a spring day

Spring is finally here! I know this because my daughter's wearing shorts practically every day and we play outside a lot these days. The most fun is when we get to go to the park. Have I mentioned how much I love my park, Little Mulberry? It has awesome trails for walking or jogging and a great playground for the little ones. I've convinced Josh quite a few times to take a family outing to the park. Mom exercises, and dad & Kate play! We've even met up with our friendly neighbors, the Johnsons, a few times. Another wonderful thing about the spring is the sunlight. Because of various predilections of mine, beginning as a teenager, I've heard people say of me that I must be part cat. I love basking in the sun! (Of course, the main reason that I'm part cat is that I love rubs. . just ask Josh). So, when the sun is out, Liz is a happy lady.

Last week, Lydia came over to play with Kate. We played outside, ate outside, and even read outside! During naptime, Lydia helped me dry dishes, and start the preparations for supper. She soon became inspired by the measuring spoons and the empty box of muffin mix to create her own mini-muffins. Side note: Those little jiffy boxes make great play kitchen boxes. They are just the perfect size!

Outside after supper, Josh snapped a few pics of the three girls reading on our blanket.

Josh was practicing with the fly fishing rod in the backyard. Kate and Lydia both were quite enamored with watching the casting back & forth, back & forth.



I'm not sure exactly why this one is fuzzy, but here's Lydia with three books spread out (open) in front of her, reading another book. What a silly girl! One of her favorite books at our house is Corduroy. She has renamed the main character, a lovable stuffed bear who's "always wanted to have a friend", Cordurator.
Kate sports this move sometimes. I'm not quite sure what this pose is supposed to represent. Hugging or keeping something to herself? It's just a funny Kate pose. She has another where she puts her hands behind her back and walks -- looks quite self important!


Kate "helps" mommy pick some of the few blooming flowers we have in the yard, some perennial dianthus. She says "flow" and then sniffs every time she sees a flower, whether it's in a picture of in real life.

Lydia was so interested in Uncle Josh's practicing that she got a stick & pretended to cast as well. How cute is that?????

Kate sayings:
"di-sgus" -- disgusting
"ta-stee" -- tasty
"khaki" -- Kathy (as in my mom, Grandma Kathy) She starts saying Grandma Kathy anytime we're in the office b/c we usually talk to my mom via skype on the computer.)
"no" -- for awhile, this was her only response to questions, even if she sometimes meant yes, but this week, she's picked up. . "ya."
body parts:
"tee"
"no" -- nose
"eye" -- which she frequently gets mixed up with I. When I ask her to repeat I love you, she points to her eyeball!
"bell-bell" -- belly button
She knows where her head, hair, mouth, belly, belly-button, feet, and toes are (plus the other words she can actually say)
She says "tee-tee" for toothbrush. And something similar for Katie "ta-tee"
"nak" -- snack
"Je" -- Jen. Finally, she's learned her auntie's name!

vacation in the rain

We had a lovely time on our quick getaway to the Blue Ridge Mountains. It was refreshing to have no "have-tos" hanging above our heads. And, it was especially wonderful to get uninterrupted time with Josh. Both Kate and I couldn't get enough of quality time with Da-da! We didn't get to do as many outdoor activities as we had hoped because of the constant rain & drizzle, but we still got to to enjoy the outdoors via scenic rides in the car. We particularly enjoyed the Aska Highway following the Toccoa River. I couldn't get over the fact that the little town of Toccoa wasn't the only place the Toccoa River flowed through. On our second day we took a road trip to Lake Nantahala & tramped around on some prospective pieces of property that Bob, Ben, & Josh have been interested in buying. Kate was so excited to see her Mima & Papa in such an out of way place. We passed some of my favorite vistas on our way back to Blue Ridge. Pastoral scenes of mountains covered with grass, cows grazing, and treed mountains providing a more rugged backdrop. It's those pockets of farmland that were so charming to me. I marveled many times over the work that the pioneers in this area must have done to tame this wilderness into fertile farm land. Mima and Papa returned with us to our cabin in Mineral Bluffs & had a Final Four party! Granted, I spent part of the Final Four party in the bed with my book, but who's counting! On Sunday, the clouds finally broke, and we were able to see the view we had been missing for most of the time. It was gorgeous! That was something else wonderful about the cabin -- it had a lot of windows and was very light! On our way home, we took a little tour through Blue Ridge, GA. Quaint, artsy, and not for one year olds. Thankfully, there was a cute little playground by the railroad tracks, and boy did Kate enjoy our picnic lunch and going down the "side" many times!

I loved the open floor plan. My kitchen at home is virtually closed off from the living room, so it was wonderful to be able to chop veggies at the island and still be able to talk to people lounging in the living area. This pic is taken from the back door. The kitchen is the to the immediate left and the eating area is to the right. The downstairs bedrooms is behind the staircase wall on the left of the living room. And, the 'master' bedroom was upstairs stacked on top of the lower bedroom.

The master bedroom only because the bathroom upstairs (although not in a suite w/ the bedroom) had the whirlpool bath tub & double sinks. Let me tell you about that whirlpool bath! I made the mistake of turning on the whirlpools after I'd had washed Kate's hair & body in the same water. The water, which had looked pretty clear & non-bubbly before, went bonkers! I felt like I was in a Curious George book where the man in the yellow hat tells George not to get into trouble but he always does! It was trouble on that sort of scale. The bubbles kept getting bigger and bigger. Finally, I turned the whirpool off & sat in 12 inches of water and 12 inches of foam. There was a pretty big picture window next to the tub, and I had thought it would be lovely & relaxing to have the mountain & wood view while I was bathing. There was something else in the view, too -- the next door neighbor's cabin. My plan was to close the blinds before I got out of the bathtub. Well, those blinds didn't want to come down again! They were stuck in the upright & locked position. I had to call Josh into the bathroom to grab my towel so I could leap out lightning quick! This bedroom had a large enough closet that we put Kate's pacnplay in there. It was much more convenient than having her sleep a whole floor away from us. She didn't seem to mind sleeping in the closet; she slept from 8 to 8 every night.

Private deck off the master bedroom (upstairs). This was the same view as from the lower deck.


My favorite scene on our way to & from the town of Mineral Bluff to our cabin. There was a farmhouse at the top of the hill to the right. I just imagined how cool it would be to have that viewpoint on all your land & animals.

View from house on Friday. There was a certain beauty to our misty mountains.

Picture taken right as we were leaving on Sunday -- the sky is still a bit cloudy, but you can see the distant mountains, which we weren't able to for most of the previous two days.

Our little dare devil.

Mommy & Kate.

Hmm, Mom, something about this isn't right! She kept clicking the red button on the side of the stroller that helps collapse the stroller to no avail. She worked on this stroller for quite a while! Hilarious!

Kate's favorite feature of the playground-- the "side". Other playground words: la-la (ladder), whee (swing), spin (that spinning fireman pole), and her cutest one shee-shaw (see-saw. Incidentally, this sounds very close to her word for Jesus). She thinks she can climb ladders (yikes!) and she loves going up and down the stairs (steps, I think she says). Since she gets to play on a huge playground almost every day at school/church, she's quite the proficient.

Up & Down

walking in daddy's footsteps

One of Kate's new things is to bring Josh or I our hymnal (which she calls "ho-lee") because she wants us to sing her new favorite hymn, "Holy, Holy, Holy." Today, I think I sang it three times in a row (all 4 verses!) I tried to sing other children's hymns, but she would have none of it! She only wanted "ho-lee". Some of you may remember that this was her daddy's favorite hymn as a child.

i've been tagged, and you are, too

My friend Beth tagged me, so here goes. At least this e'mail isn't filling your inbox -- read only if you will!

Here are the rules:
1. Link your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

7 Things About Me

1.I still remember two books my 3rd grade teacher read to us. Skinny Bones & Where the Red Fern Grows. I loved the story of Where the Red Fern Grows so much, I ran to the library, checked it out, and finished it before our teacher did. That was the beginning of the end for me!

2. I'm a people person almost all of the time. When I was sick as a kid, I wanted my sick pallet to be in the living room. In college, I hung out with my roomies & housemates until everybody went to bed, and then I did my homework. Even now, I love to have everyone over, and some of my favorite days are Sundays when we all go over to the Bailey homestead and hang out for the day.

3. I love to sing. As a kid, I sang a lot with my friend, Imee, and even dreamed of making a record one day. Now, my singing consists of things like "If You're Happy & You Know It" which by the way I was singing in the grocery store today to keep Kate entertained. Maybe I'll be discovered at the grocery store.

4. I grew up in McAllen, TX as a missionary kid. I spent on average 3 or 4 weeks in Mexico each year going on missions trips, conferences & youth camps. One of the most amazing summers of my life, my whole family lived in Mexico City for two months. It was incredible to have a tiny taste of city living-- no car, just our feet and the public transport. It was really fun to walk to the market that came on Tuesdays & Thursdays & shoot over to the convenience store across from our apartment to buy a 2 liter coke bottle for dinner or maybe some pan dulce from the bakery down the street.

5. I have to, have to, have to brush my teeth & wash my face every night before I go to sleep.

6. It's been six years since I've had any cheese, ice cream, sour cream, or milk.

7. I love watching public television -- my favorite shows are This Old House & America's Test Kitchen. I also rent public tv shows (BBC) from netflix because I can't get enough.

Alright, here goes -- you are all IT!

1. Jennifer (nothing)
2. Jen (Two & Two)
3. Kelley (A Tale of Two Dogs & Three Humans)
4. Lisa (Far From Home)
5. Teisha (Teisha Moseley)
6. Amy (Murphy Musings)

bookmark this

the late great (ok, so she's not late) Teisha Moseley. Have fun everybody! This is Josh's uncle's wife. I guess I could've have called her Josh's aunt. To the fam, you know who she is, and you know why it'll be great to read!

www.teishamoseley.blogspot.com