Hey guess what? Yesterday was 6 mos. from my first post. I’ve been WAY more committed to this than I ever thought I would be. And I’ve enjoyed it a lot more, too. The company is outstanding. I’ve never found a way to read good writers that I’ve enjoyed so regularly.
Thanks for making my day a little brighter, all you bloggy friends!
Anja is crawling a few little “steps” (do you call them that when you’re not on your feet?) at a time now. She sees something she wants, gets herself from a sitting position to all fours, and makes miniscule little crawling motions until she gets there. Then she grabs the object and sits herself back down, and I go wild, clapping and encouraging. Sometimes she ends up stuck under the coffee table or the piano and cries out for help. Like any good mom, I come to her rescue. Or sometimes she gets something she shouldn’t before I can stop her, like a plastic bag or one of our books. And I run to the rescue again.
I feel much like Anja in my photography endeavors these days. Seeing something I want to achieve, I take baby steps toward it. I practice the technique. I read about it in books and my camera manual. I ask advice of friends who photograph. I participate in photography forums. The progress is slow. I want to “arrive” quickly, when in practice, that rarely happens. But like Anja, I keep plugging away at it. And you folks have been my encouragers, my cheerleaders time and again. Thank you for that. Even mommies need someone clapping for them when they accomplish something.
Oh, and constructive criticism is always welcome, too. I relish it.
Yeah, I know that’s shocking. At 8 months, she still can’t read. 
Anyway, I asked you all for book advice back in February, and you happily gave it. While I wanted to buy ALL the books you suggested, we don’t have that kind of a budget, so we narrowed it down to a few.
Husband LOVES Jan Brett (as do I), so we bought The Mitten. Two I remembered from my childhood were Harry the Dog and Blueberries for Sal. Since none of these were really appropriate for where she is right now, I grabbed the Baby Colors book by DK. Even with those literary classics in the mix, the BABY chose the baby book. She loves the colors and will sit patiently while I read every object on the page. As a result, we went back and bought a couple more DK books the other day–an alphabet one and a body parts one. We also picked up a copy of Rosen’s/Oxbury’s We’re Going On A Bear Hunt, which she also enjoys a great deal. Over time, we’ll be able to build our library even more (even though we have many bookshelves that area already full of grown-up books). We hope Anja will love to read as much as her parents do!
Actually, you’re all “winners,” but since I’m not rich, I did have to narrow it down to one prize-winner. You had some very clever and cute entries, so it took me awhile to decide.
And after deciding that this individual shouldn’t be disqualified, even though it was her idea to have the contest in the first place, the winner is….Miz Booshay with “See here, Vinnie, it’s like this….”
I found it odd that so many of you commented on how cute she is, because I think she’s pretty ugly in this picture, kind of like a little mob boss or something. MB’s quote captured that spirit. Ha!
I hope to continue holding contests, so keep coming back. I was especially excited to see some new first-time readers.
Miz Booshay, for your efforts, you will win aforementioned $15 Bath and Body Works gift card as well as…this FABULOUS prize from my mother’s high school collection! Yessirree, we turned up some treasures last time I was at her house.
The New Sound is copyright 1966, so who knows what phenomenon of the musical realm will be in it? This snapshot was taken shortly after Anja threw it (she apparently doesn’t like oldies as much as her mama).
Edited to add: “Sweetness” is not a person who won the photo contest. It’s still going on until Monday. Just thought I’d clear that up. Keep your captions coming!!!
I sold my big lens today. Sigh…Husband has convinced me to upgrade, which is fine, but it means I’ll be without a good zoom lens for a week or so. The lady I sold it to was really nice. I hope that means she’ll take good care of my lens, because man, I miss it already. I posted it last night around 11:00 p.m. on Craigslist and sold it this afternoon! Crazy how that works. I love it.
Anyway, since I won’t have any new photos for awhile, here’s some from a few weeks ago. Remember Anja’s friend that she was holding hands with in that photo awhile back? Her mommy said I could post pictures of her face, too! Yay! Her mommy happens to be a college friend of mine. Without further ado, here’s sweet little Anika at about 3 months of age:
Don’t you just love that expression?
She looks a lot like her mommy (which is a good thing, because her mommy is gorgeous!).
At the urging of my bloggy friend Donna, I’ve decided to have a “name that photo” contest. But there’s a catch. While I do want a cute caption, even more, I want you, dear readers, to figure out what my baby girl is SAYING in this photo. You have until midnight on Monday, May 5, to leave a comment letting me know what you think she’s trying to say. The winner will receive….drumroll…a $15 Bath & Body Works gift card plus an undisclosed “other” prize. I soooo look forward to reading your entries!
Oh, and obviously, I’m no PW, so there’s no rush to get your entry in. Take your time and be creative!
I made this post back when these cookies were in season, but…my mom also used to make similar cookies for boat trips in the summer. And oh. so. delicious. This recipe (linked here) is a step up or two from hers (no offense mom). They’re chewy and gingery-molassesy and just…well, just bake them!
And be sure to check out the rest of the yummy bar and cookie recipes at Randi’s Recipe Box Swap!
Veronica at Toddled Dredge tagged me for a “Three Random Things” meme a few days ago. Late one night in bed, I remember thinking, “Aha! If ever I get tagged for a ‘randomness of me’ meme, this is JUST the thing to put on it!” Of course, I can’t recall what that thing was, so here are three not-as-fabulous random things about me:
1. When I was in 3rd grade, I was convinced by one of my classmates that a pervert was a fruit. This later got me in trouble when I called him a pervert in gym class.
2. This week I attempted to wash my dishes in Tang. It didn’t work.
3. I have never smoked a cigarette. Never even held one in my mouth.
It included a DATE!
Two, in fact. With my husband, of course. My in-laws came and watched Anja on Friday night and part of Saturday so that Husband and I could get out and remember what it is like to hold hands (when one pair isn’t always pushing a stroller). It was fantastic!
We went to America’s largest indoor water park on Friday night, where I laid waste to this thing that shoots water up (it’s supposed to resemble surfing). All the little 10-year-olds in front of me made it look hard, but if you’ve ever been tubing (pulled behind a speedboat on an innertube across a lake), this was a cakewalk. A cakewalk on water.
Saturday we had a nice brunch with the relatives, and then I took Husband on a date of surprises. First surprise - a stop at the Mall of America where robots (which people built) were fighting. We only got to see two fights before one robot exploded into flames and they had to take a break to clean up. Sad.
Then I took him to three places for lunch. Yes, three. Place number one was the wrong place; they directed us to place #2, which was too expensive, so we went to P.F. Chang’s. Husband had never been there before anyway, and he loved it. We shared Mu Shu Pork and some kind of lamb–yummy!
Lastly, I took him to the iMax theater at the Minnesota Zoo and we saw a 3-D movie about the Okavango Delta (in the Kalahari desert). My goodness has 3-D technology improved since I last saw one (circa 1995)! I could almost feel the weeds brushing across my face and reach out and touch the cracks in the elephant’s tusk. It was 45 minutes of African fantasy! And I had coupons for everything but lunch.
Husband liked it all, so: SUCCESS! And I had a good time, too. We decided we need to “date” more often.
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How about you people? What do you do for fun (cheap) dates?
And some announcements at the end…
A Mother’s Treasures
She lifts the lid
To discover
Chubby hands exploring her own (upon examination) now-weathered thumb
Gentle sighs from tired lips
Kissable, soft cheeks hiding a delicate, ticklish neck
Shining eyes, so adoring
Giggles and wiggles meaning “Come play with me!”
She closes the lid and locks away
These treasures in her heart
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A couple of announcements…
Randi at I Have to Say will be hosting her Recipe Box Swap this week, and this month’s theme is…COOKIES AND BARS! Be still, my beating heart. I will be posting some sort of tasty treat for you (and her other readers), and if you want to play along, head over there to get some linkage for this cool graphic:
Second, I will be hosting a contest later this week. A photo-captioning contest, to be exact. So get yourself hyped up and your creative juices flowing. A not-as-fantabulous-as-PW’s-but-still-cool prize will be awarded, too.
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Quote of the week:
"I've always wanted to eat a porcupine - there's just something so tempting about a big rodent covered in spikes. Oh, sweet, sweet TAPIR."- Beck (frogandtoadarestillfriends.blogspot.com)
