chalk + nature lesson

Abby's watercolor painting has left behind a lot of black and brown construction paper, so yesterday after her nap we went outside to make an art project with chalk. I love how the colors look so vivid!

My little artist really got into it. 

Ta-da!

I'm learning that the littlest things can turn into major projects with young kids. The breeze was blowing our papers around so I showed Abby how one rock could hold each sheet of paper in place. We soon had major rock piles holding down every picture. 10 rocks has to be better than 1 rock, right?!

While Abby was collecting rocks, she decided to pull some "weeds." We were both surprised to see acorns attached to the ends of the stems! I explained that acorns fall from the tree as seeds that can grow into big trees.

She was pretty fascinated.

And enthusiastically told Robert all about it when he got home.

Thanks, Abby, for making me notice the little things again! I love looking at the the world with your fresh perspective and inquisitive mind.

Cast On, Cast Off

Dear patient blog readers, I promise to try and catch up on here soon. Let's go back to March for a bit, shall we? Robert took the day off on March 16th and we went to Disney's Animal Kingdom to meet up with our friend Tati on her birthday. We announced to Abby that we were going that morning by pulling her sparkly pink Minnie ears out of the closet and asking her if she wanted to go to "Mickey's Zoo."

Here's the Tree of Life. There are all kinds of intricate carvings of different animals in the trunk that are quite beautiful, but that's probably hard to see in this picture.

We got lucky and made it into a short line to see Daisy Duck. Abby did great with her first character meet and greet! She was a little unsure about Daisy at first but ended up giving her a big hug.

Someone needs a hair tie...

Robert says he would describe Animal Kingdom as a super fancy zoo with not a whole lot of animals. It was all very picturesque but I think it's fair to say it's not our favorite of the parks.

Hippo!

Perhaps we weren't that impressed with Animal Kingdom because we ended up spending only 2 hours there. Why? Shortly after this picture was taken, Abby slipped off a bench, tried to catch herself, and ended up breaking her wrist. She was a very brave little girl throughout the whole ordeal and I think Robert and I did a good job of remaining calm and collected, too. We took her to Disney's First Aid station where a well-meaning but unhelpful nurse poked around at her arm and informed us, "she'd be screaming her head off if she'd broken anything." 

I wasn't convinced. We decided to head back to Tampa to an Orthopedic Urgent Care where -- to make a long story short -- Humana's entire system just happened to be down for the day and since they couldn't verify our information in the system, we couldn't see a doctor. Abby did a great job this entire time, holding her arm like a little wounded wing. We took her home for her nap and decided to see if her arm was still hurting when she woke up. It was. It was more swollen and our sweet little girl was clearly not ok. Humana's system was still down so off to the ER we went. What's crazy is that this is the same ER I walked into almost 5 years to the day earlier when I split open my chin while running. Ah, memories.

Abby was such a trooper.

She ended up having greenstick fractures in both her ulna and radius bones, so they splinted her arm and we made an appointment the following day with a Pediatric Orthopedist. 

The next day -- St. Patrick's Day -- Abby got her GREEN (perfect!) cast. The cast didn't slow her down a bit.

After 3 and 1/2 quick weeks, the cast came off yesterday. Hooray! We went shopping at a health food store near the doctor's office after her appointment and Abby loved pushing around this cute kid-sized cart. I'm so glad my little chickadee has healthy bones again!

Strawberry Picking

Early spring is quite lovely in Florida. (Complaints about the hot and humid summer are surely coming soon.) While most of the North was getting another round of winter weather, Abby and I spent a beautiful March 12th morning picking strawberries at Strawberry Passion Farm. I wasn't expecting these raised beds -- I think they are used only in organic farming? I'll have to check with my Dad.

My sweet little farm girl.

We met up with friends Axel and Haleigh...

...and Gabi and Laura. Abby wanted nothing to do with the boys, though.

She fastidiously pulled all of the leaves off before biting into the fruit.

She probably ate a good half pound of strawberries before we left. Yum!

Happy Spring!

Easter 2015

Happy Easter! We had friends Malorie and Jordan over for brunch after church today, so yesterday we made our beloved Nigella Lawson Easter Egg Nest Cake in preparation. I think this cake has officially become an Easter tradition. Abby took her kitchen duties very seriously as my taste tester. 

Sometimes we really fail as parents. Abby came into our room early this morning and woke us up and we told her Happy Easter. Then I realized we hadn't set out her Easter basket. I scrambled to find the Easter grass, her Russell Stover chocolate bunny, and Annie's fruit snacks and then plunked it on the coffee table as she walked in. It really is a good thing we have these early years to get our act together! 

Robert took a few pictures as we quickly rushed off to church. (Late, as usual.) He has taken the best Easter photos these past 3 years.

2015  

2014

2013

I was more emotional than usual while singing the worship songs this morning. After spending the past 25 weeks in BSF studying the Life of Moses and reading so much about all of the bloody and time consuming sacrifices that had to be offered for the Israelites' sin, I felt such a deep sense of gratitude for Jesus' ultimate sacrifice on the cross. In the past I used to skim through most of those Old Testament passages, but studying them in detail has brought a new richness to the New Testament and my understanding of God's grace and love for us. 

We got home from church and it was time to fill the nest cake with its fluffy, chocolate-y goodness. I asked Abby to help me put my favorite Cadbury chocolate eggs on top.

This would be so cute! Blur...argh.

I'm kicking myself for not getting any pictures with Malorie and Jordan. Abby had fun playing with both of them and she kept making Marlorie hold her upside down by her feet and swing her like a monkey. (Not an easy feat with 40 pounds.) Robert made a delicious Potato Frittata with Feta and Scallions (and bacon!) from our Smitten Kitchen cookbook and we served fresh strawberries with mint from the little container garden on our back deck. As always, I miss the big holiday gatherings we used to have when I was growing up but it was still a sweet day. Happy Easter, family and friends!