“Everything you can imagine is real.”

"When I was a child, my mother said to me, 'If you become a soldier, you'll be a general. If you become a monk, you'll end up as the pope.' Instead I became a painter and wound up as Picasso." ~Pablo Picasso

Vanessa enjoys painting with water. And she has quite the imagination when doing so. Unfortunately the "painting" doesn't last when it consists of just water. :)

Ode to Potty

Most would say I've been ready for you for a while now,

But Mommy waits since she knows I like to control how.

Mommy now has everything I need to make it easy as pie,

So why haven't I started . . . why, why, why?!

I think it's really cool when big people use a big potty,

So I can hardly wait till we have my potty trained party.

I'm sure you'll be there -- why wouldn't you be?

Don't worry -- when I'm grown you can still be a friend to me.

There are other uses for you that are cool.

I saw on the box how you can be used as a stool.

Hmm . . . was the lid up or down?

I don't know but right now I'm potty-trained bound!

Vanessa does have all the self-help skills and language and understanding to be potty trained. So why haven't we started? Oh . . . I can come up with a number of excuses . . . some selfish . . . I know it would save us money but so far that hasn't outweighed my emotional attachment to Vanessa relying on me . . . although how much am I really doing for her when she brings me the changing mat and sets up everything for a diaper change . . . ? We'll get there! I promise! But why rush?! :)

Memorial Day

A day that commemorates men and women who died while serving our country and protecting our freedom . . .

The peonies above are plants taken from Vanessa's maternal and paternal great grandmothers' gardens. Vanessa's maternal great grandparents had a tradition of visiting and decorating graves on Memorial Day. It was an all-day event, traveling from cemetery to cemetery. And I considered myself extra lucky when I was able to join them. We'd use flowers from their garden to make huge arrangements. Peonies were always first choice and we'd use roses and other assorted flowers as fillers. It was very important to my grandmother that we take the time to remember those we had lost, for they all impacted our lives in some way.

Glacier Ridge Metro Park

Watering the garden . . .

. . . requires some play:

Bustling Bunch

My oldest brother's children were able to hang out with us on Tuesday. Eventually we made our way outdoors. The kids were quite creative in their play, entertaining Lilly and Vanessa along the way. The boys decided to try an experiment with mixing water and sand, making it more moldable. Vanessa and Hannah caught on and made their own attempt. Then Zach got the keen idea to take turns throwing water balls with Andrew. Here he is drying off in the sun, before mom and dad return.

I eventually gave in and supported ways to soak the ball fast, providing a bucket to fill. (Does my admission excuse me from any blame for returning messy kids? I hope so. :)

The water game is over; sparing the girls from extra soakings, but Vanessa wants to pretend she can fill the bucket on her own. Zach is just chillin'.

Soon after we got outside, Andrew noticed the big hole that will magically turn into a garden pond area when we can loosen the purse strings a bit. For the time it was fun to run and jump in. Andrew liked for me to capture him making these action moves.

Vanessa and Hannah worked hard to refine Adam's work on the pond -- shoveling and raking loose soil and rock.

Ben got to hear all about their adventures.

My brother Thom's suggestions for this blog posting: 1) "All people give me joy. Some when they arrive, and my brother when he leaves." Or 2) "Boy, am I sorry that they live so close!"

He's funny but in no way shape or form could I take either suggested spin to this post. I most definitely wish they lived closer. And I hate when our visits come to an end. We love our time with each other. I can't say anything I haven't already said in previous blog postings about Vanessa's cousins. They're special and loved dearly! I admire Thom and Diane's parenting skills and the importance they place on their role as parents. Their kids are sure to make a positive impact in this world.

Assembly on Butt Paste

Not sure how many formal sessions this assembly has had, but it appears Vanessa and Cousin Celia are sharing with their associate, Grandpa. I'm sure both Vanessa and Celia are attesting the benefit of Boudreaux’s Butt Paste®. This diaper rash ointment is the best!

And yes, it stirs up childish giggles when you first hear of it. Perhaps that was the marketing team's goal . . . and if so, it works! About a year ago while shopping for some items in a baby section of a store, I heard two expecting, first-time parents chuckling over the name. The expecting father, who looked to be older than me and straight out of the eighties or early nineties, told the expecting mother that they had to buy a tube, if not just for the name. I had to walk over to them and testify to the fact that this stuff really is the greatest! The father then threw in an extra tube.

(If I were smart I'd be getting paid for this advertisement. :)

Two little monkeys . . .

*************

Vanessa expects all kinds of horseplay when visiting Grandma and Grandpa. She particularly loves to count off for Grandpa's flingings: "1 . . . 2 . . . 3!"

Another Hallmark Holiday?

Apparently Mother's Day does not classify as just another "Hallmark Holiday." Adam has strong opinions and good justifications for which do, though. But on Sunday Adam and Vanessa fashioned the day to be extra special for me. And I was tickled by every kind deed and extra loving word that was shared. They didn't have to do anything out of the ordinary, though -- just their presence gives me a huge smile and a warm fuzzy feeling.

But yes, the ease at which I nudged Adam out of bed early on Sunday was especially nice. Claiming that one or two more hours of sleep was refreshing.

The whisper of "Happy Mother's Day" in my ear at 12:45 AM was very sweet and made me feel extra appreciated.

Adam's encouragement for Vanessa to be considerate of her mommy was kindhearted.

And of course nothing is better than just snuggling with and holding the two things I love most in this world.

It was truly a special day . . .

Now all that is not to say I didn't appreciate Vanessa's plaster of paris handprint, the new and cool garden hose nozzle, the new replacement fabric scissors, the mechanical piping tool and the beautiful New Guinea Impatiens. Pretty neat stuff!

Our Little Teapot

These days Vanessa is becoming more aware of the feelings of others. Some of you have seen Vanessa boil over when she gets all steamed up. Others haven't been so blessed. :) I'm amazed by the control she's learned so quickly. (Just goes to show that following thru and consistency really do pay off.) But today Vanessa seems to have really connected how facial expressions and body language can tell a lot about a story, sometimes more than words . . .

Vanessa has some homemade laminated magazine pictures of kids at various ages doing various things with various facial expressions and such. They're quite worn out since we made them months ago but they've served well for a variety of reasons, so I hesitate to throw them out just yet. And now I'm glad I haven't!

While working puzzles and reading this afternoon, Vanessa pulled out one of the pictures of a toddler who is standing at the fridge door looking sad or possibly mad. The picture could imply several things, but the first two things that come to my mind when looking at it is that either the little girl is showing that she's really hungry or she's mad because she wants to play in the fridge. We can relate to both. Sometimes Vanessa tries to help herself to the milk and raisins in the fridge and other times she just wants to feel like a big person and get in there and reorganize the shelves.

So anyway, Vanessa came over to me with the picture, asking over and over with a very worried look on her face, "Mommy, she okay? Okay? Okay?" I was touched at how concerned she was for this little girl. Since Vanessa's most recent fridge occurrence had to do with not being able to get into the fridge to play, I decided to lead the discussion there. We talked about how mad she gets when she can't play in the fridge. Perhaps this little girls' mommy told her that she shouldn't play in the fridge and now she's mad, just like Vanessa gets sometimes. Vanessa must've related to that story well because when I was finished, she said in a cheerful and satisfied voice, "Okay . . ."

I chose to title this post Our Little Teapot because for several months now one of Vanessa's favorite songs is I'm a Little Teapot. She also has a book in which the song is wonderfully illustrated, another favorite of Vanessa's. The teapot getting hot and steaming up reminds me of Vanessa's temper, aside from the fact that in real life the teapot takes a few minutes to steam up -- Vanessa steams up in milliseconds.

And we just so happen to have a picture of Vanessa at the fridge. I took this a couple weeks ago when I was trying to capture the fact she can fill up an extra large cup with water all by herself. By the time I got the camera out and was ready to take the picture, Vanessa moved on to asking if she could get in the fridge.

A suitable look lands the job

"It wasn't so long ago that many felt secure in their financial situations - and it showed. Khakis and a button down, sans tie, became the uniform of the confident professional. But moods have changed and, although business casual is still the trend for many, standing out requires one's appearance to speak volumes. "*

So what do you think?

Conventional Friday

We spend most Friday evenings visiting with our friends the Slivkas. It's a great time for us to sit down with our families for dinner and for the kids to have playtime. Both Vanessa and Daniel really look forward to their time together, and they've learned to count on it. Daniel is almost three and understands that Friday must mean dinner with the Betzes. And for a while Daniel thought the Betzes meant pizza for dinner. (This was based on a short-lived tradition that ended when the adults began to have cravings for other things.) Vanessa is still in a stage where it makes better sense to tell her soon before we actually get together. I think baby Audrey is also learning a pattern with our visits. She always looks at me like -- Oh yeah, the curly-headed lady.

It's not often that the kids are sitting down on the couch looking calm. I think this lasted about a minute or two. And Daniel and Vanessa are patiently waiting for dinner.

Of course you can probably imagine that we tell lots of stories about how the kids will grow together. Vanessa seems to be sneakier than her innocent and sweet look lead one to believe. Daniel loves hot rods, so we’re often talking about how there will be particular rules when the kids are older. And no Vanessa, one day when Daniel pulls into our driveway on his motorcycle, you can’t go with him. (I kind of like the idea of putting my child in a bubble when she’s teenager.) We wonder if Audrey will be the one to tell us about what the older kids are up to, not falling for their ways. :)

Other friends join us from time to time, depending on the boating season and their personal plans. We're very grateful to have longtime close friends nearby to share our lives with.