Merry Christmas

thanksgiving

Maybe the Zoo

Today the family went to the Memphis Public Library.  Just as we hopped out of the car we noticed Daddy had left his keys locked inside.  Mommy and Leila went inside to play at the library for a few hours while Daddy took a bus home to get Mommy's car and some coat hangers.

After Daddy had given up on the coat hangers, the library had closed, and we'd all settled in to wait for the locksmith Leila announced that she wanted to go potty.  We had to tell her the library was closed so she wouldn't be able to potty right away.  Leila didn't like that answer so she frowned a bit and thought quietly to herself until she came up with a solution.

"Maybe the Zoo is open."

Thoughts on two months of Montessori schooling

• Mommy and Leila LOVE it. The schedule above has exciting events for the kids on a daily basis. There is a lot of art on the schedule which is great considering Mommy is an artist.
• Leila has gotten much more confident on the playground, is even more outgoing, and talks to strangers more. She was just turning two when she went in so part of that might just be natural development.
• She's mostly potty trained now, and amusingly this was the school's idea. They asked us if we were going anywhere for the three-day Independence Day holiday and when we replied in the negative they suggested we bring Leila to school on Monday potty trained and in normal underwear. We did, and that's going well right now.
• Their initial claim to "only watch TV on special occasions or rainy days" has proven false but it appears to be less than once a day and it's only stuff like Barney and Dora so I guess I can live with that given all the positives they bring to the table.
• Playground time has gone way up from the last day care - they appear to spend an hour or two a day getting mulch in their hair and learning how to swing.
• Leila's overall health is much better than it was at her old day care where she pretty much had a runny nose every day for 18 months. Perhaps this is a function of the kids' respective ages or class sizes, but I think it's also because the staff is more attentive.
• Student:teacher ratio is slightly better than our previous day care, but most important to me is the fact that most of the staff here appears to have a decade or more experience at this school which is a huge improvement over the tenure averages at the previous day care chain.

Levitt Shell Video

Here's a compilation video of the concerts at the Levitt Shell last weekend. The ice cream and cake dancers are in it!!! Pay attention around 43 seconds into the video!

Mommy Weekend

This weekend we ended up staying in Memphis instead of going to Mobile because Leila had a pesky ear infection and didn't feel up to traveling. After a trip to the doctor on Friday and then to Target to pick up some pink medicine and cupcakes, she's been feeling a little better every day.

Daddy participated in an intense all-weekend StartUp Weekend in downtown Memphis Friday night and all day Saturday and Sunday, leaving Leila and Mommy to enjoy eachother's company. Leila and Mommy aren't exactly clear on what Daddy did at startup weekend, but we heard there were zombies involved.

Mommy made the best of her solo bonding time by doing some of her favorite Leila in Memphis activities. First, we went Leila downtown to the Farmer's Market to get goat cheese and soft fuzzy peaches and to ride the trolley on Saturday morning. We saw the pyramid and some riverboats and lots and lots of tourists. One of the women on the trolley even took a picture of Leila sitting in the sunny trolley window and looking out towards the river. Leila loves pictures, and since the woman asked so nicely, she was happy to oblige.

Late in the afternoon Leila took Mommy to one of the most awesome things ever! There was a free dance concert at the Levitt Shell where we saw a show called "Three Shoes and Bare Feet." The three shoes included ballet shoes (for ballerinas), sneakers (for hip hop dancers) and flamenco shoes (for stomping around a lot and twirling skirts). The bare feet were on modern dancers and African drummers. Leila said her favorite part was the African drums--not only were there five drums, but there was a dancer wearing a traditional costume from Guinea. It was like a full-body hula skirt with a really funny mask. Some of the little girls in the audience were scared, but Leila must have thought the dancer was related to Animal on the muppet show because she LOVED it! Leila and Mommy both loved the hip hop dancers who danced to a song about cake and ice cream. During one part of the dance the music kept repeating, "Watch my feet, watch my feet, watch my, watch my, watch my feet." The dancers, already dressed up with funny bow ties, silly socks and shoes and clown wigs, started dancing with shoes on their HANDS!

If you want to hear the song, you can see it in this slideshow.


On Sunday, Leila and Mommy went to Davis-Kidd to play with the trains and read books. Mommy spent a lot of the morning on the phone with the power company trying to clean up the fallout of having a broken gas meter for as long as we've lived in Memphis. Leila and Mommy both needed a long nap on Sunday afternoon after all of that and when we woke up we decided to go on a nature walk down the street. We saw plants and talked about roots and leaves and flowers and we collected a lot of sticks from the sidewalk. Leila kept telling Mommy "Oh, that's kindof pretty" every time we pulled up another weed to examine. We also met a very friendly kitty cat that liked it a lot when Leila patted it on the back. She was very good about not pulling the kitty's tail--I'm sure Frida was jealous.

This week we're DEFINITELY traveling down to the Gulf Beach--ear infection smear infection. While we're there Grandmama and Granddaddy will be in IRELAND! It's an exciting travel week for everyone!

New School, other fun

Just after Daddy's birthday, Leila started attending a brand new school!  She loves her new Montesorri school and wakes up early every morning asking if it's time to go to big kid school.  She gets to take a backpack and a lunch box and has had two show-and-tell sessions already.  Today for show-and-tell she got to bring a musical instrument.

There are lots of best parts about big kid school--they have a big playground that Leila loves and a blue carpet where the class gathers to read stories and do activities.  The best surprise so far was the day when they got to have a pizza party at school while a dump truck brought new mulch for the playground.  That's right--a DUMP TRUCK.  We have heard a lot about that dump truck.  Apparently it was BIG and LOUD.

Now that Leila goes to big kid school she does things a little differently.  For instance, instead of calling all of her baby dolls "baby" she's started naming them.  We have one named Pumpkin and another named Peach.  I think that after learning the names of all of her new pre-school friends Leila decided it would be convenient if her babies had names too.  

On Friday, Leila went to the pediatrician to get a two-year-old well-child check up.  She is still tall!  The doctor said she is in the top 75% height and exactly 50% for weight.  She'll have to explain to all of her relatives (especially GiGi) what it's like to be a tall kid.  

After the doctor appointment Leila had a playdate with Buck.  First they had a nap while Buck's mom ran an errand, then they played in Leila's little kitchen.  Buck likes to cook just like his parents--they had a game party last weekend where they cooked five different types of game.  We didn't have any plastic venison, but Buck did just fine playing with green plastic grapes.

After Buck left, Leila and Mommy took a trip to the zoo.  As usual when the weather is good, we've been spending a lot of time lately at the zoo.  We went back for an encore trip on Sunday.  The zoo has a new exhibit called "Birds and Bees" where they used to have the butterfly house.  It's filled with a flock of hundreds and hundreds of parakeets.  We miss the butterflies, but feeding the birds is fun too.  They also opened up some of the fairground rides next to the penguins, so Leila got to drive a boat after she went on a train ride this Saturday.  In addition to all of that excitement, Leila also got to dip her toes in the "Nile" at the zoo Sunday night--a really fun activity that made Mommy a little nervous since the other kids playing in the fountain didn't know that Leila doesn't know how to swim yet.

Luckily, we're going to have lots of swimming practice soon when we go on vacation in L.A. Lower Alabama has lots of opportunities for swimming--there's a brand new pool at GiGi and Boompa's new house and a "Lazy River" at the Caribe condo.   

Leila has been practicing her fishing skills to get ready for her trip to L.A. too.  This weekend she took Daddy and his fishing pole to a fishing pond in West Memphis.  We fished for a while, fed goldfish crackers to great big ducks, chatted with baby ducks, pointed at turtles, and launched rockets.  The Nunnally's sent Daddy a set of stomp-powered rockets for his birthday that can be powered by Daddy-stomps, Leila-stomps, and sometimes by Daddy picking Leila up and dropping her on the stomper.  Those rockets must have gone really high and poked some holes in the clouds because before we were completely finished it started raining.

I don't know when exactly we're going to be traveling south this week; Leila and Mommy are going to visit cousin Roman down in Florida this weekend while Daddy does "Start-Up Weekend" and then we're going to drive back to Memphis the next week to pick up Daddy and drag him down to see that lazy river.  We'll update when plans are more than half-baked.  

Family Portrait

Leila drew our family portrait to celebrate Mother's Day.  Daddy helped:)

2!

Leila's birthday weekend was SO MUCH FUN!

On Friday, Leila's awesome zombie friends came over (without their zombie make-up) and brought her some Muddy's cupcakes. They let her visit with their little baby and everyone had lots of fun (which occurs naturally following cupcakes). After the zombies left, Leila got to open her present from Mommy and Daddy. A pink kid-tough camera. Kid-tough means it bounces, which is the most important feature in Leila-sized cameras, along with a working flash. Leila has already taken several pictures of her feet; more proof that she is very interested in shoes.

Saturday morning, Leila woke up to find a Gigantic Musical Balloon (GMB) in her living room. As soon as she tugged on the string the GMB burst into a relentlessly cheery rendition of Happy Birthday to You. Leila loved it and played it all morning! She was like a GMB break-dancer, careening all over the house, stomping her feet and spinning around and occasionally getting tangled up in the strings, but mostly just having a great time.

Mommy and Daddy spent a lot of balloon dancing time getting ready to have company over to share lunch with us, but we took a break when GiGi and Boompa called because it was time to open the mysterious packages that had arrived from Mobile! Daddy and Boompa tried their best to set up a video conference for the present-opening, but Leila is a faster present opener than her family is at setting up video conferences. (We didn't get much in terms of pictures or video of the process either--next year we'll have to hire a professional party photographer to help so we can enjoy the fun!) Leila loved all of her beautiful presents! There was a fancy book from Grandmama and fancy jewelry from the Nunnally's (who have excellent taste in sparkly!) and a box full of beautiful summer clothes and swimming suits and shoe bows from GiGi! Leila said "Thank you! Thank you!" a lot! GiGi also sent a card that Leila really liked. Leila told us that the card has an octopus on it that eats cupcakes. We're not sure why an octopus card sings itsy-bitsy spider, but Leila thought it was a hoot!

For lunch on Saturday, Leila invited Buck (from across the street) and his family over for bubbles and (in)sidewalk chalk.* We all got to eat cheeseburgers, corn dogs, french fries, watermelon, cupcakes, and ice cream. Buck also got to eat fingerpaint, which he seemed to like. Buck took lots of pictures, mostly of Buck or of Leila reaching for the camera saying "Mine!" and Leila took some pictures of Buck's feet. Frida stood in the laundry room and watched the rain through the dog door. It was very rainy all weekend so we spent the afternoon after Buck left napping and snuggling and dancing with the GMB. Oh, but after dinner Leila got to eat her third cupcake (her second with candles!).

On Sunday we had another rainy day so we mostly just rested and then later we went to the grocery store to ride the rocket-ship cart and to get some milk and apple juice and cupcake ingredients.

Today we used those cupcake ingredients to make cupcakes for all of the kids in Leila's daycare class. We got to visit all of the children Leila has been telling us about and they were very excited to see us (and our cupcakes). We sang itsy-bitsy spider and Happy Birthday to Leila! Then Leila got to leave daycare early to go visit her favorite book store. To cap everything off, we had our weekly pizza party at Garibaldi's.

Just in case you were counting, that's four cupcakes for one two-year-old. I wonder how many we need to have on hand next weekend when Daddy turns 28?

*(in)sidewalk chalk is a special kind of chalk developed by Mommy for use on the bricks and tiles in your living room. And by developed, I mean Leila did it once and Mommy didn't say "Oh No!" Now (in)sidewalk chalk is one of our favorite rainy day activities--it's especially good for drawing room-sized railroad tracks or practicing writing the number 2.

A weekend in phone pictures

Zombies




Funny cars, police, and zombies at dinner




U of M MFA crawfish boil



Workin' in the garden


Dog work




Be gentle!




Proud zoo members




Peep-eye! The illustration on the menu is Leila's daycare classmates.

-Daddy

how to make a baby

I came across this at designmom.

 

Just another Friday night

Tonight Leila didn't even get to get out of the car at home after school.  Instead, Daddy pulled into the driveway and Mommy jumped in the car, ready to lead the three of us on a night of fun.

First, we went to the Art Museum at the University of Memphis to see Lea Alexander, Chase Malone, Brooke Foy, and Eli Gold at their show 2x2.  You see, two of them are sculptors and two are painters.  All four are great friends and awesome artists so we were really happy to see their work come together so spectacularly.  Leila was also pretty interested in the show that was up in the ArtLab which featured, among other things, a painting entirely covered in star shaped cut-outs and a sculpture of the word "FUN" covered in silk flowers.

After that we were sad to have to decline an invitation to the campus international festival.  Instead we booked it downtown to see some of the zillions of art shows that were opening on trolley night.  We even got a great print at Raleigh Rodger's show at Art Village Gallery on South Main, which was conveniently located next to a trolley stop.  Trolleys are free the last Friday of the month and all of the art galleries throw parties to celebrate.

After we saw all the art we could handle, we hopped on a shiny red trolley to head back to the car.  As soon as we got to our stop WE WERE ATTACKED BY ZOMBIES!!!!!  We saw zombies of all ages covered in blood and gore!  There were executive zombies, fairy zombies, prom queen zombies, a werewolf zombie, fast zombies, loud zombies, roller derby zombies . . . and they were all covered with "red paint."  Luckily for us, Pritchett brains are not considered a delicacy to the Memphis zombie community (I guess there are just too many brains in our heads or maybe they're just not tasty) so we just waved as they GRRAERERED right on by.  We recognized quite a few of the zombies and even stopped to chat to a beautiful blue-faced mommy zombie, a scary daddy zombie, and their sweet little girl baby in her stroller.  The baby girl was not a zombie, said her parents, just a "snack."

After the zombie terror, we went to eat at Pearl's Oyster House.  We got a table right next to the window, were we could watch the craziness on the street outside.  From our seats we could see trolleys, zombies, several different pony-carts and carriages, a silly car with an outhouse tied to the back, several giggling officers of the law, and some very confused-looking tourists.  

On the way home Leila explained to us that zombies are funny and they say "GAARRR."  She also described to plot to "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" to us about three dozen times.  Apparently she wanted that to be her bedtime story because as soon as we got home she was out like a light, sleeping soundly with a smile on her face.  (ok, maybe she spent a good hour more after lights out talking about caterpillars, daddy's pink shirt, and the fact that it gets dark at night)

radio poetry

 I heard this on the radio this afternoon and thought it was lovely.  It doesn't have much to do with Leila, but I thought ya'll might like it all the same.   April is poetry month you know.

Field Guide

by Billy Collins

No one I ask knows the name of the flower
we pulled the car to the side of the road to pick
and that I point to dangling purple from my lapel.

I am passing through the needle of spring
in North Carolina, as ignorant of the flowers of the south
as the woman at the barbecue stand who laughs
and the man who gives me a look as he pumps the gas

and everyone else I ask on the way to the airport
to return to where this purple madness is not seen
blazing against the sober pines and rioting along the
   roadside.

On the plane, the stewardess is afraid she cannot answer
my question, now insistent with the fear that I will leave
the province of this flower without its sound in my ear.

Then, as if he were giving me the time of day, a passenger
looks up from his magazine and says wisteria. 

"Field Guide" by Billy Collins from Questions about Angels. © William Morrow and Company, 1991. (buy now)

Easter Weekend with Grandmama

Leila had a huge Easter weekend - nearly five days' worth!  GrandMama arrived by car on Thursday night just in time to say hi to Leila as we put her to bed.

On Friday morning Leila went to story time with GrandMama and Mommy while Daddy went to work.  Friday afternoon the four of us (five counting Frida) dyed Easter eggs in the back yard.  We had green and orange to work with, and Leila especially liked dyeing eggs first green and then orange and then green again.

Saturday morning we all went to the Dixon gardens (pictured at right, more photos here) to see flowers, plants, a few stray easter eggs full of candy, and a pond with frogs in it.  Daddy and Leila were both very tired after this so we took a long afternoon nap which caused us to miss the Memphis Botanical Gardens' easter egg hunt.  This turned out to be just fine though - when we woke up we discovered that the Easter Bunny had visited our own back yard!

Leila found plenty of paw prints and eggs full of ponies and candy out back and she had a great time hunting for it all.  The grown ups had to hold several eggs in our hands and follow Leila around because she wasn't really excited about putting them in her basket so much as finding them and redistributing them.

Saturday night Leila stayed home with GrandMama while Mommy and Daddy enjoyed a Memphis Redbirds baseball game complete with barbecue nachos, margaritas, a giant pretzel, and an exciting fireworks display at the end!

Leila woke up bright and early Sunday morning to find the Easter Bunny left her a cardboard carrot with a clue on it on Daddy's night stand (next to the cheep cheep).  The clue led us on the first of a six-step Easter scavenger hunt.  We think the Easter Bunny must have been talking to GiGi about a fun way to hide a golden egg in Leila's house!  We all had fun running about the house behind Leila as she searched for clues and goodies by the TV, the mailbox, the toothbrush, the laundry room, the computer and the kitchen sink.  At the end of the road we found Leila's Easter basket in the kitchen sink with a giant golden egg inside.  We spent the rest of Easter eating candy and cooking and eating an Easter brunch including a group-decorated Easter Bunny cake (pictured at top, more pictures here).

Monday morning Leila had a bad tummy-ache (too much Easter candy!) and stayed home with GrandMama.  Monday afternoon the three of us toured a nearby Montessori school that Leila plans to join in June.  She spent half an hour on the playground meeting other kids and learning how to use their toys.  We're all excited about the "big kid school" and all of the new friends, toys, and games Leila is going to be learning from.  They even have a fish she can feed!  We capped that trip off with a messy visit to the nearby Three Little Pigs barbecue.

Tuesday morning GrandMama left for Auburn to see Great GrandMargaret and cousin Ben.  Thanks for helping to make Leila's second Easter special, GrandMama!

Grandmama's coming to visit tonight!

Redbirds picture thanks to gatesofmemphis

Leila is excited at the prospect of seeing her Grandmama tonight and throughout the weekend.

We're looking forward to touring a Montessori school tomorrow afternoon in hopes of enrolling Leila this summer.  We've also looked at Zoo events - we've renewed our Memphis Zoo membership for the third or fourth year in a row.

Mommy has identified a Memphis Redbirds baseball game WITH FIREWORKS as a possibility for Saturday.  Mommy loves baseball, Daddy loves the BBQ nachos at the park.

Stay tuned for pictures and stories!

time-lapse playing baby

This is the mess a baby makes BEFORE he starts walking:)

Getting Muddy's

In lieu of a long blog post today I uploaded a few hundred pictures to the family gallery and did chores.  

Daniel hammered and sawed and crowbarred some boards on the back of the house and did chores.  

Leila worked in her garden--She and I just bought some flowers at the Dixon plant sale this afternoon that she wanted to plant with her own pink shovel and garden fork.

It's a good thing that we got Muddy's cupcakes last night or we might think we needed a treat!  We're tired!

Keeping Leila Busy

After last weekend when Mommy and Leila went to the Southern Women's Show and got flowers painted on their fingernails, Leila was worried that she would have a hard time coming up with something that was even more fun to do this weekend. Luckily, Mommy and Daddy had a plan.

On Friday, Mommy picked Leila up early from daycare and the two of them went out for an afternoon of cupcakes at Muddy's followed by a flower walk at the Botanic Gardens. The cherry trees looked like big pink explosions! The daffodils were nodded their yellow heads on Daffodil Hill (Leila likes to say "daffodil" a lot)! The gardens were filled with happy families having picnics and going on long walks, just like us! After visiting some very large koi fish in the fishponds at the Japanese section of the gardens and climbing on three different bridges, Leila fell down and skinned her knee, so we had to go home and get a band-aid. All of our band-aids are Christmas themed, so it was pretty funny to Leila that she got to have a Santa Claus on her knee after seeing that it is definitely springtime in Memphis.

After our garden adventure, Daddy met us at home. Then, all three of us went to an art show that was all about puppy dogs. Leila's favorite painting had a dog in it AND three snowmen. The show was at the Memphis College of Art and was curated by one of Memphis's greatest painters, Beth Edwards. It was a wonderful fundraiser for the Memphis Humane Society. She got a catalogue and a poster to take home with her to remember the big event. Leila said a quick hello to Beth and then took us the India Palace for dinner, where she lost one of her shoe bows (a hot pink one).

Saturday morning, Leila put on a new pair of shoe bows (yellow) and took Mommy to storytime at Davis-Kidd. After that she came home and put on some dress up clothes so she could be a model in one of Raleigh Roger's photographs. Raleigh's award-winning photos can be pretty surreal, and this one included a friend of ours who dressed up as the Big Bad Wolf. Leila was pretty brave, but didn't crack many smiles. The Big Bad Wolf is not her BFF.

After the photo session, Leila had an important Pillow Fight to attend at Overton Park. As the youngest pillow-fighter present, she was armed with TWO pillows that looked like flowers. She used them primarily to hit Daddy around his knees while he tried to take her picture. She yelled "Pillow Fight" a lot and liked chasing after the crowds as they rushed around the park swinging pillows over their heads. Mommy brought a zebra striped pillow from her college dorm room and Daddy brought a very large but pretty unexciting pillow and spent most of his time trying to get Leila to ride on his shoulders. (image courtesy GatesofMemphis)

We lost ANOTHER shoe bow at the pillow fight, so now we don't have any that match:( Luckily, while Leila was sleeping Friday night, Mommy went out and bought her two new pairs of shoes for spring and summer. It's even more lucky because Leila's feet are growing fast, just like the rest of her!

Pillow Fight!!!!

I just got this message from facebook:

Just a reminder that the Memphis Pillow Fight is this Saturday, March 21, 2009 at 3:00 p.m. I'm a little nervous and excited. Bring yourself and a pillow. Fight nice. This is an all ages event. HAVE FUN!

P.S. To get into the Memphis Zoo for 1/2 off after the fight, become a friend of the zoo. Go here: http://www.memphiszoo.org/extreme-a-ganza .

At the bottom of the page you can become a fan/follower of the zoo on Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, etc. You'll then have access to the code to buy discounted zoo tickets for after the fight. You have to buy the tickets online and in advance.

P.P.S. Anybody got any rakes they can bring to make cleaning up all those feathers a bit easier? I'll be your best friend.

Quick trip to Thomaston for Becky's birthday

The three of us had a fun weekend in Thomaston celebrating Becky's birthday.  We left at midday Friday and drove to Thomaston where plenty of people were kind enough to wait up for us.  Leila had big fun playing with a rubber band ball that her Pritchett aunts and uncle rolled back and forth with her.

On Saturday we hung out with Great Grand-Papa and -Becky, Grandmama, Aunts Amy, Anna, and Lora, Uncles David and Donald, as well as Cousin Jamie.  Leila's favorite parts of the day included homemade pecan muffins and a trip to a nearby playground where her aunts crafted a flower hat for her to wear (seen at left).

Papa was nice enough to trade his Buick for Mommy's pickup and now we've got two cars with carseats in them.

Unfortunately we had to leave early Saturday evening to make it home in time for Daddy to work on Sunday.  Don't worry, this isn't a regular occurrence.  Leila and Daddy went back to school and work respectively today while Mommy enjoyed the last day of her half-week spring break.

Today we celebrated daylight savings time by walking to the park after school and then eating ketchup and pepper at a nearby diner.  We also had eggs and toast and a cheeseburger but Leila particularly enjoyed the condiments.

SNOW!!!

Today Leila and Mommy saw the most snow in thie whole lives in their own back yard. Also in the front yard and everywhere else they could see. Leila liked making snowballs best and Mommy made snowmen. Daddy mostly made a lot of pictures, but also had fun grabbing icicles off of things. We had chicken soup for lunch which was warm and delicious. Now we're ready for the snow to melt and for warm weather to hurry up and get here so we can go play outside without wearing fourteen layers of clothes!

Biggest day ever? Story time, skipped nap, snow day, painting, and a pizza party!

This morning Leila got up early in anticipation of story time - this is normal and she had a great time.  Today was the last of February's bear-themed story times.  We drew a picture, sang and danced, and read a book.

Afterwards Leila experimented with nap skipping, aided by her big girl bed's lack of walls.  We spent 90 minutes or so with the lights down pretending Leila was asleep while she peeked at us from around door frames with wide eyes and no noise.

Mommy went out to judge an art show in the afternoon and when she came home she brought a snowball to toss at Daddy.  Leila and I hadn't noticed the snow with our shades down and the lights low.  Immediately we all bundled up and went outside to build a snowman.  Even Frida enjoyed dancing around in the midst of a snowfall.  It's still falling - this is by far the most snow at one time we've seen since we moved to Memphis in 2005.

Leila had a pretty long afternoon due to the nap skipping, but she did manage to talk mommy into painting with her on the kitchen floor.  Leila painted about 15 purple water-soluble Leila-paint-on-printer-paper masterpieces before she grew tired of that.

Dinner was an exciting surprise.  We visited our next door neighbors who have two boys, one nearly Leila's age and the other a few months old.  We played with all of their toys and then enjoyed pizza and cookies and milk.  Leila was terrifically excited by the whole party and then went home to fall into bed without a word thirteen hours after she woke up.

mommy's store

Mommy just opened up a storefront at etsy.com.  Check back often, we'll be adding new artwork on a regular basis.  I added a link on the sidebar of this blog in case you forget:)

big girl bed

mommy sewed the sheets.

Bear parades and Mardi Gras trivia

Excellent weekend thus far!  Leila enjoyed a pizza party with her parents last night, managing to eat her own slice without help from anyone.

This morning we went to the bookstore for a special story time featuring a BEAR PARADE!  Leila brought one of her teddies and had a blast singing, dancing, reading books, and leading a line of 50 or so people in a big loop around the store.  We stopped at different stations to pick up bear-themed cookies and cards for Leila's goodie bag.  Leila made sure to be first in line every chance she got.

Saturday afternoon Leila got to share a Mardi Gras-sprinkled doughnut with Mommy while Daddy tried a far-too-sugary doughnut with sugar filling and sugar icing.  Luckily there was milk at the doughnut store.

After doughnuts the three of us went to our local grocery store and had a great time getting a new Pinkerbo (Tinkerbell) toothbrush for Leila because Daddy lost her old toothbrush.  We enjoyed some meatball samples (Neetball, says Leila), picked up a Mardi Gras king cake to share tomorrow, and THEN something really exciting happened.

The grocery intercom announced a Mardi Gras trivia contest with a prize to the first person to arrive at the seafood counter with a correct answer.  Mommy and Leila charged off in their shopping cart in the direction of seafood as the grocery lady read out her question:

Which city was the first in the United States to celebrate Mardi Gras?


Mommy was first to the counter with the correct answer: Mobile, Alabama!  Another lady was right behind them but she didn't quite get there in time.  For their efforts Mommy got a free three-liter bottle of orange soda and Leila got a new purple beaded necklace.

Great weekend so far and it's only Saturday!

sports fanatic

For the past week Leila has been talking about Soccer a lot. Daniel and I were a little confused about where this sports obsession was coming from, but we got a new clue every day. She'd start yelling about soccer in the kitchen, and by the time we got out the ball and bundled up to get outside she seemed to have forgotten what all the fuss was about. After a few rounds of this she started to get more insistent. Finally, after making one of us pick her up before we went to get the ball, she pointed to a bag on the counter and told us "open bag open bag!" It was a little gift bag filled with valentines candy.

Including suckers. :)

Leila's lets the good times roll!

This weekend Leila went to Mobile to see her first parade (and some other things).

She drove all afternoon on Thursday.  Riding in the back seat alone is hard work, but at least she got to have a happy meal that came with an American Idol cowboy that says YeeHaw!  She had lots of books and toys with her too and she played parrot with the newscasters on the radio, practicing pronouncing words like google and 'conomy.  Leila is very good at repeating everything she hears.

On Friday, she was so excited because her cousin Roman Ramsay was at GiGi and Boompa's house too.  Leila and Roman played together a lot.  Roman brought way more toys that Leila, but since Leila is bigger than him she had to demonstrate to him how a lot of things worked.  Then Roman and Leila took everyone to feed the turtles and fish in a pond on the golf course.  Those fish were hungry, but the turtles must have been taking a nap.  Later that night Leila and Roman went to Mommy's art show at ASMS.  They were pretty impressed with the food, but were quickly ready to get home to bed.  

On Saturday Leila and Roman decided to go to a book signing.  Boompa was signing his book An Act of Congress at a restaurant called Jesse's in Magnolia Springs.  Lunch at Jesse's was delicious--Leila had the french fries and Roman mostly just had a good nap.  After the book signing everyone decided to go home and not take a nap.  There were too many important things too do!  After her not-a-nap, Leila rounded everyone up to go feed the fish and turtles again.  I don't know what those fish do when Leila isn't around to dump crackers on their heads.

Later that night, Leila and Roman went to their first Mardi Gras Parade.  The Pharoah's and the Conde Explorers threw plenty of beads, moonpies, and stuffed animals to fill Leila's loot bag to overflowing and she was very impressed by the parade horses.  Her favorite part of the parade was getting to ride on Boompa's shoulders and dance to the marching band music.  Of course, it was officially declared "Big Fun."  

Roman got tired of the parade pretty quickly, since it was past his bedtime and he had been very patient with all of his weekend activities.  We decided we would humor him and head home to bed.  

The next day Leila and Roman waved goodbye to each other and to GiGi and Boompa and they each drove through Mississippi back to their own states.  I predict extra naps for everyone this week following that adventure:)

Big weekend in Memphis *and* in Mobile!

This past weekend Mommy drove a lot of her artwork down to Mobile to hang a solo show at the Alabama School of Mathematics and Science where Mommy and Daddy attended high school together.

Leila and Daddy had a great time together - alone in Memphis.  We went to story time at the bookstore on Saturday morning.  Saturday afternoon we rode Leila's bike and played around the house.  Sunday morning we read books and drew pictures and colored by the fireplace.  Sunday afternoon we went to a baby shower for our good friends the McGregors - they are expecting a baby in February.

Mommy made it home just after seven on Sunday and we were all very glad to have her home!

Mommy and Leila will be heading back to Mobile this weekend for the opening of Mommy's show.  They hope to see lots of relatives while they're in the area!

Wise

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This weekend Leila took us to Wise Virginia to visit her friends Doctor and Tabitha Ray and their little dog Bentley.  Doctor's real name is Daniel, but that was too confusing.  Leila liked calling him Doctor and has decided rather randomly that he's her new favorite person in the whole entire universe.

We got to Wise at 2AM on Saturday and slept until it was time to go tour the campus of the University of Virginia at Wise .  This is a place with snow, so it was very impressive.  There was also a statue of Thomas Jefferson and some very fast glass elevators.  Then we went and ate at a Dairy Barn and went back to Doctor's house for a nap.  After naptime, the five of us bundled up and went to a delightful dinner party at a 100 year old house.  Leila did not know to be impressed at how old the house was, but had a great time trying to slam stained-glass doors and playing with napkin rings.  She made lots of new friends.

The next day we went to tour Natural Tunnel.  The best thing about Natural Tunnel is that there is a train that goes through it and it's a VERY LONG train.  The next best thing is getting to hike around on a BIG mountain and see BIG rocks and BIG trees.  The other best thing was when we were leaving and we saw a dozen deer grazing in a meadow around a very funny looking building.  When we got home Tabitha made a delicious corn and crab chowder.

After that we were all very tired, so we rested up and spent all day on Monday driving back to Memphis.  Leila learned to sing the song that never ends, so we did that for much of the trip home.  We also shared a Happy Meal and had eggs at Cracker Barrel.

Thanks Tabitha and Doctor!  We had fun:)

Leila taking in a snow-covered Memphis

We had a great time in snowy Wise, Virginia this weekend - more on that trip later.  Here's a picture of Leila enjoying a brief snowfall in Memphis this morning.  We saw snowflakes falling at 9am and the ground was clear again by 1pm.

surprise ending!

Today Leila went to her first Caterpillar Club meeting at Memphis Botanical Gardens.  She did three craft projects.  First she made a doorknob hanger with penguin stickers on it, then she made a penguin magnet, and finally she made penguin potato prints!  Can you guess what the theme of today's club meeting was?  

After craft time, the Caterpillars read two books about penguins.  The age range of the group is birth to five years, so there were a variety of attention spans on display.  Leila had one of the shorter spans.  

After reading time, the Caterpillars bundled up to go on a nature walk, where they saw . . .

Dinosaurs!

Frog

Leila has recently adopted a new imaginary frenemy.  

He is called "Frog."  No one but Leila can see him, but she tells us what he's up to several times a day.  Here is a list of frog's three habits:

1.  "Frog is fun."

2.  "Frog is sleeping."

3.  "Frog scares!"  

We don't know if Frog is a boogie monster or a BFF, but he likes to hang out while Leila is reading in her rocking chair or putting on her shoes and socks.  

Chocolate Mint Snow-top Cookies

Leila's new favorite recipe was a big hit this Christmas.  We made some to share with our neighbor Buck and his new baby brother and we also made some to share with Aunt Leigh, Aunt Jenny and Grandmary when we stopped in Jackson a couple of weeks ago.  I think we'll make more for Valentine's day and we're sharing our recipe in case you want to make some too. 

This week has been very busy for Leila.  She has been interviewing babysitters and they are all very nice.  We've also been looking hard for places to go JUMP JUMP JUMP JUMP JUMP.  We figured out that Jumping Jack's inflatable playground is closed and that the playground at Chic-fil-a is built for big kids.  We'll keep looking and look forward to your good ideas.

Leila is really excited because a lot of people she loves are starting new jobs soon.  Mommy is going to be teaching Art Appreciation at Mid-South Community College and Drawing II at the University of Memphis.  Granddaddy and Aunt Ashley both have big news about jobs too, but we'll let them share their news with you when they are ready.  We are so proud and excited for both of them!

Leila has become a very good talker lately and has been great about singing songs to us when she's bored.  Now that she knows words, she's become very assertive.  She's good about telling us what she wants and when she wants it.  When she woke up from her nap she told us "Daddy! Puppets!"  She's also really good at telling us "It's BIG!" and "It's FUN!!!" when she likes something.  Right now puppets are Big FUN!!!

(secret)

(i forgot to mention that yesterday Leila volunteered to use her potty twice!)

Christmas Vacation

Leila had a lot of fun on her Christmas vacation. She got to visit with Grandmary, Aunt Jenny, and lots of cousins at Aunt Leigh's house in Jackson on her way down to visit Boompa and Gigi. In Mobile, she had fun feeding fish and turtles on the golf course while she waited for Santa. She also liked getting to visit with Aunt Angel (who just got a monogram machine, which helped personalize lots of beautiful presents). When Santa came, he left her a bike and a pink pony she can ride on as well as lots of other good suprises. Then, on Christmas Night, Leila got to play with Jackson Fulton, who taught her a lot about basketballs and eating gumdrops. Leila's parents and Jackson's parents joined the rest of the Fultons in an exciting game of Christmas charades.

The next day, Leila went to Foley to visit with Grandmama and Granddaddy. There was a white rocking chair there just Leila's size and lots of fun hats to play with. Leila also enjoyed getting to ride Granddaddy's big wheel car; I don't know if she remembers, but she got to ride it in Thomaston last summer with Sarah and Rachel. She definitely remembers that it was fun! In Foley, Leila got to go to places like LuLu's to eat and play in a sand pile with water buckets. This Christmas was very warm, perfect weather for lunch on the water. Leila also enjoyed getting to visit Grandmama and Granddaddy's friends Bill and Lark Young and hopes to get to play with them again. When she wasn't eating delicious seafood and playing in wet sand, Leila was learning to cook from Grandmama. They made quiche one day and chocolate-covered peanut-butter ritz another day!

On New Year's Day Leila went back to the Fulton house so that Grandmama could go take care of Great-GrandMargaret. Leila had fun eating black-eyed peas and playing with cousin Roman and GiGi some more. Then, on January 2, Leila made the long drive back to Memphis.

We all really enjoyed everyone's hospitality and we hope that someday soon we see anyone that we missed. Leila really loved all of her presents and is still trying to find good homes for all of her favorite new things. Thanks everyone!