Mira loves her Daddy's antics, and Kenny obviously adores Mira - he sure works hard to make her smile!
(Please, try to ignore the total mess that is our child and our house - just focus on the laughter!)
She tells Kenny, "Daddy, I want to charge Jeter & Shatzie!" And he always obliges...
Last Friday, it was so beautiful that we packed up a picnic, some bubbles, and Mira's soccer ball then headed to the park for dinner! It was so much fun; we stayed until it was time for bath!
She learned this at gymnastics - they do this to warm up/stretch at the beginning. She is sneaking up on her toes and scaring them - or "sneaking her toes" as she would put it.
We got a last-minute idea to invite some friends over for the game Sunday evening, and I'm so glad we did - we had such a great time!
We had potato skins, 7 layer dip, fruit and veggie trays, and chocolate chip cookies (all vegan, of course) - pretty tasty! I think I will be making potato skins more often!
Kenny and Dan watched the game while Shannon and I hung out. Meanwhile, Mira, Catherine, and Sully, were having too much fun! They were running all over the house playing chase and giggling themselves silly! I've never seen Mira enjoy playing with other kids her age quite so much! They were hysterical! Sully is a little older, but he had a blast too!
I guess we were enjoying ourselves so much that I didn't think to take many pictures. Here are just a couple of Mira and Cate. They watched Bubbles and Twitch for a while before tearing off down the hallway and back again. Most of the night, they were moving too fast to get pictures - they were just a blur! Too bad I didn't get one of Sully - I missed my chance when he sat down to eat a plateful of broccoli!
About a month or so ago, I started tutoring at the Providence House over in Shreveport. It's a great organization that helps people escape homelessness through education and appropriate counseling. It is very much the kind of organization I would like to run one day. I feel like education is definitely a big key to helping any one person and the world in general. Along with that, a lot of people need help with healing before they are in a position to learn.
The Providence House also operates a safe house for people who are trying to get themselves (and often their children) out of domestic violence situations.
I'm honored to get to be a part of this operation and to be a part of the woman's life that I'm tutoring. She is working toward getting her GED and is a lot of fun to hang out with. She has her days; I can tell she has a lot of stress in her life. But, she always seems to liven up as our session goes on. I find that I walk lighter when I leave there, too.
Right now, we are working on math. It's the last subject she needs to master before taking the big test. It is an 8 hour exam, and, in Louisiana, you have to take all the parts of the test within a 48 hour time period. In Texas, and other states, you can piecemeal the exam over a much longer time period. It will be strenuous, but I know she'll do well, and I can't wait to congratulate her!
Another snow day in the swamp. We got quite a bit more than last time and played a lot longer. We built a horizontal snowman. The snow just wasn't sticking for us, so we took the easy route. He turned out pretty cute!
We threw more snow balls - Kenny and I had a full out war that lasted all of 5 minutes. Mira thought it was pretty funny to see her parents battling it out in the snow like a couple of teenagers.
Not a ton of pictures - we were too busy playing!
I can't put my arms down!!!
Cheese! (I still can't put my arms down!!)
The neighborhood covered in a blanket of white and huge snowflakes floating down.
Those tentative first steps.
Mommy and Mira having fun in the snow.
Our reclining snow man. He was tired after a long day of work.
But he's still happy!
Making snow balls.
Snow ball fight!!!
One reason I don't love the snow. But, Kenny was nice enough to clean all this up!!
A couple of random photos - Mira's getting so big.
I'm pretty sure I've been saying that everyday since she was a week old... =)
She had this cart full by the time we left Brookshire's. And she unloaded the whole thing by herself at the check-out line. She wouldn't let me help her put the stuff up on the conveyer belt! She also told the lady behind us (very loudly and clearly) that she needed "to be patient and wait [her] turn" because "it's Mira's turn right now" all the while, her little finger was wagging at this woman. I apologized, and Mira was quickly corrected regarding manners. The lady wasn't offended, thank goodness - she only laughed and complimented Mira on being so big and such a good talker. Oh, man....
Can't remember if I've mentioned Mira's "big girl bed" yet. We've traded in sweet nursery bedding for Wonder Pets linens (thanks Erika!) and removed the side of her crib to make room for a bedrail. She loves being able to get in and out all by herself, which she does ALL day long. However, she hasn't gotten out after waking from a nap or in the mornings, yet. I hope it's a while before she realizes that that is an option.
We braved the slushy roads and drove all the way up to Middle of Nowhere and had a great time making some tasty treats for the animals at the Walter B. Jacob Memorial Nature Park. We found out about the event through a play group we joined recently - unfortunately, due to the weather, we were the only ones who dared to go!
I was questioning our judgement as we drove and drove and drove...but, we had a lot of fun and, in the end, were really glad we made the trip. We needed to get out of the house, and it turned out to be a beautiful day! It really wasn't too cold since the sun was shining and there was no wind.
Daddy and Mira are at the ready!
Here's Mira's super-focused face. She threaded all those Fruit Loops on that pipe cleaner all by herself! She's always had great fine-motor skills...
Sprinkling some seeds and Cheerios on a peanut butter-covered pine cone.
My decorated bagel - peanut butter, peanuts, raisins, corn, and seed. Hope the face doesn't scare the animals...
Mira kept it simple and covered her bagel with only crushed corn. The birds and squirrels are going to LOVE it!
We made a lot - trying to make up for the lack of participants!
We took a couple of our creations outside and hung them in the trees at the park.
Mira and Daddy!
These were fun, easy crafts - I'm pretty sure we'll be making some for the animals in our neighborhood!
And, we plan on visiting this nature park again - maybe in the Spring. They have a lot of nature trails and some large birds of prey on the grounds to visit (eagles, hawks, etc) along with some small reptiles inside to look at (turtles, snakes, crocodiles).
So, some of our family members don't get a lot of hype here - not nearly as much as they should. Look how amazing they are!
And, now we have two more in our house! They don't know any tricks....yet! But, we really enjoy their company. We've had them for about a week now.
First, we had to get all the stuff and get their house ready...Mira picked out all the decor - lions, zebras, and some nice plants. She worked hard washing all the rocks and dumping them into the aquarium.
The next day, we added our two Fancy Goldfish! I was very proud of Mira being able to handle the whole "first we get the aquarium, then we come back the next day to get the fish" deal! She was very excited, but didn't throw a fit, as could be expected from a toddler.
This is Bubbles - so named for the "bubbles" on his head. He is a Red Oranda. He is a voracious eater!
He also loves the camera. He kept swimming in front of the lens. I got about 10 shots of Bubbles while trying to get one of Twitch!
What an attention hog!!
Get out of the way, Bubbles! Do you barely see Twitch behind him?!
Here you can see the zebras that we added later along with more plants.
And, finally, here is Twitch - so named because he was quite twitchy the first couple of days we had him. He has calmed down a little, but he hangs on to his namesake. He is a Black Moor.
Say, "Cheese!" Twitch! Look at those big beautiful eyes!
And a nice profile shot of Twitch.
Our newest family members!
We'll try and include all these guys in posts more often...
