Sunday, March 16, 2014

Ella's Second Birthday

Our niece, Ella, turned two and we enjoyed a birthday party up here in Ohio with the Hopwoods, Hertles and the usual crowd. Of course Jenn made the cake; a wonderful strawberry cake with strawberry buttercream (her best yet) with a layer of ganache for a jolt.
Ella's 2nd Birthday
Ella's 2nd BirthdayElla's 2nd BirthdayElla's 2nd BirthdayElla's 2nd Birthday
Ella's 2nd Birthday
Ella's 2nd BirthdayElla's 2nd Birthday
Ella's 2nd BirthdayElla's 2nd Birthday
Ella's 2nd Birthday
Ella's 2nd BirthdayElla's 2nd Birthday
Ella's 2nd Birthday
Ella's 2nd BirthdayElla's 2nd Birthday
Ella's 2nd Birthday
Ella's 2nd BirthdayElla's 2nd Birthday
Ella's 2nd Birthday
And just to spice it up a bit, here's a sample of how Lydia dresses herself in the morning. She loves wearing tights, saying, "Pants don't look pretty. Princesses don't wear pants."
Lydia

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

The weather here has not been pleasant. I've kept a good attitude about winter for most of the winter, avoiding anger and unpleasantness. But when last Thursday was nice, getting into the upper 50s, I believe, and then the weekend got nasty again, I got irritated. We're all ready for spring.

Speaking of last Thursday when it was nice, much of the snow was melting and the water was running across the sidewalks. So on my run, at around 8:45pm, I hit a patch of black ice around 2.95 miles of my planned 4 mile run. My left foot shot out in front of me and slightly to the right, and my face/head went down at the speed of gravity. I literally saw the sidewalk approach and make contact with my cheek. It happened in front of our neighbor's house, and while I didn't feel anything concussion-like, I didn't want to get another half-mile away from the house and realize I shouldn't have gone any further, so I cut the run short at 3 miles. A pretty nasty abrasion and a bruised eyelid were the marks, and while therapy laser has helped speed up the healing, there's enough of that ugly yellow bruise appearance under my left eye to make it look a little ugly. I can't say my irritation with the weather is entirely due to this incident, but I'd really like to have outdoor places to run that aren't frozen over.

Jenn has been able to get the kids out of the house to play during the brief few warm spots. During the cold spells, I've resorted to taking the kids to Chick-Fil-A and the little play set at Summit Mall.
Chick-Fil-AChick-Fil-A
Chick-Fil-A
Summit MallSummit Mall
Things are clicking with Lincoln's reading. He's been able to handle his sight words and simple words for some time now, but there hasn't been much initiative on his part to go further until recently. It's neat to see him motivated.

Also in the reading department, I've been reading some longer stories to the three kids before bed time. They're pushing the limits for the two little ones, but I've been impressed with how they've stuck with them. Most of the material has come from the old Disney books from the Mullen side of the family: Dumbo, Mary Poppins, The Sword In The Stone, Lady And The Tramp, etc. Part of the plan is to train the kids to listen to longer stories, another part of the plan is to introduce them to more Disney stories and characters before we go to Disney World in October.

We enjoyed a visit from Auntie Haley and Grandma Laura on the front end of "Spring" Break. The ladies got all of their spring shopping in at the Grove City outlets (wait until you see Lydia's rain boots and the boys' Easter jackets and ties!).