I Want An Elephant...Or...A Rino-Nose

On Monday we had to go down to the valley for a doctor appointment. Normally, we just drive down, and then turn around and go back up just in time for work. Heidi Anne's Nana has been wanting to take her to the Zoo for a long time, and we haven't been in forever (maybe in well over 15 years) so it seemed like a good time to go.

Baby Elephant

After our doctor appointment, we grabbed some breakfast, then we went to the Zoo right when it opened
(9:00 am sharp). I think we were the very first ones in there that day! Sure it was a little rainy, and snowy, but we were packed for it, gloves, scarves, hats, umbrella-we were going to enjoy it one way or another. (Yeah, we weren't excited one bit).

It was totally awesome to go to the Zoo so early!! It was like we owned the zoo! No lines, or crowds, the animals were all super active, most of them were getting their breakfast or brunch-and just being so cute and interactive.

Momma Elephant

Heidi Anne's favorite animal was the Elephant. We just sat there for a good 10 minutes as she watched the elephants play with sticks. The baby elephant is super cute! Her other favorite were the Rino-Nose. She now wants an Elephant for her birthday...OR...a Rino-Nose. (Glad she's giving us options.)

 

We saw so many monkeys, which she just adored! She kept asking if her Aunt Sarah was coming, (last time Sarah visited her they played a game where there were monkeys after them)-so every time she saw a monkey she would ask, "Nana, Sarah coming?"

She loved the tigers and the other big cats. One tiger just growled, another came right up to the glass by Heidi Anne, and looked like she was petting him. She loved her tigers and the other Big kitties. We also saw the wolves play tag, which she got a good laugh at.

It's Dead

ROUS

One of her last favorite spots of the trip was the small animal exhibit. Here we saw the Crocodiles, they were sleeping, but Heidi Anne firmly announced-"He's Dead"-and just moved on. We saw several R.O.U.S's (Rodents of Unusual Size), snakes, and beautiful birds. Which Heidi Anne just loved.

Heidi Being a Funny Bunny

All in All it was a really fun trip to the Zoo-and we saw it all in less then 2 hours. SO going first thing in the morning is the way to go. I do wish the weather was slightly better, because there are soo many fun little parks there too Heidi Anne would have loved to play on. However, we were prepared for it, and it made it so we had to zoo pretty much all to ourselves-which was soo awesome!

--Need Help--Project Small Garden

Sooo I need help and Advise:

I would like to do a little garden this spring / summer. However, I don't have much space, roughly 8 feet long and maybe 3 feet wide-max (see very little). Furthermore, I'm not sure what would really grow very well here in the valley, and my little space gets almost 100% direct sun. 

So I am in dire need of suggestions, ideas, advise, websites, blogs, tips, and so on. Here is what I have so far. I must warn you, it's not much.

 

 

 

Our "Yard"-Told you it wasn't much. ^o^

Plants:

I was thinking of growing onions, carrots, some lettuces, and maybe peas or beans (since I have a little fence I think I could make a trellis). However, I am not sure what types of these veggies would be best (since there are so many varieties of onions, carrots, ect). If you know of better plants-feel free to share. <(^.^)>

*Side Note-I am trying to stay away from herbs-I ALWAYS kill them and things that get big or tall or super viney (no watermelons)

Types of Gardening:

I have heard there is Window box gardening, SQFT gardening. So here is the space I have, again-I have very little space, in an HOA-so I can't just dig up where I want and start planting, and no natural soil either. Heidi Anne plays in the grassy sections-so I was thinking of taking over some of the concrete part.

What type of method do you think would work? Or are there other options?  

The Concrete Part

Oh, I almost forgot-I want Heidi Anne to have her own little flowers to tend to as well. What are some good flowers for a toddler that will keep blooming throughout the summer for her? So I can help get her interested in Gardening. I was thinking Morning Glories-I think they bloom all season and require very little care, right?

Home Again, Home Again Jiggity Jig

One of my favorite times of the day is going to pick up Heidi Anne from Suesue's and heading back home.  Now that the weather is getting nice again we sometimes go on "Adventures" and stop by a park on the way home and go play for a little bit.
No matter what, Heidi Anne always does the funniest things. So this time I was ready for her.

"I don't like this song"

I brought my camera as she covered her ears and said "I don't like it!" as a song came on the radio.
I also learned that she likes to stick her tongue out at me when she knows I can't see her.  I ask what she's doing and she sweetly says, "Oh....Nothing," and sweetly smiles at me. (I will forever have my doubts now......)

She thinks Momma Can't see her

Playing Innocent--as I ask "Heidi Anne, What are you up to"

"Oh, Nothing...."

Normally our drive home is filled with her telling us about her day. Pointing out different colors, wanting to talk with us about whatever it is we're talking about. My favorite is when she starts singing. She knows a fair amount of songs and isn't half bad for only being 2 1/2. 

Most of the drive is pretty much filled with all three of us laughing. Or us shaking our heads in confusion-we're not always sure what she's talking about but she gets very animated and into her stories. So I watch her to see how we're supposed to respond. (Believe me, you do not want to giggle when she is really telling a tragic story about how someone took her baby doll before nap-or seem like your ignoring her-it hurts her feelings).
Yeap, it starts at a very young age.

Singing "Baby Bumble Bee"

Horchata is NOT

Spanish For Napkins. I learned this valuable lesson first hand on Saturday when we went to Costa Vida for dinner. Heidi Anne had gotten all messy and I went to look for napkins. I couldn't find any right away-but I did find a nice dispenser and it read Horchata.  "Ah," I thought to myself, "I bet that is Spanish for napkins:" So I pressed on the dispenser and looked at Heidi Anne to say "Momma's getting napkins". 

Momma was close....

I was shocked when juice like stuff poured out everywhere. I did find some napkins, they were on the sides of the fountain drinks (with Napkins written in plain English I might add). I couldn't stop laughing at myself. I told Char, "Well, Horchata is NOT Spanish for napkins!" 

My Lighthouse

Rebekah-The Lighthouse

I am a lighthouse, worn by the weather and the waves.
I keep my lamp lit, to warn the sailors on their way. 
There is a song by Nickelcreek called "The Lighthouse Tale" This song reminds me of my sister Rebekah. For my family she's our Lighthouse and Anchor. I don't know how she does it, but she is there for all of her siblings and fills us all in what the others are doing.
So I thought I would take a sec to show off my siblings and the super cute neices and newphews. My sisters' family, just like ours live for our kids. So almost all pictures will have our kids in them. But that's how a family should be. 

Rebekah, Rhett, Rekailah (at 2), and Rykken ( 6 months)

The Cram Fam!
Rhett and Rebekah are like Char and I, they are High school sweethearts. Rebekah and I talk at least once a week-if I don't, she'll call me. We normally talk more then that, every other day or so. If I'm on the phone, Heidi Anne says "That Bekah? I talk to Kailah??" She never believes me when it's not Rebekah. Which is pretty funny. Heidi Anne loves to talk to Kailah on the phone, she even play calls Kailah.
We try to do fun little actives with the kids together, or sometimes we just stop by and visit when we're in the area. I don't think there is anything more fun then watching the three kids run back and forth playing together (sometimes we play with them too) and the 4 of us are just talking. Time just seems to fly away from us in there house-like a time warp.
Again she's the Lighthouse and Anchor, she's like this not just for me, but for my other brother and sister as well. She knows where everyone is, up to, sick, healthy, up, down, she's got tabs on all of us and fills me in and how everyone is doing. Which is great since I am like 2 hours away.

Maleia now 17, (She's 16 here) babysitting for Rebekah

Maleia is the baby girl is the family. She's now 17. I can't believe she's almost grown up. Here she is playing with Kailah and Rykken. You know the saying "Matching to the beat of a different drum?"
Well, she makes her own drum to beat to.
We were super close as kids, but then when they get to be like 10 they find out this big secret about me, I am sort of nerdy and boring.  10 and under I am sooo cool-after that-Bekah rocks.
So since 10-Bekah rocks. :)  Maleia used to do cheer, heavens that girl had talent like you wouldn't believe!! Super sweet and just all around a good girl, just don't cross her. <(^.^)>

Braedin at 12 (now 13) with Rebekah, Kailah,

 Braedin is the baby of the family. He's just turned 13. Guess not so baby any more. He loves being an Uncle to 3 little babies. He once said its like being a big brother, but then you get to send them home. (Grandparent mentality already).
He's into wrestling now and just being a teen boy.
(Again he's over 10-so Bekah rocks.)
But hey, we made mean paper maches and cute rock pets when he was little.
 

 

 

 

Melissa, Char, Heidi Anne (Age 2)

Us-Well You know us.
Your reading my blog. ^o^

Story Time

It's become a standard at night. She just has to be read to by Momma. Normally it is right after she gets on her night clothes, she then gets both of our blankets and drags them into her room, gets a pile of books, and comes over to me in the sweetest voice says "Momma read??"

So she then decides that Char can go play on the WiiFit (since he's been such a good Daddy), and off the two of us go and read together for at least 30 minutes. It varies on what type of book selection she picked out for us that night.  

What do we read? She loves Fly Guy, Cow Loves Cookies! The whole if you give a Mouse a Cookie books, any Dr Seuss 

HI Kitty

(I think we have them all almost). Now I am on the hunt for Skippy Jon Jones. She thinks Skippy is Hi Kitty's Brother. And more of Fly Guy and books by Cow Likes Cookies author, and the Dick and Jane type books.

I love to read Chicka Chicka Boom Boom or Cow Loves Cookies or Going on a Bear Hunt, we have little actions to go with the books, and we both might have them memorized.

SkippyJon Jones-Hi Kitty's Long Lost Brother?

We also read a poems or story from books like The Children's Book of Virtues as well. (She doesn't always need pictures, she just likes to watch and listen to me read).

I am always on the hunt for more authors and books as well-since I read the same book 500 times.-You know how that goes.....

But we love our story time, sometimes we'll read in the morning as well if she gets ready quickly.  

 Even better-story time is something Momma does better then Daddy! Finally! I have found my niche! She likes it when I read; maybe it's my voices, actions, or just how I read with her, who knows?

Everything else is still "Don't like it…want Daddy do it." Nevertheless, I rule the story time!

Heidi Anne Plays

So the weather here in the Valley can change. Today it is in the 20's, we are in a winter storm-with 8 inches on the ground. Just 10 days ago it was a lovely 45 degrees and sunny. Heidi Anne, knowing no other way-seems to just go with it, or we've adapted so well to it, she just seems so easy going. One way we've adapted Yes, we keep her slide indoors-we've get snow-a lot, so we have tons of "outside" toys inside-helps to keep her active in the long winters, or the summers when its to sunny for me to enjoy the fun outdoor actives together with her.

A few days ago when it was the nice 45 degrees we took her to the park. Her Nana and Aunt Sarah were even able to come join us for it. It was just so much fun to play outside and have her run around. We were there for nearly an hour. Perfect park weather.  She just made up little games and just just played along. Or Sarah made a game up where a monkey was after them. The next day Heidi Anne was still talking about the monkey and wanted us to call Sarah to go to the park and play Monkey.

This morning it was snowing-a lot. She came up with a game where she would "paint" a foam heart and have them race down the slide. She would cheer them on "Go, go, go" and when they reached the end of the slide she would clap her hands and yell "YEAH".

See-Very Adaptable--And Adorable.

Momma's Goal # 430

Do not suffer from Grass is Greener Syndrome and realize that green for 1 person is blue to another. A few days ago I posted on facebook and I quote myself:

" Why must all my favorite friends & coworkers move or have real lives?? **Cough, Cough, Lisa-Melissa-and on,** Thank goodness for Facebook ^o^"

It has been a fairly rough start to the New Year. Heidi Anne has been sick for most of it, I got bronchitis which turned into phenomia, and she's gotten her surgery to take out her adenoids and put in new tubes in her ears. We've been to the Instacare 3 times, and I was nearly hospitalized. We gave Hunter to a different family-sad for us, but better for him, he just wasn't getting all the attention he deserved. He is now one of those spoiled dogs in a little sweater with a retired couple-I cried out of happiness that we found him such a good family, I kept saying he won the puppy lotto.


Well, on top of all that, it just seems like so many of my friends and family are moving on or leaving for greener pastures. Some by their own choosing, handwork, well deserved breaks, or some are just having a hard year as myself (if not harder) and have no choice. Anyhow, there are just those moments where I feel like the slowpoke wanting to say "Wait Up Guys!! Wait for me!!"  I would LOVE to go on a planned vacation, like Disney (like my sister did with her family this week, or my other friend will later this month), or to Vegas, or just other fun trips.  



But right now we have medical bills to pay, so I will just live vicariously though my friends vacations-and keep enjoying the little things here, like the park, or national forests, or Baby Animal days. This summer we plan on taking our first camping trip--Oh that will be an adventure and a half. So I will love your vacation details. :)


It just seems like so many people I know and have worked with for so long are leaving, heck sometimes even just moving desks at work. But that is just because their goals and dreams are different, (the downside of living in a college town). We fell in love with this area and stayed, however, for most people this is a temporary home-and so they go. I think I have slowly come to realize that other peoples' roads lead them to different places, and I should be grateful that we shared the lane for a bit. So while the grass is green for me-it is mostly aqua for others, green enough for now-but soon it will change. 


Thank heavens for Facebook and blogs :)

That's A Spring Roll Wrap

Rewind to last week, my friend at work organized a potluck for Spring Rolls. It was lots of fun, really easy to make, and tasted really good. See my pretty spring roll?

Fast forward today. Spring Rolls sounded really good for some reason, and lucky for me, we pretty much had everything you could need;
Rice Noodles-Check
Nuts-Check
Romain Lettuce-(Well there is that bag of salad greens)-So Check
Cucumber-Nope (But hey, you only use a little anyways, so I don't really need it)-Moving Forward
Shrimp-(Those little frozen ones-you can get a huge bag for like $5 at Walmart)-Check
Spring Roll Sauce-(Well there is some teryiki sauce-not as good as the stuff Lisa made, oh well)-Check
Rice Paper-(No Go...Ooopppss--But wait...We do have some flat bread)-Check??

As you can tell-we were improvising here. I must say Char came up with a great idea to use sandwich wrap bread to replace the rice paper. What do you know, it worked! It made a great sandwich wrap, I think it's our new favorite sandwich. Who knew?

Happy Sushi To Me

 SO we got to go get my sushi birthday lunch. Yes-I took pictures. I LOVE Takara-I think a lot of it has to do with the presentation. I think the other half is the fact I am rather limited in what I can eat these days-so I am thrilled with any variety, and it's even better when it's affordable.
We got 2 Golden Rolls, a Lobster Roll (we've never had that one before, and most likely won't for a very long time-but it was a birthday treat) and the Aggie roll. And it was all delicious.
I know sushi might sound weird-but you should really give it a shot. Even better, starting this week, Takara is offering buy one roll, get one roll free. This gives you an idea what promotions are going on starting next week.

MONDAY
Buy an Anger Management Roll and get any roll for free.

TUESDAY
Buy a French Kiss Roll and get any roll for free.

WEDNESDAY
Buy one of the five rolls listed below and get any roll for free. 1) Mexican Crunch Roll 2) Crunch Roll 3) Ten Ten Roll 4) Golden California Roll 5) Hungry Roll

No I don't work for this place-or do any advertising. It's just great for me to be able to eat something-and not be board with it. Seriously, you have no idea how dull it can get-and you can't really go out to eat so easily either. You just can't grab a good hamburger--oh how I miss you. Mr. Hamburger...or have anything too fried.
Healthy? Yes..
Always fun? No...

Momma's Goal # 428

Never be to busy to play Hide and Seek or what ever little games Heidi Anne makes up. I've noticed recently she only wants to play a few rounds of Hide and Seek before she moves onto another game. So the dishes can wait for 5 mintues while I count to ten and hear "Come Get ME!!" from behind a door. I find her and then she tells me "You Turn." She then "covers" her eyes, counts to 10 and says "I found you! You turn!"
Half the time I am still in the process of trying to hide. She speed counts-cheater.
She has this other game she made up as well. It's like the I got your nose, only she takes your nose, and she puts it on, and wears it. She'll do this with your ears, hair, fingers, ect. She will come up to Char and say, "I have Momma's nose. See? It soo pretty." She even puts it back on me too. Sometimes she will "eat" her own nose, ears, ect, so I can't wear her nose.
She just picks up these games, wants to play them for a few mintues, and then she moves on to playing with her dollhouse, coloring, so on. If I don't take the time to play right then and there-I'll miss these fun little moments, however-the laundry hasn't done anything cute recently-I think it can wait a few more minutes to be sorted. Now, should it start singing and dancing, that would get my attention.

Birthday Fun!!

Here are some fun pictures of my desk on my Birthday. My team decorated it for me. It was so cute and I was totally surprised!! I still have the pretty orange bow on the top of my computer monitor-it gives it a little flair.

But they didn't stop there! They even did a potluck-with food I can eat!! Cori made some GREAT teriyaki chicken, rice, and we had sushi thanks to Lisa. I LOVE Sushi!!! Then some pretty treats from Sweetly Divine to finish it all up.

We tried to do a foil BBQ chicken for dinner, but found out at 6:45 pm-we discovered we must of left the valve slightly open this summer when we last grilled. Ooopppss. So we baked it in the oven instead-not quite the same-but we improvised pretty well, and Char still made it taste wonderful.

On Wednesday Char and I are going to Takara for my birthday dinner (at lunch) so I can get....You guessed it....SUSHI!!!!  Heidi Anne likes sushi-but sometimes it's just fun to go out and not have to pay close attention to make sure someone doesn't choke by mistake. And she steals my sushi...Did I mention I love sushi? :)

All and All it was a really fun birthday! Thanks to everyone who made it all special!!

Cough Cough

Soo Heidi Anne and I have been tag teaming with being sick these last two weeks. She lost her ear tubes over Thanksgiving weekend. She has had 3 ear infections since then. All last week she was miserable with a cough and a double ear infection. Luckily, the Doctor says that we can put new tubes in on Feb 4th and take out her adenoids (which can cause lots of sinus infections and allergies). We can't take out her tonsils, since she wouldn't know not to talk for a few weeks. However, the adenoids are just on top of the tonsils and should help with her sore throat as well.
Which in turn should help me. So I was tending to my sick little Heidi Anne, who shared her cough with me. So my cough turned into the worst cough the Doctor had ever heard. It was so bad, he tested me for Whopping Cough. Why? Because he had never heard Whopping Cough, but he had never heard of such a nasty cough as mine-therefore I either had the worst bronchitis he had ever heard, or it was Whopping Cough. Thank heavens the CDC also tested me-after waiting 3 days the test came back negative. So just the worst sounding cough ever. (Or my Dr needs to get out more.....)
So now we wait, wait for this lovely cough to subside, for the antibiotics to kick in, and for Heidi Anne to get her tubes so we don't have to deal with this again. I miss her tubes! I love medical science. Tons better then-Let's say you have Whopping Cough-Because I've never heard it before.....
Great Doctor, don't get me wrong. Just very grateful for modern technology.

Caring Heidi Anne

 Heidi Anne is a very conscientious little girl. This week char has had the worst cold or flu and she would go up to him and say "Nose hurt?" He would nod, then she would ask "Kiss better?" He would nod, then she would kiss him on the nose rather primly, then ask "All better?" in a very worried tone.

This is not the first time that she is showing worry for others well being she is known to bestow kisses and hugs if your felling sad or bad (and she is feeling generous enough too).

She also worries about other's belongings as well. The latest example happened at daycare when two of the teachers came in with the same boots, unknown to Heidi Anne. When one started to put her boots on to leave Heidi Anne stopped her, took them away, and said "No, those Hillary's boots!" They had to show her that they both had the same boots before she would get them back. She is so smart, caring, and stubborn all at the same time. I love it!

I've Been Watching You....

So, we got Heidi Anne's report card from her pre-school that she did the cutest thing with her dolls. She held up the girl doll and said "Momma", then found the boy doll and said, "Daddy". She then had them hugging and kissing. Her pre-school teacher said "I guess she sees that quite a bite at home." Whenever we get stories like that it always brings the song to mind by Rodney Adkins I've Been Watching You..
Here is a little excerpt of the song.

Just this side of bedtime later that night
Turning on my son's Scooby Doo nightlight
He crawled out of bed and he got down on his knees
He closed his little eyes, folded his little hands
And spoke to God like he was talking to a friend
And I said son now where'd you learn to pray like that

He said I've been watching you dad, ain't that cool
I'm your buckaroo, I wanna be like you
And eat all my food and grow as tall as you are
We like fixing things and holding mama's hand
Yeah we're just alike, hey ain't we Dad
I wanna do everything you do
So I've been watching you

A Call For Stories

I am trying to gather stories of Char's and my ancestors. It all started when we were at Chars' Grandma's funeral, in the eulogy we heard some stories that he (and therefore I) had never heard before. We have tried hard to find a autobiography from her or at least a compilation of the stories that were told. We had named our daughter's middle name after her two great-grandmothers', (see the post What's In a Name for the reasoning and meaning), and wanted to give her some stories that would be an example for her as she grows up.  For example, this Christmas weekend my in-law's told stories of  why Char's namesake, and why they picked it, which was rather enlightening. Please contact me if you have any stories, anecdotes, or any thing of the sort you would like to share.

Christmas Time

 This Christmas was one of the most amazing Christmases in recent memory!

 It all started a few months before Christmas when I was putting together the photo books, it was so much fun finding and gathering the pictures. I had spent twenty to thirty hours creating it and gathering the photos to put in the books, I made several different kinds for the various sides of my family. We got it finished a few weeks prior to Christmas and thought that it would come in enough time to be here for Christmas. We were told that it would be here between the 16th and the 20th. We checked every day to see if it came in. The gifts for my side of the family all came in real quick or at least on time. However, the photos for Char's side of the family seemed to be held up. We kept checking up to the 23rd at 8:30 at night, and they said that it was not there at all. On Christmas Eve we checked at the first moment that they opened, at 9:oo am, just praying they had somehow come in overnight. Low and behold they came in!

We drove down to my sisters house (luckily she let us have some wrapping paper for the gifts that still needed wraping). The whole time the two little girls played like sisters, and in general just getting into everything. They kept trying to mess up the living room of my sisters house, so they snuck off, and played with Mr. Potato Head. We even got to visit with my mom. Heidi Anne loved her gifts that she got from Bekah and Mia (Namely a pink foam crown to decorate). Unfortunately, Heidi Anne-(like many little children) does suffer from the syndrome of when another child gets a gift then she has to have it too, she fell in love with Kayla Repunzel doll, despite having the Exact same doll. Kayla was soo excited about her doll-Heidi Anne wanted it. I think when those two are together it's as close to having twin girls I'll get-but to see Heidi Anne wanting to be soo excited about another's doll was soo funny.

Afterwards we took Heidi Anne to go get some food for the little pizzas that night that Char's parents do- it's tradition. Heidi Anne had a ball at Char's folks'-and being the center of attention with her Aunt Sarah. Sarah interacts so well with Heidi and knows just how to get on her level-and adjust with her as she grows up. I would trust Sarah to watch Heidi Anne any time. Heidi Anne, her grandma, and Sarah frosted some sugar cookies, and Heidi did some "cooking" of her own.

After everyone arrived we made little pizzas and they were delicious. Heidi Anne got some new nightclothes from her grandma, we got her changed into it. She had so much fun running around with her cousin Alice (who is just starting to walk a lot more, sometimes Alice gets overwhelmed with Heidi's running and giggling) Alice would sometimes double over with laughter. We got everything packed up into the car and drove home, soon after we started driving Heidi Anne asleep. I guess soon after that I fell asleep as well, since the next thing I remember is waking up to the sound of the garage opening. Char took Heidi up put her to bed. Then the elves snuck the gifts in while we were upstairs, and when we came down in the morning the gifts were everywhere.

Side Note-We have a rule that Heidi Anne has to treat her dolls like they are real babies. Mind sound weird but it's hard for little kids to tell the difference between dolls and real babies-so we err on the side of caution. So she has to treat her dolls nice and she has to say sorry if she hurts it.-Back to story

When Heidi came down, she must of been overwhelmed, because the Rapunzel doll that was lovingly swaddled in it's baby quilt was tossed on the ground. She refused to tell her doll sorry, aso she went into time out, (which is just sitting her down where she is and waiting for her to calm down). She apologized to her doll, cuddled her back into the quilt, and then she got to opening her doll house, piano, books, and various other gifts from family and friends. We loved all the gifts that were given and those that were received. :)