"Some People Are Worth Melting For"

It has been all things Frozen around here.  I think I've been called "Anna" as much as I've been called "Mommy" in the past few weeks.  Evangeline has been absorbed in that movie.  Grandma surprised her with "Frozen" cupcakes and the DVD.  What a fun night!  Evangeline's quotes her favorite phrases from the movie, acts out scenes and insists we call her Elsa.  She beams when we indulge her.     

The rest of the week has been comfort foods, bird watching, anticipating warmer weather...surely it's coming!  

Precious little person.....

Barnaby is happy to have a new playmate. 

“Real isn't how you are made,' said the Skin Horse. 'It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real.'..........

“Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand.”   - The Velveteen Rabbit

Untitled

For the beauty of the earth

For the glory of the skies,

For the love which from our birth

Over and around us lies.

 

For the beauty of each hour,

Of the day and of the night,

Hill and vale, and tree and flower,

Sun and moon, and stars of light.

 

For the joy of human love,

Brother, sister, parent, child,

Friends on earth and friends above,

For all gentle thoughts and mild.

 

Lord of all, to Thee we raise,
This our hymn of grateful praise.

Parades and Parties

I love Saint Patrick's Day weekend because of this little parade down Ohio Blvd. that has been getting bigger every year.  It's become a little tradition that Evangeline and I pick up Mom, meet at Dad's and walk down together.  Spring is always in the air and it's just good vibes.  There is usually Java Haute involved too.  It was a particularly lovely day this day.  After the festivities us girls crashed Dad's house for lunch.  Then us girls got some ice cream and ate it under a tree in the park, "just like Frog and Toad" said my girl.  We played.  It was lots of fun. 

 

The birthday celebrations for Kyle continue...we partied at Karen and Wayne's this time.  March is when party season kicks off for the Hutson's.  We party, party, party all through the year.  There is only a two month exception, January and February.  So it was good to see everyone again.  Evangeline and I were twins. 

 

Papa and Karen got the Frozen castle and figures for the girls to play with.  What a hit!

 

I LOVE this picture.  Kyle told Evangeline that she could always help him blow out his candles.  She told him in a very cavalier manor of speaking, that she wouldn't be able to help him when he was dead.  Wow.  Kids.  You really just never know what they are going to say.

 

Speaking of things kids say...Peggy told me that she and Evangeline were watching something on TV where their was a baby on the program.  Evangeline asked Peggy how you know if a baby is a boy or girl when they are born.  Ammie explained that girls have girl parts and boys have boy parts.  Peggy told me that Evangeline crinkled up her nose and said "what are boy parts?  Like a tee shirt?"  Peggy told me that she decided to let the parents handle that one.  Thanks Peggy.

Outside and In

For like the 3rd straight day in a row I have been referred to as Anna and Evangeline is Elsa (from Frozen).  Tonight as I was making dinner Elsa froze herself and needed me to kiss her to unfreeze her. 

Evangeline: "Anna, I'm frozen.  I need a kiss."

Mommy: "Your going to have to wait a minute, Elsa.  I have egg on my hand.  I'll blow you one"

Evangeline: "No. That won't work."

Mommy: "Well, your going to have to wait there for a minute."

Evangeline laid there for a minute pretending to be frozen. Then said, "awkward". 

I will never have enough napping pictures of my sweet, precious child....

Papa and Karen took Evangeline to lunch, a movie and Toy's R Us last weekend.  To say she had a blast would be a total understatement.  She picked out a watch at Toy's R Us.  She has been wanting one.  We meet them at the Olive Garden for dinner and she was so wiped out she fell asleep in while we waited for a table.  

 

She's all about Doc McStuffins.  She enjoys seeing patients at her clinic and diagnosing them with things such as "stickyitus", like Doc. 

 

All of the little forest creatures around our home have been sensing spring in the air.  There have been birds singing and all kinds of critters scampering about.  I have been very enamored with the views from our window lately.  This is the time of year where we have a plain view down into the woods and up into the treetops.  There is so much to see.  I've been perfecting my sneaking skills lately trying to get pictures of some of the wildlife in our yard.  The birds are going to eat us out of house and home!  It amazes me how much birdseed they can plow through in a day. 

 

I don't know if these are the little deer I watched last spring perhaps all grown up now, but I am calling them my sweet babies anyway.  There were 6 of them down in the woods the other day.  I watched them all laying around from the window and then I went out to watch them.  They must have heard the screen door because they were never able to relax again after I came outside.  One deer didn't take his eye off of me for a moment.  It seemed like he was stomping his hoof down aggressively like he was trying to say "I will hoof you if you come near us" (that happened to people in Carbondale).  Maybe he was warning me.  Who knows, maybe his leg was asleep.  They sure are beauties.  It amazes me that these wild critters live amongst us.

 

Then there was this guy...I was totally nervous I was going to get swooped.  It probably would have served me right though.  I think I ruined his chances for a squirrel he seemed to eyeing when I came on the scene.  I watched him flying to this branch, but really wanted to see his wings again once I got closer.  I started "talking" to him to see if he would fly off.  Unfortunately, I only got a picture of his backside.  His wings were breathtaking when fully expanded.  He was huge.  (I'm sure our neighbors thought I was perfectly crazy considering I could have been spotted carrying that organizing unit from their trash just last week.)

 

There's been lots of sewing and quilting going on since I finished my quilting class.  I still am amazed with all that I learned.  Everything I thought I knew about quilting was a sham.   

 

We had another birthday celebration for K.P. over the weekend at Dad's house.  It was a lovely time, of course. 

Happy Birthday, Kyle!

We celebrated Kyle's 39th birthday this past weekend.  When I met Kyle he was the strapping age of 29.  That's 10 years of Kyle in my life.  What a fabulous 10 years it has been too.  We went to dinner with Peggy and Roy on Friday and celebrated again at our house last night with Kyle's favorite dinner, Indian Butter Chicken.  We will have a few other celebrations for him in the weeks ahead, because that's how we do it in this family.  We sure are thankful for Mr. Kyle.  He's a dandy.

We had yet another very expected snow day today.  I was really surprised.  I am ready to put the snow behind us and turn toward spring.  I mean, it is March now after all.  However, I would never say I wasn't appreciative of a snow day. 

 

This girl is the structure building queen.  Every time I turn around I find something she has constructed. 

We evoked the flavors of summer today with the frozen tomato soup base from Dad's garden.  It warmed me right up. 

 

Of course E.B. doesn't know what's good so she settled for the toasted cheese and a glass of "baby 8" (V8).  She is such a sidekick in the kitchen (and everywhere, really).  She's my lil' buddy.

 

 

We had some left over whipping cream from the butter chicken last night and since Evangeline proclaimed that today would be a great day for hot cocoa, we decided to make some whipped cream.  It was Ohhh, so good.  These are the kinds of activities snow days are good for.

 

I swallowed my pride last week and hulled this storage unit out of the neighbors trash pile.  After all, it really had no business being there.  I wouldn't have thought twice to do something like that in Carbondale, but folks around these parts are different.  I spent about an hour yesterday washing out each of the tubs and attempting to organize a little girl's closet. 

 

Spring's on it's way.  Hang on little fella, it won't be long....