Your First Black Eye

That, little Miss, is your face upon seeing yourself in the mirror for the first time after your brother gave you a black eye. You two were fighting over a tiny plastic pony and he lost his temper and hit you in the face with it, resulting in your first shiner.

Fishing with Daddy

Dear Snooty

Dear Snooty,

I love you. I like that you like lettuce and carrots, like me! I like watching you swim and listening to you breathe. I hope you get a lettuce cake for your birthday, and I hope you will live a long time.

Have a Happy Birthday!

Love,

Kelsea

Whitemarked Tussock Moth

A few weeks ago Kelsea found these amazing looking caterpillars which were later identified as the offspring of a Whitemarked Tussock Moth. The female (who is wingless) hatches out, mates, lays her eggs and dies all within 48 hours. Kelsea was disappointed that this was all that came of her pretty caterpillars with crazy stinging hairs.

Get back on

Kelsea has gone a bit horse crazy - daily we hear about everything pony: what she wants to name one (Parmesan!), where it will live, what it will eat, when she'll start jumping, what gear she needs and so on. In supporting this interest we've been so grateful that my longtime friend Sheri welcomes us out to the barn on a weekly basis to ride and learn about horses. Kelsea started horseback riding at the beginning of the year and is doing quite well. She helps to groom and tack up, then rides on the leadline after I've warmed the horse up (and calmed it down). We started bareback until she got her balance, then added the saddle and then reins so that now she can walk, trot, hold the reins and has just started to learn to steer and stop. We talk about all of the body parts of the horse and how to communicate with them gently. She's learning so fast! Afterwards she helps to muck the stalls, clean the barn and get everyone fed for the night with an amazing, helpful attitude.

Tonight Kelsea fell off of a horse for the first time. We had talked before that this would happen at some point, it had happened to Mommy, and to Sheri, and it's why we wear helmets and ride with friends. Sometimes you get hurt, mostly it's surprising, and the best thing to do in most cases is to get right back on. Jordan was at a halt and spooked sideways as Kelsea was getting ready to dismount - Kelsea lost her balance and fell down bottom first, then onto her side. She stood right up, I asked her if she was hurt. No. Scared? Yes. After a moment she caught her breath and calmed down, so I asked her what she wanted to do next and "Get back on!" was her immediate reply. And so she did, riding for probably another fifteen minutes until she was ready to head back to the barn. Through this Jordan tossed her head, jumped sideways, and walked/jigged like she was getting ready to enter a race (Thanks to a brisk, cold wind and a neighbor putting strange cattle in a nearby pasture where they had never been before) and Kelsea sat calmly as could be, trying to talk to her in a soothing voice and tell her what a good girl she was.

I'm so proud of you tonight (as always) and blessed to get to share these times with you!

Love you Kelsea,

~Mommy

Daddy started Paramedic School

On the 15th Daddy started Paramedic School. I took this picture of him doing his homework in the office. He spends a lot of time studying, but he also gets to spend a lot more time with us at home since he's not working at the hospital much anymore. Do you see how he painted the office? I think it looks nice. He painted my room too, with Grandpa's help, a pretty blue color, and replaced all the broken blinds too.

sleeping with Jacob kitty

Kelsea, Mommy and Daddy took this picture to show you that Jacob kitty really does come sleep with you at night, even though you have a high bunk bed now. He does love to cuddle with you, he just does it on his own time, instead of when you call him.

storytime with GrandMinna

facepaint

biking to Urfer

Today I decided that I would bike all the way to my new favorite playground, all by myself.

I was careful to stay hydrated

and keep my eyes open for interesting birds along the way
as soon as I arrived I insisted on calling Daddy - he'd be so proud!

and then proceeded to do most of the exercise trail and play on the playground

before deciding that it was time to head back, this time with two hats on, so "the sun won't bother my eyes". I took the long way around, over the bridge, through the nature trail,

back past all the fitness things (here demonstrating sit ups) and onward home. 5 miles total, and I did it all by myself!

South Florida Museum

Today we visited South Florida Museum, Bishop Planetarium and the Parker Aquarium

here is Mommy and Luke by the fountain - I took this one on my own!

we explored rooms full of fossils - this is Equus, like a horse

Over here is a Dugong and something like an alligator

and here we are looking at a panorama with a GIANT armadillo in it!

I asked Mommy about why these people made canoes out of trees

and why these people covered up their nice sand with shells and rocks.


Then we went on to meet the Manatees - the big one is named Snooty! He is 61 years old and like to eat carrots and kale, just like me! He has three little baby manatees visiting with him until the water gets warmer, then they will probably be released into the wild again.
Next we went to the Planetarium - I picked seats way at the top so that we could see everything. The round ceiling turned on and it was like we were flying! I hoped that it would be about stars and constellations like Orion, but instead it was all about planets. It was pretty good anyways and Mommy said she'll try to find one about the stars for next time. We don't have any pictures of that because it was so dark. Afterwards Mommy told me that for an early birthday present I now have a membership there, so I can visit whenever I want and get a gold sticker that says "V.I.P" on it, which stands for "Very Important Person". I can hardly wait - I want to show Daddy something even bigger than he is - a Mastodon!

April to July

April 2009
your photography gets better all the time

love the swingsetand really love your little brother


your a pretty great helper in the garden - especially if helping means picking snacks

pretending and singing "Rock the Boat"

still signing and learning new ones all the time

on a hike with Daddy
May 2009

sleepy Luke

the alligators at the park sing and dance for you

taking a bath with your pool toys in Grand Minna's big tub

an up close look at baby doves

June 2009:

fun at the parade

you start to do really well in swim classyou love the "Crazy Place" the swim park at the YMCA

We brought home Rocco

Mommy finishes her first triathlon

We met Blepee:

and had a lovely little weekend getaway to Coconut Point

July 2009

we raised butterflies on our kitchen table and let them go when they were ready