Absent

Blogging has been put on the back burner this month.  I have gotten completely wrapped up in a new obsession...the Twilight Saga!  For the two of you who don't know what this is, it is a series of 4 books about a teenage vampire love triangle.  I know...sounds WEIRD!  For the past couple years, many of my friends have been talking about how awesome the books are.  I just didn't get it...AT ALL!  Until I saw the movie.  That convinced me that I needed to read the books.  As is usually the case, the first book was better than the movie.  Now I have to patiently wait until November 20th for the second movie to come out.  I should be done with the last book in a few days...then I'll have lots of new things to share.  But first, I think I need to focus on the housework I've also neglected over the past couple of weeks...

You may also notice I've added music to our blog again. Yes, it is from the Twilight movie!  Can you say OBSESSED!

Mother's Day and some new pics

I had a wonderful Mother's Day weekend with both my family and Mark's family.  I feel so lucky that both of our families can hang out TOGETHER and get along with everyone. And we all go on vacation together every year, too.  We absolutely cannot wait till June for our beach trip!

Mark and Hannah surprised me with a beautiful white gold charm bracelet.  The idea is that each year, the kids (yes, I hope to have another one...soon!) will pick out a new charm to add to the bracelet.  I know it will be something I'll treasure forever and can one day pass down to my children or grandchildren.

Hannah painted some pots for both her Nana and Grammy. Here are a few pictures of the painting process.  I knew it would be messy so I took off all her clothes.  Of course, Hannah didn't mind!  She would run around naked all day if she could!

***Let me add that Hannah is NOT potty trained (but oh how I wish she was).  We were just experimenting to see if she could keep her big girl underpants dry. She tee-teed in the potty when she needed to and was successful at keeping them dry!

Swimming at Grammy & Pappy's house.

Hanging out with Nana & Granddaddy.

When mom forgets...

...Hannah will remember!  So, we all sat down for dinner tonight. Mark and I were both a bit preoccupied with some other things we have going on, so as soon as we sat down we dug into our food. Hannah kindly reminded us that we forgot to say the blessing! OH NO!  She NEVER forgets. She just folded her hands, bowed her head, and waited for us to realize what we forgot. Leave it to Hannah to keep us on the straight and narrow!

Noooooooo!

So the other night Hannah started doing this thing with her arms that looked very much like the University of Florida gator chomp. That behavior is completely unacceptable in this household!  Future similar actions will not be tolerated!

Pappy!

Hannah has a very special name for her Pappy (Mark's dad).  When she first learned to say his name many months ago, it came out sounding like "Op-pa" instead of Pappy. We have tried to encourage her to say it the right way, but she refuses.  Ever since Hannah was little Pappy would call her his "Hannah Belle", so the other day she started calling him "Op-pa Belle."  It gave us all a good laugh!

Pears

Just a quick little story.  Since this blog serves as the baby book I never started for Hannah (which I feel terribly guilty about), I'm going to try to do a better job of posting the little things that she does, so that down the road we'll both have a way to remember her milestones and accomplishments.

I'm always trying to sneak healthy foods into Hannah's diet. She's still pretty picky and only eats what is already familiar to her. She really likes baked macaroni with ground beef.  I've been able to puree a can of mushrooms and half a bag of mini carrots and "hide" it in with the tomato sauce and ground beef. Only I know it is there!! It makes me feel a little better about the fact that she doesn't eat veggies.

Tonight I tried to get her to eat pears, which was one of her favorites 6 months ago. I took a slice of pear and dunked into applesauce (her current favorite). She didn't know the pear was in there so she opened her mouth willingly.  She scrunched up her face knowing something was different and said, "Mama, Pears!"  She knew EXACTLY what I had done! Mark and I got a good laugh out of it.  Fortunately she didn't put up a big fight and finished the rest of the pears I put on her plate.  

The biggest challenge still remains...vegetables.  I may never win that one...

Our Garden

Let me start by saying that I have no part in the preparation, planting, or success of this garden.  It's just not my thing.  But each spring/summer/fall Mark has a fabulous vegetable garden that yields more than we could ever eat.  The corn is already up as well as the tomatoes, bell and anaheim peppers, and sunflowers.  The yellow squash and zucchini should be sprouting any day now!  We LOVE to grill veggies during the summer.  We always have more than enough, so let us know if you are interested in some fresh (and organically grown!) veggies.

Our garden is 50 x 50 feet, which  is more square footage than our house!

Our garden is much smaller this year since our house is on the market.  It just takes too much time to keep up a large garden.  We really hope our next house will have a yard large enough so that we (I mean, Mark) can keep gardening.

What does a whiner look like?

Hannah has mastered the art of fake crying and whining to try and get what she wants...and boy does it grate on my nerves. Too bad her dad and I see right past her tricks!  Here are some of the faces I caught on camera tonight.

And here is my personal favorite - her "classic" whiner face: