Where to start...we've spent the last 2 weekend outside. Two weeks ago, I planted tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, basil, dill, cilantro & some flowers. I'm trying out a little plot in our backyard instead of containers for the tomato plants...so we will see. Does anyone have any good suggestions of what I can put on or around my basil plants so that bugs/bunnies or whatever else likes basil won't eat the leaves? I see a couple leaves already that seem to have something eating at them....since we eat the leaves, I don't know what would be safe? I'm also excited about my 2 mandevilla plants - they are climbers and have beautiful flowers all summer.
Elise continues to grow up and talks, talks, talks. Her favorite topic/word is zebra. So, John being the creative, musical type - wrote her a little ditty about Zeke the Zibra. We'll have to capture that on video sometime. Often we will hear her - "daddy, zebra" and this usually means she wants to hear the zebra song...so we talk a lot about zebras. Another interesting tidbit - since we've been outside as a family a lot - we've discovered that Elise is terrified of bees - or pretty much any little insect that flies. We don't have harmful bees or flies in our backyard, but anytime she hear buzzing - she says, "bee, bee, bee!" Poor girl, I know how I feel when I see a snake, so I can empathize with her fear, but we're trying to explain that the little house flies won't hurt her - just to shoo them away.
Last Monday, my mom, Elise & I went shopping for the day & got lots accomplished. During our visit to Kohl's, I was in the shoe department looking for sandals for Elise. Shortly after starting our search, she came around saying, "Dora, Dora" and had on Dora shoes. First - we don't have cable, so I don't know when she's seen Dora...Second, she had picked up the correct size shoe (which had to be coicidence), and Third - she was wearing the shoes!! I didn't know she could put on her own shoes....needless to say, we left the store that day with a pair of sandals & the Dora shoes she picked out. This girl already knows how to shop - she knows exactly what she wants & is very precise.
I can see this post is getting a bit "wordy": sorry.
On that same shopping trip, we made a stop at Costco - I just love Costco! There is always interesting things to see, the samples are fabulous & I always feel happy shopping there. We were at the back of the store & Elise told us she need to go to the bathroom. (This is also another new, exciting phase where she is telling us when she needs to go - and if we can get her there quickly - she'll correctly use the potty. Amazing!) It was a long walk back to the restrooms, and since she had on a diaper, I figured I'd be cleaning up a messy one, since I didn't think we could get there fast enough. Folks, we had ourselves a major breakthrough!! She kept telling me she had to go - and when we got there - she went poopy (sorry for the potty-talk, but this is life with a toddler). I nearly fell over. I was so proud of her. Then, this past Saturday it was so hot here - 85, plus! She was warm & sweaty, so I put some undies on her, thinking it would be cooler than a big diaper & she stayed dry from 1pm - 8pm when I changed her for bedtime - again! I'm so proud of her. She would tell us when she needed to go. So, we are slowly working towards a diaper-free bottom!
This past Saturday, my mom & I hit a couple of neighborhood garage sales, and came away with some really fun finds! I got Elise a slide for the backyard, and it is a huge hit! It's been so warm here, that we also got out her little pool on Sunday afternoon. We all kicked back enjoying the sun & water for a relaxing afternoon.
A little smile for the camera!
The slider in action!
Checking out the garden. (Many of you are probably wondering why I've "planted" milk jugs in my backyard - well, they're cut out on the top to keep little rabbits away from my plants until they get established). Elise loves to help me water & check on the plants. Our white peony also showed it's first bloom this weekend - so fragrant!
Monday morning we had our friends, Alexia, Kate & Hope come over for a visit. The girls play so well together & here are a few pics of them playing.
That's a peek into our life! Hope you have a great week.
