The Snowman That Will Not Go Away

We once built a snowman
That was a pretty fun day
But he has started to wear out his welcome
That snowman that will not go away

We giggled after the second snowstorm
Seeing his new skirt and pretending he liked ballet
He was still fun to have around then...
That snowman that will not go away

After the third snowstorm he caught my eye one morning
He seemed to be swimming laps as if to say
Don't worry I'm enjoying myself here
Because I am the snowman that will NOT go away

He even is a little nosey
Peeking in at us though out the day
It seems we have a squatter!
It's that snowman that WILL NOT go away

Now he is nice and cozy
Settled in and seemingly here to stay
Maybe in the spring when we see him again and laugh
At the thought of the snowman, who would NOT go away

(Our yard guest was originally built about 3.5-4' tall, but he keeps getting taller.  The elements are definitely in his favor.)

About That Smile... Third Edition

Baby girl has inherited her siblings' camera allergy.  Its a rare condition that, when a camera is pointed at you, you are unable to smile.  With treatment there is hope.

Baby girl likes to keep her tongue out these days.  Makes a good fly trap, and a source of lots of drool.

Big brother decided to crash the photo session.  Speaking of which, he has made great improvements.
(Past smile attempts- About That Smile, First Edition, About That Smile, Second Edition)

Big brother has taken the spotlight, looks like this third child ain't havin' it.  She has a weapon-

Little lady wants in now.

Yay!  A picture without her tongue-

Enter back into the picture big brother.  She does love him but guess she doesn't want to share the camera with him today.

Actually she is just infatuated with grabbing that soft, golden hair of his.

There's that tongue again.

Partial success, just need her to smile for the camera.

....but I know from experience, you don't push the buttons of a third child. ;)

Baby Goes On Vacation

You might be surprised to know that my day isn't always filled with Mommy cuddles and silky taggie toys.

Somedays it can be quite stressful laying around on the floor in this noisy house.

People don't really think about it but-  babies need a vacation!

Thankfully Mommy and Daddy love me SO much that they took me on a much needed vacation.... all the way to a place called Jamaica.  First thing Mommy did (after getting that drink) was take my clothes off.  Woohoo, this was good start.  Unrestricted access to my toes!

Brother and sister stayed behind at Grandma and Pa's.  So for the first time, I had things all to myself.

Most importantly, I had Mommy and Daddy ALL TO MYSELF.  Oh yeah....

I will even take this way of being carried, doesn't matter, someone is holding me and I love it.   Hello sandy ground.... I wonder how you taste-

Apparently when on vacation one is supposed to chill.  This is my chillin' face-

This is me chillin' with my mom listening to island music-

This is me chillin' with my daddy, on the back of a bike.  "When I push with my foot Daddy I want you to go faster"-

This is me chillin' on the beach-

When I am chillin' my Mommy and Daddy are very happy.  They did laugh and smile more than usual-

They also took me to this beautiful ceremony with a whole LOT of beautiful smiles-

They gave me this amazing crinkly toy.  I'm serious guys, if you have never squished and crinkled a tissue package for a half an hour.... you haven't lived.

The reception site had Dr. Suess trees y'all-

I also got to meet some new friends that held me at times too!  Good looking peeps right?  I stared closely at their faces and pulled on their hair..... especially that pretty blonde lady next to mommy.  And the guy in the blue pants and sport jacket..... he is pretty much my boyfriend.

As you know, vacations have to end.  But I soaked up as much Mommy arm time as I could before we got home-

So here I am back to normal life.

I love my brother and sister, so let's not tell them that sometimes I need a vacation from them.  It will be our little secret-

The Opposite Family

My husband and I are quite aware of the differences between us.  Mainly its our thought processes.  I am a very practical person, I will admit sometimes too practical, and I enjoy simplicity.  Jonathan on the other hand wants to always be (we will say) revolutionary and/or unconventional with his ideas and thinking.  Neither are bad and glad God made people different.  Otherwise it would be a boring and struggling world.  We are thankful also we can laugh about our differences instead of bicker about them (sometimes). :)
 
Shall I give you an example of our opposite family?

This week Jonathan decided he wanted to hang a large florescent light in our FAMILY ROOM to help some seedlings grow.  So attractive, I thought, would a random large florescent light be hanging from a main focal point of the room.  Did I mention it was large AND in our family room where our kids play.

He wants to hang this-

Here-

Here he is at work-

Excited about his idea-

So being the quiet, passive person that I am (I hear you laughing) I gave in... kind of.
I was quiet.... in my further disapproval.
Non-approval face number 1-

Non-approval face number 2-

Whoops, he almost caught me-

More disapproving-

Ok, I better stop since he is getting annoyed at my giggling in the background-

In case your mind went there.... I am thankful for my husband's differences.  It keeps both our minds open.  I love all of him and hope you don't think I am mocking him in any way.  SOOOO minor things like this are in the grand scheme of life... well at the moment this is minor.... we will see how these seedlings do in the middle of the family room (aka war zone, yummmm dirt little lady says)-

The opposites do NOT end there.  Little man and little lady are quite opposite also.

Another example-
Little man painting his painting JUST like the included sticker.

Little lady paying no attention to the lines and doing her own thing (a true artist I guess).  She can stay within the lines, this isn't a motor skill thing-

Finish product comparison.  Realism on the left, abstract art on the right-

Little man reading a fact handbook on sharks (nerd alert!)-

Little lady falling asleep to a story about a silly turkey wearing his clothes different from everyone else (her favorite book right now)-

Variety is the spice of life!
Not sure yet which way baby girl is going to go.  For now she has much more important matters to tend to.  Like what are these things attached to me and why doesn't food come out of them?  Right now she is a full fledge explorer.  Looking forward to learning what unique individual she will become.