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Icey the Snowman

We had a white Christmas this year. The last white Christmas in Atlanta was in 1882. It was son wonderful to see the light dusting of snow everywhere, just enough to be white. It was also enough to cancel church. Then it disappeared. Last Sunday night it snowed again. This time it was six inches of snow, which was soon covered with a thick glaze of ice. School was closed the entire week. Susanna seemed to know what was going on immediately, because the first thing I heard from her was a happy call from her bedroom announcing “there’s too much snow to go anywhere!” We quickly got outside to build a snowman, which was good because once the snow turned to ice that would have been impossible. His eyes, nose, mouth, and finally his hat have all fallen off, but he’s still standing sentinel on our front lawn. And because of him Andrew can now say snowman (man-man).

One of the other words Andrew seemed to pick up this week is beater (bee-bee). I noticed it when we made pumpkin bread on Thursday. He woke up halfway through the production, and as soon as he saw the bosch going, he called “bee-bee, bee-bee” over and over again (with the occasional and very loud yell of “Ma!”) until he got one. We’ve been doing a lot of cooking and baking on sunny days around here too. As part of my efforts to find ways to be frugal I’m trying not to buy any food I can make myself. This is obviously extra work, but it is very rewarding work, and Susanna and I have had a lot of fun baking breads, rolling out tortillas on the table, and washing and chopping apples to make applesauce on the stove. This week I also made cranberry grapefruit marmalade—Susanna loved seeing me dump all that sugar in the pot—but so far I think I’m the only one who likes it. Maybe I’ll add less rind next time. Meanwhile, we’ll keep making other things and Andrew will keep licking the beaters.

Little Hands

Whenever we get in the car Andrew asks to listen to Raffi’s “Baby Beluga.” “Bay-boo!” he cries. It’s only slightly different than a million other words he says, such as “bay-bee” for baby, “bu-boo” for belly button—or any button for that matter, or simply “buh” for bread or beans (and also probably anything else that starts with B). But this morning when we got in the car to go to church he forgot. Maybe it was because Susanna was shouting “the scriptures are the word of God!” over and over again. That was the first and last line of the talk she gave today in Primary. Or, more accurately, I gave a talk in primary. She stood there at my side, quietly correcting me when I made a mistake, but otherwise obstinately silent. Next week she gives the scripture.

Susanna has also learned to write her name this week—with the last letter and the complete word finally arriving Monday. Why didn’t I take a picture? And Andrew still loves to say her name. All the time, he’s either looking for her or for his beloved stuffed dog “puh-puh.” He walks around the house saying “Nah-nuh” (and/or puh-puh) all the time. And Susanna is becoming a very affectionate big sister. She loves to kiss him on the top of his head.  She grabs his head and pulls it to the the proper height, and then tightens her lips into a big fish pucker and plants it right on the crown of his head.  He, of course, loves this, especially when he makes it through the all the prelude unscathed. Andrew loves cuddles from anyone. And if he’s not being held, he wants to hold your hand. He’ll look at you with a cocked head and reach an open hand your way. “Guh-guh?” He’ll say. And then “Guh-guh!” I’m not sure what that means. Please hold my hand? Come? But it’s adorable. Susanna loves to hold hands too. And her little hand feels so good in mine, especially when she pulls me down to her side to tell me something “very important.” “I love you,” she’ll whisper, and then give me a big bear hug. What could be better?

Here is a photograph of Susanna not giving her talk for me on the video camera.

Holidays at the Hales

For the first time in our marriage, we did not return to Utah to join our family in the holiday festivities.  We missed seeing loved ones, as well easy access to skiing and snowshoeing, but it was wonderfully relaxing.  Scott took the entire week between Christmas and New Year’s off, and we loved having him all to ourselves.

Here’s a little album that starts with a walk on a neighborhood trail on December first, and ends with a little loaf of bread that Susanna baked today.  I hope it works.

 

		Christmas 2010 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas

Happy Thanksgiving

What a wonderful time of year!  We’ve gotten out our sweaters (and Susanna her “jacket dresses”) switched on the heat, and begun to rake and sweep leaves in every spare moment.

Susanna only had school two days this week.  She was excited to stay home and we loved having her.  Scott is finally an employee of Emory University, although he has yet to do an experiment, and is keeping very busy reading and writing.

Poor Scott had to work basically the entire weekend (he carved out time for us on Thursday and the BYU-Utah football game today).  The kids and I thought of him while we played.

Friday was a cold rainy day.  Perfect for going to the zoo, right?  That’s what we did and it was fantastic.  The animals are all out and about (I suppose they are used to dealing with weather).  We  dressed warmly and the kids were enthusiastically interested and delighted with all they saw.  No one else was there; the zoo folks literally locked the entrance gates behind us as we left and I think there were five cars in the parking lot.

Today we went to the Chattahoochee River National Recreational Area.  It was clear but still cold and the trails were just as empty as the zoo.  Susanna did a fantastic job (it was her second hike without assistance) and Andrew loved pointing at the trees and saying “tee!”  He was also excited to get to wear Susanna’s hand-me-down pink bunting.

Susanna playing in our backyard:

Andrew and his “pet rock”:That’s Susanna’s phrase for Andrew’s beloved rock.  He finds it almost every time we go outside and carries it around while he plays.  He often gets it stuck under the stairs in the background and screams for help.  He also likes to kiss it.

A tree from our backyard:

Fall in our backyard (about two weeks ago):

More fall in our backyard (in the form of Pumpkin Doughnuts):

Medlock Bridge in the Chattahoochie River National Recreational Area (or as we locals call it, the Hooch):This was taken with the timer feature on the camera.  I was just about to crouch down next to Susanna and put my arm around her when this was taken.

another pic from the hooch:

A more successful timer photo, also from the hooch: