Happy Birthday!

I celebrated my birthday this past week.  It was a beautiful day both in terms of the weather and in the activities of the day.  Troy treated me to a wonderful breakfast of homemade scones and smoothie.

Since it was warm and sunny, I took the kids to the playground for a little morning fun.  We ran into a school friend of Timothy's so it was even more fun for him.

Teresa was able to do a whole lot more at the playground this year.  I think going down the slides might have been her favorite.  Although trying to keep up with Timothy is a close second!

After the playground, we met Troy at Mama Maria's for my free birthday lunch. (A very yummy calzone!)  Timothy kept busy coloring while we waited for the food to arrive.  He liked sampling a little bit of my meal and Troy's eggplant and spaghetti.  Teresa pretty much ate applesauce and one bite of a garlic knot.  (Crazy girl!)

A picture of me and my girl out for lunch...she blinked on every photo, so this is the best one!

Timothy had swimming lessons in the afternoon and we had Lenten services in the evening.  Troy was in charge of the drama for the service.  Unfortunately we had to watch from the narthex as Teresa decided to be a bit fussy right before Troy did his skit.

It was a great day with family and I am once again reminded of the many blessings in my life.

Visting Grandma

This past weekend I had a woman's retreat at church, so Troy took the kids up to his mom's for a visit.  The weather cooperated perfectly giving them a 70 degree day to enjoy.  The had lots of good time outside with Grandma Judy!

Relaxing on Grandma's porch.

Hanging Easter eggs on Grandpa Bernie's tree.

Ready for a wagon ride!

Whee!

A little exploring with Grandma.

Push me higher Grandma!

 I was very proud of Troy for taking on the celebration of St. Patrick's Day even without me.  He whipped up a batch of green waffles for the occasion!  Below is a picture of Teresa, ignoring her waffles and eating Cheerios and a banana.  (That is typical Teresa--ignoring any food that looks even slightly different from what she knows.)

A great weekend was had by all...Troy, Timothy, Teresa, Grandma Judy...and me. (I got to do a little shopping by myself, spend some time with friends at the retreat and even sleep a whole night without being woken up--yeah a great time indeed!!)

Sledding

Last weekend, Timothy finally got to go sledding.  It took us four years to let him experience sledding down an incline that actually can be classified as a hill.  Troy took him on a windy, snowy day and Timothy loved it!  Despite the weather conditions they stayed out a long time. 

Today we all went out again, and it may be the last time of the season.  The 40 degree weather did not leave much snow on the dike to sled down.  It took Timothy awhile to gain the courage to venture down once again, but once he did, there was no stopping him. 

Teresa and I hung out at the bottom of the hill most of the time.  Then we decided to let her have a go with Troy.  She seemed a little indifferent about the ride, but readily agreed to another.  Next up was a shorter ride down with Timothy.  Troy did a good job instructing Timothy on how to hang on to Teresa.  On this ride down, they were both giggling gleefully!  The both wanted another ride right away.  The two of them had several successful rides (even hitting the jump a couple of times!), and only one where they both went tumbling into the snow.  Even with the tumble, there were no tears.

Poor Timothy had to wait 4 years to sled and Teresa got her first try at 19 months.  I guess it helps to have a big brother.  (And to be 19 months old during one of the mildest winters in quite awhile, so that playing outside in the snow is an option.)

Sledding with Daddy!

Flying down the hill backwards!!

Afternoon Tea

England was up for our international dinners tonight. To make it more fun, Troy served crumpets and tea for afternoon snack! The crumpets were actually English muffins, but they are sort of like crumpets. We sweetened the black tea with a bit of sugar and added a good share of milk for Timothy. He drank some tea, but it clearly wasn't his favorite. He probably would have had more, but we reassured him, it was okay to not really like the tea. He said he sort of liked it, but sort of didn't.

The rest of tonight's menu, cooked by Troy, was Toad in a Hole (Yorkshire pudding with sausages and gravy), fried potatoes, and peas.  For dessert we had a version of strawberry fool.  Timothy, Troy and I  liked it all.  Teresa liked the Yorkshire pudding and sort of liked the strawberry fool.  We'll call that a successful dinner!

Copy Cat & Independent

I was reading old blogs last night and remembering all the cute things Timothy did.  I realized if I had not blogged about them, I would have forgotten.  That made me wonder if I am writing enough of Teresa's cute things. So here is what Teresa is up to...

My mom always tells how my brother Dan followed my oldest brother, Jeff, around saying "Jeff, Jeff, Jeff!"  When I see Teresa follow Timothy around, I wonder if that is how my brothers looked.  Teresa loves to copy him.  Even when he is at swimming lessons, Teresa watches through the window and tries to do the arm movements he does. Recently when we were playing outside, all Teresa did was go where Timothy did...in the puddle, on the sidewalk, over the snow--it was like follow the leader.  She loves to try to jump on the bed like him, or go bump down the stairs like him.  She completely loves her brother and wants to be with him.  She has been known to cry if Timothy goes someplace without her.  And for the most part I think the feeling is mutual.  Timothy loves her too.  (He only shouts "you're hurting my ears" at her when she cries!)

It is true that even apart from Timothy, Teresa enjoys copying right now.  Animal Baby magazine is her favorite and she loves to copy the actions for the action rhymes and the sounds from the animal noises page.  She will dance with you , raise her arms up, give hi-fives.  They only thing Teresa does not like to copy is words.  No matter how much I encourage her, she calls everything "dog" or some variation of that.  (We are soon to start checking out whether fluid in her ears might be affecting her speech.)  I take comfort in the fact that Timothy was about 20 1/2 months before he said "Mom-mom."  I hope Teresa learns that soon! :-)

Connected to her desire to copy Timothy is a growing desire to be independent.  Teresa sees what he does and things she can too.  This means she wants to walk to the car, and not be carried.  She wants to try walking down the stairs.  She wants to stand on chairs to look out the window. And even at church she is no longer content to miss out on the kid's time up front (children's sermon.).  If Timothy gets to go, then she needs to go to. (If only she could copy how he sits still!)  She is moving out of the nice baby stage when she would happily be carted along and do what mommy wants!  That makes life challenging, but beautiful too.