Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Sitting Up!!

Birds

Any one who knows me knows of my love of birds. As soon as we moved here, I was incredibly anxious to get some bird feeders up. I hung up two, and within a day I had to buy two more to meet the demand. I have started a rather lengthy list of bird species that I have seen at my feeders and in the woods. Here is just a small sampling of some birds TJ saw while sitting on the deck for 10 minutes.

Gold Finch:

House Finch (we have tons of these, and will have plenty more since the second brood of babies has now hatched on the front porch!)
Downy woodpecker--also have seen a yellow bellied sapsucker and a red bellied woodpecker.
And of course my little friend who buzzed up to my PJ pants one morning...

One Last Gift for Bronwen

I guess the party guests and I weren't the only ones who had gifts for Bronwen, for at the end of the day, after her party and her nap, this is what we saw:

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Monday, May 16, 2011

Easter In Baton Rouge Part 1

We had a fantastic visit over Easter--the whole family loaded onto an airplane and arrived in New Orleans about 2 hours later. The girls were awesome, and Adam charmed all around him.

We arrived on a Friday, and that night we headed over to Aunt Becky and Uncle Meaux's house for dinner: crawfish etouffe.

The girls got to visit with their cousins:

While Adam just hung out.
The next morning Bee Bee helped the girls find their sunny dispositions:
while they worked on dying Easter eggs. Bee Bee was indeed there, but refused to have her image captured. Evidence of Bee Bee's hand can be found below:

After all the hard decorating work, the girls enjoyed splashing around in the new fountain in the backyard.
The rest of the day was spent relaxing and trying to get into a routine. T.J. was super excited to have the Johnny Jump-up there.

Umm...What?

We're watching Diego, and he just asked, "Does a humpback whale live in the ocean or in the city?" and Bronwen said, "The ocean!" Then she added, "For sure." (kind of in a "duh" tone.")

Friday, May 13, 2011

Happy Birthday Bronwen!

Four years pass by in but a blink of an eye...Happy birthday to my sweet Bronwen, inquisitive and determined, sweet and kind, who can always make me laugh with a cuddle and a giggle. I love you, and I will be forever grateful to you for making me not just any mom, but your mom.

Saturday, May 7, 2011

Meanwhile, back at the Ranch...

Lila was working on her mad motor skills.

Watch out world!
Adam saw her and decided he wanted to learn how to drive as well, but I'm not sure this is what he had in mind!

May 1st Violin Recital

Bronwen had her first violin recital on Sunday, and she did great. She was the last one to join the rest of the kids, so she had to sit through almost an hour of music, but she was patient and attentive, even noting that one girl got to use "pinkie." (Bronwen isn't quite there yet.) Before the recital, TJ took her for a photo on the lawn of the court square. I wasn't there, obviously, because I would have pushed her violin up to the right position:


Making beautiful music:

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Apologies

I am sorry we have been MIA, but we spent most of last week in Baton Rouge. TJ took some excellent pictures chronicling our adventures, but sadly, left the USB cord for his camera at his mom's house. Never fear, blog readers, for his parents are arriving Friday for Adam's baptism. Many blog posts will follow, I am certain!

Monday, May 2, 2011

Tough Questions

After Bronwen's violin recital, we listened to some Sesame Street music (which Bronwen moderately dislikes) on the car ride home. Bronwen heard us chatting in the front seat and wanted to participate. We turned down the music to concentrate on Bronwen's queries. Transcript follows:

Bronwen: What does human mean?
Daddy: It means being a person.
Bronwen: What is a person?
Mama: It means being alive, and eating and breathing and growing, as a person, instead of as another animal such as a dog or tiger, or other living things like grass and trees.
Bronwen: How is grass living?
Daddy: Grass is living because it grows. It eats the nutrients from the soil and from the sun, and it drinks water when it rains. When there’s no water or no sunlight, then the grass turns brown and dies.
Bronwen: Why does it turn brown?
Daddy: Grass turns brown when it doesn’t get enough to eat or drink. The brown color is a sign that it’s not healthy.

[pause]

Bronwen: Why do letters make sounds?
Mama: Because you put the sounds together to make words, so we can communicate with each other.
Bronwen: What sound does a “c” make?
Mama: Sometimes “c” makes a “k” sound, like in “cat” but sometimes it makes a “ss” sound like in “circus.”
Bronwen: What sound do numbers make?
Daddy: Bronwen, numbers don’t make sounds, they help us to count things.

[pause]

Bronwen, resigned: Please put the music back on.