7 Things for Your Monday

1. Don’t let her smile in the car seat picture fool you, the girl still does not love her car seat. Since we turned her around life has gotten much cheerier in the backseat, but there are still plenty of cry-bombs when we’re driving. What isn’t in the pictures are the piles of books and toys that we’ve got in the back to keep her entertained. 

 2 & 3. Maggie got to do a little baking project with Papa this weekend. She pretty much ended up with a brownie goatee and batter between her fingers.  Who doesn’t love sweets? 

4 & 5. If we have the headlight out in any capacity, Mags wants to sport it and will wander the house turning it on and off…so funny. Also, we went downtown Edmonds and picked up our very own copy of “Once Upon a Potty” and we got the potty out.  The consensus? The book is still out, but the potty has gone back in the closet, I’m pretty sure the only one who properly used the potty was Raggedy Ann

6. The markers have also been put back in the closet. 

 

7. I’m determined to finish Maggie’s photo books and have been working on them every spare chance. I came across this gem. She sparkled from the start. That’s my theme. 

Yep, Still Here….That Pesky Snow

I love it, but then I hate it too. The snow just isn’t giving up and I’m no longer thinking that we need to move to Montana because I’m pretty certain that there is more snow there than the twiddly amount I can see out my front door. I haven’t driven in almost a week because last year when I drove in the snow/ice I eneded up running into a pickup truck stopped in front of me. I had Maggie in the car and it was pretty scary, even though we were all fine.

That has meant that when I have the urge to strap Maggie into her car seat and skate over to somebody’s house, I decided that the backyard will do just fine and if we’re really crazy a walk around the neighborhood. I hate feeling like such a weather wimp. Then I remember that the news said it might be “impossible” for people to drive and that anywhere I could go is wholly unnecessary. So we’ve stayed home and I’m learning to embrace it.

Chaya came to visit the other day and we’ve dug out most of the Christmas presents that got stashed away for a day just like today. Tomorrow we’ll probably set up the basketball hoop from Greg and Linda, that’ll entertain us for who knows how long. Maggie doesn’t seem to mind being home…heck, she probably has a better deal out of it because she gets some one-on-one time in a major way without the distraction of a trip to the grocery store or other errands.  (That said, Maggie’s story time and music class we started with Caroline & Thomas are things I’d rather she didn’t miss.)

Cora gave Maggie a bunch of stamps for Christmas and we were able to use them and Maggie fell in love with pushing them onto the paper. The girl has a knack for making sure the ink gets pushed onto the paper, check out her face! I had a very hard time containing my laughter and by the time Chaya came over Maggie was practically a stamping expert. If you need anything stamped, Maggie’s your girl.

Besides stamping, Maggie has been assisting Barry in various tasks outside…..like wiping snow off the car I never drive and hitting snow off the bamboo that I hate with a stick. Yesterday we spent far too much time outside making a movie about Barry hitting snow off a tree in our backyard. In a strange way I hope you get to see it, but it probably wouldn’t make your life any better if you do.

So we’re surviving the big snow of 2012. I was informed today by Maggie to be quiet (imagine her curly head and index finger like a librarian shuuuushing me) because her baby was sleeping. I had to laugh because I totally get it, the need to be quiet when you’ve finally got your babe to sleep. Mags is such a good mama to her babies, I keep finding them swaddled around the house and earlier today I found one of her babies “reading” a book that Maggie had propped up.

I love it. I hate it. The snow really is beautiful and we’re fortunate enough to have a warm, warm home and lots to entertain us while we watch the flaky whiteness fall from the sky. I love the taste of fresh snow. I love the sound of snow….or the way it makes me really listen. I’m not going to make a list of what I hate about the snow, but I will say this: I’ll be glad when the roads clear up.

My Baby is a Rock Star

My parents house is a fine, fine mixture of stones and gardens. My dad has gifted my mom with a series of large, large rocks that have since been sprinkled around their property. I’ve posed Maggie a few times on the one that is closest to their house and right next to one of my mom’s gardens.

I love how obvious it is that the seasons are different, even down to the rock. Maggie has certainly grown, but the garden also has evolved and changed. I’ll continue to snap these photos when I remember with the changing seasons. Maybe I’ll even ask Sparky to come back and photo bomb again because he clearly wanted to be in the series and somehow we lost him along the way.