Seeds

Thanks Grandma Silly for the seeds and planting tray. The little peat moss pellets were really fun to use. We had never seen them until now, but of course now that we know what they are we see them for sale in all the garden stores. They start out hard as rocks, but with some water they swell 3 or 4 times their size and the seeds poke right down in.


We love springtime every year and the peas and beans apparently love it too! We couldn't believe how fast they sprouted. It must have been the little greenhouse cover that comes with the tray. They are too tall now to keep the cover on. We'll have to find a place to transplant soon.


And since we're talking about Grandma Silly (who by the way would remind me not to start a sentence with "and"!), I learned most pictures are boring without people in them! So here's a couple of my favs from late 2007 that I never got time to post.


Happy March everyone!

Out and About in February

I was trying to keep up with at least one post a month, but even that's starting to slip. I have no excuses now though because we finally got wireless and upgraded from dial-up (yes, we still had dial-up at home... I know, hard to believe) so now I can sit on the couch with the laptop and post away. No excuses... :)

This post just has some pics of random things we did in February. We had the flu in early February (no pics of that!) and it drug out for 3 weeks before everyone worked through it. Besides that time though we've been trying to get out and do more fun things.

"HIKING" AT A PRESERVE IN IRVINE

I usually don't call it hiking unless you at least go up or down a little, but a lot of our regular weekend hiking spots we closed from too much rain so we decided to try something new and had a great time. It is right in town and you'd never think there was so much open space in the middle of Orange County, but they've done a good job keeping open space all around.


This was some drying algae, but Emmy called it spider webs. It did look a little creepy on an overcast grey day in the swamp. Emmy asked if there were aligators in Irvine. We got a kick out of that one.


BOOMERS

Emmy and Gage have sticker charts for their daily chores and if they get enough we get a special weekend treat. You can see their charts behind them on the wall. I love this picture anyway but it just happens to show the charts. Emmy and Gagey are both being their classic silly selves.

They did so well with their chores the last two weeks we took them to a little amusement park for a few rides and games.

Emmy really wanted to go on the ferris wheel and Blake couldn't believe it because she is terrified of them. She almost scared Emmy out of it:

Hadley thought it was a bad idea too :)

But Emmy insisted and we got on!

She did get a bit scared, but mostly enjoyed it.

After a little convincing Gagey went on a smaller ride too.


That was enough for him though. After that he wanted his blanket back and wanted to be held and just watch for awhile. He's having his timid phase.


Going inside for a little skee-ball was a good rest after the rides, and it's Blake's favorite game too.


Of course everyone's favorite after a fun day is to come home and relax.




Goodbye February 2008. No more leap years for 4 more years...

Emmy the Ballerina

I already missed my chance for a Christmas blog, so here's my nod to Christmas:

So Emmy just turned four yesterday and she was so excited!!! It really made her feel like a big girl, especially with two babies at home. She got a bike for Christmas, which she has been loving.

Before that she only had a tricyle and a scooter so she's really stepped up to the big time and joined the other big kids in the neighborhood. She still measures at above the 90th percentile for height, so most people thought she was 4 all year, but now it's the real deal. One of her favorite presents was a ballet outfit and a multi-week class to learn ballet. If you saw my Halloween blog you'll know that Emmy moved on from the typical little girl princess phase and was into witches and goblins and everything non-cute. So on her 4th birthday I was happy to see she was still open to ballet. Gagey was also really excited about her frilly outfit, but that's another story:) Here's Emmy's untrained and free version of ballet!

See below for a video of Gage's new pursuit...

Gage Houdini Martin

So the last few weeks Gage finally figured out how helpful talking can be and began to repeat everything he hears. While he's been repeating a few words for months, he didn't seem interested in actually communicating. It has been so much fun listening to him try and pronounce everyday words, but what hasn't been fun is dealing with his new found attitude. He decided now that he's 20 months old and can talk (if that's what you call it) that he doesn't have to do "baby" things anymore. So he went from two naps a day to none, doesn't want to sit in his booster with a tray, and wakes up at 4 AM because he can!!!! Yep. Hilarious. I thought this didn't hit til the teenage years. The real kicker though is that he decided even a crib couldn't keep him in...

This is the real reason he gets up at 4 AM. He can get free of his cage and start the new exciting day! His parents aren't too excited though. Especially cranky papa bear because momma bear is nursing the new baby, guess who gets to deal with "big boy" Gage? Yep...