little sketches of us…

1. First of all, I love it that he calls himself Birt, with a very serious accent on the “t.” He also says Oliver; it’s a run-on word kind of like “Ol-a-er.”
2. Yes.
   Birt answers questions very seriously. He considers the question, he decides if he agrees or not, and he states very clearly and solemnly, “Yes.”
3. Ah, Eat. Food.
   This is interchangeable with “Ah, eat brefuss.” Breakfast can be asked for at any time of the day.
4. Birds. In. Dryer.
   This is our wake-up call. He comes in every morning, slams our bedroom door behind him, and says, “Birds. In. Dryer.” Yes, there are usually real birds in the dryer’s ventilation in the mornings. Oliver gets really excited about it.
5. Luving you. So much.
   This is adorable, and he just started doing it last week in church. He dove onto my lap, put his arms around my neck and said, “Luving you. So much.” Now he likes to do it to Merayla and Daddy too, whenever we are sitting somewhere for a long time.
6. Guess what?
   I’m not sure where he learned this, but he actually cups his hands around your ear and whispers it. When you say, “What?”, he says it again. I think he’s trying to play a game.
7. Rice. Christmas. Tree.
   Somehow this got confused with Rice Krispy Treat. I think…
8. Open shop; closeitup.
   This means open it up and close it up, but they go together. Always.
9. Yeahhhh!
   Whenever we say someone is coming or we are going somewhere, he likes to shout this, especially at breakfast when we are talking about the day.
10. Meesh-eesh
    I had to ask Merayla for the translation of this one. It means “move.”
11. Come Lay-la
    And if she doesn’t come right then, he keeps saying it until she does. Another one that goes along with this is, “Watch out, Lay-la!”
12. Go. Wimming dit.
    Translation: I want to go swimming. Anytime. Any season. We must have good memories from the summer.
13. Pocc-u-kook
    This means popsicle. And he loves them!
14. Look. Me.
    When Oliver says this, he puts his hands together above his head, and then dives at the floor while turning in a somersault-ish cartwheel.
15. Look. Me. (at the table)
    When he says, “Look. Me” at the table, he wads his hands into fists, puts on this crazy grin with huge eyes and acts like he is madly driving a truck. Guess you’ll need a video to catch the full moment, but it’s pretty funny.
16. I. Robot.
    With a cardboard box on one arm.
17. Vvvvvvvvvvv.
    This is vrooming (driving). Lots of things vroom: cars, trains, vacumn attachments, food…
18. Foo-goo-dot..
    I didn’t know what this meant—though he and Layla say it all the time to each other—until Oliver finally explained it to me the other day: “Foo-goo-dot orange” is “Want orange.” Translation: I want whatever follows the word foo-goo-dot. Haha! No idea the word roots on this one!
19. Have any socks.
    This means he does not have any socks, which really means that he’s taken them off and they are right beside him on the floor.

Charlyn, Christina, and baby Savannah got to come for a long weekend, and it was tons of fun. We did some extreme hairstyles, hiked the Natural Bridge with our babies, celebrated Bird’s birthday, and stayed up late into the night playing the princess matching game. For real. It was great. I miss them already.

Natural Bridge 2 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

At the party, Bird loved the cream puffs and the candles and played really well with his little friend Violet. Everyone got a name tag with the way Oliver says their name (as shown in the pictures). My favorite was that Char and Christy both got to be “Char,” but I didn’t get a pictures of it. Oliver was cute and has grown up so much lately. Next post to contain all the fun phrases that he is saying now. Two-years-old is such a fun age. He is full of so much love.

Oliver’s 2nd Birthday VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Chop, chop. I’ve been called Tinker Bell, Julie Andrews, and Beib so far. I totally like it. Tressa Rowe did a great job, if anyone’s looking for a stylist. Christy and Char got in on the fun as well, and we had a great time.

Drum roll…

Great performances to follow…

Piano Recital VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Applause and pictures…

Everyone worked hard and did a great job. I’m thankful to all of my students for letting me be a part of their music. Keep on practicing (me too) !!!

The “Halloweekend” Recital was the first recital I’ve attended as a teacher. I think I was more nervous than my students! Thankfully, I didn’t have to organize it, and the folks at Gist Piano Center did a great job of making it fun for everyone. Merayla wanted to dress up as a pioneer, so Cristian was a cowboy and Oliver kept saying “no” to all dress up options so he ended up in shorts and a coat. I was a Spaniard—or the closest I could get with a mascara mustache—to match my duet partner, a Spanish dancer. My students performed “In the Hall of the Mountain King,” “The Goblin’s Ride,” and “Fandago.” They did an excellent job, and the costumes were superb. Another round of applause for Carson, Haylee, and Morgan!!!

Halloweekend – 2011 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

On our move to Kentucky, Merayla told us that she wanted to be a Southern Belle when she grew up. This Halloween, we modified one of Char’s dresses (by looping and belting) and a hat decoration I had made in Mia Maids years ago, and she came out pretty southern and definitely a Belle:

Oliver refused to dress up in everything we tried, except the witches hat that he picked out himself at the store. And the gloves from Grandma. Everyone kept saying, “What a cute little girl!” Well, he was cute:

Then Merayla decided to create her own outfit from the Halloween box. “What are you?” I said. “Mishgah!” was her answer. It was tons of fun, and she was so excited to go out in it.

It was our first time Trick-or-Treating. Oliver was VERY attached to his pumpkin and didn’t want any help carrying it, though it was just about pulling him over.

After our treating, the kids were so excited to give out treats at our house, but nobody showed up. We even chased down the street with the treat bowl looking for Trick-or-Treaters. No success. But Bird packed the treat stash all over the house the rest of the night.

Some friends invited us to hike the Natural Bridge in October. We heard a lot about this when we first asked about hiking in the area, but the website search does not yield very good information so I’ll summarize a little here for anyone interested:

The original trail is only about a 3/4 mile hike so it’s perfect for kids. At the end of the hike, you climb up some stairs carved in the rock and through a narrow hallway. Then the trail opens up on top of the actual bridge. There are no rails, which gives it an interestingly eerie feel, but the view is beautiful and there are a variety of other trails to take at the top and at the base of the bridge. From the top of the bridge, you can see an outcrop across the valley, and we took the hike around to the outcrop, past the sky lift, and back down to the lodge. Pictures from the outcrop show the natural bridge in the background, and vice versa, making it a fun place to hike and photograph.   

The Natural Bridge is in the Daniel Boone National Forest, by Red River Gorge and Slade, Kentucky. It’s about an hour drive from Lexington. The natural sandstone arch spans 78 feet, is 65 feet high, and has been formed by the natural process of weathering over millions of years. It’s pretty cool. Check it out:

Hiking Natural Bridge VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL