pirate contemplates her plans.....

Yes! World domination is within her grasp!

Gotta love Pancake Sundays......

Snow Day(s)

Gwennie and her Grandma Betty reading a story. The book did not meet Grandma's standards, but Gwen thought snuggling with her was great.

Well, as usual, it's taken me so long to get this post up that I have a whole other family snow day to blog about. But I'll start with this one...

We took a trip to Sacramento towards the end of February. We stopped on the way to see Cutts and Theresa and Gavin, since we hadn't seen them since Gavin's first birthday last May. He was much bigger than Gwen then, but Gwen is much taller than him now. That's still kinda funny to me - I'm still used to thinking of her as little, but she's just not. She's a tall girl. We had a great time and great pizza and the kids were both up too late because none of their parents wanted to stop talking.

Then we went off to Grandma's house. Gwen was asleep when we got there, but she woke up a little when we came in. She raised her head to look at Grandma, dropped it back down, then reached over to hug Grandma. Then she woke herself all the way up, and ran to hug Grandma's leg. She's got a real love affair going with her great-grandma, and it warms my heart to see it. She played with her all weekend long, and as soon as I figure out how to post a video, I'll show you the dance they did together. And the chase game with her Papa, too.

The next Grandma Jill came over and we bundled up and went to the snow! We drove up towards Truckee, and stopped off near a hill next to the parking lot of a gas station and a snow park. It was great - all the daredevil older kids were out on the snow park itself, which left the very tame tobaggon hill free for families and littler kids. Grandma Jill bought Gwen a sled (a pretty purple one, mind you, although the snowpark guy laughed at her when she asked for pink.) But we didn't really use it - just built a tiny little snow person and threw a few snowballs and generally explored what snow actually is. I don't honestly remember the last time I was in any real snow, so I kind of had to re-educate myself. Hint- snow is not firm footing, and it will collapse underneath your foot, leaving you thigh high in cold wet stuff. Fun!

Lots of fun, actually- look at this girl, rocking her winter gear:

Building the little 'nowman with Daddy:

It was hard work. Massachusetts Boy was not happy with the snow quality.

He's little, but he's cute! Gwennie loved him.

Playing with Grandma Jill

Riding the sled with Mama - wheeee! (If you thought the snowman was small, you should have seen the slope we were on.)

Jim and I were having fun, too -no, really, Jim was having fun. He was just concentrating on aiming the camera.

We tried to get a family portrait before we left, but Gwen was cold and grumpy, and completely uninterested.

Snow Day part 2 is coming soon, but I took zero pictures that day, so Grandma Jill and Auntie Kathleen will have to help me out...