Hello, Spring!

Wanted to share our back yard, now that Spring is springing.

Chocolate Mint

Sweet Lavender

Parsley

Half of the Kitchen Garden
counterclockwise from bottom
Curry Icicles, German Thyme, Sweet Lavendar, Parsley
center: Dwarf French Marigolds
with Fernleaf Dill, Apple Mint in the flues
 

 Walk around the paths, and see things starting to pop.

Butterfly Guara

Hot Lips Salvia
(love that name!)

Duranta

Even the prickliest looks pretty.

Red Yucca
starting to bloom.

Little Aloes bloom too

 There's one show-stopper.

The queen of the yard right now is this breathtaking
Bottlebrush.

Fascinating

Bees are loving it too.

 Won't be long till Hummingbirds arrive, as well as Monarch Butterflies.  Hope they'll find the accommodations pleasing enough to hang around awhile.  Better go now and get my Hummingbird feeders filled and in place.

Thanks for visiting!

Stripes and Shadows

Late afternoon at the neighborhood park

I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me.

Camouflaged

Just one question . . .

Do these pants make my butt look big?

Catch Up

Since mid-February, we've been on a carousel in Daniel Land.  Little Man's first birthday, a nasty respiratory bug (that visited everyone but D), Cecilia and Will's weekend out of town, Cecilia's birthday, the MOVE; all have consumed the past 6 weeks like a brush fire during a burn ban.

Now that Cecilia and Will are one week settled into their new apartment, I'm hoping to catch up on a few posts here.  Actually, it's not really all their doing.  Truth be told, Daniel is so active that it's a challenge to get my hands on the camera in time, or, for that matter, take a clear (non-blurry) picture, so I gave up trying for a while.

There's also the full moon . . . and so I'm wide awake at 2:30AM.  *Joy*

The week following Daniel's birthday party,
Little Man sat down with Mae and Pai to open his presents.

Daniel tried out the top he received from Vovo Dora.

It worked!

When Cecilia and Will left town for the weekend,
GiGi and HeyYey had a good time with Daniel.
We were invited for dinner with 2 other pairs of grandparents, and
I was tempted to bring Daniel dressed like this--stains and all.
It would have been good for a laugh--all of us remembering
how crazy and messy life can be with little ones.
Stains happen.  Things don't always match, nor do they have too.
Life is not always a catalog moment.

Cecilia had a birthday celebration
on her first ever weekend away with Will.
Our present was waiting for her when she returned.

Every Brazilian homemaker needs this:
small coffee cups and the tiny spoons to stir in all that sugar.

When Spring weather arrived,
we took off our shoes
and got into the dirt.

You Wear It Well, Daniel

Fashion statements from Daniel Land

2" wide horizontal stripes on a diapered bottom

cabeza de papel/paper hat
plus bruised cheek   :~C

Dressing like Dad
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Rockin' some reds on Valentine's Day

What every Brazilian boy wears
when winter temps dip into the 50's
in a South Texas.

Blueberry Smoothie

First time drinking from a cup

!!!

He looks good in everything he eats!

Post nap attire includes the eclectic:
grape popsicle-stained turtle onesie plus
stylish monkey pajama bottoms.

Twins in the garden--
from sun hats to bare feet.

Best Elmer Fudd impression


 

Baa

Hi!  It's Daniel and I want to tell you what happened today.

Once upon a time, this morning after breakfast, my Pai and Mae and GiGi took me to a special place.  They called it the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.  In the car, my GiGi read me The Little Blue Truck story, and said we were going to see cows and sheep and horses and chickens and chicks and pigs and goats.  She said we probably wouldn't see any big green frogs, but maybe bunnies instead.

Just so you know, my favorite animal is BaaBaa--this one.

This BaaBaa is in my room,
and I talk to her all the time.

We walked and walked until we got to a big white tent.  My GiGi was talking about Mutton Bustin' and I didn't know what that meant.  But we saw a fence, and when I looked inside it, my jaw dropped open.  BAABAABAABAA!


A whole bunch of BaaBaas that move!




This BaaBaa looks just like mine at home,
only it moves and makes noises.

  We sat down to watch Mutton Bustin'.  A little boy or girl would put on a helmet and heavy vest, and get on a sheep, hold on, and ride as long as possible.  You had to look real fast mostly, because when the gate opened up, the sheep ran and ran ZOOM; and the child couldn't hold on very long.  That's when the clowns jumped in to help.

A clown would get to the rider real quick and lift him (or her) up in the air so everyone could cheer and see that everything was okay.  Even when the little boy fell on his bottom or the little girl got a face full of dirt through the grid on her helmet, everyone yelled "Hooray!  Good job!" 


Mae and I are waiting for the next Mutton Buster
to come out of the gate.  The clowns are ready to help.

Pai, Mae, and Gigi laughed at the names of the sheep.  There was Sham-a-Lamb-a-DingDong, Lady Baa Baa, Lambzilla, Ewe Tube.  We all thought the riders were brave, since some of them were only 5 or 6 years old.

That was awesome!

After Mutton Bustin' we walked to a big building that was much warmer than outside.  As we went in a big, big room, I saw something that nobody else did.  When Mae and Pai got me out of my stroller, I started walking back to check things out.

Yep, is was just what I thought it was.  BALLOONS!

BALLOONS!

I was so happy to see balloons again.  Remember how much I liked balloons at my birthday party?  I like them so much I can almost say "balloon" which is a pretty tricky word, actually.

My GiGi asked someone where we could buy a balloon for me, since these were just decoration.  All the time, I'm laughing and squealing "BA-NON! BA-NEW! BA-EEN!!"  The nice lady gave me one!  She said she'd never seen a little guy so excited about a balloon; and she tied a loop so I could keep it on my arm.  But I held on to the ribbon, just in case.


This nice lady is cutting one of her balloons free,
just for me.




I get to wear the balloon on my arm,
and hold the string too.

It was awesome!

I was so happy with my blue balloon, and we still had more things to do at the Livestock Show.


Papai and I waited to see baby piggies--with my balloon.

 I saw some huge cows.  I got to pet bunnies and guinea pigs.  They were soft and warm.  I watched big chickens that were all different colors.  A little yellow fuzzy chick pecked at my finger.  I saw sheep getting haircuts.  Kind of silly, because then they had to walk around in coats to stay warm.  There were pigs that drank water and made funny noises.



My balloon, BaaBaas, and me.

 It was awesome!