Megan added the word go to her vocabulary. The video speaks for itself.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Animals revisited
Here is a somewhat more attentive Megan doing animal sounds.
Note- "Pablo" is her favorite character on the show Backyardigans. She has a stuffed Pablo toy and 2 sippy cups with Pablo on them. She talks about him regularly. On several of the episodes of Backyardigans, Pablo rides a horse, thus the conversation:
Mommy: "What does a horse say?"
Megan: "Pablo."
This is Megan not using her spoon. Last week, she started using a spoon. Before then, she always let me feed her, so I avoided the mess by not letting her use the spoon. This morning she ate about half of her yogurt with her spoon. While she slowly ate a cereal bar and more yogurt, I started unloading the dishwasher. At this point, she apparently decided she no longer needed the spoon and attempted to drink her yogurt. Lovely.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Walking-Talking-Sponge
I feel like Megan has suddenly started to express everything we've talked about over the last 15 months. She is regularly doing and saying things that I didn't realize she knew or remembered.
Animal sounds are an example. We have been looking at animal picture books for easily the last 9 months. Her favorite books are "Dear Zoo" and a cheap book with cartoon pictures of animals that I got in Target. I have been making animal sounds for months. Then, when we were on vacation she started saying, "moo, nee and do-do (elephant)." Just out of curiousity, I asked her sheep, chicken, cat, owl and wolf and she did them all. The first three animals (cow, horse, elephant) I would show her in a picture and then ask her, but the rest I asked her while playing outside. Anyway, this is just and example of the ways she has been surprising me lately.
Here is a video of her animal sounds, she was really distracted, but I'll try again soon.
She has also started nodding her head empatically. It's pretty funny and a fair amount of the time she will nod yes no matter what the question. Below is a video of her wanting candy (I tried to bribe her to pay attention to the animal sounds. It didn't work).
Scrapbooking again
I know everyone has been dying to see more scrapbooking...well, so that's not true. I haven't done much this summer. In June, I finished an album for my dad that I started 2 years ago.
July was mostly spent copying old home videos to DVD which is going to count toward my scrapbook goal for the year, b/c the goal was to preserve memories.
In August, I designed this simple project for a church event. We had a VBS follow up and in addition to some foot soaking, the ladies made a similar designed page with a take home plastic frame.
August and September flew by with home improvement and vacation. Monday I ordered all of our pictures since May (over 200) but I decided to scrapbook some old ones just to get back in the swing of things.
July was mostly spent copying old home videos to DVD which is going to count toward my scrapbook goal for the year, b/c the goal was to preserve memories.
In August, I designed this simple project for a church event. We had a VBS follow up and in addition to some foot soaking, the ladies made a similar designed page with a take home plastic frame.
August and September flew by with home improvement and vacation. Monday I ordered all of our pictures since May (over 200) but I decided to scrapbook some old ones just to get back in the swing of things.
Our House-Part zillion
Yesterday, we had company for dinner which provided the perfect motivation to get some stuff done around the house. We finally added the finishing touches to the foyer. I haven't gotten all the "deep cleaning" done yet, but I want to wait until all the first floor painting is done before I do all the washing and polishing.
Before:
Here is the stairwell with the metal tiles we found at Hobby Lobby. The yellow is more vibrant in real life.
The old curtains:
We got a "new" old piece of furniture. My mom refinished this seat over 35 years ago. My parents didn't have a house at the time so my grandma asked for it. My grandma in turn gave it to my uncle. My uncle recently moved into a smaller house and has been storing it in the attic. None of my cousins wanted it, so she offered it to me because she knew we lived in an old house...so, my moms hard work has made it to Pennsylvania...I bet she never thought that would happen. It has almost been coast to coast, because my uncle had it in Oregon. I feel like I should drive it to New Jersey just to complete it's journey...
The door:
No more roses on the door.
Chad's grandparents spent last weekend with us. I think Megan impressed them with her animal sounds. And of course, after they left they told Chad's parents they thought I was pregnant...again...this is not true, but entertaining to me...
Before:
Here is the stairwell with the metal tiles we found at Hobby Lobby. The yellow is more vibrant in real life.
The old curtains:
We got a "new" old piece of furniture. My mom refinished this seat over 35 years ago. My parents didn't have a house at the time so my grandma asked for it. My grandma in turn gave it to my uncle. My uncle recently moved into a smaller house and has been storing it in the attic. None of my cousins wanted it, so she offered it to me because she knew we lived in an old house...so, my moms hard work has made it to Pennsylvania...I bet she never thought that would happen. It has almost been coast to coast, because my uncle had it in Oregon. I feel like I should drive it to New Jersey just to complete it's journey...
The door:
No more roses on the door.
Chad's grandparents spent last weekend with us. I think Megan impressed them with her animal sounds. And of course, after they left they told Chad's parents they thought I was pregnant...again...this is not true, but entertaining to me...
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Time travel
We just got back from our vacation. We not only wanted to travel but we apparently wanted to time travel.
Our first stop was Gettysburg (which is about 3.5 hours from Dubois). We got a guided tour and it was great. The guide drove our car through the park telling us about the battle. He was very passionate and between his excitement and our questions, our 2 hour tour turned into 4.
This is the Pennsylvania monument at Gettysburg, it's pretty impressive, if you look, I'm at the upper left hand corner waving.
We drove from Gettysburg to Lancaster to see a musical at Sights and Sounds theatre which was pretty impressive.
From there we drove to Philadelphia and stopped at Valley Forge just outside the city. Megan was checking out the troops cabin. It's about the size of her bedroom. It was made for 6-10 people to live in, must have smelled great.
Below is Freedom Hall where the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were signed.
Did I mention my parents went with us? We make a pretty good traveling team. We tend to like the same types of things and it is nice to be able to spend a week together since we don't get to see each other that often. Megan also enjoyed being with her grandparents.
This is the Constitution Museum. It was probably one of my favorite stops. I definitely could have spent more time here.
Of course, we had to see the liberty bell which apparently was almost sold for scrap metal in the 1830s (but no one would buy it) and only became a national symbol when it was adopted by abolitionists as a symbol of their cause.
The famous "Philly" cheesesteak wasn't all that great. We asked a local and he advised against the "cheez whiz" version and we have since realized that we should have ignored him.
George Washington's pew at Christ Church.
Megan's favorite part was this carousel ride. She kept walking back towards it and doing the sign language for "more."
After Philly, we drove to Williamsburg. This is Megan in colonial handcuffs.
Grandpa got Megan a hat.
After two days at Williamsburg, we spent half a day at Jamestown (where I neglected to take pictures) and ended up at Virginia Beach. Dad, a sworn beach hater, did enjoy the fact that our fall vacation meant he beach was empty for kite flying.
Megan liked the sand.
But she wasn't as sure of the water.
Our first stop was Gettysburg (which is about 3.5 hours from Dubois). We got a guided tour and it was great. The guide drove our car through the park telling us about the battle. He was very passionate and between his excitement and our questions, our 2 hour tour turned into 4.
This is the Pennsylvania monument at Gettysburg, it's pretty impressive, if you look, I'm at the upper left hand corner waving.
We drove from Gettysburg to Lancaster to see a musical at Sights and Sounds theatre which was pretty impressive.
From there we drove to Philadelphia and stopped at Valley Forge just outside the city. Megan was checking out the troops cabin. It's about the size of her bedroom. It was made for 6-10 people to live in, must have smelled great.
Below is Freedom Hall where the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were signed.
Did I mention my parents went with us? We make a pretty good traveling team. We tend to like the same types of things and it is nice to be able to spend a week together since we don't get to see each other that often. Megan also enjoyed being with her grandparents.
This is the Constitution Museum. It was probably one of my favorite stops. I definitely could have spent more time here.
Of course, we had to see the liberty bell which apparently was almost sold for scrap metal in the 1830s (but no one would buy it) and only became a national symbol when it was adopted by abolitionists as a symbol of their cause.
The famous "Philly" cheesesteak wasn't all that great. We asked a local and he advised against the "cheez whiz" version and we have since realized that we should have ignored him.
George Washington's pew at Christ Church.
Megan's favorite part was this carousel ride. She kept walking back towards it and doing the sign language for "more."
After Philly, we drove to Williamsburg. This is Megan in colonial handcuffs.
Grandpa got Megan a hat.
After two days at Williamsburg, we spent half a day at Jamestown (where I neglected to take pictures) and ended up at Virginia Beach. Dad, a sworn beach hater, did enjoy the fact that our fall vacation meant he beach was empty for kite flying.
Megan liked the sand.
But she wasn't as sure of the water.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Labor Day weekend
We spent a very busy 3 day weekend with Chad's parents and the rest of the family in Cleveland area. We got into town late Friday afternoon and had dinner w/Bruce, Sherry, Todd Hilary and Adisyn. Then we played Settlers of Catan for the first of three times.
Saturday morning, we met at the Brecksville train station to catch the bike train. Basically, you bring your bike down to the depot, the train comes, they load the bikes on for you, you ride the train to whatever stop you want and when you get off your bike is waiting for you. The train runs parallel (well, essentially parallel) to the Erie Canal that connected Akron (and beyond?) to Lake Erie. The bike trail we rode is actually the old towpath for the canal boats. Of course, it has been surfaced with a lovely limestone chip surface. We rode 11 miles back to where we parked our cars. Megan and Adisyn got to ride in style, although they ended up crying for about the last 2 miles.
Saturday afternoon, Chad and I went to see Mamma Mia, which was a little different than expected but not a bad way to spend some time. We also went out to eat (hey, you gotta take advantage of free babysitting when you can, thanks Bruce and Sherry). Megan went to the pool with Grandma and Grandpa.
Chad and his dad also rode another 12 miles on Saturday before the movie.
Sunday, we went to church, where Megan got kicked out of her class for crying too much. After another wonderful and large meal, Chad, Bruce, Paul, Todd and Hilary, did a 36 mile bike ride.
Megan, Adisyn, Sherry and I went to the park and to the pool to get our "exercise."
Monday, we went to a local park and had a picnic. Megan seemed to especially like Uncle Paul and was constantly batting her little eyes at him. I should also add that after breakfast, Sherry and I rode 12 miles on our bikes.
We took the girls down to the creek. Once again, the only bad part is that we can never get the swimsuit on fast enough.
We ended the afternoon with a popsicle and the drive home.
Saturday morning, we met at the Brecksville train station to catch the bike train. Basically, you bring your bike down to the depot, the train comes, they load the bikes on for you, you ride the train to whatever stop you want and when you get off your bike is waiting for you. The train runs parallel (well, essentially parallel) to the Erie Canal that connected Akron (and beyond?) to Lake Erie. The bike trail we rode is actually the old towpath for the canal boats. Of course, it has been surfaced with a lovely limestone chip surface. We rode 11 miles back to where we parked our cars. Megan and Adisyn got to ride in style, although they ended up crying for about the last 2 miles.
Saturday afternoon, Chad and I went to see Mamma Mia, which was a little different than expected but not a bad way to spend some time. We also went out to eat (hey, you gotta take advantage of free babysitting when you can, thanks Bruce and Sherry). Megan went to the pool with Grandma and Grandpa.
Chad and his dad also rode another 12 miles on Saturday before the movie.
Sunday, we went to church, where Megan got kicked out of her class for crying too much. After another wonderful and large meal, Chad, Bruce, Paul, Todd and Hilary, did a 36 mile bike ride.
Megan, Adisyn, Sherry and I went to the park and to the pool to get our "exercise."
Monday, we went to a local park and had a picnic. Megan seemed to especially like Uncle Paul and was constantly batting her little eyes at him. I should also add that after breakfast, Sherry and I rode 12 miles on our bikes.
We took the girls down to the creek. Once again, the only bad part is that we can never get the swimsuit on fast enough.
We ended the afternoon with a popsicle and the drive home.
Doing a little "home improvement"
We have been doing some serious painting over the past few weeks. I have no "after" pictures, because we have some accesories to put out still, but I'll give you all some action shots.
I was very happy to see this mural disappear.
Me, painting over one of the mini murals.
Bruce and Sherry drove over for the day to help. It was a major blessing or we would have never gotten the foyer primed and painted in one day. As you might imagine, several coats of primer were necessary...Sherry is peeling the fake plastic roses off of the entryway in case you were wondering.
The new color is a yellow/gold color which definitely sets the woodwork off. Like I said, pictures later.
The living room didn't go quite as smoothly. We primed and painted it a green color that somehow morphed into mint green (the lighter color) in between the color card and the actual wall. FYI, mint green is my least favorite color in the entire world. I have been known to throw away perfectly good sheets of paper from a variety pack of cardstock solely because they were mint green. Sage green, great, seafoam, okay, mint, no. At first we were going to add stripes throughout the room, but I didn't like our sample stripe and didn't want to do the hours of labor to add stripes and still hate the room. The entire room ended up being the darker green and it looks okay. I don't love it yet, but I can only paint a room so many times.
Megan worked pretty hard on the whole process.
I was very happy to see this mural disappear.
Me, painting over one of the mini murals.
Bruce and Sherry drove over for the day to help. It was a major blessing or we would have never gotten the foyer primed and painted in one day. As you might imagine, several coats of primer were necessary...Sherry is peeling the fake plastic roses off of the entryway in case you were wondering.
The new color is a yellow/gold color which definitely sets the woodwork off. Like I said, pictures later.
The living room didn't go quite as smoothly. We primed and painted it a green color that somehow morphed into mint green (the lighter color) in between the color card and the actual wall. FYI, mint green is my least favorite color in the entire world. I have been known to throw away perfectly good sheets of paper from a variety pack of cardstock solely because they were mint green. Sage green, great, seafoam, okay, mint, no. At first we were going to add stripes throughout the room, but I didn't like our sample stripe and didn't want to do the hours of labor to add stripes and still hate the room. The entire room ended up being the darker green and it looks okay. I don't love it yet, but I can only paint a room so many times.
Megan worked pretty hard on the whole process.
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