Picnic!

I will try not to rub it in that we had a picnic to those of you who have forgotten what green grass looks like due to white grass that has grown and grown all winter. We did need to get out and you will notice all of our red noses. It was still chilly.


The Persistent Climber~
The Energetic Runner~

The Tired Worker~
The Red Nosed Family~



The view from our picnic spot - The John Hancock building with the green light at the top and the Trump Tower is the silver skinny tower with the tall antenna. The Trump Tower was not there when we moved to Chicago 4 1/2 years ago.

A-bone

Ronda: If you had an alias what would it be?
Anthony: A-bone
(His new nickname at work b/c he's the only one that comes from the city.)

(later on)
Ronda: If you got a tattoo, what would it say?
Anthony: A-bone.
Both laughing.



While dressing ConLai said, "I am cold because I put on my shirt."

I think we gotta work on cause and effect.

He's my friend.

ConLai has been very into her friends.

Situation 1
Daddy told her Andy would be coming over (someone Daddy gets together with every few months). ConLai said, "He's my friend."

Daddy asked, "are you friends with everybody?"

ConLai said, "Yeah. They're all my people."

Situation 2
ConLai prayed at noon:
Heavenly Father, thank you for Mommy and Daddy. Thank you for Ms. Estelle and Jeremiah (our guests). Thank you for my friends. Thank you for Moriah and Matthias and Abby. Thank you for Kayla and my friends. Thank you for Mommy, Daddy, ConLai, Juninana (her new version of Juliana). Thank you for all my friends. Amen.

Situation 3
We were walking and ConLai said, "Mommy, yous my friend."

Situation 4
In the car, ConLai said, "Daddy's my friend."

NOW TO KEEP THIS MINDSET....

Our little monkey who loves bananas

After some deliberation, I chose to make a monkey banana cake for Juliana for 3 reasons.

1. She loves bananas.
2. She's a climber.
3. She carts George, the stuffed monkey, around the house.

It ended up tasting like banana bread with frosting, but she enjoyed it anyway.







Trying and succeeding at bothering her sister with her dirty hands.
Sugar high is turning into a crash~

Tape Fixes Everything

Tape Solution #1

Daddy's sock had a couple holes in it after already being patched, and according to my experienced mother, a hole in a darned sock means rag time.

ConLai handed me one of those socks I had set aside on the couch for its death, so I stuck my fingers in the hole and tore apart the sock. This was her reaction.
To her dismay I had broken Daddy's sock. She was very alarmed, so she insisted I use tape to fix it.
I think she has prior memories of Mommy also tearing Daddy's shirt apart (while it was on him). It's a very frightening memory of her past, maybe that's been what her scary dreams are about - Mommy chasing Daddy around tearing his clothes apart.

Tape Solution #2

Things became suddenly very quiet (Mommy alarm #1) as I was washing dishes and my bedroom door was shut (Mommy alarm #2).

I pushed open the door and bumped into ConLai which spilled a container of cake sprinkles. She immediately started bawling. After questions with no answers, we assumed she either: 1- was sad the sprinkles spilled or 2 - was feeling very guilty for hiding in Mommy's room eating sprinkles with the door taped shut.

Bowling and Ice-skating

Anthony took me ice skating at Millenium Park. I am a horrible skater, but it is one of the most fun activities! He is actually quite a natural at it. That and dancing, you'd never guess.


There was a group of junior-high aged girls in a very tight knit circle. Anthony was the first to notice their lack of courage in branching out independently though they eventually did start skating two by two. We laughed about the fact that you'd never see a group of boys like that. Actually, that you'd never see a group of boys that age going ice skating.


An Amazing Idea - Edible flowers...chocolate at that. My wonderful husband picked these up along with a card and pretty necklace. How I ended up with this man, I still marvel at the thought.
We went bowling with our friends/neighbors for Sabrina's birthday. She beat us all both games. :)
It was the first time both ConLai and Matthias had been bowling. He found far more enjoyment in the actual bowling. She found far more enjoyment in the music and people.

Do you see what she's teaching her little sis?

When I picked Matthias up, he started boppin to the salsa music. I do watch him Tuesdays/Thursdays and no, salsa lessons are not in the agenda.

A Real Man

ONLY REAL MEN WORKERS ALLOWED BEYOND THIS POINT
HARDWORKING MAN GO THIS WAY
THE MAN WHO PROVIDES KEEP GOING
UR LADIES ARE AWAITIN JUST A FEW MORE STEPS
FOR THEIR HERO

Daddy has been working very hard in very cold weather. So we secretly ordered a new pair of INSULATED boots for him. This is how he came home the day they came in the mail.