At Last...Spring

It's been a long time coming this year, but we are gradually getting Spring. The lawn is almost green, the Aspen trees are getting leaves, and we are actually baring our legs and arms after a long winter being bundled up. Here are a few pics from the last few warmer weeks...

Now instead of having to find a warm hat to wear to go outside, we have to apply sunscreen. (Aren't those pigtails cute? She rarely allows me to put them in her hair.)

Enjoying a Popsicle on the porch.

Outside the Children's Museum in Helena.

A Montana "beach" at Canyon Ferry Reservoir.

Claire Turns Two

We had a busy week last week as seen by the lengthy slide show. Nate was turkey hunting in South Dakota and Eastern Montana and arrived home Wednesday, right on time for his birthday on Thursday. My parents also arrived Thursday afternoon to help celebrate and in order to be here for Claire's 2nd on Saturday.

For Claire's birthday we did a little sight seeing in Butte and then went to Fairmont Hot Springs for some swimming--as it was cold and snowy off and on--AGAIN. Claire was spoiled with lots of presents and way too much chocolate. She didn't nap in the car like I though she would, so we also had several major meltdowns that showed a two-year old temper in force...and she has one.

My parents got to see both the vivacious and loving side of Claire and the tempestuous tyrant. At this age Claire loves to draw and color, watch the old Mickey Mouse cartoons on youtube, play with her kitchen, climb and jump, swing and slide, and eat "treats." Her more trying habits include throwing lay down-on-the-ground-tantrums (including in public), yelling "Go Away!" at people when she's mad, and making up things to tattle about when she's mad--mostly saying things like "Mommy HIT me" or "Daddy pushed me" and even "Grandma hit me!" (Can't wait for her to spring that one on the doctor at a check-up.)

Easter Trip to Denver

Claire and I took advantage of the long Easter weekend by making a trip to Denver to visit our good friends Jane and Trevor Nydam and their twins, Elsie and Jess, who are only a few months older than Claire. We took advantage of some of the city amenities we don't have around here by going to the Museum, the Denver Zoo, downtown, and eating some great Mexican and Indian food, not to mention the Easter dinner we made after church. Jess and Elsie were great about sharing all their toys and favorite places with Claire, and sharing motherhood with Jane made the weekend great for me. Hard to believe we met over 10 years ago in Rooks Dorm at Calvin! Thanks Nydams!

I'm going to cheat a litle here; Jane has even more great photos and comments on the weekend on her blog....click the link below.

http://www.jnydam.blogspot.com/

Visit with Nema

We had a great visit with Nate's mom last weekend. She certainly spoiled Claire for her early 2nd birthday and had lots of time to show Claire how to use her new toys. One of Claire's favorite activities now is bring us little cups of tea and cookies from her kitchen. Susan babysat one morning which allowed us time to head up to the Missouri where, thanks to Nate's expertise, I caught my biggest trout to date. The weather turned the next day and we had quite a spring blizzard. We hope when Nema comes back in July we'll actually have some green and sunshine! Thanks for all the gifts and love, Nema!

Assembly Required

Nate's mom was kind enough to order Claire a kitchen set for her birthday. Since she will be visiting this week, we'll celebrate her birthday a month early. One of the "joys" of parenting we've come to "appreciate" is toy assembly (and by "we" I mean Nate). I'd have to say this one beats all the others. As kids age does the assembly get exponentially more complicated?


Three hours, three beers, and a few curse words later!

A little break from winter

Though it's snowing again as I type this, we did manage a brief outing Saturday between bits of bad weather. We got in a short hike at Headwaters' State Park--the origin of the Missouri River. We've been so cooped up I was even looking forward to a trip to the grocery store after church on Sunday. Of course after Claire started having her normal tantrum about wanting out of the cart I remembered why I usually DON'T look forward to grocery shopping!

Cabin Fever

It's snowing outside. Again. It's been snowing off and on since Thursday. This morning's temp was -9 degrees. Isn't March supposed to be Spring? Why do they have pastel colors in all the stores and cute little sundresses? We've gone swimming, gone to the museum, played music, DVDs, puzzles, dolls, baked cookies, and read books. We're experiencing a little cabin fever around here. The picture below is a pretty good summary. Those of you who know me and my anti-clutter phobias might be surprised to see the living room in such disarray...it's been in some stage of this for a week. It doesn't help that all the other schools around here have Spring Break next week and we don't get one. I'm dreaming of a hike in Moab's warm red rock canyons right now...

We've even resorted to playing dress up with the dog, Hemingway, for amusement.

Claire, of course, is as cute as ever.