Broccoli Boy

We call him Broccoli Boy!

Cleaning the Tank

Abby and Will are busy cleaning the aquarium!

Out

Saturday morning tennis and swimming lessons wear a boy out!

Swimmer of the Week

What is Abby's favorite thing about being Swimmer of the Week, you ask? The giant chocolate bar!!!!

Our Little Cowboy

Will's a single dad for the next three days while I'm on a work trip. He started the day off well by putting together this outfit for Daniel's preschool's cowboy/cowgirl day.

My BFF and Me

I spent my day hanging out with my BFF watching the inaugaration festivities! I do love our democracy!!

This Cracks Me Up Everytime!

Daphne so would love to get through the cat's door to steal her dinner...

Brats

Abby is a fussy eater. She used to love brats, but recently has decided that she HATES brats. Sometimes it is difficult to keep up with Abby's dietary likes and dislikes.

But in the last week she has made it EXTREMELY clear that she HATES brats. Given how completely melodramatic she has been behaving, we couldn't resist having a little fun at her expense...

This is Abby giving the evil eye to the brat that Will set before her at lunch today.

And this is Abby's reaction a few seconds later when Will told her that she was actually having a hot dog for lunch instead of the brat.

Chapter Book Number Two

Earlier this month, Daniel and I finished reading The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary. Tonight, Will and Daniel finished reading The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner.

Monopolization -- Abby-Style

 Abby LOVES to play Monopoly and she LOVES to destroy her opponents! She has one strategy and one strategy ONLY. She doesn't buy anything she lands on until landing on the two properties that we think of as Boardwalk and Park Place. (In the Star Wars version we played last weekend, they are known as Jabba's Palace and Ziro's Palace.)

It's seems like a risky strategy, but EVERY.SINGLE.TIME it somehow works and Abby's opponents go bankrupt and she GLOATS!

Mira (and Daniel too)

Our cat Mira is getting old and frail. Sometimes when I see her lying on the couch in an awkward position, I lean in to make certain she is still breathing. Sometimes she opens her eyes and fusses at me.

We still have a few Christmas boxes sitting about and I've been reminded that for whatever reasons, cats (and Daniels) like to sit in boxes!

Our Little Athlete

Last Saturday, Daniel and Will had their first father/son tennis lesson. They had their second lesson this morning. Daniel thinks it is great and told Will that he (Daniel) is a pro because he knows what he is doing. (Daniel is also taking tennis once a week during the school day through his preschool.)

And this morning he also started swimming lessons again. He wasn't very keen on getting into the water at first. But once he was in, he grinned the entire time -- even when going under water. Will grimaced and said he wished Daniel would close his mouth when he goes under! But Daniel came up still grinning and didn't seem to mind at all!

Baking

Grandma and Grandpa Engelhardt gave us their new church cookbook for Christmas. (They both have recipes published in the book.) Recently, Abby has been testing their recipes and has proven to be a pretty good baker!

After putting Grandpa's banana bread in the oven, she called to let him know she had just baked it.

A few days later, Abby made Grandma's peanut butter cookies. She forgot to add the brown sugar, but they turned out rather tasty anyway!!

Reading by the Fire

Yesterday Will finished reading the Lord of the Rings trilogy to Abby. This was the final of three series Will wanted to read to Abby (Chronicles of Narnia, Harry Potter, and the Lord of Rings). Abby wants Will to start another series, but he is unsure what that will be. (Any suggestions would be appreciated.)

Tonight I watched Abby at the bookshelf, curious what she'd choose. She selected The Two Towers (the second book in the Lord of the Rings trilogy). The girl loves to re-read her favorite books -- over and over again.

The dog seems to enjoy it too.