Monday, March 29, 2010

A little about Hazel.

Here are some funny Hazel stories of late. Because she is funny. And I love her.DSCF2513

This is a picture of a present she made and wrapped for me at school. I love the little princess cut out and tied on top.DSCF2193

Here is the present—a beauuuuutiful picture of a lovely flower-bedecked girl and sun, happy clouds, and a dolphin and seahorse hovering above the water. I love.DSCF2194

This is how Hazel dressed up Talmage in her zwergli hat and reflector and put him in a box and pushed him around. What a good older sister.DSCF2195 One day she had me write ‘Fashion Designer’ on a small piece of paper and then she taped it to her shirt and wore it for the next two days.

One day she was sitting at the table singing and some of it went like this: “Don’t denYYYYYYYYY me, I don’t desEEEERRRRRRRVE this.”

She and Ethne played with markers—played with them, not colored with them—and I heard her say things like, “I’m old, I will die soon. No Mother, Don’t die!”

One day she colored cups, plates, cupcakes, and a cake for everyone and cut them out and set the table for us. On Jethro’s she colored a margay in a rainforest (his favorite animal (now when we ask Ethne what her favorite animal is she says margay)), and then she asked him what he wanted on his cup and he said a woodland scene with a deer and a hedgehog, so she colored that.

Another time she cut out pictures from a newspaper and made us all play together with them. Daddy’s figure kept asking the girls on dates, and I told him no, and Ethne told him no, and then Hazel said yes. Then Daddy-figure said “What should we do? Let’s go hiking.” And she said, “No, let’s go out to dinner.” And he said, “No, we should go hiking.” And I said, “Don’t go out with him, he just wants to go hiking because he’s a cheapskate and doesn’t want to pay for dinner.”

One night she was telling me that she wanted twins so that she could dress them the same, and I said, what if they don’t want to—what if one liked blue and one liked pink. And she said, “Then I’ll tell them you get what you get and you don’t throw a fit.”

One day we were walking home together and she said out of the blue, “When I am old I want to still remember Jesus.” And I asked her what made her say that, and she said, “Remember the story in the Bible of the really wise man who forgot Jesus when he got old?” I’m pretty positive she was talking about King Solomon whom we had read about in our little illustrated New Testament.

Every night she wants Daddy to give her a horsey ride to her bed. One night she said, “I’ll clap my hands and that will mean for you to come and give me my ride.” And now every night she claps her little hands, and Brett comes and gives her a ride to bed.

On Saturday we came home from cleaning the church with a free printer (YAYYYY!!!! -you wouldn’t believe how many recipes I have written out by hand since I’ve been here), and so she was SOOOOOO excited to be able to print crafts again, and so yesterday she colored and made many Easter wreaths, and today she went and delivered one to each of the 5 families living in our apartment building. Her idea. Now when we walk up to our door (we're at the top), we see little Hazel-wreaths adorning each and every door.

DSCF2516

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Bern Botanical Gardens

So yesterday afternoon we were trying to decide what to do, and I told Brett we should go to the Botanical Gardens, and he kinda whined and wanted to take a nap. Plus, it was raining, but I said we should go anyway. So we did, and it was awesome. Very lovely stuff. And Brett even said, “Thanks for making us go.” :) Mar 10-1 DSCF2673DSCF2680DSCF2683DSCF2681DSCF2669DSCF2687DSCF2689DSCF2690

Bee house. I thought of you, Kami (my sister who wants to keep bees).

DSCF2694DSCF2695DSCF2704DSCF2707DSCF2729DSCF2732DSCF2734DSCF2740DSCF2739We had a very good time, it really only drizzled on us a tiny bit, and it was a fun time. We’ll have a good time going back later in the year and see what different flowers are up. We did have a run-in with a crazy person though—Hazel had to go to the bathroom and there was a psychotic scary-looking woman standing right in front of the doorway yelling in German. Freaky. Anyway, good times. Hazel fell asleep on the way home like this. :)DSCF2743

And if you haven’t already, there’s still a little time to vote for my Spring picture (just click by my name on the sidebar) at http://placetobloom.blogspot.com/2010/03/capturing-spring-cast-your-vote.html

That would be fantastic. Thanks!

Friday, March 26, 2010

My son Talmage

is cute. Very VERY cute.DSCF2635 DSCF2638 Oh I love him. Love love LOOOOOOVE. Look at that cute face! He’s such a funny little dude. He doesn’t talk at all yet, but he communicates a lot through pulling on my hand, pointing, signing "more," and clapping. And he does do a particular high-pitched squeal whenever he sees an animal. He’ll bring me his little animal board book and make grunts and squeals till I sit down and go through it with him. Or if he finds one of his toy horses, he'll put it up to my lips so I can kiss it again and again.



He also has an affinity for knives. I don’t know how many times he’s stood on his tippy toes, or got the stool from the bathroom, and grabbed the paring knife off of the counter or out of the drawer and come out with it. Then of course he looks at me and when I see the knife and jump up to get it from him, he takes off running. He’s determined to become Crocodile Dundee. Or die trying. I’m focusing on remembering to put my knife back against the wall of the counter.

DSCF2639 He finally got excited to kneel and pray when it’s time for prayer. It lasts for 1 second at most, but he still likes to do it to get some cheering and hugs.

DSCF2640 The other night when we prayed he went around to each one of us, rubbing our head and making kissing noises. It was so funny. I love him.

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P.S, I entered a picture in a Spring Photo contest and am a finalist. I would love it if you could go give me a vote. http://placetobloom.blogspot.com/2010/03/capturing-spring-cast-your-vote.html Thanks THANKS! :)

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Hunting frogs.

Today was oh so sunny and beautiful out, and since there’s rain forecasted for the rest of the week (I actually wrote this yesterday, and today was nice too—no rain, but rain is forecasted for the next 9 days), of course I just had to go out. :) I called a friend (mom of one of Hazel’s classmates) and asked her if there were any streams or ponds around. She told me of one, but warned me that it is full of frogs right now, so maybe I wouldn’t want to go. I told her that would be fun. So she told me the directions, and said, “Have fun with the frogs.” Jethro said to me, “In our nature book [more about that sometime later], it said you can get some frog eggs and keep them in a jar and watch the tadpoles hatch and frogs grow.” So I told him that we could bring a pail and see if we could find any.

The horses were a bonus—we parked by them and they were very friendly. (Last post Hazel was kissing a frog, now a horse—obviously she’s not very particular about who she smooches.)

DSCF2536 DSCF2537 We got to the pond, and there were many, MANY frogs. Jethro tried to get some, but to no avail.

DSCF2539 DSCF2542 Then Jethro and Hazel walked up the creek while the others of us walked beside the creek.

DSCF2545 DSCF2549 DSCF2553 See what I mean about MANY frogs – these are all frog’s heads.DSCF2557 It’s mating season. They were everywhere. It actually kind of gives me the willies.

DSCF2558 DSCF2559 More playing in the creek. DSCF2571 DSCF2575 DSCF2578 DSCF2587 DSCF2592 Talmage sat on the side and squawked until someone gave him a pile of rocks for him to throw in. He was a happy camper. Jethro was exactly the same when he was that age—he could throw rocks for hours and not get bored. What joys!DSCF2596 DSCF2599

(Love how Ethne begs for sympathy and I just watch her.)

DSCF2601Some fun on a sunlit stump. DSCF2604 DSCF2606 DSCF2610 DSCF2611 DSCF2614 DSCF2622 DSCF2623 DSCF2626 So, remember how we were going to see if we could find any frog eggs? Well, we did. They were in big clumps that looked like this:DSCF2629

covering the ENTIRE POND!!! Ick.DSCF2628 Here’s the few we brought home in our jar. The nature book says it should take about a week for them to hatch. We’ll see if we get to the tadpole phase.

DSCF2633 DSCF2634And I never thought I’d have a reptile or amphibian in my house.

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