Mustering Up The Energy

I am working on it my friends... I have so much I want to write about and so many pictures I have stock piled in the camera that I want to post. However, the motivation and energy to do any of this is lacking! I simply don't want to do anything. Don't want to cook, clean, go walking, scrapbook, blog, do my Bible study, drive anywhere, run any errands, go to work or even force my brain to have a complete thought. To sum it all up...I Don't WANT to do it. Is it because it is cold outside and it has rained or been dreary since Christmas? I promise a really good update soon--- but for now--maybe I shall take just one more nap!

When It's Freezing Cold & You Don't Want To Go!

So what are we doing on these very cold days with grey and gloomy skies? Here is a breakdown of our newest favorite activities:

1. We went to the circus last Sunday night. We were pretty sure Analayne would like it but it ended up that she LOVED it and was glued to the performance. She is still talking about everything she saw. It was truly the best circus performance Russ and I have ever attended--- you can't beat Barnum and Baily!

2. While other children are singing songs like Twinkle Twinkle and Where is Thmbkin, Analayne is singing the song, Charleston! Analayne loves this song and if your not familiar with it the first part of the song goes like this, "Charleston, Charleston..made in Carolina.." She sings this song and does not miss a word.

3. We are painting. This is Analayne's newest and most favorite fine motor activity. Within 20 minutes she can paint about 50 pictures. In about an hour and 20 minutes I can clean up the aftermath. Thank goodness for easels and Ajax!

4. We are writing the alphabet. She loves for me to sit down with a marker and her tablet of paper and she dictates which letter for me to write down. After a page of tablet paper begins to get full I ask her to identify certain letters. For example, "where is the letter J?" and she points to the correct letter. Fun and educational-its a win-win for us!

5. We are obcessed with Angelina Ballarina and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. I won't elaborate, just know that I know every word to every Mickey Mouse Clubhouse song and I am certain that I know everything about TOOTLES!

6. Two of her favorite books right now are Fancy Nancy and Llamma, Llamma Mad At Momma.

7. Analayne knows her manners (YEAH!!!) However, she says both the "thank you and your welcome part all in one sentence, despite the fact that it might not be her "turn" to be the one saying your welcome! Its cute though... and as a mommy I will take it :)

8. We are washing "dishes." Analayne has mastered the art of pulling a chair up to the kitchen counter to help me "cook" or to "wash" dishes. Washing dishes can be a very helpful activity for both her and for me. I scrub the skink (After all..I am a germ-o-phobic), fill the sink with a little water, give her two or three cups and a few spoons and she plays for a very long time (long enough for me to make dinner!)

9. This morning when Analayne got up she climbed into bed with us and said the following, "I want a Wiggle boat." Russ said, "do you want to watch Wiggle Boat?" (her DVD) and she shook her head and said, "no, I want a Wiggle boat." I then said, "you want a wiggle boat that you can play in?" and she said, "yes." She then proceeded to say (and I quote...) "Daddy get me one." In response to that Russ told her "give me a week and I will get you one." She knew the right person to go to for a boat...literally! The surprise to me is that she had already made her mind up that she wanted to have her own little boat to play in. She is her daddy's girl (mine too!) On the flip side...where are we going to store a "wiggle boat?"


Russ and I are doing fine as well. We are hanging in there until a glimpse of warm sunshine comes our way. January and February feel like really long months to us. More to come very soon!

Somebody tell her what time it is!

Russ loves watches and its in his nature to always have a watch on or the very least his cell phone on his hip with the time on the face of it. On the other hand, I do not like to wear a watch unless I have too. I wash my hands alot and they are always in the way! At work I wear a pager and it has a clock built in. At home I have clocks throughout the house, my car has a clock, my computer has a clock, my cell phone has a clock (but I have to dig in my purse or Analayne's bag to find it) and even my new pedomiter has a clock built in. I have one watch with a working battery that on occassion I do wear, but often you will find it looped through my key-ring.

Since Russ loves knowing what time it is, I like to make him happy by asking him the question, "what time is it?" I do this if I am sitting on the floor and can't see the clock on our stove, or if we are in the car and I can't see the clock on the dash board. On Sunday afternoon, we were in the car driving home from church and I asked Russ the timeless question (no pun intended), "what time is it?" Analayne's ears were turned ALL the way up and since Sunday she has asked us about 500 times "what time is it?" We answer her and before the clock can even move a minute, she is asking the question again and we respond with exactly the same time. It's a hoot! She understands that we look at a clock to know what time it is and she can identify a clock. She can say the word, "clock" and "watch" and she can even use the words in a complete sentence. She uses her new clock puzzle and Nemo watch to pretend that she is reading a clock. However, she truly has no concept of time developmentally and by the way she repeats this question over and over again---it should be obvious to the WHOLE world. Now, let me see....what time is it?

Rebounding from Christmas

I ask myself, why in the midst of celebrating the birth of Jesus do we find ourselves so completely overwhelmed with a "to do" list longer than the law should allow? To my friends and family who read this, I know that your family experiences this as well and I rest assurred that I am not alone in my quest for a reserved bed at the Psych hospital (kidding of course... but we all have those days!)

By December 23rd my "to-do" list became somewhat manageable. The Christmas parties were over, my shopping was completed, The plan and agenda for the actual holidays had been nailed down, and the Christmas cards had been sent. There were still tasks that we needed to complete but, WOW--- to stop and focus and just "be ready" felt so good and the excitement began mounting.

We had such a nice time celebrating Christmas at Minnie and Gob's house on Christmas Eve morning and then we went to our churches Christmas candle light service that evening. On Christmas morning we were up bright and early (5:20am) to see what fun toys Santa brought and then later that morning we enjoyed breakfast at our house and Mimmi,Poppa, Gigi and G-pop all came over. Later that evening we went to Uncle Mike and Aunt Kay's house and celebrating with the Taylor side of the family (we played some awesome Bingo, opened gifts, and ate the best turkey I have ever tasted in my life). On December 26th Chad, Candace and Hadley arrived and we celebrated with them at Mimi and Poppa's house. Now that Christmas is over and we have entered 2008 I am rebouding from my full and non-stop month of December. Analayne is still in the Christmas spirit. She continues to sing Happy birthday to Jesus and she talks about Santa Claus several times a day. She reminds me daily of the excitment of Jesus's birth and well...the magical'ness (is that a word?) of the holidays. Enjoy some of our photos!

Make a slideshow - it's easy!

Hadley and Baby Cousin....

This week my niece, Hadley, has been visiting and we have been playing non-stop. Hadley calls Analayne, baby cousin. She calls Russ, Uncle Bus and me, Aunt Lee-Lee. It is so sweet and we just love it! Analayne and Hadley are so very sweet together and they play really well together, with only the occasional "tiff" over who gets what (but the art of distraction works well with both of them so one of us can generally help diffuse the "give it to me now" situation). Every time Analayne sees an airplane in the sky she says, "airplane...Hadley" (which means Analayne or Hadley must get on an airplane in order to get to see each other). Analayne also really enjoys calling Hadley and Aunt Candace (Chad, she loves you too...but your usually at work and you don't talk a whole lot). Well, this week we were eating dinner and the girls had finished up and had moved on to playing in the family room. We could see them from the kitchen and they had discovered a drawer full of papers and pencils and pens and random other non-harmful objects. They loved discovering all that the drawer had inside and we could hear them talking to each other and playing cooperatively. We don't think they really knew we were watching and Poppa was able to capture the moment with these awesome pictures!

The Wonder Horse Lives On

I am sure you are familier with the Wonder Horse spring ride-on toy if you were a child in the 70's or were raising a child in the 70's. I know many households had this amazing bouncing horse and you can probably still hear the springs making that sound (ee-eee,eehhhh, ee-ee, ehhh). Guess what? My parents kept our wonder horse! Yes, for 30 years this horse has been a part of the family and now there are two little girls who get to enjoy riding the wonder horse when they visit Mimi and Poppa's house. It is one of the favorites for Analayne and she puts all of her energy and spunk into her wonder horse adventures. Take notice that the springs have now been covered with a foam tube to ensure that any little fingers do not get pinched (the 8 years as an ER child life specialist forced me to caution Poppa and prompt him to help ensure safety). On the other hand, its probably one the safest toys around because it was probably made in the USA and does not have lead paint and I don't have to worry about some small part containing the date rape drug if its ingested!

How 'bout them cow girls.....

The other day I was hanging clothes up in our closet and I turned around to find my sassy, spunky, living life to the fullest, daughter putting on her daddy's cow boy boots. Well, I knew right then that as soon as she could get the boots on and figure out how to stand up in them that she was going to be all smiles. I quickly ran upstairs, grabbed my camera and caught her just as I re-entered our bedroom.

Alright, I know everyone may not be a country music fan. However, if you know me very well you already know that I have very eclectic music taste and you also know that I love George Straight. With that said, as soon as I saw Analayne with the boots on I started hearing George Straight singing the song, "How bout them cow girls." She's our little cow girl and boy...howdy...she's a cute one at that!

**Update 11/17/07: Since this original post our cowgirl has added another "cow girl accessory" to her "get-up." No cow girl would be complete without her pink and purple shiny stick horse that actually makes horse sounds and a galloping noise! Friday evening Analayne's Minnie and Gob (grandparents) spent time with her and showered her with a bag of goodies, including this very cute stick horse. I was unable to see all the fun times that Analayne had while riding the stick horse up and down their driveway, but I heard it was a real riot and that Analayne put on a big cow girl show. Russ told me that the laughter could be heard throughout the entire neighborhood. The fun times did not end on Friday... because I got to witness and participate all day on Saturday. I caught two pictures with Analayne being her true self... putting on clothes from the pile of laundry I was folding...while continuing to ride her stick horse!