Lighter than air

No bubble is so iredescent or floats longer than that blown by the innocent child.

Tis the Season of Color

Well too much time has passed since my last post, so there is a lot to catch you up on.  Spring has arrived and the flowers are blooming with a vibrant rainbow of colors everywhere.  But the flowers aren't all that is blossoming.  The Taterbug has also been busy growing and blossoming into a wonderful and dare I say funny little big girl. 

The warmer days have been waking up the foliage in the yard and making it more enjoyable to spend longer amounts of time outside.  This welcomed time outside is allowing Tater to discover all the fun to be had from riding her trike to drawing without paper.  And man let me tell you that Maddie has definitely found her artistic side over the past few months.  Of course, as with any two year old, her favorite medium is the one that causes the biggest mess -- paint.  But luckily (for me) she thinks that paint is anything that is applied with a brush to include water.  However her favorite outdoor paint is pudding!  I'm sure pictures will be coming soon of these adventures.  Too funny!                                        Finding a new creative outlet isn't the only thing we discovered this spring.  There was this curious little bunny that apparently put all of his eggs in one basket - and then lost them!  One of our favorite local nursery and strawberry farms needed help in picking up all of the eggs the bunny dropped as he traveled through their field.  Of course, Tater was more than willing to assist them in the clean up. 

Unfortunately, there were a lot of other kiddos who had heard of the bunnies travels and many of them were much more experienced at collecting the eggs.  But they didn't find the super special shiny egg that was filled with Tootsie Rolls did they?  Nope, because it was neatly tucked away in Tater's basket.  Ha!  Goes to show ya that youth beats experience.  Oh wait...what does that mean for me?

Well it means that I have to teach Tater how us old folks celebrated the coming of spring by dying eggs.  How fun this was!  I don't think I have done this since I was 12 years old and man did I forget how much fun it was and how much it's STINKY!  But the vinegar didnt slow down this little picasso.  Oh no, we did a full dozen eggs each with precision focus.  I'm pleased to say that only the eggs were dyed this day. 

But the fun didn't end there because low and behold, what did we find?  That crazy rabbit traveled through our yard too!  Perhaps it was all of the colorful artwork that attracted him. 



It's been a great year Chuck.

From Peanuts and the gang:


Peppermint Patty: It's been a great year, Chuck. You'll have to admit that. What you do think, Chuck, would be good rules for living in the New Year?


Charlie Brown: Keep the ball low, don’t leave your crayons in the sun, use dental floss every day, don’t spill the shoe polish, always knock before entering, don’t let the ants get in the sugar, never volunteer to be a program chairman, always get your first serve in, and feed your dog whenever he’s hungry.


Peppermint Patty: Will those rules give me a better life, Chuck?


Charlie Brown: The better life and a fat dog.


Can you believe it?  A new year is breaking the horizon and with it comes many opportunites for change, personally and professionally for our family.  However, these opportunities will also bring much uncertainty so it's always important to remember the rules, especially about the crayons as we move forward.

In order to know where you're going, you must know where you've been.  Here's a quick peek at the last year:

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Well, there it is.  Another year.  Can't hardly believe it's now 2011!  As we begin the New Year, I want to add to Chuck's rules of:

•  keep the ball low
• don’t leave your crayons in the sun
• use dental floss every day
• don’t spill the shoe polish
• always knock before entering
• don’t let the ants get in the sugar
• never volunteer to be a program chairman
• always get your first serve in
• feed your dog whenever he’s hungry and
• remember to sing and dance, even if you're the only one in the room!

The Joy of Christmas

Remember when we were kids and it seemed that Christmas took FOREVER to come?  With the time between Thanksgiving and that wonderfully magical morning being excrutiating painful as we were keenly aware that Santa was watching our every move and hoping that our letters were delivered on time.  (Even as kids we were skeptics of the postal service.  Wise beyond our years, some would say.) 

Now as a parent, it seems that Christmas is a double-edged holiday.  It is yet another marker of a year gone-by as I sit and pour over pictures and remember how much Tater has changed.  I marvel at her accomplishments and how much she has grown physically, emotionally, and psychologically.  But alas, it has all passed too quickly.  She was only an infant just a few short months ago and now she is in full bloom toddlerhood.  I shudder to think of next Christmas when she will be on the cusp of little girldom.  {{sniffle}}

Christmas is not only a time to reminisce about times past and lament at the pace of the passage of time, but it is also a guaranteed family gathering time.  Oh how I love having family around!  This is the second year that we have hosted Christmas dinner for our family, a tradition we hope to continue in years to come as it brings almost all of our family together.  This year we were blessed to have a very special person in our family join our celebration, my Grandmother Chloe, known as Grandma to all who love her including Tater.  She doesn't travel often from her home in Virginia but this year she has been staying with my Mom and Dad for the winter months enabling her to join the Christmas festivities.  Needless to say, it was wonderful having her and the rest of the family; my Mom and Dad, George's Mom Linda, George's Dad W.E. and Marvin all gather together. 

The menu, prepared by my wonderful husband, was spectacular consisting of yellow squash casserole, sweet potato casserole, layered salad, deviled eggs, freshly baked yeast rolls, and the shining star -- a honey-glazed spiral cut ham.  Well it was the star until W.E. brought out a gorgeous and mighty tasty from scratch triple layered carrot cake with homemade cream cheese icing which paired deliciously with the Biltmore Christmas wine. 

After such a savory meal and good cheer, we all set about opening presents with glee but none with such tenaciousness as little Tater.  She has come to the realization that presents are good indeed.  She is a true girl as clothes did not get tossed over the shoulder but instead modeled with glee.

 But much to her surprise, what did Santa bring?  HER VERY OWN SWING!

We have a lot to be grateful for this year: our family, our friends, our health, our home, and our good fortune.  As we look to the new year, a year of transition, there are many questions to be answered and decisions to be made.  Change is inevitable but our appreciation for our family will never waiver.

From Christmas past: