Fun at the Park

Hold my hand, Mom, hold my hand. . .

Peekaboo!

One, two, three, gooooo. . .

Give the Dog a Bone . . . or Some Pizza

As I've mentioned before, Olivia loves to feed the dogs.

This is basically how she is supposed to do it. Olivia fills up the small cup with food and empties it into the big bowl. She usually spills quite a bit. When this happens, she carefully picks up each piece, one by one, and puts them back into the big bowl. Richard or I often help her to speed this process up. Once the dog bowl is full, sometimes Olivia decides to excercise portion control for her friends. If this is the case, she then scoops food from the big bowl back into the gray dog food container. Feeding the dogs could easily take her fifteen minutes to half an hour if we would allow it.

Next come the dog bones, and they are so high. Lucy gets one bone; she swallows hers in two gulps and you have to be careful she doesn't take your hand with the bone. Bandit gets half a bone; I think Lucy eats his. Dodger gets a bone, too. He runs around the yard with his so that Lucy doesn't take it or he brings it in the house, hides it, and saves it for later.

This is how Olivia is not supposed to feed the dog.

However, I must admit Dodger saves me a lot of clean up time. By the way, if you are wondering why Olivia has no clothes on, her neat freak Mom removed them before she started in on her messy pizza. She gets dressed again as soon as dinner is over.

Four Generations

Olivia and I were excited to have Grandma Linda, Great Grandma Lane, and Aunt Mindi come for a short visit. The three stayed Friday night and we shopped Saturday afternoon.

Four Generations!

Olivia strikes a pose. Grandma Linda sure is special to us.

Aunt Mindi shares her Reeses bar with Olivia. Aunt Mindi eats the sweetest things!

Olivia wonders how Great Grandma learned to color so well. We know its lots and lots of experience.

Olivia and I were really sad to see them go Saturday evening. Olivia kept looking out the living room window with a puzzled expression, pointing to where Aunt Mindi's car had just been parked. I know she was wondering, "Where'd they go?," and "When will they be back?". I was even more disappointed to see them go. We had lots of fun in the short time they were here.

Water for the Dogs

Olivia was my helper once again this evening. I heard splashing coming from the bathroom and immediately went in to check on Olivia. I realized the toilet seat had been left up and assumed she was playing in the water. Not exactly. . . This time Olivia had Dodger's water bowl and was filling it up with toilet water for her good buddy. I wanted to take a picture, but I didn't want to encourage her.

All She Wants to Do Is Dance, Dance, Dance

Olivia watches and listens to Mickey and Minnie sing a number on Disney's Playhouse.

Pretty soon she is swaying to the beat.

I'll clap my hands and join right in, she thinks!!! This is fun stuff!

Before I know it Olivia is a dancin' fool!!! You can look for her on next season's Dancing with the Stars.

Richard and I feel really bad. We are hoping Olivia miraculously develops some sense of rhythm. However, with the two of us as parents, she might be doomed. Hopefully her cousin Greg can give her dance lessons one of these days.

My Little Helper

Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." Matthew 19:14

Olivia loves to be a helper. She especially enjoys helping Richard feed the dogs in the evening. She has learned to crouch down to maintain her balance when we first let Lucy (our horse-sized black lab), Bandit (our blue healer cow dog), and Dodger (our Cocker spaniel) out of the backyard into the garage. She has already been whacked and knocked down by Lucy's tail, which swings back and forth nonstop, more than once. Lucy is completely oblivious and just happy to have a human around. For some reason, Olivia still feels a special love for all our dogs and she can't wait to feed them every night. The other day, when I was washing my car, I looked in the garage and saw Olivia had opened up the dog's treat container. She took such pride in reaching her hand way in, then stretching her little arm way out to provide each of our canines with a biscuit. The sparkle in her blue eyes just lit up the dark garage. I am not sure how many bones each dog received before I rained on the parade. What a helper!

Later that same day I decided to clean the house up a bit. Olivia was so excited to get her own dust rag. As you can see, she was very serious about her job; she dusted the edge of the table in a circular pattern for a good three minutes. Before I knew it she had grabbed her clean white blanket and was scrubbing away on my hardwood kitchen floor. I was amazed! I am sure she must have learned that one from Miss Margie, her babysitter, because I use a Swiffer and haven't scrubbed the floor on my hands and knees for a long, long time. What a helper!

Last cute example. . . The three of us were shopping at the grocery store today and Olivia insisted on walking down the aisle next to us. While I was busy finding a loaf of bread with a decent expiration date, Olivia was carrying loaf after loaf back to our cart, smushing each package in her arms as she trucked across the aisle. When we walked past the Hostess donuts, her face lit up with a grin and she handed a package to her Daddy. Later on she insisted on carrying my potato chips back to our cart and tossing them in . . . Richard and I smiled at each other as we heard the crunching chips. What a helper!

Who would have believed the little things in life could take on such special meaning and evoke such incredible feelings of joy and love? I wouldn't have believed it 18 months ago. Thanks Little Helper!

Best Mother's Day Ever

Last Sunday was definitely my best Mother's Day ever. I only have two to choose from at this point, but last Sunday couldn't be beat. I bought a bike not long after Richard and I got married, almost four years ago. He had a nice bike and I had great expectations for the two of us. I used it for the very first time on Mother's Day, and if I never use it again it was still worth every penny! We bought a bike trailer for Olivia and headed to the Boise Greenbelt (a path that runs all the way from Garden City, along the Boise River, up to the Lucky Peak reservoir).

It was very strange for me to be back on the Greenbelt. We started our ride at the Riverfront apartments, where I lived when I first moved to Boise, over six years ago. I used to run that path from early spring to late fall and I have so many memories of it. My life was so much different then; I was praying so hard that someday I would have a family of my own to love. Never in a million years did I imagine I would be back, six years later, on a bike, with a daughter as wonderful and sweet as Olivia and a husband as thoughtful and caring as Richard. God answered my prayer and gave me more than I ever dreamed possible. What an incredible Creator we serve, that he hears each of our prayers and answers them in His perfect timing!

When we put Olivia in the trailer, she immediately started crying. However, it didn't take long for her to warm up to the idea. We had a blast and rode all the way to Julia Davis Park. It was so much fun! I wish we could spend every Sunday afternoon that way! Now every morning when we load up in the car to go see Miss Margie, Olivia points to the red trailer and smiles. I can read her beautiful blue eyes and they are saying "Take me again, mom, let's go again".

Before I log off, I do want you all to notice the Dodger love we all showed . . . Yes, Olivia's purple hat does say LA . . . thanks Grama Linda!!!.

Starting Our Blog

I am starting this blog so that our friends and loved ones who seem so far away can share in Olivia's life. I miss you all very much and I wish Richard, Olivia, and I lived closer. Olivia is so much fun and I want to share the joy she brings us with you. I really don't know what I am doing, but I'm going to give it a shot. I was trying to get her to "strike a pose" for us last week so I could get some cute candid shots. She struck a pose and did so much more. She never lets me down! What a ham! Thanks Aunt Gloria for the new threads to model!

Later that day Olivia found Dodger's quiet space. "Look Mom! I found Dodger under my crib! He is so excited to see me . . . I just know it!" She may not say it in so many words, but I'm sure that's what she's thinking.

Okay, maybe it's a bit crowded under here. On to bigger, better things.


Well, it's taken me two and a half hours to type just over a paragraph and post 3 pictures. If no one else ever looks at our blog, I know Grama Linda, Grandpa Ed, and Aunt Mindi will appreciate the hard work. Tomorrow, maybe we'll do Mother's Day.