Quick Successions: New Mexico Edition

Last week Hannah and I went to KU so I could run some errands. Along the way, we stopped at the lake in the middle of campus to take a rest and a picture. Her dog Bingo is in the picture above.  He goes everywhere with her. Even to church. But I don't let her take him to preschool. A few days later I went with Hannah to school. Her class took a field trip to a local farm and pumpkin patch. While there they fed roosters. The kids also played in a maze that had a watch tower. And then there was the corn bath. There were also a few other activities, including selecting a pumpkin. Hannah and I painted the pumpkin she picked and put it outside our door. I really like the autumnal season. This one promises to be good.

I had a meeting last week with a professor and so I asked my friend from Iran who is in my graduate program if she would sit with Hannah while I did so. She agreed. While I was gone, she drew a flower (pictured below) and then asked Hannah to imitate it on the iPad.  Here is Hannah's version. My friend was very impressed with her rendition. I agree that it is credible.  My sister's mother-in-law made this dress, but my sister has only boys and so she lent it to Hannah. When Hannah outgrows it, I will give it back to my sister. In the meantime, Hannah says that this is her favorite dress.  A back view. And we are off to church.

With a heavy heart, I sent my only child to preschool. It was a really hard day for me emotionally. Hannah, however, did fine. As we were going in, she saw a little boy getting his picture taken and so she wanted her taken too. When we returned the next day, she wanted a picture too. Apparently she thinks that you have to take a photo every time you go in. She will go three days a week for half the day. Every day she has wanted a picture. We also took several pictures of her in her classroom. One is on the first day in the kitchen center. The other two are different days with her artwork. The preschool she attends focuses on developing subject matter knowledge through play and with art. Hannah really likes going and I hope it will be a good year for her. Also, I have this theory that people in my family are artistic. There are people who can do specialty painting, and people who do wonderful things with food, and seamstresses, and woodworkers and are otherwise crafty and/or musical. ...

This past week, Brian turned 43. I asked Hannah if she wanted to make a cake for her father and she said no, she wanted to buy one. The day before his birthday I offered to take her to the store to buy the cake and she said she changed her mind and wanted to make one. Luckily I had already bought what I needed to bake a cake and so we put on our aprons and got to work. When we were done, we had a lemon cake with cream cheese frosting and colored sprinkles.  Hannah and had picked out some gifts earlier and she helped me wrap them. I had also bought her a new tablet and set of washable paints so she would have something to unwrap as well. Brian had class on his birthday and Hannah and I went and picked up his favorite Asian food and brought it home. When Brian returned, he ate his food, blew out his candles (with assistance), and opened his gifts. The next day he was able to choose a restaurant and he decided on Mexican food and so we ate heartily at the Mexican food place close t...

I can't remember if it was the end of July or the beginning of August, but somewhere around then, I decided that it was time to go to visit my sister and her family, who live in Lafayette, Indiana. Hannah and I packed our bags on Friday, September 4 and headed out on September 5, arriving two hours behind schedule at 4p.m. The first night we used for visiting about old times and catching up. The second day was Sunday, so we all went to church. All the kids were good in church, despite the frigid temperatures in the building. In the evening, we hiked part of a trail running along the Wabash River. Hannah was the least prepared for the physical demands and was carried most of the way. We also saw a beaver up close, heading over the bank and into the water as the moonlight emerged to light its way. The third day was labor day. We all went to an apple orchard and picked apples and then went out for lunch. At home, my sister made applesauce and apple pie. I stirred a pot, but mo...

Well I am smack-dab in the middle of my 30s as of yesterday. I have a lot of things to look forward to this coming year. I have a book I edited coming out in the fall. My dissertation should be done in the spring. The other day I got an official acceptance on another article I co-wrote. Hannah is almost 4 and doing well. Travel is coming my way too. At the end of this week I am headed out to visit my sister in Indiana. In November I am going to give a presentation in Minneapolis and then I am making my way to Washington DC in the spring, with other potential trips in the works. I have been sick and I had to go to the doctor yesterday but it was still a good day. Hannah found some cupcakes at the grocery store last week and saved them for my birthday. She even blew the candle out in my behalf. She also got me some good gifts and helped me by opening them. I have a feeling birthdays are going to be fun indeed with her looking out to make sure they go well.

Hannah is a big fan of Peppa Pig. She has adopted a lot of her favorite activities and uses British expressions. For example, she calls a shopping cart "a trolley" and a stroller is a "push chair."  Hannah, just like Peppa, likes to go and splash in muddy puddles so I take her out and let her and then we clean up and dry off. I won't let her wallow though.  Here is a particularly good splash. We have matching rain boots. I found them online. Our neighbors like them too. On the show, Mommy Pig goes out to splash too. When Hannah isn't splashing she is running a repair shop in the garage while I exercise in the mornings. Here she is fixing up her bike. Sometimes she is riding it and she "runs out of petrol" and so she has to go the station and fill up. This morning we were watching and Peppa talked her mother into making pancakes. We couldn't resist. Just like Peppa and Mommy Pig we used flour (ours had blueberrie...