Daffodils, Forsythia & Cherry Plums in Bloom!

Glorious spring is so close we can't help but be outside! This past Sunday was sheer Eden. Our Cherry Plums, for the first time, bloomed at the same time. It was lovely! Rodolfo and I spent the day preparing part of our backyard for our first vegetable garden. We are going to do a small potager, which is French for "kitchen garden". Unlike American vegetable gardens where one tends to sow row upon row of the same crop and then have a giant harvest in the fall, in the potager one rotates a small number of a variety of vegetables and flowers each season, so you even have vegetables coming up in the winter. I can't wait to get started and I really hope the squirrels do not eat everything I plant! I also pruned my roses. Can't wait for April 15th-- it's the last frost date and then it means I am clear to be outside from then until mid-October!

Dressing up like Bar-B-Que!

The past few days Georgia has been talking about dressing up like "bar-b-que". It all started when I asked her what she had done at school. I asked, did you dress up like a princess (they have play clothes for the kids). "Yes." she responded and then she added "I dressed up like bar-b-que too." I wasn't sure what she meant so I replied, "oh, you dressed up like a cowgirl?" "Nooooo!" she laughed, "like bar-b-que". Well, I just ignored it because she jabbers all the time and I figured this was just more jabber-talk. But then it kept coming up, bar-b-que this, and bar-b-que that... Finally today when we were getting a check-up at the doctor's office it clicked. The doctor handed Georgia a sticker for being such a good patient. Georgia squealed with delight "Bar-B-Que!!!!!!!" I looked down to see just what she was so excited about, and do you know what was on that sticker? Barbie. That's right. Georgia's been talking about Barbie this whole time. She dressed up like Barbie, she talks about Barbie, she LOVES Barbie!!! I should have known.

Circus & Lounging

Isn't the stair picture great? I was working in the kitchen and then rounded the corner and saw Georgia posed so cute, like a piano lounge singer. I grabbed my camera and caught the moment! I'm so glad. The other photo is of Georgia and Rodolfo at the circus. The Shriner's Circus came to town last weekend and my dad surprised us with some tickets. It was fun, the best part for me was the elephants. Georgia loved the cotton candy.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine's Day (February 14) is Georgia's half birthday! On the 13th, Rodolfo and I had planned to see The Pink Panther 2 on a date night to celebrate the holiday. As usual, we were running late on the evening we planned to see the movie. We had child care arranged through our church, but we missed the start time of the child care (6:30) and so were at a loss of what to do. We still really wanted to see the movie together, and then we decided, well, why not bring Georgia along? We had never taken her to the movies before and we weren't sure how she would behave but decided to give it a try. Happily, I can type that she loved it! She sat mesmerized at the large screen and hardly blinked the entire two hours. It was a real treat for all of us! The movie was pretty hilarious, with the best scene in the Vatican.

The following day, Valentine's Day proper, we were invited to a friend's house where Gigi had the fun of cutting out brownies from a cookie sheet, decorating the brownies with icing and sprinkles, and then eating them up to her hearts content. And I had the pleasure of a nice evening's meal without having to worry about clean up. Thank you Rebecca and David for inviting us over!