Wordless Wednesday

Sometimes I have photos I don't even know how to explain...

Green Beans

Cali is recently on a big Green Beans kick. She often eats a whole hearty serving and asks for more. At bedtime she was telling me how much she loves green beans and that is all she wants to eat. I said well green beans do have a lot of vitamins, of course she wanted to know which ones. I took a guess and told her Vitamin A & Calcium. For future reference though they happen to be "a good source of Riboflavin, Calcium, Magnesium, Potassium and Copper, and a very good source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Folate, Iron and Manganese." - Info from http://www.nutritiondata.com.

Cali's Art

I have a little clothesline on the wall I clip the kids' art to and it was about 5 layers deep so I cleared it off, tossed a bunch, and scanned my favorites for posterity's sake. I think 3 is such a fun age, I really enjoy seeing Cali's creativity and imagination run wild. I just have to say the "Brain" picture is definitely my favorite when I asked her what that was on our heads she said "those are your big brains mommy." What a sweet girl : )

D's a Big Boy Now!

My goodness they grow up quickly. Diego is two months away from his 2nd birthday and is starting to act more like a "big boy" all of a sudden. Just before Christmas he started showing a lot of interest in his potty.. we've had it sitting out for months. We started taking him with us when we went and he'd sit as we read to him. Once he had a few successes I went out and got him some Go, Diego, Go! Easy-Ups and made him a sticker "chart". Cali was so excited for all this and is a great supporter, she always wants to pick out his sticker and give it to him. So far he's doing great when we keep him naked from the waist down, he will run straight to the potty and go when he needs to. Next phase is just getting him to not go when he has undies and/or his Pull-Ups on. Oh and here's the really fun part. He learned in less than a week that the potty is a GREAT excuse to get out of or avoid going to bed. So we've been having lots of fun sitting for up to an hour before bed to see if he really needs to go or listening to him cry and cry from his bed wondering if he really needs out or is just messing with us. Usually its some of both.

On another note he also stopped wanting to sit in our laps in the glider-rocker for bedtime stories. He was sitting on the windowsill instead so we figured it was time to move the chair and create a cozy reading nook instead. Dave installed his Ikea star light and Cali donated her pink couch. He's happy with it but we'll have to work on the idea of sitting still now.
Of course they were sitting so nice and still and cute before I got the camera but you get the idea.

Mmm.. Crunchy!

My parents are wondeful gardeners and we always had a family garden growing up. I remember spending many a day at the garden unhappy to be there having to weed and hoe and what-not but I sure appreciate it all now. After we visited my parents back in September (which happened to be their peak harvest time) we were ready to come home and plant our fall crops. Now the carrots are a decent size and the kids just chomp them up!

Favorite Things Friday

My fabulous friend Tiffany started this fun weekly post and I thought I'd join in. Click the icon above to visit her wonderful blog.

1. Keeping up & Catching up with old friends - Between the blogs, Facebook, Myspace, etc. its so easy these days to keep up and catch up with old friends. As a military family its so nice to have these connections when we all have to eventually move on to the next adventure. Oh and I should mention making new friends and keeping up with them is just as fun!

2. January in Texas - I spent many, many, many a winter day way up north in Fairbanks, Alaska. Trust me I KNOW winter so when its 80 and sunny in January I savor every minute of it. I think of my parents and my many friends North of here and I try to enjoy the sunshine for you too.

3. The Cleaning Fairy - If only she really existed my life would be all set. There's so many things I'd rather do than clean. Actually I'd rather create a mess than clean one up. Sometimes when I'm really lucky Dave cleans up after me as I cook or folds laundry, unloads the dishwasher, does the dishes, even cleans off the counters, sweeps and vaccuums. Actually he does those things most of the time when he is home and it makes me so happy! When I've spent so many months doing it all by myself I sure appreciate every little bit of extra help.

Handy Man

It sure is nice to have such a handy husband. Last December he built the kids a playhouse in the back yard and this year it was a swingset. They sure love the new swings. Sometimes its hard to get them back inside and it hasn't been all that warm the past 2 days. Cali looked out the window as I was making breakfast today and exclaimed "Mommy come look, the swingset is still here!!"