Spring Has Sprung in Eugene

We had a ward activity this morning at a local park, including a very nice breakfast, an Easter nature walk (looking for specific items to remind us of Christ), and some Easter games for the young (and young at heart).  It was a bit chilly to begin with (at 9:00 a.m. it's still in the 40's), but there was plenty of sunshine, which was kind of a miracle itself -- I thought our activities committee was rather crazy brave to plan an outdoor activity in March, even with a covered picnic shelter.  (It was raining yesterday and supposed to rain tomorrow, so we were really lucky to have such a beautiful day today).

After the breakfast, Clay and I headed out for a walk, as there are plenty of jogging and bike paths surrounding the park, and I wanted to take some pictures of the spring blossoms along the millrace.

We had a good view of the hotel Clay works at, since the trees along the side are still bare.

We were amused (and amazed) by the ducks that sleep standing on one foot with their heads turned backwards to tuck them under their wing.  I would think they'd fall over, or wake up with a neck ache.

We saw some trees with pretty pinkish blossoms and bright green leaves.  I like the blossoms against the blue sky.

Here's a close-up of the same tree.

Even Autzen Stadium looked fresh and shiny.  Go Ducks!

We saw tons of geese and ducks and other birds.  Clay can still identify a few birds by their songs, even though it's been many years since he studied them.  (He's a long-time bird watcher).

Clay doesn't like this picture, but I do.  I think most of us don't like pictures of ourselves.  You'll notice there isn't one of me in this post, even though I let Clay take one of me wearing the bunny ears he made for me at the ward activity.  The kids we teach in nursery looked a lot cuter in theirs.

It was just a beautiful morning for a walk, and we enjoyed ourselves!

And here are a couple of pictures I took earlier this month.  The first is one I took from inside the car (don't worry, I wasn't driving while I took it, Clay was).  And the second is some crocuses in our front yard.

Of course, there is a downside to all this beauty.  Here is a picture of our best friend this time of year:

HAPPY SPRING, EVERYBODY!

Mama's Helpers?

I'm told that Danica is a pretty good helper at home.  One of the chores she is learning to do is to put away the dishes.  I was invited over for a meal the other day, and while Melissa was making sandwiches for everyone, Danica was emptying the dishwasher and Mira was "helping."

But as everyone knows, everything in baby's hand goes right into baby's mouth (how else can she explore her world?).

Let's try the green plastic spoon first.   

Meanwhile, Danica is diligently working on her task.

Then Mira needs to try out a plastic plate to go with the spoon.

The next course is the metal spoon.  (Doesn't she look like she's plotting something?)

No, you can't have this one -- it's all mine!

Danica shows us how carefully she can carry the dishes.

Making progress.

Oh, are we done already?  I was having fun.  Can't I help some more?

Of course, the dishes that Mira "helped" with had to go straight back into the dishwasher.  :-)

More Mira

I was going to do a post on the signs of spring we are enjoying, but it was too much trouble to wander around in the rain taking pictures, so I'll fall back on that reliable stand-by: grandchildren.  We got to watch Mira while Melissa and Rob took Danica to "Family Bingo Night" at her school, so of course the camera must come out.

She gets a big kick out of the funny noises Grandpa makes to entertain her.

She thinks she's a big girl when she stands up.

 

  

Showing off her first tooth (and has another on the way).

 

She eventually falls asleep in Grandpa's arms.

 

Does Mira's shirt look familiar to anyone?

 

 Wow, that brings back memories!

Speaking of the Tooth Fairy...

The subject of the Tooth Fairy has come up frequently lately.  Danica has lost several teeth in the past few months.  (Mira is trying to help by getting some of her own, but that's another story).  

Poor Danica seems to have trouble producing the necessary "evidence" in order for the Tooth Fairy to be able to compensate her.  One loose tooth was missing when she woke up one morning, presumably swallowed.  The Tooth Fairy understood, and was generous.  Another one was missing one morning a couple weeks later, but found in her bed. And now her latest loose tooth (knocked the rest of the way out during a rowdy game of "tossing a ball" with Uncle Neil here at our house a couple days ago) ended up going down the drain in our bathroom at some point during the semi-traumatic aftermath (Melissa didn't realize Danica still had it on her tongue as she was leaning over the sink to avoid bleeding on the floor).  Clay declined to dismantle the pipes underneath the sink to look for it -- because the previous owners of our house had somehow jerry-rigged one pipe in such a way that it will need to be replaced with a new part if we ever have to undo it.

So here's a picture of Danica a few weeks ago, doing a puzzle with Grandpa (with one tooth missing).

Here she is last week, with another one gone (on the bottom)....

...and here she is today, with three teeth gone.

On a slightly related note, a few days ago Melissa made a pan of brownies while at our house, and she had taken a small piece out of the corner for herself, and gone to feed the baby.  Danica asked her mom if she could have a brownie and Melissa said yes.  When she looked at the pan of brownies afterwards, this is what she saw:

  

I guess Danica wanted to make sure she got her fair share of the brownies.  Danica told me:  "Well, I only took 2 or 3 brownies...I think it was only 2."     :-)

Virtual Babysitting

There's a game on the Wii called "Animal Crossing."  You can create up to 4 characters for your town (and you have 10 animal neighbors).  If someone else has the same game, you can visit each other's towns.  My town is Willowby.  Melissa and Danica play in Dewville.

Danica likes us to play together (from our own homes).  I'll get a phone call, and a sweet little voice says, "My gate is open, Grandma.  You can come visit me."  I've had to get creative in trying to entertain a 5-year-old online in a virtual town with limited options.  Here are some of the things we do.

We go fishing.  Sometimes we're after the same fish, and you never know which one will catch it.
(Danica's character is "Odette" and she's the blond in the tiara.  Mine is "CindyLou" with the dark hair.) 

We can show off fish we've caught.

We can go bug hunting...and we're not even afraid of the dark, or the bugs -- well, except for maybe the scorpion and the tarantula, because they will attack sometimes and knock you out. :-)

We like to show off the bugs we've caught.  Ha, ha...mine is bigger!

 We can listen to the music of K.K. Slider at the local cafe on Saturday nights.

 Or see the art exhibit at the museum, if we're feeling in need of some culture....

....or get up close and personal with the fish at the museum....

....or check out the dinosaur bones.

We occasionally play hide and seek, which can be challenging if we hide indoors.

We can even "talk" to each other.  Danica uses the game's onscreen keyboard, but I got lazy and hooked up a wireless keyboard to the Wii, which makes it so much easier.  Her spelling is quite creative, but I can usually figure out what she's trying to say.

 Grandchildren are the best "invention" ever!!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all our friends and family, and best wishes for a great year in 2010!  

(Boy, that makes me feel really old to say "2010"!)

We had a very nice Christmas.  Danica's enthusiasm is catching.  Christmas just isn't the same unless you have small children around. Here are a few pictures:

This is Danica on Christmas Eve.  She likes how curly her hair gets when she's had it in braids.

Clay has been wishing for an artificial Christmas tree for many years.  I finally found one I could live with.  It remains to be seen whether it is more trouble or less than having a real one, since we now have to store it all year.

Here is the very photogenic Dewsnup family.

The girls were excited about Christmas.  Mira wore her Santa hat most of the time, although occasionally it slipped down over her eyes and she got a little perturbed.

Mira had a unique way of opening Christmas gifts!

I don't think she noticed the toys inside, but she sure enjoyed the wrapping paper.

She wanted to help Uncle Neil open his gift.

Mira is checking out the tree, and eating the Nativity scene.

Melissa had mentioned that she'd like one of those inexpensive flat cheese graters, and Neil "ran with it."  He bought a variety of graters and wrapped them separately, but after opening a couple, the element of surprise was missing.

Neil and Nathan joined in the festivities.

Yes, these are really my gifts, not Danica's, but we're really going to enjoy "playing Barbies" together.  I've got quite a toy collection at my house.  My grandkids are certainly never going to be bored when they come to visit!

Danica was very excited by the new Disney princess, and she hasn't even seen the movie yet.

One of Clay's favorite holiday traditions is to watch the Harry Potter movies.  Here he is enjoying the latest one.

I am very grateful to have been surrounded by my wonderful family today!