Funny Things....

My grandfathers birthday is on the 4th of July. Every year I send him chocolate covered strawberries for his birthday, usually decorated in Red, White, and Blue. He is a widowed man who lives in the Poconos of Pennsylvania and has a dear friend Tony who lives next door who's wife also passed away.
Anyways, when he called me tonight to thank me for the strawberries we had a very interesting conversation, it went something like this:

Me: So are you and Tony going to have dinner together tonight? (something they do regularly)
Poppy: Oh no, I had dinner at my place and he ate at his. But we are getting together for dessert, kind of like a date. But we're not gay..... the ladies will be coming over later.

Me: laughing uncontrollably...

The mans got wit and humor. And he never ceases to amaze me with the things that come out of his mouth!

Happy Happy Birthday Poppy!!!!!

Tribute to Dads

Sunday is Fathers Day, and I've been thinking about my own father a lot the last couple of days. My parents were just here visiting a week ago, and once again, I had some of the best times with them. My husband was gone on a "guys trip" for the week so my parents came out to help with Kara. I was completely smitten the whole week watching my dad interact with my daughter. It was hard for my mother or I to even get near her because my dad (Kara's Papa) was always by her side. He had to be the one to hold her hand anytime we went somewhere, sit next to her in the car, hold her, or push her stroller, and he NEVER missed an episode of Sesame Street or Cailou with her either! Of course my mom and I took advantage of this by leaving Kara in his care while we would go and have our girl time! My dad would take her for walks every morning, trips to the park, and of course several visits to the toy stores.
I've been thinking about the special things he did with me as a child too. Miniature golfing, outings to the lakes or the water parks, weekly trips to the toy store and our favorite ice cream shops. Dads are special that way, they always get to do the fun things!
And as I think back to those special moments, they make me smile, but nothing makes me melt more inside than watching my dad with my daughter. From the first moment he held her in his arms at just 5 minutes old, to the times of running after her as a toddler, nothing in the world can compare to it.
So on this special weekend that we honor our fathers, I will be smiling and thinking of warm fuzzy memories in my head as I think of my dad, both as my father, and my daughters grandfather.
Oh, and I can't forget, Kara's daddy too... because watching him read and cuddle with her ranks pretty high up there too!
Much love to all the dads in our lives!!!

Verbiage

Kara's been saying some really cute things lately, which have me laughing for days later...

We took her to a Japanese steak house the other night and when the chef lit the fire on the stove she looked at me and said "WOAH!!!" (Much better than the crying response we thought we were going to get!)

As I walked into the house yesterday after doing some gardening Kara ran up to me and exclaimed "MOMMA!!! I go poo poo's!" And yes, her Nana and father were inside w/her, but I guess she knows who changes her diapers!

And my favorite of all time, when she see's a frog whether it be in a book, on t.v. or a stuffed animal she yells "FROG!" except it comes out as another 4 letter word beginning with "F." :)

Gotta love toddler hood vocabulary!

My Little Helper....

Lately Kara has become a real copy cat. Or shall I say, she imitates everything her mommy does. I love watching her walk around with her baby dolls putting them in their high chairs, feeding them "nummies" and then asking them "all done?" just like I ask her. She'll then wrap them up in blankets and read them books and say "night night." Then she'll put her purse on and say "bye bye" (not really sure where she gets that from?? does she think I go out on the town every night when she goes to bed?)
My favorite is when she puts the dolls on her potty and tells them to go potty. Not only has she become a little mommy, but she wants to help do everything around the house, which sounds nice in theory.... but usually ends up like this.....

Kara's interpretation of folding laundry.....

Sunny Days

Yesterday was Sesame Street Live here in Des Moines. We took Kara to see her first "live performance" ever.
She did great and loved every second of it. If you remember, a couple months back we took her to her first movie , sort of as a practice for the "big day." And lets just say, she did much better yesterday, didn't make a peep the whole time. She was definitely "star struck!"
It was just another one of the moments where I looked at her and wondered where has the time gone? This is my little baby, growing up on me, becoming her own little free spirit. The baby I used to swaddle in my arms, who now can just jump into my arms when she feels the need to be hugged. I seriously don't know how I could love anyone or anything the way I love her.

Mothers Day Art

This is Kara's masterpiece that she created for her Nana for Mothers Day. I bought the plate and mug at Bed Bath and Beyond and "helped" her decorate some of it, then I gave her the markers and let her go to town. She had a blast scribbling all over them and didn't want to stop! This is the art that only a mother and grandmother could love!

Happy Mothers Day to all of you wonderful Mommies out there!

The Man's got Skillz....

The artwork at the top was created by my very talented, very professional, and oh so serious husband. He is going to kill me for spilling the beans, but I have to give him props when props are due! When I told him about my blogs big debut in the Des Moines Juice edition he told me I had to up my ante a little on my somewhat boring background. So it was his idea to bring a "kid oriented" drawing into the blog. Yes, he drew that all by himself. The other night after we put Kara to bed we got out the Crayola's and started playing. We were up to the wee hours drawing, taking pics of the drawings and cropping and pasting. I can only wonder what our nanny thought the next day with our artwork spread all over the living room floor! Ha!
As Curt informed me, this isn't his expertise, but I just thought it was so cute to see this serious business man on the floor drawing with crayons all for the love of his wife and her "not so serious" life!
Love you babe!