Last night we bought tickets for the three of us to go to London this August! So start praying for us and all the other people who will be on the plane with Sims for 8 hours. I'm really excited about the destination, but I'm already stressed out about the journey. Hopefully, there will be a lot of sleeping on the plane for all of us.
We're only going to be there a week, but I'm already thinking of all the daytrips I want to take. Jason and I have seen most of the high points in London. There are a few that I would like to revisit (National Gallery especially) and a few that we didn't get to see the first time (Tate Modern, the inside of Westminster Abbey). I am really excited about going on daytrips outside of the city. Like any good Episcopalian, I think that visiting Canterbury is a must. There are also Leeds Castle and Oxford or Cambridge. I'm obviously still in the early planning stages, and I probably won't make any firm plans until we get there. We'll be there with all of Jason's family, so flexibility is key.
I am really excited about taking Sims on his first BIG trip! Even though he won't remember it, I think it's exciting for him. And if he does really well on the plane, maybe I'll be able to convince Jason to take us to Italy or France next year. Maybe?
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Thursday, March 24, 2011
What I am loving
These are some of the things that I am loving right now:
1. Our lawn in our backyard. Yes, you heard that right. Not only do we have grass back there, but I would categorize it as a lawn. It is lush and beautiful and everything that I imagined it could be. (To see the desert that it was in September, go here.)
2. The beautiful weather. We did yard work this weekend in shorts and t-shirts.
3. The new green in the trees.
4. Watching Sims be curious and excited about the world around him.
5. Wine on the deck while Sims plays on the lawn.
6. Eating dinner (and snacks) on the deck.
What are you loving now?
1. Our lawn in our backyard. Yes, you heard that right. Not only do we have grass back there, but I would categorize it as a lawn. It is lush and beautiful and everything that I imagined it could be. (To see the desert that it was in September, go here.)
2. The beautiful weather. We did yard work this weekend in shorts and t-shirts.
3. The new green in the trees.
4. Watching Sims be curious and excited about the world around him.
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| Looking at flowers |
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| Reaction to seeing Jason use the leaf blower |
6. Eating dinner (and snacks) on the deck.
What are you loving now?
Monday, March 21, 2011
Puppies
It's been fun to watch how Sims' favorite toys/books/stuffed animals will change over time. Sometimes, it will take him a long time to get interested in something, and other times he loves it immediately. At Christmas, Santa brought him a stuffed cat, and Jason and I got him a dog one. The cat was love at first sight with him, and he went everywhere with it. He had to sleep with it. He pretty much ignored the dog.
That has changed. He is all about the puppies. He now loves the dog that we gave him for Christmas. He carries it around with another dog, and they are by far his favorites. He has even woken up a couple of mornings with his first word being "puppy." Jason and I will lie in bed listening to him say, "Puppy, puppy, puppy." It is a fun word to say, when you think about it.
I took a couple of pictures of him this morning as he was walking with me to the kitchen to fix some breakfast. He had both of the puppies in his arms because he couldn't leave them. These are the puppies that I have previously shown eating dinner on the table with Sims.
He just loves them!
That silly smile is so cute to me. I was just happy that he let me take his picture. He's not wanted me to take his picture lately. I don't know where he got that!
So I don't know how long this puppy phase will last, but it's so darn cute.
That has changed. He is all about the puppies. He now loves the dog that we gave him for Christmas. He carries it around with another dog, and they are by far his favorites. He has even woken up a couple of mornings with his first word being "puppy." Jason and I will lie in bed listening to him say, "Puppy, puppy, puppy." It is a fun word to say, when you think about it.
I took a couple of pictures of him this morning as he was walking with me to the kitchen to fix some breakfast. He had both of the puppies in his arms because he couldn't leave them. These are the puppies that I have previously shown eating dinner on the table with Sims.
He just loves them!
That silly smile is so cute to me. I was just happy that he let me take his picture. He's not wanted me to take his picture lately. I don't know where he got that!
So I don't know how long this puppy phase will last, but it's so darn cute.
Friday, March 18, 2011
Bulletin Board
This weekend I finally finished a little project that I have wanted to do for a while. I have had a plain jane bulletin board at work that I haven't been using, so I thought I should jazz it up and put it to good use. I got this great idea from Bryn Alexandra, and I found some fabric and did it myself. And I got to use a staple gun, which was fun (after I learned from which side the staples come out. Ha!)
This has also inspired me to finally start decorating my office. After 5 years, I think it's time. Here is the bulletin board in my office, but the office isn't finished yet!
I still have my degrees that I need to hang on the walls. They have been framed forever now, but they haven't made it the office yet. Next week! Then I need to find stuff for the other walls and the bookcase. Maybe it will be finished in another 5 years.
This has also inspired me to finally start decorating my office. After 5 years, I think it's time. Here is the bulletin board in my office, but the office isn't finished yet!
I still have my degrees that I need to hang on the walls. They have been framed forever now, but they haven't made it the office yet. Next week! Then I need to find stuff for the other walls and the bookcase. Maybe it will be finished in another 5 years.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Daylight Savings
Oh, how I dreaded the switch to daylight savings time! Not only was it going to be harder for me to get up in the morning, I knew it was going to be even harder to get Sims to go to bed at a decent hour. Let's face it, I'm pooped once he's gone to bed. I'm usually in bed not long after he is.
We had a plan to make it as easy as possible. First we went to church as usual.
Then Sims was supposed to nap once we got home. Wrong. He had ridiculous amounts of energy. With no nap in sight. So we went outside and played.
Since we don't have a playset or a playground nearby, we found the next best thing. The cars!
Then at 4:15, he crashed (not the car) and finally took a nap. This did not bode well with the time change. So we let him have a half-hour nap. Just enough to get him ready for dinner at church with all the families with young children. We figured that the dinner with all the other kids would definitely get him ready to go to bed early.
Well, we never made it to the church, but it had nothing to do with Sims. We were half way there, when the car started to smell, the check battery light came on and the power steering failed. The accessory belt had shredded. Thirty minutes later, the tow truck was there and my wonderful brother came to take us home. I didn't take any pictures of this little outing.
In the end, Sims was asleep by 9:00, which was earlier than we had expected, since he has been going to sleep between 8:30 and 9:00 recently. Every night since then, he has been asleep by 8:30 at the latest. Last night it was 8:15! I'm not sure what's going on, but I'm not complaining (except about the car, which after being fixed had to be towed again today. Yay, for car maintenance.)
We had a plan to make it as easy as possible. First we went to church as usual.
Then Sims was supposed to nap once we got home. Wrong. He had ridiculous amounts of energy. With no nap in sight. So we went outside and played.
Since we don't have a playset or a playground nearby, we found the next best thing. The cars!
Then at 4:15, he crashed (not the car) and finally took a nap. This did not bode well with the time change. So we let him have a half-hour nap. Just enough to get him ready for dinner at church with all the families with young children. We figured that the dinner with all the other kids would definitely get him ready to go to bed early.
Well, we never made it to the church, but it had nothing to do with Sims. We were half way there, when the car started to smell, the check battery light came on and the power steering failed. The accessory belt had shredded. Thirty minutes later, the tow truck was there and my wonderful brother came to take us home. I didn't take any pictures of this little outing.
In the end, Sims was asleep by 9:00, which was earlier than we had expected, since he has been going to sleep between 8:30 and 9:00 recently. Every night since then, he has been asleep by 8:30 at the latest. Last night it was 8:15! I'm not sure what's going on, but I'm not complaining (except about the car, which after being fixed had to be towed again today. Yay, for car maintenance.)
Monday, March 14, 2011
General aviation
A few months ago, one of my co-workers told me about the General Aviation Terminal at the airport. She said there was a cafe and a balcony overlooking the tarmac. For some reason, I kept forgetting about this. We finally remembered this weekend. We looked up the times that the cafe was open and made sure that we could make it there before 2:00 when it closed. We were all on the way there for lunch, and Sims fell asleep halfway there. We just turned around and went home.
Of course, he woke up as soon as we got home, so we ate lunch there. When he didn't go back down for a nap, we decided we could always go to the cafe for dessert. We piled back in the car and headed back to the airport. We got there and found out that they are closed on weekends. But we still felt like we found the jackpot!
Saturday was a bit windy, so we mainly stayed inside the building. I spent most of the time sitting in these leather chairs.
with this view.
Sims was so excited to see it all. Even the fuel truck.
There was hardly anyone there, so we got to enjoy running around the place. And, of course, pretending to be airplanes.
This doesn't have the playground area like the observation park, but I think I like it better. We don't have to worry about the crowds or the weather.
The only problem is that it really made me wish we were actually going somewhere. It probably didn't help that I knew my parents were in the air on the way to St. Croix for 2 weeks.
Sims sure loves his hats. He really wanted to wear a hat, and his Halloween costume hat was the only warm weather one we could find. It's getting a bit small on him. I guess we will need to find a new one for this hat lover.
Of course, he woke up as soon as we got home, so we ate lunch there. When he didn't go back down for a nap, we decided we could always go to the cafe for dessert. We piled back in the car and headed back to the airport. We got there and found out that they are closed on weekends. But we still felt like we found the jackpot!
Saturday was a bit windy, so we mainly stayed inside the building. I spent most of the time sitting in these leather chairs.
with this view.
Sims was so excited to see it all. Even the fuel truck.
There was hardly anyone there, so we got to enjoy running around the place. And, of course, pretending to be airplanes.
This doesn't have the playground area like the observation park, but I think I like it better. We don't have to worry about the crowds or the weather.
The only problem is that it really made me wish we were actually going somewhere. It probably didn't help that I knew my parents were in the air on the way to St. Croix for 2 weeks.
Sims sure loves his hats. He really wanted to wear a hat, and his Halloween costume hat was the only warm weather one we could find. It's getting a bit small on him. I guess we will need to find a new one for this hat lover.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Books, "cooking," and feeding puppies
I have a small confession to make. I have an addiction. To buying children's books. I am especially enamored with children's books from the 50s and 60s. Even though I do have a penchant for ones from the 70s and 80s, too. Of course, I also can't pass up ones that I know Sims would love. A week ago I made a trip to the thrift store just to buy them. Behold my booty plunder:
A couple of them are ones that I knew Sims would love immediately, like the Dr. Seuss, Sandra Boynton (we're huge Boynton fans here), and Trucks. He had just learned about Jonah in his Sunday school class, so I thought a book about it would reinforce it.
This is obviously one for me. I had never heard of Donna Parker before, but I knew I had to have it. It sounds like a knock-off Nancy Drew. I've now done a bit of research on it, and this book is #5 in a 7 book series. I think I need to have them all. (I told you I was addicted.)
All of the Golden Books range from the 60s to the 80s, and Sims loves some of them as much as I do. It's Bedtime was one that Alex had when he was little, so I had to buy it. Jason thinks that I am crazy for being sentimental about my brother's stuff, but I am. I got all of these books for less than $5, so I don't feel too bad about the fact that we don't have enough bookshelf space in my house for them all. Plus, Sims gets to reap the rewards.
Now that I've bored you with all the details of that, I'll move right along. Sims has gotten really into wanting to help cook or "cook." Even this morning, he helped me make sandwiches for Jason's and my lunches, and he was excited about it. Last night, he did a bit of his own "cooking."
Block soup, perhaps? I just love to see his imagination taking shape. My imagination got a little workout last night, also. When it was time for dinner, Sims would NOT let go of his puppies. Since his meal involved ketchup, he couldn't eat while holding them. So the only way I could figure out to get him to eat was to let his puppies eat, too.
The puppies got cheerios, and Sims had chicken nuggets and oranges. He seemed fine with that. I love this age!
A couple of them are ones that I knew Sims would love immediately, like the Dr. Seuss, Sandra Boynton (we're huge Boynton fans here), and Trucks. He had just learned about Jonah in his Sunday school class, so I thought a book about it would reinforce it.
This is obviously one for me. I had never heard of Donna Parker before, but I knew I had to have it. It sounds like a knock-off Nancy Drew. I've now done a bit of research on it, and this book is #5 in a 7 book series. I think I need to have them all. (I told you I was addicted.)
All of the Golden Books range from the 60s to the 80s, and Sims loves some of them as much as I do. It's Bedtime was one that Alex had when he was little, so I had to buy it. Jason thinks that I am crazy for being sentimental about my brother's stuff, but I am. I got all of these books for less than $5, so I don't feel too bad about the fact that we don't have enough bookshelf space in my house for them all. Plus, Sims gets to reap the rewards.
Now that I've bored you with all the details of that, I'll move right along. Sims has gotten really into wanting to help cook or "cook." Even this morning, he helped me make sandwiches for Jason's and my lunches, and he was excited about it. Last night, he did a bit of his own "cooking."
Block soup, perhaps? I just love to see his imagination taking shape. My imagination got a little workout last night, also. When it was time for dinner, Sims would NOT let go of his puppies. Since his meal involved ketchup, he couldn't eat while holding them. So the only way I could figure out to get him to eat was to let his puppies eat, too.
The puppies got cheerios, and Sims had chicken nuggets and oranges. He seemed fine with that. I love this age!
Monday, March 7, 2011
Back to the airport
Last weekend, when Jason's parents were here, we went to the airport. That may not be much of a surprise to you, since it seems that we go there every weekend. (I assure you we do not.) It was a short trip, since the parents had to head home and Sims was not feeling 100%. Jason's mom took a couple of pictures of us, and I thought I would share.
This weekend my parents came to visit. They stayed with Alex and Neely, so we didn't get to see them much. I did not take a single picture. Mom did though, so we'll see if she shares them with me. (Are you reading, Mom?) I know she got a couple of pictures of me holding Isla that I want to see.
Other than that, this weekend was fairly productive, and I almost completed everything on my to-do list. I think I may have finally realized just how much (or little) I can accomplish in a weekend with a toddler in tow. It's taken me a while. I'm a slow learner.
This weekend my parents came to visit. They stayed with Alex and Neely, so we didn't get to see them much. I did not take a single picture. Mom did though, so we'll see if she shares them with me. (Are you reading, Mom?) I know she got a couple of pictures of me holding Isla that I want to see.
Other than that, this weekend was fairly productive, and I almost completed everything on my to-do list. I think I may have finally realized just how much (or little) I can accomplish in a weekend with a toddler in tow. It's taken me a while. I'm a slow learner.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Day at the Park
I'm sorry that I have been MIA this week. I have had a goal to blog 3 times a week, and, well, you can see how that's working out. This has just been one of those weeks, when I haven't been able to pull it together. For no real reason either. The week has flown by, yet I'm still amazed that it's not Friday yet. Don't you hate that? I couldn't help but feel cheated this morning when I realized that it's Thursday and not Friday.
On to the reason why you are here - what we have been up to lately. This weekend Jason's parents came to visit. We have pictures on 2 cameras, and I, of course, only have the pictures from one camera. So we will go from there. On Saturday we enjoyed the nice weather by going to the park. Our family tradition is to go to the park, then head to Henry's Gelato for a treat. This time we decided to do that in reverse, which meant that Sims had time to use up some of that sugar by running around.
When we got there, he saw a couple of dogs and got so excited. He started stomping his foot and shouting, "Puppy! Puppy!" Not only did we laugh, but other people around us did, too. That was definitely a moment I wished I had on video. Who needs a dog for his birthday? (Just joking, Jason.)
We watched people feeding the ducks and birds around the lake. Then we went for a walk. Sims got to pet a few dogs, so he thought the park visit was perfect. He kinda pitched a fit, when it was time to go home.
Sims' favorite thing now is to be outside. He is constantly pointing to the door and saying, "Outside?" On a nice day, it is great, but when it is cold, it's not so great. He would stay outside all day, if possible. I hope that the rain will hold off enough on Saturday, so we can get some quality outside-time in.
On to the reason why you are here - what we have been up to lately. This weekend Jason's parents came to visit. We have pictures on 2 cameras, and I, of course, only have the pictures from one camera. So we will go from there. On Saturday we enjoyed the nice weather by going to the park. Our family tradition is to go to the park, then head to Henry's Gelato for a treat. This time we decided to do that in reverse, which meant that Sims had time to use up some of that sugar by running around.
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| Piled in the car on the way to the park |
We watched people feeding the ducks and birds around the lake. Then we went for a walk. Sims got to pet a few dogs, so he thought the park visit was perfect. He kinda pitched a fit, when it was time to go home.
Sims' favorite thing now is to be outside. He is constantly pointing to the door and saying, "Outside?" On a nice day, it is great, but when it is cold, it's not so great. He would stay outside all day, if possible. I hope that the rain will hold off enough on Saturday, so we can get some quality outside-time in.
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