Thursday, March 31, 2011

Our Friend "mElmo"

We generally spend some portion of Saturday mornings watching Sesame Street with Miss Olive.  She enjoys the puppets and gets especially excited when "mElmo" comes on the screen.

We snapped this photo last Saturday.



Her expression makes me smile.  I think the look says something like "Why are you snapping photos during mElmo?"

Also, we went to a toy store this weekend to pick up a gift for my (second?) cousin Evelyn's first birthday.  (She is my cousin's daughter.  I think that makes her my second cousin. ??  Regardless, fun party.)  While in the store, Olive found the book section and enjoyed 'reading' while I shopped.  There were lots of great books for kids.  The one Olive brought me to read? It had an image of Elmo on the cover. 

"mElmo Mommie?"

Fun times.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Snow Cone Season.


I don't remember snow cone stands in Houston growing up.  More, I remember them as part of trips to the beach or vacations.

However, we have a snow cone stand just outside of our neighborhood.  As the weather heats up, shaved ice and sugary syrup sure sound tasty.

This weekend we shared snow cones with Olive.  We purchased our treats and drove home to enjoy them on our driveway.

I think Olive enjoyed best the cherry flavor I chose.  At very least, it shows up on her face more than Kyle's orange! 

In St. Louis, we took visitors to Ted Drewes.  This stand is no Ted Drewes, but it is super tasty!!  Maybe it will be our new visitor destination.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Springtime.


Lately, we spend a fair amount of our non-working, non-Olive, non-sleeping time doing yard work.

We have two live oaks (and many others on the block) which are dropping leaves and pollen right and left.  They are beautiful, and they're green most of the year.  But oh the leaves!

We have been clearing neglected flower beds and planting new things.  (In the process, both Kyle and I contracted 'contact dermititis.'  I'm still on the hunt for the guilty plant.  I've got my eye on one, but I can't seem to find a matching mugshot!)

I won't post photos of the empty beds (or the baby veg).  But, the transformation from brambled wreck to clean dark soil paid off in sweat and satisfaction.
There are freshly planted gerbera daisies and cute yellow flowers (whose name escapes me) and knock-out roses.  We have geraniums, hydrangea, begonias and bougainvillea in pots around the exterior of house.


We were thrilled to see our azaleas bloom after I hacked them last fall.  And we've been surprised by some bulbs that popped open last week.  Are they lilies? Not sure, but that orange is lovely!


We dedicated one bed to vegetables.  We planted tomato, jalapeno and poblano.  There are also a few pumpkin plants that sprouted from our defunct jack-o-lantern. (Pumpkins must be hearty.  They've returned after two frosts and a 'nuclear option' bed clearing!)  We hope to add some zucchini, green beans and some herbs.  We'll see!

Monday, March 28, 2011

Visitors!!

I'm late in posting photos, but, about a week ago, we had visitors!

Kyle's parents came to see us.  (Well, we're pretty sure they came to see Olive, but ... that's ok.  She's pretty special.)

They arrived on Saturday around noon and hit the ground running.  We did yard work and house work and spent tons of time playing with Olive outside.  It was a lovely weather weekend, and our slide and swings got quite a workout!

Russ, Rae, Kyle and Olive set off for the Children's Museum on Monday.  (Ding.) They have an area set aside for children 36 months and under.  I have heard fabulous things about it.  I am really excited for Olive to explore it.  However, (Ding.) I forgot that museums are generally closed on Mondays.  (Crud.  Should have listened to those bells.)

Instead, they went to Hermann Park (near the museum and made for a quick change of plans), rode the train and enjoyed a play area targeted to younger kids.

I'm not sure who had more fun, Olive or her Grandparents.  But a great time was had by all.

Train riding is serious business.


Having fun at the park with Grandma.


Catch me if you can!


Getting a ride from Grandpa.

Sunday, March 27, 2011

New To Us.

Saturday afternoon we went shopping.

Kyle, Olive and I walked in and out of a few antique stores ... I think more technically they were used furniture stores.  What is an antique really?

But questions aside, we were pleasantly surprised to find something wonderful, and today we brought home a new to us table for our breakfast room!

OK.

This was our old table:


This is our new table:


It came with four chairs.


And it has a self-contained leaf.


We love it!

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Rodeo Behind the Scenes. Part II.

Instead of trying to park at the Astrodome, we parked at a church near the museums and took the train to the dome.

We were a few minutes early to meet our friends, so we let Olive play on the lawn.



She had a ball.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Rodeo Behind the Scenes. Part I.


Just so you know ... Kyle and I had a great time at the rodeo too!


As you can see, we didn't don our rodeo duds.  Somehow, comfy shoes seemed like a better idea for chasing, er, walking around, with our little one all morning.

We did bring lots of anti-bacterial cleanser.  We touched a lot of animals!

Monday, March 14, 2011

Rodeo Time.

It is rodeo time in Houston.

Every year, the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo comes to town. 

This year, we decided not to take Olive to the performance (bull riding, barrel racing and more ... finished off with a concert).  Instead, we set off early Saturday morning for the exhibit portion of the rodeo, meeting our friends Lauren, William and William Averett for the fun.

We started inside with the 'birthing center' and we saw baby cows, sheep and pigs - all born in the last few days!

We saw baby chickens, and Olive got to pet some rabbits.



We peeked in on more sheep, cows and pigs.


We went to a petting zoo.  (Olive was NOT excited to pet the animals.)


We got our photo taken with a longhorn.


Then we went outside to watch the tale end of some "moutin' mutton bustin'" and to explore a cool exhibit for kids about farming and farm products.  Olive enjoyed collecting carrots, eggs, peaches and wool and 'selling' them at market for some cheese crackers!


We also found some peek-through farms faces. Olive wasn't keen on being a 'chicken.'


Olive was completely worn out; she fell asleep in the car on the way home and snoozed most of the afternoon.

PS - We were (inside and out) in the section of the show arranged for children.  Walking through the long lines of metal pens does yield an entirely different experience than the cute and furry section for kids.

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Hi.


Just, "Hi."

Have a great Saturday!

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Head Scratcher.


Olive almost always removes her socks and shoes while we are in the car.  I don't totally get it, but I like being barefoot, so ...

Recently, however, we have caught Olive with her socks shoved under her chin.  (Yup.  The white cloth in this photo is not part of her shirt.) 

It makes us giggle.

18+ Months

Yesterday I took Olive for her (late) 18-month check up.

She is now 32.5 inches tall and weighs 25 pounds.  (That is up 1.5 inches and 1+ pounds since January.)

She had three shots which - really - are not her favorite things.

All in all the doctor said she was perfect.  (And I totally agree.)

:)

Friday, March 4, 2011

Probably of no interest to you, but fun for us.

This morning, I went into Olive's room to extract her from her crib.

She lifted her arms. (Olive "speak" for "pick me up.")

Then, she put her hand on her hip.  (Olive "speak" for "I need a new diaper.")

Then, she lifted her arms again.

I asked, "Would you like a clean diaper?"

She rubbed her chest.  (Alternately, Olive "speak" for "please" and "bath."  I went with "please.")

It isn't unusual that Olive would need a new diaper after a long night.  In fact, it is downright standard.  But asking for it (other than a few times when we ask, "Do you need a new diaper?") is new.

We aren't starting potting training yet.  (Goodness, there are enough things going on in our lives right now!)  But this little development is definitely a good step in that direction.

Yep.  I believe this is my first post about dirty diapers.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Bracelets.

One of Olive's favorite Christmas gifts was a $1 set of plastic bracelets from Walmart.

There are many things about them that I do not like.  But I knew she would love them, and she does.

At lunch the other day, my salad came with two rings of purple onion.

Olive kept pointing to my salad plate.  (She is not a big salad eater - largely a teeth issue at this point.) 

I couldn't figure it out.

I gave her croutons and cheese;  I even tried lettuce dipped in ranch.  (She sucked off the ranch, but kept pointing.)

So, I handed her an onion disk. 

Immediately, she inserted her hand and showed off the new bauble on her arm for the whole table to see.

Hi-lar-i-ous.

She played with both rings long after they broke.  They just went from bangle to cuff. 

I am still chuckling.