Family Time

Steve's parents came down for a quick little visit. I love that even though most of the grandparents live far away thanks to FaceTime Elsa knows who they are and loves them tremendously. She absolutely enjoyed having grandma and papa here. 

Blankie to Big Bear

In an effort to keep Elsa from carrying her blankie with her to college we instituted a little game. It started out as putting "blankie nite nite" in her crib. Then when she was given a very large stuffed bear (thanks Alyse!) that stays in her crib it became "blankie to big bear." Now when she is done with her blankie it gets put in her crib, but only to big bear. It's the cutest.

Menu Options

I'm getting very tired of kids menus at restaurants. You go to a nice place with lots of healthy adult iptions and this is what they provide for kids:

Let's look closer fried, heavily processed, fried, fried, meh ok I guess, and heck of a mess. 

And we wonder why there is a childhood obesity epidemic. 

I was glad that my kid are all the steamed vegetables first. 

New Yard Identifications: Spiders!

Name those spiders! 

We have spiders everywhere! The yard, the porch, on our cars, everywhere!! I understand that they are doing a job and keeping other pests away. But I wish they wouldn't make their webs in Elsa's toys on the porch. :-/ 

Here's a sample of our spider friends. 

Lazy Sunday

I like lazy Sundays especially when they start at the crack of done with:

"Yaaaayyy!"

"Mamma!"

"Dadda!"

"COME!"

"All done!"

Apparently Elsa was ready to get up for the day. This mamma got a nap while she napped. 

First School Photos

Elsa had her first school photos this month. Not sure what the deal was with the fake flower props but they are still super cute!!

Touch-a-Truck and More!

We took Elsa to the Touch-a-Truck event this morning. As we were walking in she was saying repeatedly "oh boy!" 

There was a lot to see and she was hit or miss in her excitement for individual trucks, but she had fun!

As we were leaving we passed a playground and let her play for a little bit. 

On our way home we saw signs for a master gardener plant sale. Why not? 

She was fascinated by the bees. 

I think we wore her out. 

Sunsets

I just love sunsets at the new house. The way the sun comes through the moss is super beautiful.  

New Tennants

Somehow I managed to very easily talk Steve into fostering some kittens for Gainesville Pet Rescue. We (I say we because I'm on the board) are heading into the big Maddie's adopt-a-thon at the end if the month so we are trying to intake a lot more animals. Fosters were desperately needed. 

Elsa loves them. Steve secretly loves them. I think they are adorable but am surprisingly detached at this moment. I know they will eventually be adopted out to their furever home. Awwww. 

Sign of Fun

That is a dirt mustache. Dirt is fun! 

Teacher Appreciation Day (week?)

We are concluding our first teacher appreciation week. For Elsa's school it included the following:
Tuesday: bring a flower (doesn't have to be store brought) for your teacher.
Thursday: ice-cream sundae party, bring sundae fixin's
Friday: wear your teacher's favorite color (our's is pink) and potato bar party, bring fixin's.
Bring a special gift for your teacher and put it in the color bag in the child's classroom.

I feel I did ok, but not good enough.
Tuesday we brought a rose and rose bud from our garden. Although beautiful, they were small and pitiful next to some of the store-bought flowers.
Wednesday we dropped off our sundae toppings, almond slices and coconut. After purchasing them I kind of panicked that they were nuts and that maybe they were not allowed. Confirmation from the director said that they were fine, peanuts are the only banned nuts.
Friday Steve remembered to dress Elsa in pink, but we totally forgot to get potato bar fixin's. Ooops.
And this leaves us with the special gift. I have yet to figure that out. I thought about going through my gift card stash and seeing if there was anything I could part with. But I forgot to do that. Maybe I will take a stroll through the museum gift shop and see what I can get there. Maybe a membership to the museum? I don't know I will figure it out though.

Teachers do a lot for our children and should be appreciated. While I enjoy that the directors of the center put together some fun things for the kids to enjoy while they appreciate their teachers, I also feel like it's forced appreciation and a lot of work on my part. And well, I am lazy these days.

Daddy's Boots!

She did this all by herself. Carried them in and put them on. However, walking was a bit difficult. 

Nothing Playdough Can't Cure

I got the first daycare call today. My cell phone rang from an unknown number this morning. I have a policy not to answer unknown numbers. You never know what trap lies at the other end. The person calling left a message and it was the daycare asking me call them. They were clear to say it was not an emergency. 

I called back and spoke to the manager. Elsa had fallen out of a chair and bumped her head. She had a small bruise but was doing fine. She apparently was more concerned that her shoe fell off. 

She is doing just fine and this afternoon we are happily playing with playdough!