Explorers & Superheros

 A. and Sam discovered this odd roll of material somewhere, and began working on how to unroll it, and use it for something.

 Meanwhile, Josy works on leaf and flower soup.

 This is back in Feb when her bruise was still pretty fierce. I only show this so she'll have a record of it - and because she's all better now.

 How often do you walk out your front door in the morning to THIS convention?

Pictures from a winter-spring Sunday

We always go to  my office to check out the exhibits. Josephine and I had a good five minute discussion of photography. What makes a good photograph? Why did these photographers take pictures of street signs? 

This past Sunday was a beautiful day and we roamed up and down the mall exploring. Jo, of course, kept reading her book. 

Before downtown, Sam and I played with his cars. He wanted them all lined up, so we went to the track. 

But first, we had to carry them there. 

My little guitar is temporarily missing, so we improvised on this new electric guitar. 

When the cars got a bit boring, we went for a kick-about. 

It's been a while since we've watched the hockey. 

"This is a race car. It's the XT-3!"

We took a quick ride on the trolley. Do you think Sam liked it? 

I think this beaming face gives that answer!

Betsy, Tacy, and Josephine

At Christmas, Josephine was given a copy of the Betsy-Tacy treasury by her Aunt Sandra. On one day in March 2012, it became one of her favorite books. 

For almost an entire Sunday, she was captivated by the book. I read her and Sam about 80 pages out-loud over the course of the day. When I wasn't reading it, she was looking at it. 

When Sam was on the merry-go-round, Josephine sought out a quiet space to read in the sun. 

No matter where we were, she was reading the book. 

Watching my daughter become a reader makes me happy. I am hopeful, so hopeful, that she loves books and doesn't grow up entirely reading screens. Thank you, Auntie Sandra! r

First weekend in March

The very last of Sam's birthday cake as he contemplates being 4 for a full month. 

We used to go to Azalea Park all the time, but this was our first return as a family in a very long time. 

I like taking Sam and Josephine to construction projects. They seem to like it. We are at the Jefferson Park Avenue bridge replacement. Josy wanted to know why the road was closed so we went up to investigate. I showed them the massive concrete embankments they're building. They really enjoyed it and wanted to keep looking around, but it suddenly started to get cold. 

Somewhere I know there's a picture of her as a younger girl in this same spot. I'm amazed at how big she is getting. 

I've been cleaning out the games cupboard. That gave Josy the opportunity to be a kitty-cat. Sam's in the background crawling to the potty. 

"She's got the whole world, in her hands!" 

"She's got the whole world, on her head!" - seriously - the kids love making planets out of Play-Doh, and then little moons to go around them. 

We talked for a few minutes about pipes. Are these being put in the ground, or are they the ones that were removed? We didn't know, but I like watching her try to figure out the answer. 

This is to document Josephine eating. She had three helpings of mac-and-cheese at lunch. She's growing so fast and needs her fuel. 

There is no question this child is mine. And that she is the grand-daughter of my mother and father. 

After the JPA trip, we came home with so many rocks. And, Josy decided they needed to be painted. And they were! 

Every weekend now we have a Play-Doh factory set up in my house. 

Can you see the little boy in this picture? 

We took Billy with us to the park, and Sam wanted us to know there was another dog in the park. 

This is likely going to be one of my favorite pictures of all time. Sam wanted to wait for Thomas to come. I'm going to have this blown up into a bigger picture, I think. Josephine was asking if the bridge was old, because it was rusted. Apparently, though, that's what VDOT does now.  I tried to explain to the kids, but I did show them the sign that said the bridge was manufactured in April 2011. 

Dogs dig holes. Little boys like to stand in them. He was overjoyed to be here. There were 10 dogs in the park today, and Sam and Josy were enthralled to be there. They spent so much time there when they were little. 

Belated birthday at Grandma and Granddad's house!

It's President's Day, which means a couple of nights in Lynchburg with Grandma and Granddad! It was also a chance for them to celebrate Sam's fourth birthday. Here are some pictures completely not in order. 

Josephine loves Charlie, my parents' dog. She follows him around and requested to cuddle with him for a while. He obliged. 

Josephine got a cool toy that let her use fabrics to decorate animals. 

It snowed, so Josy and I had the chance to go outside.

Here's Josy receiving the gift used above!

Sam got a pirate costume from Grandma and Granddad. He wore it the rest of the day. 

Outside, Josy and I got to make a snowgirl. 

Sam and Granddad play with the new pirate ship! 

Sam was not feeling well so he couldn't play in the snow. 

The pirate ship sets sail! 

This is already a request for Halloween 2012! 

Josephine's Black Eye

She wouldn't let me take a photo.

But since this is kind of a babybook for the kids, I had to log this event in: Jo was on the playground and a little boy accidentally bashed into her, causing her to slam into a metal jungle gym. What started off as a heinous bruise - the nurse called, I took her home to give her medicine and ice - grew bigger and bigger. The entire side of her cheek blew up like a balloon - and I ended up taking her to the ER.

The ER doctor was impressed. "I haven't seen anything this swollen in all my 20 years," he said. But if there is a break - and we still don't know - it's not a bad one, one that would have required an MRI that night. We were told to wait till the swelling went down. Her cheekbone might be fractured, we may need a plastic surgeon - or she may be fine. We still have yet to know.

But poor girl, even as the swelling has gone down, the purple, blue, brown, and black has shifted around within her face and settled around her eye, making her look like she got in a bad bar fight. She's been scared to see her own image in the mirror, and terrified of other kids seeing her and "not liking it."

The accident happened Thursday. By Sunday, she was feeling well enough that she'd started in on her acrobatic hijinks - balancing on her head, standing on top of precarious things, hanging upside down - things she's not allowed to do when she's well let alone still puffy and healing.

Saturday in the bathtub, she was obviously back to her philosophical self: "Mama," she mused, "We're not replaceable, are we? We can't be replaced when we die. Except maybe by little kids. Or a doll."

My sweet girl. She's back at school today. She's so brave.