Halloween Parade

Just a few pics from the Ft. Meyer Halloween Parade...yesterday's prelude to tonight's big event.


Marshall thought this dragon was a big stuffed animal and kept going back to pet it. Good thing the knight didn't mind!



Seriously eyeing his octopus friend's sucker



Getting some tips from a colleague




Walking with Daddy in the Parade

"OK, Dad, enough of this parade. I've got to get back to the kitchen."

Paris...

...with a toddler!

What a trip! David and I thought it was a shame that our little Foreign Service kid hadn’t yet traveled overseas so we decided to take advantage of a business trip of David’s to introduce Marshall to the adventures of international travel. We figured Paris would be an easy-ish trip to do with a little one. And we were right.

All in all it was great! David was there for over a week before we arrived so he had already scoped out the nearest grocery store, worked out logistics for us and arranged for a Euro-style Pack N Play to be set up in the room when we arrived. The flight to Paris went well. We purchased a seat for Marshall so he was able to sleep for a few hours in his car seat, then in my lap for part of the flight, and back into the safety of his car seat for landing. We hopped into a cab and were off to the hotel where David met us and, after we got a bit settled in, we all headed out for lunch and a little stroll around the neighborhood.

On our first night in town, we went for a walk (David for a jog) on the Champs du Mars -- the park beneath the Eiffel Tower. Marshall liked the big tower so much that he didn’t want to walk away from it and insisted I carry him so he could watch it over my shoulder. Then he promptly fell asleep in my arms. Maybe he was just too tired to walk!

First Morning in Paris – looks like a long, hard sleep! He slept through David getting ready for work and leaving (so did I), David calling to tell us breakfast would be delivered soon, two leisurely cups of coffee for me, breakfast for me, CNN International and finally he began to wake up saying, “Pop, Pop, Gzi- Gzi” (Pops & Zannie are David’s parents). I guess he figured if he woke up not in his own bed, he must be at their house.

This is the life – a huge breakfast delivered to our room every morning! I’m sure the very nice folks downstairs were glad to bring it up so Marshall didn’t destroy the breakfast room.


Lots of our time was spent walking and playing around the Eiffel Tower. The big, green spaces are great and they even had several playgrounds.

Chasing Pigeons is such fun – the French kids seemed to enjoy it too!

With the Eiffel Tower behind us, Marshall heads back toward our hotel near the Ecole Militaire.

On Sunday, David had the day off so we spent the day together walking around this beautiful city.

Our last day in town – a long and rainy walk up the stairs to the Sacre Coeur – beautiful, but the view of Paris would have been much better if it hadn’t been raining.

More From the Kitchen

Bruschetta from my very own tomatoes and basil...yum.

Small servings as I don't have much that is ripe yet and the squirrels seem to get to the ripe ones first, but I'm having fun trying to get enough to enjoy.

Poor Dogs

They have to tolerate so much. This morning they turned into mountains for Marshall's car & tractor to drive over. Poor, poor, patient dogs.

At least he also sunggles with them and gives them kisses when he's finished using them as roads.

First Fruits

My little garden is growing and the squash runneth over. Just yesterday, Marshall and I picked this whole bowlful of crookneck. I'm thinking it is squash casserole for dinner tonight.

The tomatoes are another story. I've been watching the green tomatoes get bigger and bigger for what seems like weeks now, but the color never seems to change. Yesterday, I noticed one that was ripening and decided it could use just one more day. This plant is called a Lemon Boy. Looks good, right?

Until you turn it over and see the big, black, squishy spot.

After cutting around the bad spot, this is what I have left.

Looks like David and I will each only get a little sprinkle of home grown tomato on our salads tonight. I think I can supplement with some tasty little store-bought grape tomatoes. Still waiting for the big red ones to ripen....

Now You're Cooking!

Or to complete Grandpa Bud's frequent saying, "Now he's cooking on the front burner!"

So it could use a little repair work and maybe even a paint job, but he seems to like it and I am very excited about Marshall's new little kitchen - especially since it cost us less than $40 (and a pretty long drive to pick it up).

For now, he's using the same kitchen things of mine that he's been playing with/taking in and out of cabinets for a while, but someday we'll get him some pots, pans, dishes, etc... no rush on that, though, since his main focus at the moment is loading and unloading the shelves & drawer. Making me dinner is a little beyond him at the moment. Oh well...

Adventures in Eating

Marshall is mastering the art of taking bites off of things. Oddly, one of these yellow foods was much easier to bite than the other...and it isn't the one you would think.

Yep, corn on the cob was the easy one. I held it for him for the first few bites then he went to town on his own. What doesn't show in the photos is that after biting into the corn, he was sucking/slurping the corn juice. Nice!

Bananas are much more complicated - which end?

Maybe this end?

Or this one...

Yum!

I know. I'm sure I'm posting too many photos of Marshall in his high chair, but he makes me laugh.

And for Aunt Carol....watch out for the rattlesnake in our hallway!

Working in the Yard

Such a beautiful day today that Marshall, the dogs and I had to go out and "work" in the yard. He tried using the new mower Pops and Zannie brought for him this weekend.

Now, if only I could get this thing started!


Works best in reverse!

Daisy, I'll kick it and you bring it back...or you can just sniff it if you prefer.



Happy Birthday, Zannie!!!

Ready for the Spoon?

Spoon + Cup of Yogurt + Mom willing to clean a big mess = Big Time Baby Fun

Enough with the spoon. Now its time to practice drinking from a "cup."

I'll brag on him a bit. Marshall did surprisingly well for his first real solo attempt with a spoon. I gave him a little help at the beginning then he seemed to get the hang of it and hit his mouth almost everytime. After he finished eating and had finally given me the "bowl" and spoon, he kept doing the spooning motion over and over -- too funny. Glad he can continue practicing and keep the mess to a minimum.

Squirrel Cake, Anyone?

It was supposed to be Hummingbird Cake, not Squirrel Cake, but nobody told that to the little creature who showed up on my window ledge to help with the baking.

Maybe he knew they were going to turn into sunflowers!

So this weekend, David's folks came up for a visit and, because I love to come up with fun projects I don't have time for while neglecting housework I should be doing, I decided to make hummingbird cupcakes (for Pops) decorated like sunflowers (for Zannie). Sort of a Happy Birthday to Y'all and Thanks For All the Help.

If you will all pardon my self congratulations, I think they came out looking pretty cute and the cake tasted OK, but I wasn't expecting it to be quite as banana-y as it was. The banana totally overwhelmed the coconut, pineapple and pecans that were also in the cake and sounded so tasty to me. For my money, it might as well have just been banana cake...and I got my recipe from Martha Stewart so it should have been just perfect! If that is what Hummingbird cake is supposed to taste like, then I'll stick to Grandma Johnson's Banana Bread! The flowers looked OK, but that sure is a lot of colored icing - maybe a bit too much.

All in all it was a fun experiment and I might try silly overly decorated cupcakes again, but only for a party or a bigger group - no one wants to eat more than one with all that icing. Oh yeah, and with so much icing and cookies too, it seems like sticking to a basic cake might be smarter....but at least the squirrels seemed interested in my experiment.

What an Easter!

Lots, lots more to share, but this will have to do for now (9:30 on Easter night).

What a beautiful day we had for celebrating such a blessed event! After church, Marshall had a great time hunting Easter eggs (thanks for the lessons, Hope, Cowboy, Lyndsey & Emily!) or was it strolling among the wildflowers (thanks for the lessons, Grandma Pal).

Whichever, he had fun!

More to come - including many Texas and North Carolina pics, Easter basket fun (including Peeps, Jodie), and much more. Hope I get it all posted one of these days.

We had such a great time visiting with all the family in Texas and NC. Thank you all for your hospitality. It was great to get home and see Dad/David, but we miss seeing all of you!

The Letter of the Day is "D"

In fact, D is not only the letter of the day, but also the letter of the week, the letter of the month and, well, you get the idea.

I think I can honestly say that Marshall says two words now. Maybe four. They all start with D even if they don't.

For sure words:
Dada - definitely means Daddy, but also seems to be a good word to use for lots of other things.
Dye-dye - bye-bye - which is getting lots of lots of use this week

Sometimes words:
Dah-do - Fado
Day-dee - Daisy

What can I say? The kid likes the sound of D.

Funny thing is that he makes all kinds of other sounds when he is reading, pretending to talk on the phone, playing in his bed, etc.. I heard a whole host of sounds, but when he wants to talk to us, it is all about the D.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Some of us seemed to like celebrating with the little green hat more than others.