Voyages in Parenthood

I got stuck in Boston this weekend for training. So I missed the trip to the Barn that Leda and Brock got to go on with the Durhams. I missed the baby horse. I missed Leda getting up close and personal to horses for the first time. She's been begging to go, but we just hadn't found the time to do it yet (well, and waiting until the weather was a little better). So while I was stuck in Boston in all day training sessions, Brock got to go take Leda to see the horses. Yeah, I'm a little bitter! ;-) At least he took the camera and took some pictures. And Leda told me all about it when I got home. I just hate missing anything new that she gets to do. But I am happy she had fun with her Daddy and her friend, Paige! More Pictures!

As promised, Jennifer supplied me with the pictures that she took when we went to Longwood Gardens with the girls last week...They came out awesome. Here they are , and here's a few of my favorites.... Soakin' Wet! (this was within seconds of entering the Indoor Children's Garden!) Friends!

This morning the Easter Bunny left some stuff for Leda and she "loves it!" We had a breakfast of pancakes and bacon and then Leda and I watched Mary Poppins together. Well, I watched Mary Poppins, Leda occasionally veered off to play, but usually came back for the song scenes. I think she liked it a little. It might be a couple years until she really likes it - she's now watching Cinderella, her "most favorite movie!" Yesterday morning Leda and I went shopping. I asked her if she wanted to get all dressed up for the Easter Egg Hunt and Dinner at the Shier's and she said yes. I asked her what she wanted to get to wear and she replied "a dress!" So, off to Target we went to get a dress for Leda! We found a very pretty brown dress with pink polka-dots on it and a pair of brown and pink Mary Jane's to wear with it. I got her some pink tights to wear as well and off for home we went. After some lunch, in to bed for a nap Leda went and when she woke ...

I don't remember seeing the Sound of Music all the way through (if at all) when I was a kid. I think the first time I saw it I was in my 20s. Maybe 30s. Around Christmas time (?) it was playing and we let Leda stay up to watch some of it. I am pretty sure she didn't get to watch it all. She sorta seemed interested in it. It was on again last night at 7. Leda really seemed entranced by it this time. Very disappointed when the commercials broke in! "Where's the movie?" she would ask. She only got to see the first hour as she was a pretty tired little girl and we have a big night tonight (the annual Easter Egg Hunt and Dinner at the Shiers). But I watched the rest of the evening. And no matter how many times I have seen it, I always watch the whole thing like it's the first time I've ever seen it. Not sure if it is the music, the story or Julie Andrews, but I love it. Every time. Last night got me to thinking, the way that Leda was so interested in the movie,...

As my father reminded me...it's Spring!! Woo hoo! So, in honor of Spring and Easter, a color change is in order! Not sure if I'm completely happy with the change, so expect there might be a change over the weekend! Happy Spring Equinox!

I'm getting antsy to start my garden this year. I'm ready to get out in the garden, get things planted and start using the herbs and tomatoes and stuff! I also have a new fountain feature I am itching to start using! Yes, I am impatient for spring! Goodness knows that we'll probably have a noreaster blow through next week or the week after that (I'm off to Boston for training the last weekend of the month...expect nor'easter to hit that weekend !) Any way, we did start some of our seeds two weeks ago (well, within the past two weeks) and we already have tomatoes (Roma), cilantro, tarragon, serrano peppers, hybrid hot peppers (from last year - they were good and hot - guess we'll see what we get this year!) and habenaros! We've also got basil, parsley and chives growing, too. If all goes well, I should be able to make my "world famous" salsa from scratch! ;-) We plan on planting green beans as soon as the last frost is gone - I guess that's mid ...

Yesterday Leda and I joined Aunt Jennifer and Paige and Aunt Karen and Sydney for a girls day out adventure! After gathering over at the Durhams, we all hopped into Uncle John's big SUV (he was off at a race with other boys for the weekend, so we borrowed the car!) and we headed off for Longwood Gardens . I haven't been to Longwood Gardens in many years...probably 6 or 7 years ago Brock and I headed over one night during the Christmas light show and I think we even went into the Conservatory to see how they were decorated for the season, but yesterday was the first time I had been to the gardens during the day for AGES! I think I might have been a teenager still! Other than a little spit of rain that was clearing out and a little chilly wind, it was a nice day! The sun came out a few times. We headed over to the Conservatory to check out the new Indoor Children's Garden . We were warned ahead of time (thank goodness) that it would be suggested that we bring a change of clot...

Scene: Coming home from dinner tonight (great Thai dinner...awesome! Leda loved all the fruit and the shrimp...you know, it's weird to see a kid destroy the plate for all the fruit and the bean sprouts and THEN eat the shrimp. It's even weirder to know it's your kid!). We need to make a left onto our street, then a right into our driveway. Brock: Leda, which way do we turn (the left onto our street) Leda: That way. Brock: Which way is that? Leda: Ah....LEFT! Parents: Very Good! Brock: Now, which way into the house? (the right into our driveway) Leda: Ah...LEFT! Brock: No, which way is our house? Leda: Ah....the other left! (said with all the confidence that she was absolutely correct!) That's my girl! Actually, Brock has done a pretty good job of teaching Leda directions (left and right, that is). Most of the time, I'd say about 80% of the time, she gets it right. She definitely points the correct directions out! Yep, he'll make a navigator of her yet!

...and how would you like to go up against Anthony Bordain as one of the judges in the first elimination challenge... Ah, no. way. Awesome. Only problem - Men in Trees is on at the same darn time! Finally got it moved from Friday to a day I can watch it and it has to be showing at the same darn time as Top Chef. ABC sucks! Looks like an awesome season. I really dig this show! And I got Anthony last night, too! Bonus! Take a guess at where I'll be Wed. nights at 10:00pm for the next several weeks! ;-)

After a visit from Grandma last night, while watching TV, I discovered an awesome musician last night... David Broza . I was flipping through the channels (as I am apt to do) and when I got to the local PBS channel, I saw and heard beautiful things. What was being shown was David Broza's concert at Masada - filmed at sunrise last summer. Wow. What a beautiful place and what awesome music. Go see a preview. He had Jackson Browne and Shawn Colvin join him. I am almost sorry to admit I've never heard of this guy. Apparently he is like the Israeli Springsteen. Well, whatever, he's pretty great. Now, if only I could find the freaking DVD or CD of the concert I watched last night...guess I'll have to make a donation to WHYY to get the darn thing....I can't find it for purchase anywhere except the Detroit PBS channel (and I'd rather donate the money to my own PBS channel, thank you!) that filmed it. I did, however, find him on iTunes, and I did download two songs of h...

This was a busy weekend for us - with some downtime in between! I had a jewelry party on Friday night. I'm not usually one for those types of parties - the ones like basket parties and candle parties - I usually go but I don't usually buy and I usually don't offer to host one either. I just don't get excited about baskets and candles that way. I do, however, like jewelry - and inexpensive nice looking jewelry really works for me! So I hosted a party on Friday night. So Brock took Leda over to the Durhams to hang with Paige and John and the ladies all came over and we chatted and had some wine and bought some jewelry! Leda had a blast playing with Paige, as usual. She always wants to "do it again!" So, we invited the Durhams over for dinner on Saturday night as well as Karen and her niece Sydney. So Leda entertained the two little girls in her room as the adults had a nice dinner and good adult conversation. We had gotten out Leda's dress-up box this past w...

I've been neglectful of the blog in the couple of weeks. Not because we are extremely busy or anything (no more busy than usual), but mostly because I haven't the energy to put into the creativeness to come up with a post. In other words, I've been feeling lazy. There are a few things that have been happening around here, mostly with Leda. It's amazing to have noticed some of the signs that we no longer have a baby living with us but a full-fledged little girl. In the past couple months, she has just grown up so much. I guess it probably hasn't been over the past couple of months but more likely four or six months, but we have hit a pretty big milestone and I guess I took a step back and realized she's really changed! That milestone - completely potty trained with very minimal accidents! The kid took to potty training amazingly! Once she figured it out! Since the end of December, she hasn't worn a diaper - we have passed all diapers on to our daycare for oth...