Archive for March, 2008

We have been on the road! First we traveled down to Brandon, MS, to visit with Jay's mom for Easter weekend. Good Friday was spent visiting local parks and getting sunburned because I didn't even think about bringing any sunscreen! That night James woke up crying, and complaining about his ears hurting. I was concerned at first that he might have an ear infection until Jay said his ears were probably just sunburned, and that's what it was. We doctored on his ears, but he couldn't stay asleep until Jay's mom brought him a satin pillowcase to sleep on. When he laid on it, he said, "Ahhhh." We'll have to remember that trick!

Saturday we went to Philadelphia, MS, to visit Jay's grandmother. She cooked us a good lunch, and the kids had fun finding Easter eggs in her yard. We went back to Brandon that afternoon, and had supper at Cracker Barrel. The kids played in Mammaw's garage-turned-playroom, where they had a lot of fun with the toys and painting. James even painted his name. Easter morning we dressed up and went to Mammaw's church, where the kids hunted Easter eggs with their classes. James' teacher had asked the kids if she could hunt eggs, too, but they told her she was too old. James said to her, "You can be on my team." We ate lunch afterward and played for a little while before leaving for Memphis.

James was on spring break this week, so I decided to stay in Memphis for a few days. Jay had to go back to work, so he and my dad rode back to Little Rock Sunday night in Jay's truck, which my family had used to haul a bunk bed to Memphis. The rest of my family left on Monday, except for my brother Gerald, who stayed in Memphis with us. We had a good visit with my grandparents, and on Wednesday we drove over to Jackson to visit with Jay's sister Jill and baby Hannah. Hannah will be one in a few weeks! She is nearly walking, and the kids had fun playing with her. She was happy to see us, and we got lots of hugs and grins from her. While we were there, Eliza asked for some paper to write on, and she started trying to write her name. James, not to be outdone, took a piece of paper and wrote Jill a note. He even tried to spell the words himself, but I helped him a little. He wrote, "Deir Jill I ♥ yoou ♥ James". I thought he did a very good job!

We drove home Thursday afternoon, stopping at Mammy's house to drop Gerald off and grab a bite to eat. Jay met us over there so we could go to a nearby field to try out our new kite. The kite was terrible, and we never got it in the air, but we had a little fun trying. We took it apart to see if changing it up would help, but it didn't. Eliza took the fabric part and stretched it behind her as she ran, saying, "I'm flying! I'm flying!" It was good to be out in the beautiful weather! We went home after that, and it is good to be here!

Daffodil kids

We went out to Wye Mountain last Saturday to see the field of daffodils and take a few pictures. It was pretty warm and the daffodils were just a-blooming, despite the strange weather we've had the last few weeks, alternating between snow and sunshine. Unfortunately, the kids did not want to cooperate and we couldn't get the picture we wanted. But I am learning how to do some creative photo editing and was able to create a composite of the best smiles, which turned out to be a pretty cute picture. I hope everyone has a great Easter!

Yesterday we were at my parent's house, and Eliza had just eaten some pizza before I took her outside to play in the beautiful weather. A few minutes after we had gone outside, Eliza came running up to me, saying, "Mama, look! I have a boo-boo on my my finger!" I inspected the finger, then told her, "That's not a boo-boo. That's pizza sauce!" She looked at the finger, then at me, and kind of laughed, saying, "Oh."

Yesterday was a rough day for me, mostly because of Eliza. She is still getting over being sick, but she is really mostly well now. She can't understand why I won't give her everything she wants, since for the last week or so she mostly got what she wanted. She has resorted to tantrums and screaming at the top of her lungs, which is usually rare for her. I was pretty drained by the time I got her in bed last night. Hopefully today will be better, although we have already had a crying fit this morning. She is peaceful right now, reading a book to her baby doll, but I just have to wonder how long it will last!

Yesterday I was giving the stove a much-overdue scrub, trying to remove all those little black spots that form on there. James looked over at me from where he sat playing the computer, and after a few seconds, he said, "Mom, you need to get Mr. Clean!" I wish!

The weather was beautiful yesterday, so I took the kids for a trip around the block: James rode his bicycle and Eliza was riding in the wagon (she has been sick, but was well enough to enjoy being outside.) As we were going along, I heard James recite, "Lysol…because kids and germs go hand-in-hand." I'm not sure where these commercials are coming from…must be Mammy's house! At least they are for cleaning products instead of toys!

I was talking with Eliza yesterday about how old she is, and we got to discussing her birthday:

• ME: On your next birthday, you'll be three.

• ELIZA: Is it coming soon?

• ME: Well, not real soon.

• ELIZA: Oh. Is it…pretend soon?

I was really not quite sure what to say to that!

Eliza has really been a handful the last few days…I guess she's trying to remind me that she's two or something. The last few times she has done something she shouldn't, and she sees me coming after her, she buries her face in her arms, crying, and screams, "No! It's a monster! Don't get me!" Could we be just a little more dramatic?

It actually snowed this morning! It even stuck for a little while, but it's all gone now. The sun is out and it's warming up, but it felt like winter for a little while. We did manage to play in it for a few minutes before it went away, and I got some cute pictures. Crazy Arkansas weather!

Well, February is gone, and it was even longer this year than in most other years! March is here, and we have already had 2 beautiful warm "play outside" days, as well as a very stormy day. It might even snow tonight! Welcome to (almost) springtime in Arkansas! We were able to get out and enjoy the nice weather while it lasted. Saturday we went and picked up Jay's grandmother Mimi from the nursing home, grabbed some lunch, and headed to a park in Maumelle. The kids enjoyed playing on the playground with Jay, while Mimi and I sat and talked and watched the kids play. It was good to get outside! I think Mimi enjoyed it, too, although the wind coming off the lake was a little chilly for her. James and Eliza also got to explore a firetruck that was parked at the park, while the firemen tossed a football nearby. It was a fun afternoon!

Sunday after church, we went over to my parent's house for lunch. I had baked my mom a cake for her birthday (which was Thursday), so we all had fun singing "Happy Birthday" and eating cake. We went home after that so Eliza could nap before our Community Group meeting. We had good food there, too, and we were worn out by the time we got home. We made it through the first week of Jay's new job! Weekends are still pretty crazy, but at least we don't have to say goodbye to Daddy for the week!

James is learning to write his name! He does a pretty good job, although he mixes capital and lowercase letters (right now, I think they are all capital except the "m"). Eliza tries very hard to write hers, too. She will write a pretty good "E", then to the left of it, a very good "L", then to the left of that, a line for an "I", then somewhere she writes a squiggle for a "Z", and an unintelligible "A", but it's a start! She has always been more interested in writing and coloring than James. I'm so proud of them!