Category Archives: let me let me update ya

weekending something.something

Posted in Kiddie Hangouts, let me let me update ya by

hey, um, here’s a few of the weekend highlights:

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we did a friday evening bike ride up to jeni’s ice cream in lieu of dinner. clearly, we enjoyed it. darla picked magnolia and mochi because she’s got some refined tastebuds for a three year old. she got the cutest little ice cream mustache in the process. the last photo cracks me up. that’s her real head! on her real body! i didn’t photoshop that because i don’t know how to do that. this girl’s got some proportions on her.

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we communed with nature and darla welcomed our daffodils to the world. she also successfully terrorized a ladybug for about 10 min because she was trying to get the bug to go with her to the yogurt shop. i think i may have gone a little overboard with this “bugs are our friends” business.

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we parked it up with some hipster baby friends alllll sunday afternoon and then built living room forts to hide from the storms. darla had a good time pretending to be scared. i explained what was happening when it started hailing and she yelled “now there’s ice for the polar bears!” this is because at the zoo we learned about how the ice was melting in the arctic and the polar bear population is plummeting. after the storm had passed i went out and gathered some hail pellets for her in a cup. once i gave them to her she promptly ate them. sigh. she’s normal.

that’s a wrap for us. hope you and yours had a wonderful weekend as well.

sippin’ on syrzzup

Posted in kiddie-do, let me let me update ya by

most of my goals for the weekend fell through the cracks except for the Malabar Farms Maple Syrup Festival. Darla and i trekked north during the good weather saturday and we had a good ol’ time revisiting the process of maple syrup. really, i just made it a priority to purchase some more of the syrup because it is so delicious. one taste of real, fresh syrup and you’ll never want to go back to the hfcs substitute.

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the view is beautious maximus. can you tell i made darla pose for the second shot?

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tractor rides and tickles from evergreen branches

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she chose her raccoon socks because they live in the forest and would like maple syrup, so she says.

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we cheated on the candy rule and got some cotton candy made from maple syrup. can you tell by her face that she was happy to indulge? she then proceeded to tell strangers that maple syrup is healthy. which we were informed at the festival that it is. it has the lowest calorie content of any of the natural sweeteners and is good for your kidneys if it is pure. more pancakes anyone?

we did enjoy a pancake breakfast on sunday morning to break in our new bottle. i hope we will continue our visit as an annual tradition. it was bittersweet to visit as a twosome this year. i missed our cali friends dearly remembering our experience the previous year. hopefully next year we’ll be able to enlist more of a gang to join us.

dear salty sailor,

Posted in let me let me update ya by

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sometimes i get so sad that you are missing moments like these. darla was helping me put away laundry. she was doing a good job. since most of the laundry was hers she was capable of putting it all away and took great pleasure in helping me. she came across one of my shirts, stripped down and put it on declaring “i want to wear this and be just like you.” then she made up a little help mommy song as she went about her chore. i love her and i love these moments. i love those pigtails that are crooked from boisterous play. this kind of lifestyle is very challenging at times but i’m so lucky for these bits. and i’m overcome with sadness that you are not here for it. i’m sorry if i haven’t caught enough of them for you.

here’s just a few things that have tumbled out of the girl’s mouth lately:  she looked over her shoulder the other day at her bum and said “mommy, don’t i have such a big booty?” I was explaining how something works and she said “i really catch your drift mom.”  the last one that i remember was right before we went over for dinner with the neighbors. Darla wanted to bring her blanket so I was making sure she understood that if she took it over she couldn’t be territorial and had to be willing to share. I said “i’m afraid you will get upset and cry if one of the girls wants to play with your blanket. how do you feel about that?” and she looked me dead in the eye and replied “no, i wouldn’t do that. i would feel very proud if someone played with it.” true to her word, she took it over and it wasn’t an issue.

we miss you so much. thank you for the life you provide us.

love love lovesick love,

wifey

spring in our step

Posted in kiddie-do, let me let me update ya by

it seems like these spring like days are filling up more quickly than the cozy, insular days of winter. we’ve had a little spring in our step and running at a quicker gait. lots happening:

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we had a double bounce house day so she worked up a thirst. if anyone needs recommendations on either the world of bounce or kingdom of bounce i can provide some insights. aren’t my areas of expertise so glamorous? the next time i’ll be sure to check my deets before our dates with friends.

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a younger me would be laughing and scoffing at how much the current me takes joy from clean laundry

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the morning after a sleepover with the burkeybuns crew. they decided to dress as towels.

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i took darla to her first indoor play – the house at pooh corner. i was pretty sure that we were going to be the only ones in attendance until a huge school group came in 2 min prior to showtime. take a look at that annoyed look i’m already getting from darla for asking her to pose in front of the set.

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after the play we walked across the street to visit the state house. i figured it was never too early to start learning some state history and architectural elements, right?  darla was very impressed by the rotunda. she said it sounds just like Aisling. $5 worth of brussel sprouts can go to whoever gets that reference.

looking forward to an equally busy weekend. We’ve got the Lorax, Malabar Farms Maple Syrup Festival, Ohio Wildlife Center open house and BalletMet Sleeping Beauty all on tap along with some dinner dates and a labor information session. yay for busy schedules that help the days without our salty sailor pass quickly.

weekending 5.0

Posted in let me let me update ya by

i love weekends with my girl especially when it contains the following:

girlfriend movie night viewing of pride + prejudice, free columbus opera performance, fun fair at local middle school, 3 trips to the library, columbus museum of art play date and running into more friends, cousin play date for darla while i came home and got dishes, laundry, floors cleaned, hair done and nails done. and by done i mean clipped. that counts as done for me.

the cherry on top of this busyness sundae was the Black Keys show last night. i’m sore from head to heel.

more weekends like this one please.

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face painting at fun fest

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oh ok, i guess we’re wearing this now

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snow flakes in all of her hairz

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activities at CMA. look at that girl stacking! for too long i have sat by as other children stacked their items neatly while darla discarded items willy nilly. now our day has come. there are signs that the girl understands order in the world.

*obviously i have never really been concerned about her lack of stacking

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woooo Spring Break CMA!

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pretty little birdie house she painted with our babysitter extraordinaire

why’s it all cold again and stuff?

Posted in kiddie-do, let me let me update ya by

today we had little pellets of sleet punctuating our car ride conversations. it’s hard to believe that just days ago it was in the 70s. i’m posting some more of our sunny pics to help me remember.

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willow the goat

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i’m including this pic again because i love it so much

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monkey bars. i know it looks like she’s in distress but she was loving it. trust me.

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counting pine cones and if this picture had audio you would hear the nature lecture i was receiving about the pine nuts inside that birds, squirrels and humans really enjoy. love her.

who’s ready to skip march and head straight on to april? anyone?

friday smiles

Posted in let me let me update ya, love and happiness by

we’re finishing up a very good week here and looking forward to an equally good weekend. some things that have made me smile around here today:

our flowers of the week darla picked out

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watching darla excitedly tear open her invitation to be a flower girl in cousin’s wedding. she’s pretty jazzed.

IMG_2107watching a girl figure out things for herself successfully.

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finally getting around to baking this super easy bread. mixed, proofed and baked all in one pot. sooo delicious.

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playing dumb so darla can have the joy of the “see food” joke multiple times over.

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seeing a practical joke gift received well and messages from friends :)

i’m also thankful for about 4 going on 5 hours of the girl being happy to play and occupy herself while i sort through summer plans, bills and responsibilities that have been neglected. maybe this is my reward for putting aside my duties and crying my way through The Rescuers with her last night.

but mostly i’m smiling about the concert tickets purchase, the friends we’ll be festivaling with, and the family with which i get to spend traveling around this country for one crazy upcoming summer.

F-R-I-D-A-Y! WHAT’S THAT SPELL? FRIDAY!!! commence banging on the side of the bus.

weekending 4.0

Posted in let me let me update ya, Travels by

we’re still in indiana and hopefully i’ll have something wonderful and insightful to say about what i wear and how i dance to Tennis tonight – since i never really seem to be able to focus on musical merits – but here are some of our out-of-doors doings from the weekend.

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visiting nashville, indiana

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a girl’s first chai

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grandma love

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on our way to the old fashioned nut shop. yummy.

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we named him fizzgig.

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and i took the girl creeking. it makes me sad sometimes that we live in the city and darla doesn’t get to roam the rural areas i did as a wee one. but, thankfully, we have grandma and grandpa’s. every child needs a creek.

we saw lots of animal tracks, darla found interesting rocks, we looked at trees and plants and all sorts of nature things with the highlight of the visit to the wilderness being that we saw a mink. A MINK, i tell you. it’s the only one i’ve ever seen in non-coat form.

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anchor hocking in my creek

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she took her socks and shoes off for the full effect. i love her.

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and here was the big surprise of the weekend: darla’s very own tractor from grandpa. unfortunately, i think she will have her mother’s driving skills.

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 lastly, darla’s picture of her Grandpa Tom. do you see the resemblance?

i love our retreats here to indiana. looking forward to our visits again in april when i’ll hopefully be supporting another couple’s birth of an aries bambino. i was joking with Sarah, the mother of my first doula experience, that i will just block my schedule off in april every year and advertise doulaship only for Aries babies. being a ram myself, i’m pretty partial.

weekending 3.0

Posted in kiddie-do, let me let me update ya, love and happiness by

we had a really good weekend here despite someone throwing up in her carseat and having a bit of a bug. not too many pictures because i was too busy running a house and cuddling a girl.

1. lots of fun things in the saturday post

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2. you wanna take your umbrella in the shower? sure thang. let’s do this.

lots of other good goings-on this weekend. girlfriend dinner dates, mommy + daughter movie morning to see The Secret World of Arietty, vidyo skype from salty sailor man, kids-eat-free night with family – although this one resulted in a pretty nice shiner for darla when she ran into a table cause she wasn’t looking where she was going – ladyfriend scoring a pair of tix for us to go see the Black Keys in a coupla weekends, darla requesting to watch The Triplets of Belleville umpteen times.

yes, there is a lot in life to be happy about.

weekending

Posted in let me let me update ya, love and happiness by

how was your weekend? here’s a little bit of ours:

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1. bundling  2. imma readem  3. chalkboard walls  4. ready for california  5, 6, 7, 8 & 9. valentine’s sticker fun  10 & 11. peanut butter + nutella bagel  12. drawings of “the straight and narrow path”  13. girls night in  14, 15, 16, & 17.  painting pottery with cousin clare and aunt colleen at clay cafe  18. valentine’s and tokyo post card  19. pink lips  20. laundry day  21. try this on for size  22. she says she’s an ice princess.