Signs of Spring

It may be only February... but spring is definitely on the way! This weekend I saw three clear signs that spring is coming....

First, I bought a weeping pussy willow a couple of weeks ago. Saturday all the buds were popping out like crazy... just lovely!

When I took those pics, I noticed that my lavendar has flowers on it too! OK, so one tiny cluster of flowers... but if you look closely they ARE there! :)

The third sign... well, I heard this annoying noise and realized that it was a fly up against the window a buzz, buzz, buzzing. Yuck... but it's spring. No picture for this one... I'm sure that's ok!

Yesterday was record highs... 74 degrees... wow! By Sunday we will have a high in the 30's. Spring has a lot of ups and downs. Bummer!

Until then I'll have to gaze at the weeping pussy willow... and keep A~ from rubbing all the buds off! Today the buds have gotten really fat and fuzzy... I guess the flower is in full bloom here. It's hard to see in the picture. Hopefully I can try to get a better shot this weekend with some natural light. Pretty cool!

much love,

erin

New Year, New Look!

I haven't posted in just about forever! Sorry about that. We've been so busy here... first the holidays and then company... and work has been keeping me extra busy too! I'm going to try to get over here at least once a week to keep you up to date with our goings on... promise!

Shan and the gang were a lot of fun. A~ is really missing them. She has moved into her big girl room and big girl bed, and is doing great. I still have more to do on the room... I'd love to find a new dresser that's a bit taller and not as wide, and the shades are still pinned and sitting on the ironing board.. but it is looking pretty good. :)

Last weekend A~ decided that she was ready for another haircut. So we went to Cartoon Cuts on Saturday afternoon and waited in the crowd for our turn. We told the stylist that we wanted it about shoulder length... so she cut off some and asked A~ how it was. She responded, "Nope, a little shorter." What a surprise since she doesn't like to get it cut at all! Here are the before and after shots:

much love,

erin

Trimming the Tree

I LOVE Christmas! I start playing holiday music the day after Thanksgiving... and I play it through New Year's... EVERY day! (that one makes Sergio crazy!) Although we've had a real tree some years, I really require an artificial tree. That's because I want to set it up the weekend after Thanksgiving and keep it up through January. Generally I have to have it down by Valentine's Day. I know others find that too long a time frame... but I LOVE have it up and I can... so I do! :) The cold of winter just doesn't seem so bad if you get to curl up and watch telly with the glow of the tree next to you... KWIM?

A~ is lovin' the decorating part. She was SO sad when we ran out of ornaments! And this year she's big enough to hand stuff somewhere other than the bottom branches... and she can understand spreading things out so that everything isn't in the same general area. That's a big help for mom who had to sneak behind her last year and secretly rearrange things when somebody was sleeping! :)

Here are a couple of shots to get you in the spirit of the season. We took Christmas card shots last night... but that will be a surprise with your card. Enjoy!

much love,

erin

Very Thankful

What a wonderful Thanksgiving!

I think A~ had her best Thanksgiving yet. The weather was warm and balmy... into the 70's until almost 3pm.

She played out front while everything cooked and caught parts of the parade on the telly. I think she asked where Santa was every 5 minutes at least! Much to her relief, he showed up... although she wasn't happy to find that he was the END of the parade.

We had a great meal (what a relief!) and A~ really enjoyed the sparkling pomegranate juice I got as a treat for her. (Actually it's all gone today... so I think her and Sergio both enjoyed it a lot! Isn't it always those little things that kids find so special?!). After eating we went to the park for walking, scooter-ing, a little soccer, and fun on the playground. Then the cold front came through and gave us a lot of wind and a little rain. We headed home for pie, naps, and playing computer games. Later came more food, more games (including A~ favorite.. Barrel of Monkeys game..., and our first ever family round of "Hello Kitty" Uno with cookies and milk.

Thanksgiving's been a tough holiday to celebrate... since I'm kind of in charge of the planning and execution of it ... but this year it was a wonderful day with lots to be thankful for!

Much love,

erin

Brave little girl

On last Friday, we went to get A~'s flu shot. She was not happy about it at all. I had been mentioning it off and on to get her used to the idea... and now the time had finally come. As we got ready to go, she begged and pleaded, "Please, Mommy, can we do the shot tomorrow and not today?" She cried some more and finally decided that she would feel better if she took some fruit snacks with her (thanks, Mamasan... they came in real handy!). One package was finished in the car... and the second one was going fast, except for that last piece. On our way walking into the flu shot clinic, I was trying to hold her hand, but kept ending up with a little fist. Finally I asked, "What ARE you holding?" "My fruit snack," she replied. "It has a funny face, so I can look at it when I get my shot and it will help me forget that the shot hurts."

WOW! I wish I had thought of that!

Unfortunately that only worked until we got 2 feet from the table where the nurse was sitting. Then we were back to crying and screaming and the other nurse had to help. Once the shot was done, she grabbed my purse off the floor and headed for the door... she couldn't wait to get out of there!

Now, she says that she wants to be an angel... since they don't need shots. I think she's already an angel! I am a bit biased, though! :)

Finally figured out the Flickr feed!

Can you say "alliteration"?! :)

I am SO excited! If you look to the left you'll see that I've finally figured out how to link over to Flickr so you can see my scrapbooking layouts a little bit easier. I am taking my stuff out of the 2Peas Gallery where it was before and reloading it... and, of course, some new stuff... into the Flickr site. It's going to take a little while. I'm hoping that it will make it simpler to see what I'm working on (that's for you Mom!) so you don't have to jump from 2Peas to ScrapGoods, to More Than Scrapbooking to see things. Hopefully it won't take too long to get it in there!

Much love,
erin

Teatime!

Remember the china tea set that Mamasan got me when I was about 8 years old. I still have it. One teacup is gone... broken I'm sure.... and one saucer is chipped (I actually still have the chipped off piece taped to the plate... in case I ever want to fix it! Ha, ha!). Otherwise it is in excellent condition. A~ got a little teaset for her birthday this year while they were in Bolivia. Unfortunately it is still there. So I pulled out my old one and she has been playing tea party ever since. Some evenings she even decides that she HAS to put on a dress first... can't go to a tea party in the wrong outfit now, can we?





Enjoy!

erin

PS. I just put in a new photo... it looks SO much better with natural light! :)