Toddler!!

It's official -- Lily's now a toddler!! She took her first steps earlier this month, but she's now walking pretty well. She can cross a room unassisted, and she can go quite a distance if she's holding on to someone's hand. We had to go buy her some new shoes a few days ago so she would have some decent walking shoes; all of the shoes that she had were either too small or had soles that weren't made for walking, so we got her some really cute little pinkish-purple sandals. She seems to like them, as she wears them pretty well. She still prefers to run around without her shoes, but they're a necessity when we go outside....

Garage Sale

Jimmy and I had a garage sale this weekend, and I can honestly say that I have no desire to put together a garage sale ever again. No further comment.

My Kitty's a Vegetarian?

Strangely enough, I think my Tucker-kitty might be a vegetarian. He has a strange love of starches and vegetables and shows no interest in meats. If I leave pineapple, tomatoes, strawberries, or half-a-dozen other fruits and veggies unattended on the counter, I'll nearly always find a kitty on the counter having lunch. Similarly, if I pour a bowl of Cheerios or get a slice of bread out of the package, he's likely to come and start munching on those items as well (Strangely, however, he will only ear my Cheerios; he leaves Lily's alone.) I wondered for a while if I had a vegan kitty, but I'm pretty sure that that's not the case as he does seem to like yogurt. While the whole kitty-vegetarian thing wouldn't usually be a big deal, it seems that his dietary choices have led him to shirk on his kittenly duties as the mouse hunter of the house....

Grass!!

Lily loves to be outside, but up until now she's been hesitant to touch the grass. While it was great to be able to just plop her down on a blanket in the yard and know she wasn't going to go anywhere, it still seemed a little strange that she wouldn't go on the grass. (Jimmy even set her down on the grass a few times to she what she would do. First she pulled her hands up, and next she lifted her feet, leaving her little body balanced on her tail bone so nothing besides her diapered little bum would be touching the ground.) Anyway, I was outside taking pictures with Lily today and she decided to be brave and venture out onto the grass....

Writing Camp

I've been teaching a Summer Writing Camp for students in grades 5-8 this past week. It's been a busy week, but it's also been a lot of fun. I only had 5 students enrolled, so the students got a lot of individual attention. As far as writing, the students had one major writing project each day (which they drafted, peer reviewed, revised, and then produced a final copy) and one or two smaller writing activities. In addition to the writing stuff, we also did quite a few fun activities as well. I organized the camp activities around a Survivor theme, and we had Outwit, Outlast, and Outplay activities each day. We had water balloon contests, spelling bees, Speed-Scrabble contests, limbo contests, scavenger hunts, trivia challenges, and quite a few other more lively activities. I'll be putting another camp session together for later in the summer (late July), and I'm planning on doing an Amazing Race theme for that one. Any ideas for activities would be appreciated....

Folding Laundry

Folding laundry is probably one of my least favorite household chores. (It wouldn't be so bed, except I absolutely hate sorting socks!) Though she doesn't quite have the concept of "folding" mastered, Lily certainly seems to enjoy assisting with laundry....

Peek-A-Boo

Lily likes to play in her bedroom, and today I caught her playing peek-a-boo...with herself? No one else was in the room, and I managed to remain undetected as I took pictures....

Can You Come Get Me Please?

Jimmy got back from New Orleans today. When he left on Thursday, we thought his return flight was late Tuesday night. However, he called me early this evening to let me know that I needed to pick him up at the airport tonight. He realized this afternoon that his tickets were for today rather than tomorrow. He said he pretty much threw his things into his bag, jumped in the car, and left without saying proper good-byes to people because otherwise he would have missed his flights. Anyway, we made it to the airport and retrieved Jimmy, and it's nice to have him home again.

My Quiet House

It seems so quiet here this evening. Grandpa and Grandma left for Texas at around noon after being delayed a few hours because of very yucky weather. Jimmy's currently in New Orleans; there was a death in the family down there, and we put him on an airplane yesterday. That leaves only Lily and I (and Tucker) at home...and they're both asleep for the night. While a quiet and empty house doesn't bother me, it seems a bit strange since we've had extra people in the house for the past two weeks. I'm experiencing one of those "It's quiet...to quiet..." feelings at the moment....

I had to make sure to get a good picture of Grandpa and Grandma with Lily before they left. I think this one is my favorite.

Quiet Book

Lily got a quite book for her birthday!! Grandma has made them for all of the little ones for their first birthdays, and she brought Lily's down with her. Though Lily can't do everything in the book yet, she likes to un-velcro the things that velcro and unsnap the things that snap. She also likes to look at the pictures, especially the one of the kitty on the front cover.

Blocks!!

Lily got blocks for her birthday, and so far they've been great fun. She's been sharing them with Tucker, and helping Grandpa build with them....

Lily Ate Bananas!!

While Lily's generally a very good eater, there's one thing that I just can't seem to get her to eat: bananas. She likes other fruit (strawberries, watermelon, and even pineapple), but she generally won't eat bananas. However, Grandma did manage to get her to take a bite....

Wedding in Kansas

We took a trip up to Pittsburg, Kansas this weekend for my niece's wedding. The trip was short (both in miles and in time), but it was nice to be there for the wedding and to have the chance to visit with family that we hadn't seen in a few months. Also, Grandma and Grandpa (my mom and dad, Lily's grandma and grandpa) came back to Oklahoma with us. They'll be spending most of the week with us before going on to visit family in Texas. Lily hasn't gotten to spend time with Grandma and Grandpa since last Thanksgiving, so we're looking forward to a fun and exciting week!!

Babysitter!!

I have a babysitter for the summer!! Though it seems a bit strange, we've hired a babysitter to come so I can stay home and work. We have a college-age friend who has come home for the summer, and she's coming over to watch Lily for a few hours each morning so I can have some time to set aside for working on the dissertation. Though this is only week one of this arrangement, I think it's going to work out wonderfully. I've had a very productive week; I almost feel like I've accomplished more in these past four days than I have in the last half of the spring semester. It's nice to be able to lock myself away in my office without having to worry about what's going on in the rest of the house....

Reading

I think she takes after Mommy (which is good, because she looks so much like Daddy). My little angel seems to have developed a love for books. She'll go into her room and sometimes sit for up to an hour just "reading" her books. She goes through them page by page looking at the pictures and pointing to the different characters and items on the pages. I've signed her up for the library's summer reading program, and we're going to try to go to story hour this summer.