Food Glorious Food

Mabel is obsessed with food. If she notices that Emmeline has dropped an Apple Jack on the floor (or a noodle, or a pea, or anything at all) she will make a mad dash for the coveted item. Unfortunately for her, her "mad dash" is still slower then mama and the food item gets cruelly intercepted. She has begun demanding that she get to sit with the family during dinner time. She is sneaky. She sits calmly on my (or Brett's) lap and then when I least expect it---she swipes for my plate. She is usually quick enough to get something in her hand, but not quick enough to get it to her mouth.

Well the other day we finally gave in and gave Mabel what she wanted. "Real" food. And by real, I mean the pulverized mesh that Gerber calls baby food. We started Mabel off with sweet potatoes and she sure loves it. She already wants to hold the spoon by herself. She has now also enjoyed peas and applesauce. I believe a whole new world has just opened up for our little Mabel Jane.

Blogs 2 Books

My friend has a friend who created this program Blogs 2 Books. It is a pretty cool way to print out your blog and have a hard copy to flip through or save. Plus it is free and easy to use. I thought it was pretty cool and that I'd share with any of ya'll who are interested. Just click on the Blogs 2 Books icon located on the right colum of my blog.

Squirrel Babies

I should have written this blog a week ago right after the event happened because I was so freaked out. Now I've had time to simmer and so this blog will be much more mellow then it could have been. Last Wednesday Tyler the pest control guy came by. He knocked on the door and we talked about how much we were hoping he could take down a dead hanging squirrel. But there was no squirrel to "take down," only a new hole the squirrel had been chewing away on. He told me he had some poisoned seed he could put up there and that that might be the next best step. (Actually his most preferred next step would be to shoot the squirrel himself. . .but he was concerned that our neighbors might get suspicious of some guy sitting around waiting in a truck with a very real looking bb rifle complete with scope. I think he made a valid point.) He decided to pull out the ladder and see if he could fit a live trap in the rafters where the squirrel had been nesting. . .although he was skeptical that there would be enough room. Luckily for me, Emmeline was napping at this point and I was just outside holding Mabel. We were watching Tyler climb up the ladder. He pulled down some more of the siding and was able to reach farther into the space then Brett got to a couple days before. He found some more nest and started pulling it out and throwing it down on the grass. We were laughing and joking when all of the sudden I saw a little pink body squirming in the air and land on the grass with a thump. AAAAAHHHHHHHHHH. I dont know if I was more freaked out because I saw the little baby squirrel, that it was born and living in my attic, or that I didnt have any shoes on at the moment. Tyler exclaimed, "I think we just found the problem" while I ran to the front door and told Tyler I was sorry but I'd just let him take care of the issue on his own. While Tyler was working I scarfed down a Reeses Chocolate Peanut Butter Egg to help me calm down. Those things are magical. . .but I regress. After he cleaned everything up he came inside and told me he found 2 little babies which he estimated were born sometime within the past week. Apparently squirrels usually only have 2-3 at a time and he was pretty certain that he got them all. That was much better then the litter of 8-12 I had been imagining. (Sometimes my imagination runs a little wild if you hadnt already noticed from previous posts). Finding those baby squirrels explained a lot. It explained why the squirrel had been so persistent in getting back into the attic and also why rather then running away from Brett and me the previous morning she just gave us this demon stare. She was trying to be protective. I suppose I would give anyone who might mess with my babies a heck of a lot more then just a demon stare (and we are back to the scratching out of eyes). Tyler told me that the momma squirrel would certainly come back again but after finding her babies gone she very possibly would not return. So far that has been the case. We did hear her rummaging around Thursday morning but it stopped quickly and did not resume. We havent heard it since. (Well we havent heard it for certain since. I keep thinking I hear it. . .but Brett insists I am only hearing the wind or the rain or the neighbors next door. I admit I am a little paranoid now.) I think our next plan of action will be to close up the holes and keep our bb gun at the ready. And if the squirrel is as smart as she has heretofore proven herself, she will learn to stay away pretty quick!!

Happy Easter--and all the great things that go along with it!

This Easter snuck right up on us but we had a great time anyway. Friday night we began the celebrations by dyeing hard boiled eggs. We ended up with some real works of art. I think my favorite was the green monster hands which Emmeline created by placing her whole hand into the dye cup when she was trying to get out an egg. She decided that was a much quicker method of gathering the eggs then trying to balance them on a little spoon. Truth be told. . .it is easier that way. What a smart little girl. :) We also had an egg spinner which we purchased at Wal Mart last year for 75% off. We've been waiting a whole year to try the sucker out and we were not disappointed. It was a lot of fun banging the top down and watching the egg spin around. It definitely created more action (or at least more noise) then the usual drop and wait method of my youth.

The Easter Bunny came to our house and on Saturday morning the girls found baskets full of goodies. It was so funny to see how differently they went through their baskets. I know that age has something to do with it but perhaps it is also indicative of their differing personalities as well. Emmeline went through hers slowly. As she found a new item, she would forget about the rest of the basket and want only to play with the toy she found. Brett and I sort of had to coax her into looking at all of her new little gadgets. Mabel on the other hand, just liked to pull stuff out. It seemed as though her objective was to empty out her basket as quickly as possible, occasionally sucking on something that looked especially tasty (plastic eggs, sunglasses. . . .you know the really good stuff) then discarding those items to get back on task and finish unloading all the goods. Basically, it was just hilarious!

On Sunday we had a nice meeting at church. Of course, Easter is always a special occasion to remember the atonement and resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ. I love how joyful the Easter hymns are. "He is risen, He is risen. . .Tell it out with joyful voice! He has burst His three days' prison; Let the whole wide earth rejoice! Death is conquered, man is free. Christ has won the victory." What a wonderful truth and what a glorious gift.

We finished up the holiday with one more easter egg hunt here at our house, a delicious traditional easter feast of ham, funeral potatoes and of course deviled eggs, and a special family devotional which consisted of telling Emmeline the story (the two year old version) of Christ's Atonement, death and resurrection and watching the Living Scriptures movie "He is Risen."

All in all, it was a truly wonderful holiday!!

Great Adventurers

This summer the Zoo is offering camel rides. Emmeline really wanted to try it out so we let her (how often do you get to ride a camel. . .) I remember when I was young and got to ride an elephant at Wildlife Safari in Roseberg Oregon. I dont remember much else about the wildlife safari. . .just riding the elephant. Anyhow, Emmeline loved every second of our camel ride on 'Big Joe' and as we got off she exclaimed, "more more." I told her we couldnt ride it again right away. I thought we might be in for a little tantrum but she took a second to compose herself and said "okay mommy." I was very proud of her. Unfortunately they wouldn't allow riders under 2 years old so Mabel is going to have to wait a while before she gets to ride a camel. I think she was just happy to get out of her stroller and play with daddy while Em and I waited in the line. We are very excited for another fun filled year at the zoo!!

On the Hunt

Here is a shot of Emmeline searching for easter eggs at our church's play group easter egg hunt.

Play Group Easter Egg Hunt

On Friday March 21 our ward play group had a super fun activity. We met at the park and had an Easter egg hunt. Each mom brought 10 candy filled plastic eggs for each child who was participating in the hunt. Then, while the kids were busy sliding down the slides and swinging on the swings, a couple of moms and a couple of the oldest children went out and hid all the eggs. When the hiding was finished the kids all lined up and ran to collect 10 eggs. It was so much fun. We had children there between the ages of 6 months old (Mabel) and 11 years old. I think it was fun for everyone and it was a great way to have a big easter egg hunt that wasnt a lot of work or to expensive for anyone. Emmeline loved finding the eggs and putting them in her basket!!!

The Squirrel Drama Continues. . . .

Well our squirrel resident has not been caught yet. Last saturday Brett climbed up there and found a huge nest. Apparently the little bugger had been quite busy creating the perfect home for itself. Brett pulled out as much of the nest as he could get to and also closed up the hole in the siding where the squirrel was coming in and out. I was so proud of Brett for all his work. Then--dum da dum dum--Sunday morning the scratching sound returned. Apparently the squirrel did not appreciate being evicted and began scratching out a new hole. This time it made the hole in the wood. Yesterday (Tuesday), our animal control guy,Tyler,came by and put a trap in the new hole. Basically it was the kind of trap where if the squirrel entered the hole at all--snap--it would be dead. I was a bit concerned because we would have a dead squirrel hanging from our roof until we called and had Tyler come take it down. I didnt think that would be the most pleasant sight in the world.(Although it might be a strong warning to any other squirrel who had thoughts of moving in). But I wanted the squirrel gone so we let the trap go in and began waiting. All day, each time I approached the house I would warily check out the top right corner of the roof and sigh with relief that I didnt have a dead squirrel hanging there. I figured it would probably happen this morning since we usually hear the squirrel working in the roof in the morning. Well this morning came and so did the usual scratching. The squirrel stayed away from the trapped hole and began biting and clawing a new hole
back into the siding. I couldnt believe it. Brett went outside and there was the squirrel, just sitting there watching him. It didnt even run away. We decided that if we had a bb gun that squirrel would be a great target so this morning we went and bought a bb/pellet gun. If we hear the squirrel tomorrow morning. . .we are going to settle this the true southern way.

Dancing in the Rain #2

Does this look like fun or what!!!!

Just Singing and Dancing in the Rain

There is just about nothing that Emmeline likes more then venturing outside during a rainstorm or going outside right after it rains and splashing in the puddles. I happen to also love splashing in the rain, so it works out pretty well. I was happy to find this adorable Winnie the Pooh rain slicker for a dollar fifty at a local consignment sale. Hurray for rain! Hurray for sales!

Laughing Mabel

It is a little difficult to see Mabels face because she is bouncing up and down, but her little laugh is so sweet!!