A plague on the earth

I didn't know that when the Bible talks of plagues and pestilences, its authors spoke of this kind of thing.

Letters to Mr. Taylor: Friday Fun

Mr. Taylor,
I am in love with these cool mornings, I think the kids like them so much they want to enjoy more hours each morning. I'm not so keen on the 5 AM wake-ups, but the early morning run was very nice. After we sat out on the deck to enjoy it with the the lovely mountains to eat our breakfast... you'll never guess what we ate... yep, & it was delicious!

During breakfast Hannah informed me that she was a zookeeper, & we had work to do. She didn't like me sharing my breakfast with the zoo animals, Milo was the chimpanzee. We played outside feeding the animals of the zoo in my mom's backyard. It's a small zoo... flamingos (who are in need of a bath) & a chimpanzee (my personal favorite!). The neighbors have Gorillas, but we weren't able to see them this morning. Between the zoo & Milo enjoying the return air vents in the hallway, it was a morning of easy entertainment!

After Milo's AM nap we headed to the park, & had a great time racing down slides (sorry no pics, Milo hasn't learned to use the camera yet.) After breaking a sweat we headed over to the local strip mall to get some lunch. There is a little Italian Gelato/Bakery place that I've heard is fab, but before we got that far, we passed a large greasy burger chain & Hannah said she wanted to go there for lunch. I decided to accommodate her request, & despite how greasy the food & dining area were, my lunch dates were enjoyable!

It's Friday you know, so you'll never guess where we went for dinner! Your favorite place! It included all the great things... great company, a great mariachi band, & a great burrito...

Letters to Mr. Taylor: Catching Butterflies

Mr. Taylor,

Today started off with a run in the cool 68 degree morning. Hannah found the butterfly net & once I told her what it was for, she went to grab the empty Easter eggs in with the bath toys. She wanted to use the net to catch the butterflies & the eggs would be a great place to store them so they didn't fly away. We couldn't make our way outside fast enough!

We looked high & low, but there was no sign of butterflies.

We even considered the fact that we were making too much noise, so we were quiet & sneaky...

but our efforts were unsuccessful, better luck next time.

We spent the rest of the morning & the early afternoon playing with cousins.

Milo said his first word... While fussing on the floor, he flailed his arms about jabbering something like "OP OP OP", Mandi & I are sure he was saying up based on his actions & frustration. It was so cute, too bad you missed it!

Hehe.

Love ya,

Meg

Letters to Mr. Taylor: We Have Arrived!

Mr. Taylor,

We have arrived! I made it through yet another air adventure with 2 small children, 2 suitcases, 2 car seats, along with a not small stroller that seats 2. We encountered some very nice people, who were willing to help a single mama out. It didn't matter to me, as you know I love a good challenge, but it was so wonderful to know that there are nice people out there willing to notice the world around & offer help. Hannah was such a trooper, a pro when it comes to flying!

My mom found us & was thrilled to see our little darlings. I broke a sweat trying to quickly get our suitcases, stroller & car seats situated into her 2 door car, forgetting that the air isn't working in her car... if I would have remembered, I wouldn't have rushed so much. It was windy ride home! Poor Hannah didn't understand what was going on, those were her exact words as the wind blew her hair straight up:
"Mom, I don't understand... there's wind blowing my hair, my face. I just don't understand."

I asked her to give Milo a goldfish cracker & she said that she couldn't, it would fly away. I told her that it wouldn't, fish don't fly. It was entertaining... we pulled into the garage, sweaty & both the kids were sound asleep, so they caught there cat naps to play through the evening.

It's bed time... they are both soundly sleeping!

Love ya, Meg

P.S. Boyd has started mudding the walls in my old room. It will be sad the next time I came, because the flowers will be gone.

We will be missed!

Oh, wait... I'm not sure if Jeff agrees. But the kids & I are off to beautiful, mountainous Salt Lake Valley to get out of the way of Jeff's bar studying. I am going to try to keep updated here, for Jeff's sake, on our fun time away.

It will be wonderful to see my family & to let them see the kids, but I have a goal while I'm away... I want to allow my kids to fall in love with me. I want to relax, take it easy & enjoy my break from my regular household duties. I want to spend my days on the floor with my kids. I love my kids, I love being a mom... but I want to have a rendezvous with my love affair!

Thanks For The Compliment

This morning I asked Hannah if she wanted to watch a show while I got ready for the day. I told her I would put one on after she cleaned up the blocks she had pulled out & dumped all over. She got right to work, in hopes that she could watch something right away. Our conversation went like this...

H: Mom, Do you want to help me? I can’t do it myself

Me: Yes you can. Who got the block out?

H: It’s okay, you can just help me for a minute, & then you can go get yourself pretty. You can put your make up on. You don’t look so good today. You can put lipstick on for Utah, your lips need lipstick. They don’t look so good.

The "Gook" Scoot

Milo's nickname is "The Gooker." Hannah gave him the nickname awhile ago, and against Megan's insistence, it stuck. Well, unlike most "normal" kids, Milo hasn't learned to roll from his back to stomach, and therefore, he hasn't learned to crawl. In place of crawling, he does a move we've aptly titled "The Gook Scoot." Here's a video segment:

A day at the park

To break up some of the boredom for the kids, we like to go to the park. Usually we'll ask Hannah where she wants to go. Today, we figured she'd want to go to the spraygrounds and play in the water. However, when it's nearly 100, she want to go to the park.

The Valencia neighborhood has an awesome playground (lacking trees), but with several cool slides.

Happy 4th of July

Our new 4th of July tradition is to attend Edmond's LibertyFest parade, followed by Chili-cheese Fries at Ron's. In the evening, there's a massive fireworks show, rivaled probably only by the one done in Washington D.C. This year, the grand finale was AWESOME! The only thing to make it better would be if they'd post a police officer at the exit, and make everyone head out that way.

Here's the kids celebrating. You're welcome to join us next year at the corner of 2nd street and Boulevard in Edmond, and then for some fantastic fries at Ron's on 50th & May.

A genius?

Contrary to Megan's assertions, I DID NOT help Hannah do this: