Catching Snowflakes

We had snow off and on, and off and on yesterday. During Phaedra’s nap, Eleanor really wanted to try to catch a snowflake on her tongue. I can’t say no when it comes to snow because it’s not like she’ll get another chance very soon. So I let her step out on the back porch and see what she could catch. She was so happy that she caught some, and she thought it was so funny that she got snow in her hair.

Girls’ Weekend

My sister and her daughter were in town last weekend, so we got to have plenty of girly fun. We started out with shopping on Friday. I kind of went nuts and got dresses for the girls and quite a few clothes for them, too. When we were all done shopping, we went and got pedicures. This was the first time my mother or I had ever had one!

Mother and Beth

Eleanor was curious about everything going on. She asked tons of questions as they prepped the pedicures. There was an older gentleman helping with the pedicures, and I don’t think he spoke much English. He mostly smiled at Eleanor as she peppered him with all her questions. Later, when I was having my pedicure, a young lady came in to have her fake nails filled. Eleanor pulled up a chair next to her and asked questions every step of the way. Luckily, everyone was very patient with her, and I don’t think she annoyed anyone.

The little girls had their nails and toes painted (except Phaedra, who just got her fingernails painted). They were really quite good while waiting for our pedicures to be done.Eleanor seemed concerned at first when she saw the pointy pin the lady used to paint the flowers. She asked if it would hurt her. But when she saw how it was used, she was fine with it.

She got flowers on both her thumbs and on two fingers.

Phaedra sat on my lap while her nails were painted. She didn’t need comfort; she just needed help holding still. So I didn’t get any pictures of her while they were being painted. This is how her nails turned out. She had flowers on each thumb (her sucking thumb got ruined right away), and dots across the tips of each finger.

After our long day, we went back to my house for some pizza. We turned on a movie for the girls to relax while we got dinner ready. They looked so cute, all snuggled up to Grandpa on the couch.

Our fun weekend didn’t end there. The next day, we all went to see Tangled in the theater. It was Phaedra’s first time in the theater, and she did great. She sat with me or Grandma the whole time, and when she got nervous, she would tell me, “Hold me tight, Mommy!” We’ve been hearing favorite movie quotes from the girls ever since.

On Sunday, we played games with dominoes and cards at Grandma’s. We had so much fun with Beth and Grace in town. We hope they can come back soon!

Babying her Sister

I found this picture on my camera from the night I went to Enrichment last week. I guess Phaedra needed a little extra attention while her mommy was gone.

That's One Cool Chick - a post by guest editor grant

Jocelyn and I decided to take advantage of a beautiful sunny winter day. A friend of mine caught some great shots documenting our afternoon. All I can say is my wife is the best, and here is the proof...

"Bond, Jocelyn Bond."

I must say she looks good with the classic James Bond Walther PPK; and I honestly think she is a better shot than the Brit.

Yes, Jocelyn with a .50 cal Desert Eagle. A hand cannon.

After our sight and hearing returned from the muzzle flash and reverberation she asked, "Is that it? I will have to duel wield next time."

Christmas with Laughing Grandma

{Backtracking: December 27, 2010}

We had so much celebration this Christmas! I didn’t want to open Christmas presents with my mother on Christmas Eve because I hadn’t finished their gifts yet. I thought I might stand a chance of getting them done in the few days after Christmas so we could all open together. But we had so much going on with Studio Grandma and Grandpa after Christmas that I didn’t have time. Plus, Father Bill was planning to head back to the coast, and I couldn’t let him leave without letting him open his present. So I gave up, gave them a lame rain check, and we opened our Christmas presents.

Father Bill gave each of the girls a box of candy canes. As soon as Eleanor opened hers, she didn’t say a word, she just started licking her lips. Look at that tongue in action!

When Phaedra opened hers, she smiled and then quickly started trying to open them.

My parents gave Eleanor and Phaedra a game called Bed Bugs, where they have to grab the bugs as they bounce around on the bed. Eleanor really liked it. Phaedra liked it too, until we turned it on and the vibration combined with the bouncing bugs made it rather noisy.

She loved catching the bugs when the bed was turned off, though.

Grandpa and Grant. I made that shirt for Grant as a joke. It didn’t last long, but that’s another story.

My mother brought out some chocolates she had gotten for Christmas and shared a few with us while the girls were eating their candy canes. When they saw the chocolates, they both wanted chocolate. Grandma gave Eleanor a little bite, and when she went to Phaedra, saying, “Do you want to take a little bite?” this was Phaedra’s approach to the situation:

She’s no dummy! She learned from her mommy how to take a “little” bite of chocolate.

Hopefully Grandma was done with that one, ‘cause it’s gone now.