Anna discovers the decorated Christmas tree after her nap:

Anna and Daddy playing piano:

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We just took a trip! With a 19-month-old! I know people do it all the time, but we were pretty hesitant to undergo either a car trip or a plane ride with a toddler. But David had a conference in Denver last Thursday-Friday, and since his parents live in Boulder, we thought it would be a good opportunity (while his plane ticket was paid for) for me and Anna to tag along and extend the trip through the weekend so Anna could finally see her Nana and Granddad’s home.

I fully intended to get a picture of Anna on her first plane ride, but it just didn’t happen. She was quite a handful on the ride out, but we managed to keep her entertained and avoid a complete meltdown. All of us were glad to be off that plane. Fortunately, we had sprung for the direct flight. After that flight, we marveled at how we had originally debated whether or not it was worth the extra cost. It was.

So while David was cooped up in a hotel conference room, Anna and I were out enjoying Denver during what was probably some of the best weather they’ve ever had this time of year. (more…)

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You know who she is, right?

We’re not in Kansas anymore, Toto…

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In an effort to post something on my blog between weekly menu plans, here are some things that have been going around in my head and our home.

I’ve been feeling musical lately. I’ve started trying to practice piano again—not just sit down and play, but really practice and work on something difficult and get better at it. I manage to do this for about 20-30 minutes after Anna’s nap while she’s sitting in her high chair eating raisins and graham crackers. It takes about 10 minutes to warm up, so I only get a few minutes to actually work on something, but it adds up, and I’m making slow progress. I’m working on Felix Mendelssohn’s Praeludium in E minor. It’s a rich, fluid piece, fairly short, a little challenging without being insanely hard. I’m done trying to learn stuff that’s so incredibly difficult that only professional musicians play it, and stick with pieces I actually have a shot at playing well. Maybe I’ll play it for you someday. But probably not. I’m just doing this for me, to remind myself that there’s still some talent buried in there somewhere.

David’s parents visited us this past weekend. Anna doesn’t see them very often, but whenever they come, she warms up to them in just a few minutes and is all over them. How many adults does it take to accompany a toddler to the park? Four. To storytime at the library? Four. None of us wanted to miss out on anything! They enjoyed getting to see Anna do the fun things she likes to do, and Anna loved the captive audience and undivided attention all weekend!

I’ve been trying to get back into the exercise habit. A few weeks ago I heard about the “Miles for Milestones” 5K on October 31 and thought it would be a good goal to work towards. I’ll be satisfied if I finish in 31 minutes; happy if I finish in 30. Now if the weather will just cooperate that day. It’s at 8 A.M. (Why do they have these things at 8 A.M. in the cold-weather months?!? Wouldn’t 10 A.M. or noon be much nicer?) It will be chilly, which is fine if it’s dry, but I’m not running in 40-degree rain. I don’t have the right kind of clothes for that anyway.

I think I want to paint the kitchen and living room. I haven’t told David this yet. Hey, honey, I think I want to paint the kitchen and living room.

Is there any way I can tell you just how enamored I am with Anna? She is one amazing kid. She’s been especially sweet lately. She is such a blessing! She is so funny sometimes. The other day in Wal-Mart we were stopped next to the milk, and she smiled, stuck out her tongue, and went “AAAAAAAEEEEEEEHHH.” I looked up to where she was looking, and there was a picture of a cat on a big sign hanging over the pet stuff. Yep, that’s how she makes her cat noise. I hope I can get her animal sounds on video sometime! They’re too cute.

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We took Anna on her first trip to the zoo yesterday! It was a little chillier than I had hoped, but we’re running out of available fall weekends and we wanted to get a trip in. We took our friend Abby along with us since Abby’s parents needed someone to keep her for the morning.

Here are David and the girls…

… looking at the giraffe:

This fun little guy scampered out to say hello and totally posed for the camera:

Anna and Mommy in front of some kind of deer-like critter (you can tell I learned a whole lot, huh?)

Me with both the monkeys:

A fine rhino:

Who doesn’t love chimps?

I tried to get a shot of a zebra’s rear for Becké, but they were too far away. Sorry, Becké.

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My brother let me play around with his Nikon D60 last weekend. It takes some great pictures, but at the same time I realized I have a lot to learn. Here are some pics of Anna and her cousin Addie, with their daddies and Mammaw and Pappaw.

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David is off today, so he got to go to the park with us this morning. (We usually go to story time at the library, but they take the month of August off, so we’re going to the park instead.) Look how big she’s getting!

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Today would have been Sasha’s “birthday” as we called it; we don’t know her real birthday so we just used the day we adopted her. She came into our lives four years ago today, and she left way too soon. David wrote an excellent post that ties together our recent doggie adventures, our love for Sasha, and our passion for animal rescue.

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We got Anna a little wading pool for the back yard. She wasn’t too sure about it at first, but she quickly grew to like it. On Saturday I suggested that David “take her swimming” while I caught up on some things inside. (Whoever’s with her is going to get wet anyway, so we might as well just put on a swimsuit and get in with her!) I think they had a good time, from the looks on their faces:

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As I mentioned in my first story about the great dog rescue adventure, we were unable to get one of the five dogs that Saturday. He is very skittish around people (thereby earning himself the name Mr. Skittish in our blog posts). So picking up where I left off last… between Jennifer M. and us, we checked the lake on Saturday night and twice on Sunday with no sign of Mr. Skittish, but some folks camping there said they had seen him, so we weren’t giving up yet.

On Monday night, David and I were on our way to celebrate our anniversary but stopped by the lake first, just in case he was there (after a difficult decision of what to wear that is appropriate for both catching filthy dogs and having a nice dinner at Ruby Tuesday). And he was! But that’s not all… he had teamed up with a new pack! There was a momma dog and three puppies with him. And, let me tell you, they were CUTE!!! All 5 dogs were very hungry. The momma and puppies were very sweet and loveable; in fact, after she had had enough to eat, the momma was a bit of an attention hog. We set up the crate to try to catch Mr. Skittish, but we were unsuccessful. When we left, David talked to Donna (with All About Labs, who took the first batch) about the new additions to see what could be done about them. Between Donna and her friend Judy, who runs a rescue in Malvern, they had places for them!

Tuesday we didn’t see them, but we theorized that maybe they wander around and re-appear at that spot around 7 PM, since they had been seen at that time twice. So Wednesday night, the three of us showed up around 7, and they were there. (more…)

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