Quick Successions: New Mexico Edition

This Valentine's Day, I got the flowers ...  And Brian got the Candy.   The night before Valentine's Day, Hannah told me she was going to make me a card. Her dad helped her achieve this goal. It reminds me of the old Family Circus Valentine show where PJ makes a Valentine for his momma.   Grandma Aldred sent Hannah a shirt with a heart vest and a little feeding set for Zachary. Hannah feeds Zachary 1-2 times per day.      Sometimes she siphons some his food. For dinner again this year, we went to the Boy Scout Fundraiser. These are the shots that Brian and I took of each other while we were waiting for our dinner salad, and just before I thought to go check on Hannah.  She goes to nursery class on Sunday just fine, but she hated going on Friday. It must have been because there were a lot of people she didn't know and her nursery leaders were not there. I went back to check on her and found her in a terrib...

Last year at this time, we were buried in snow too. Classes were cancelled for two days and I used the time to finish moving into my house, but we lacked provisions for winter weather and were generally unprepared. This year, when there was a winter snow warning we realized that we were in for some real snow and so we grocery shopped in advance, got out our snow shovels, put the salt within easy reach, and covered our doors to keep them from freezing shut. We did much better.  We had two snow days. On the first one, Hannah got her Valentine cards ready for her friends and family. It was after lunch and yes, she was still in her pajamas.  For dinner, we took a cue from my sister's family and we made pizza. I put the sauce and oregano on the dough and Hannah put on the cheese and the pepperoni.  She has a board book we read her about making pizza and so she knew the steps already. And I must say she was quite meticulous about it. Note that it is dinner time and y...

On Friday nights during the semester, we usually go out to dinner. We try to find places to go that are inexpensive, but also interesting. There is a place called Oriental Bistro in Lawrence and we had been driving by it for months saying that we were going to go there, but then it would be too crowded or something would happen and we wouldn't get there. This past Friday I got done working at 5 o'clock and when Brian came to pick me up, I told him to go to Oriental Bistro right then. So we did. And it was a good thing we went then because it was Chinese New Year and we didn't know it. We were able to eat just before it got really crowded.                      Hannah really likes the sticky rice. She also ate the orange that came with my food and  little bit of curry.  I had the vegetables in brown sauce and Brian had the chicken curry.  The owner came by and gave her a Happy Chinese New Year envelope. It h...

This little girl is almost 27 months old. She was very cognizant of Christmas this year, which made it really fun. Her favorite Christmas songs were Deck the Halls and Jingle Bells. She was very sad when we took down the tree about a week ago. She recovered by listening to her device that looks like an iPhone but is really an old iPod. Her favorite songs are Baby Beluga and Down By the Bay, both by Raffi. But she is also a big fan of Outkast since the time she was a baby. She knows how to get on her device and find Hey Ya! What is funny is after that she usually listens to something from Les Miserables. So overall, her tastes are quite eclectic. She is also in the stage of lining things up. Hence, the lego gallery. She started playing with legos when she was with her father in church. Another father there had legos for his child and he shared a few with Hannah. She was hooked. We went and bought her a small set soon after and then more for Christmas from us and from her grandparen...

Our church starts at 1:30 p.m. and ends at 4:30 p.m. this coming year. Today was our first day. I have never had church this late before. Hannah was very well-behaved in church and made it home without going to sleep. This is a feat because it is a 20-minute drive to the church building. It is also -11 outside so Hannah wore her winter peacoat.   

One of my friends decided to blog about her top moments from 2013. Honestly, this was a really hard year, so I don't know if these are top moments, but they are definitely important transitions that I underwent this year that have made me see the world differently.  #4 Leaving Teaching I taught in public school for 10 years. Nine of those years were spent at Springville Junior High. I really loved working with those children and those families, but I always wanted to get a doctoral degree. Before I had my daughter I was worried that when I got a PhD I wouldn't have anything to look forward to and I couldn't see my future afterward. When I had my little girl, I realized I would have her whole life to look forward to and so I was finally free to go back to school. We debated and debated about whether to go now and wait, but I really advocated for going as soon as we could. I don't if this was the best way, but now that I am over halfway done with my coursework I fe...

We rotate our NYE food, fun, and fanfare. Some years we do pizza. Some years we go out to eat. Some years we make food. This year we made food with an Asian flair. The photo features teriyaki beef, chicken curry, and rice. There are also some lil' smokies sausages because I associate them with New Years'. We rented a movie and watched it since it is hard to do too much with small children.  Tomorrow, we are going to a new Year's Day party with some people Brian and I had a class with over the summer. One of the curiosities about this university is that there is a lot of social drinking at all levels, not just the crazy undergrads. For instance, at the end of this semester, my professor took our class to a bar and paid for drinks during the time we would have had class. We also went to a party for my new supervisor at her house and they had to look around for several minutes to find water for us. While we were drinking it, about seven people tried to take it and get...