Yum. Toes.

When a baby is on the changing table and his mother has removed the feet of his outfit from his legs so that she could change his diaper and his toes are available...what's a baby to do?

Our porch

One of the things we love about our new house (wait...we've been living here a year -- is our house still new?) is the big ol' front porch that runs the whole width of the house. It's got a swing and it's fantastic. We used it extensively throughout the summer last year and then we used it (not quite as extensively) in the winter, too, believe it or not. It's perfect for riding a tricycle on cold, wet days. It's great for hula hoop rolling and racing back and forth with your sister. Now that the weather is warming up, Hannah often reads on the swing out there and Naomi LOVES to ride her tricycle out there. It's great for days when Mom's busy inside and can lend an ear, but not her whole presence, to outside activities. We love having a porch -- it's a contained space and it's outside at the same time.

Hello, Dolly! again

One of the things in the girls' Easter baskets was the soundtrack of Hello, Dolly! This is a gift for them to share. And it turns out that it's a gift for me, too. They both sat on the couch and listened to it straight through on Monday. It's Naomi's Quiet Time companion this week, which has meant that the popping out of Quiet Time has decreased about 100%. In fact, yesterday I had to go in and get her out against her will because I wanted to take the kids outside.

Also, it's absolutely priceless to hear your two daughters singing the It takes a woman song with Walter Matthau. And it's REALLY funny to hear your 3-year-old singing the Louie Armstrong parts right along with Louie. Hannah still contends that he needs to clear his throat before singing. She recognized his voice on the soundtrack, because we also have the soundtrack for The Five Pennies, and he's a prominent singer in that show, much to Hannah's dismay. Personally, I'm a big fan, but she doesn't approve.

Spring

The kids are very excited about spring being here -- of course, the weather comes and goes, but the flowers are blooming, so they consider it spring. I told them what forsythia is, and Hannah has taken to calling out "Forsythia!" every time she sees it when we're in the car. This was irritating to Naomi (who was trying to get Hannah to stop saying it; the car sounded like this: "Forsythia!" "Stop saying that!" "Forsythia!" "Stop saying that!") until I suggested that she start pointing it out, too. So now the car sounds like this: "Forsythia!" "Forsythia!" "Forsythia!" "Forsythia!"

Happy Easter!

Alternate lyrics

We've all heard the Spoonful of Sugar song from Mary Poppins, right? Well, Naomi has some alternate lyrics.

Alternate lyrics set #1: A spoonful of chicken makes the medicine go down, the medicine go do--own, medicine go down...

Alternate lyrics set #2: A spoonful of Vaseline makes the medicine go down in the most delightful way!

Compost Party 2009

Friday we got a delivery of 6 cubic yards of organic composted dairy manure and yard waste. On purpose. It made quite a pile, and is a lovely black color. I don't think our garden is going to know what hit it.

Saturday, we were helped by family and friends (to whom we are forever indebted) to spread said compost around various areas of our yard. We have big plans for planting this spring, and we're off to a great start with all this compost. We made several new beds, enlarged some old ones, and beat the grass back off of some trees.

Earlier in the week it was cold and rainy, rainy, rainy. Friday morning we awoke to a very light dusting of snow. I was not really excited about the prospect of spreading compost in the cold and rain, but praise God who had mercy on us and provided a GORGEOUS day yesterday for yard work!

We got off to a good start because we were pleased with the lovely weather, but ran into a couple of snags right away. First of all, Hannah equates sun with warmth, and it wasn't that warm early yesterday morning. So for the first hour or so, she asked every 5 minutes whether she could take off her jacket. Then, someone told Naomi that compost comes from cow poop. This, in itself, did not faze Naomi. However, when she got some on her PANTS, she became very upset and demanded to change. Of course, we were looking at several hours spent outside dealing with compost -- we could quickly work through her entire wardrobe. I told her that she could change AFTER the compost party...after a few minutes of testing to see if I was serious about waiting, she settled back down.

Naomi, upon exiting the house yesterday: Outside is stinky.
Naomi, upon being asked how she liked the compost party: Compost is stinky.

Hannah, at bedtime: I wish every day was compost party day.

We actually got the compost all spread by about 12:30, then had a leisurely lunch, then had some naps and enjoyed the outdoors a bit more. Now we're itching to get planting in all the beds. I, of course, have been planning them out in my mind for a long time...now I just have to make sure Michael's on board!