Daddy gets toys out of plastic

Awyn insisted on dressing up for Sam's birthday. I thought that was cute. Much of what Sam got for his birthday contained lots of little plastic pieces. Much plastic, takes time.

Sam opens his presents

Sam had a pretty good haul. Thanks to an after Christmas sale, we found some fantastic Indiana Jones toys and a kid's digital camera (for far less than I would have expected, so here's hoping it actually works!)

He made his wish!

Sam blows out the candles on his 'shamrock' cake. It's chocolate chiffon with 7 minute frosting and green sugar clovers.

How dry it is...

This spring-fed creek usually runs up to the tops of the rock-bridge we're standing on. The water runs through the rocks, and makes a nice waterfal on the other side. The water is so deep that I have to tread water while swimming there. Now? well, you can walk down the completely dry creek bed. We really need a lot of rain to fix this.

Awyn and Mojo

Both the dog and the girl love climbing up the turrets of the Lincoln Bridge.

Frolicing with Dandylions

Awyn is dancing on the septic tank. She was picking 'wishes' and racing over to me to blow them out. You can almost make out part of the neighbor's herd of horses in the background. They have lots of babies now.

Sam Climbs

We had a fun Spring Break Monday in the park.

Success!

Can't. Eat. Food. Urgh!

Sam had a hard time eating until Awyn was finished with the chopstick holder. He was determined not to use a fork. Now we have more pairs, so the kids can eat at the same time.

Chopsticks Girl

When I picked Eric up from the airport last Friday, we stopped in Norman for lunch. We were very undecided as to where to eat, and decided to eat somewhere other than our usual haunts. There's a Pei Wei asian cafe near the super target, I had cash. They gave Awyn chopstick holders, and a new craze has swept throught the family. (I, naturally, do not require holders. Eric's improving, and can feed himself). We had to manufacture an excuse to go back there to get Sam in on this. Now we're saving the holders and taking home a couple extra pairs of chopsticks each time we go (my chopsticks at home are too big to fit very well, although that's what Awyn is using in these pictures).

Reading to Awyn

Sam will usually very happily read stories to Awyn before bed. This typically happens in his room, but for some reason, he was happy to climb onto her bed to read to her.

Ice angels don't work the 2nd day

This is after it froze solid. Awyn threw herself down to make an angel and bruised herself a bit. She was having so much fun sliding around on the ice that she didn't care.

Come play with me!

Our home in a sea of ice

Ice Angels

There was just enough powdery ice on the surface for the kids to attempt snow angels. It froze solid almost as fast as it was falling, but luckily the pellets didn't build up much on the trees. We had 3 inches of solid ice across our entire yard, drive, and road. Pretty, but hard to get around in.

Ready to go play on the ice!

So I'm way behind in keeping up the blog. We've had bandwidth restriction issues, and Picasa's been extra difficult. Suddenly it's all working, so I'll post while I can. These pictures are from the ice storm we had back in January.

Gazing at the Prairie Dogs

Sam wanted to look, Awyn didn't want to get out in the wind. The village was huge, and it was fun to watch, until the wind blew us back into the van.

An oldy but a goody

This is what I mentioned in the previous posting, a picture of me hiking down a path at Devil's Den State Park in Arkansas the day before my water broke, in 2003. Yes, my tummy is very big, because Sam was in there, almost ready to arrive. The gentleman assisting me down the rocks was the soon-to-be grandfather, Dan. He was the perfect companion for a brooding mom-to-be. He cooked, he cleaned, he drove me around. Then he was accidentally still in the room when Sam was born, and I'm glad he was able to witness the birth of his first grandchild. Thank you!

Devil's Den State Park

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Well, the last time I was in this picture was the day before my water broke - I was pregnant with Sam! If I dig it out, I can post a picture of Dan, Eric's father, helping me down these same rocks on that day.

We took advantage of a 3 day weekend to drive back to Arkansas and visit. It was a wonderful trip! The kids saw Fort Smith, my name carved into the sidewalk at the University of Arkansas, the AQ Chickenhouse (A certain former Arkansas President's favorite restaurant), bats in the Devil's Den cave, and all sorts of fun things.

Putting the Slipper on the Princess

Yes, Sam helped Princess Awyn with her glass slippers.