Tales from the City #2

So I was out for a walk last night with my friend, Leslie.  She's a Certified Naturalist for the state of Virginia and is always Cliff Clavin-ing about various local flora and fauna facts.  She also has an eye for things that I would have never observed, so it's fun to have her around.  

We were walking past a big tree in our local park and all of sudden she goes, "Stop!  Listen to that Mockingbird."  So we silenced ourselves to hear the sweet tweeting of one of America's most beloved birds.  

What was it mimicking, you ask?  

A variety of car alarm sounds - one after the other.  

Apparently, the astute journalists at the Onion had already discovered this.

Wicked cool accent

John is a unique kid with a unique voice.  It's deep and yet he sings in falsetto.  There are certain letters that he can't pronounce and it makes him sound like he's from Boston.  Not to mention, he's got a goofball sense of humor, so enjoy these quotes from our sweet John...

"Hey, Mom!  Yook at dat big pie of DIT!"  

Translation:  "Hey, Mom!  Look at that big pile of DIRT!"

"Dat side - it banned me."

Translation:  "That slide - it burned me."

"Yuts fo Yunch?"

Translation:  "What's for lunch?"

"Yuts fo bez-ZIT?"

Translation:  "What's for dessert?"

"I'm fisty fo yada."

Translation:  "I'm thirsty for water."

"In da bedinning, Dod teated da heavens and da irf.  Genesis Yun Yun."

Translation:  "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.  Genesis 1:1."

"Dank you, Dod, fo mommy and fo daddy and fo me and fo Yeah and fo Baby Noyell.  Amen."

And my personal favorite is a little song he made up himself (sung in falsetto with eyebrows raised and his little neck stretched forward.)

Da Bible says, "Hosanna! Hosanna!"

Da Bible says, "Don't do dat!  Don't do dat!"

Gotta love that kid.  

Tales from the City #1

A couple of friends encouraged me to do some themed posts after hearing this story.  So here is "A Tale from the City" - a slice of life in Washington DC.

On our way to a family outing at the pool last Saturday we saw the street that we usually park on blocked off.  The woman standing by the cones told us that we'd have to park somewhere else because this was where all the parade floats were lining up.  So we parked a few blocks away, got all our stuff and kids and wondered as we walked toward the pool what holiday we were forgetting that would constitute blocking off a street for a parade.  The shirtless man in very short shorts and a spiked neck collar gave us a clue.  

We proceeded to parade our naive, wide-eyed children through a sea of glam, Wham, and LOTS of rainbows.  Leah kept asking what everyone was dressed as and with my brief, generic answers, she reasoned that this must be a Halloween parade.  

At the very end were She-men dressed in their finest sequins, wigs and tiaras sitting in the backs of convertibles.  The last one was rather large and sausaged into the brightest, sparkliest red formal dress I've ever seen. Leah looked up at him/her with awe and wonder and said, "Mommy, is she dressed up as a queen?" 

"Why yes, Leah.  Yes she is."

Who's Our Daddy?

Our dad's name is Luke and he really rocks.

He reads us the Bible and teaches us lots.

He takes us for bike rides and swims at the pool.

And he loves our mommy, so that's really cool.

He hugs us and holds us and throws us in the air.

He does so many things that shows us he cares.

Because of all this we are thankful to say:

We love you, dear daddy.  Happy Father's Day!

A day in the life...

Hi.  People tell me that I'm Noelle.  And this is my life...

This is the Milk Lady.  She's AWESOME.  She holds me a lot, helps me burp and feeds me lots of yummy "Na Na."  I like her.  

I finally got an updated picture with the big guy around here, so I wanted to show him off.  He gives me baths and soothes me when I'm fussy.  He's pretty cute too.

I sleep much of the day.  It's exhausting.

These are the other little people in the house:  Leah and John.  They both like to cuddle with me.  They're kind of aggressive about it, but I sense the love.  

Thanks for reading... so... tired... must... sleep.

Backyard and Ballet

I've been meaning to give Luke public credit for doing a dandy job with the backyard.  I wish we had a "before" picture because our little postage stamp of land had been an eyesore for the better part of 3 years.  It was the final frontier of aesthetic improvements (well, except for the kitchen, but that was another post) and he did a grand job.  Honestly, it turned out much better than I ever expected.  I know, Luke.  You told me so.  

Now we munch on meals outside, whilst the mosquitos munch on us.  

And Leah's taking a free(!) summer ballet class and is LOVING it.  

She's already vying to be teacher's pet and wears a new (hand-me-down) leotard every week.  

John's kind of along for the ride.  One of the benefits of having a big sister, I guess.   

Another one is that your dad will compromise by letting you have one pinky toe painted.