Let's Wrassle!

Sadie and Grant at their finest. Who needs a TV?

Yinzers!

So these next several posts are going in reverse chronological order.
First up, our most recent trip: Pittsburgh. We drove down last Saturday to visit cousins Stacy and Kristin and her awesome kids. Cameron was selling over in Altoona or someplace, and Spencer is still in Afghanistan. (PS - Stacy & Kristen please send pics since Nat did not take any good ones)

We spent Saturday afternoon at the Carnegie Science Center.

All the kids had a ball.

There was a cool submarine docked in the river that we got to explore. Most of us felt a little claustrophobic. Grant apparently enjoyed it immensely.

Although we don't have a picture, if you want to imagine Grant's face immediately after the very loud demonstration of the 10 ft tall Tesla coil, picture the exact OPPOSITE of the above. It was a little scary.

Now the title of this post needs a little explanation. "Yinz" is apparently a Pittsburgher contraction for the PA Dutch expression "you-uns", which is a distortion of "you ones", which is essentially a northeast rural version of y'all. So Pittsburghers are often called yinzers. I had heard about this but had never seen it in action. Until this trip. We went out to eat all together, and with 4 adults and 5 kids 1 1/2 to 7 it was a little hard to seat us. The hostess was very nice and kept coming over and apologizing and explaining that they were trying to get some tables together. At one point I swear, she used "y'all", "yinz", and "youse guys" all in one sentence. That pretty much made my night.

Of course, after dinner we made the obligatory dash through IKEA and found a b-day present for Grant. We all chilled at Stacy's place until late, hoping the kids would pass out once at the hotel and let us sleep in. Bright and early, 6:30 the next morning the kids woke up and started demanding breakfast. Four showers, a packed car, two unintentional detours, and a 30 minute wait outside IHOP later we were all satiated.

Tutti-fruity destruction

Tenille thought it would be 'fun' to visit the 'Cathedral of Learning'. Right, Nat thought, that'll be really 'fun'. :/ He ate his sarcastic words.

The internets took this picture. It is huge.

The Cathedral of Learning a functional classroom and office building for UPitt. It's basically Hogwarts inside.

There are 20 some-odd 'Nationality' rooms each decorated in intricate detail as an homage to a distinct cultural heritage. Really amazing stuff. Israel had a cool Qumran Isaiah Scroll replica, Wales had some illegible plaque in Welsh, India had carved stone columns, Englan had lots of stain glass crests, etc etc. Each one was like a mini-museum of cultural WIN.

Gryffindor!!! I mean Lithuania!

Grant gets excited to learn he is 1/32 Norwegian, in the Norway room.

"All stern of look and strong of limb," Grant takes in the noble African room.

Sadie slept through the whole Cathedral experience, so here's a consolation shot of her and her golden locks.

Rag-a-muffin

New sprouts

Nathaniel is proud he has gotten the green back in his thumb. He swears it is the apartment living that turned it black. That doesn't account for the Springville garden disaster though... but that's another story. Here are some pics of the latest in tender vegetation around here.

Nathaniel's few-odd dozen Ginkgo seedlings after having spent the winter being cold-stratified in the fridge. He thinks he's going to be able to sell these on Ebay someday.

The half dozen Orchids Nathaniel bought and made us transport back from our last visit to Candace are all still alive AND they all have new growth!

Tenille is exceptionally proud of her first seed-grown plants EVER! Pansies, heh...

The piece de resistance... an 8x4 foot half-raised bed Bob helped Nathaniel build. It's all planted with a few kinds of tomatoes, peppers, cucumber, zuccini, canteloupe, and various herbs! The tomatoes are already starting to fruit! Tenille is actually EXCITED to eat TOMATOES. This is huge people. Yoooge.

*Wink*

Sadie's newest favorite thing...

Our last post showcased Sadie's love of food. Sadie's other love is climbing. Chairs, couches, windowsills, cupboards, highchairs. Just earlier this week Nathaniel watched as Sadie figured out how to shimmy up the claw-leg of our kitchen table, hoist herself onto a chair, scootch across the seat until she could stand triumphantly at la mesa. Nathaniel decided to intervene as she swung her leg up onto the tabletop.

Here are some videos of her first real attempts at walking. Following those are some pics of her going to new heights... the powder room sink. Having congregated in the hallway after church we all turned around in surprise to see Sadie vaulting herself into the wash basin.

Hmmm... Here i go!

Uh-oh! Someone's watching me!

Oh! You have a camera! *pose*

A Few of Sadie's Favorite Things

Sadie basically has two favorite things: EATING and CLIMBING.

First, Sadie loves to eat.  Anything and everything she can get her hands on ends up in her mouth--toys, dirt, and sometimes food.  She seems to prefer the salty to the sweet.

She's incredibly independent and insists upon feeding herself, which makes for a not-so-tidy clean-up. . . especially when she rubs macaroni and cheese in her eyes.  I've started removing her clothes before letting her eat; the bib just wasn't doing a good enough job.

She also loves to climb.  Lately she's taken to holding mom's fingers while she tries to walk up the stairs.

But life is always best when you can combine your two favorite things.  In Sadie's case, this means climbing in the high chair while eating.  Yes, I do buckle her in but she seems to be a mini Houdini.  Needless to say, eating time requires some vigilance on our part.

 

Maybe someday my sweet little girl will learn how to obey when I tell her to sit down.  For now, I'll consider myself blessed to have a cute little girl who loves food; although, I'm not sure where she puts it all. 

Springtime Pictures

None of the pictures do Sadie's hair justice; it's a curly mess most days.  We love it!

Better than a puppy!

It's funny how Sadie follows Grant around like a little puppy. She vacuums up every crumb or bit of lint we fail to sweep out of her path. She chews books and papers and shoes. She slobbers a ton, and if we're not careful she's been known to piddle on the rug. She even learns new tricks! Here's a few of her most recent achievements.

Pushing the fire truck (she bonks her head at the end, but she's OK!)




Waving, Soooo big, and folding arms!

One Last Post Before the Start of a New Semester

Although I would like to say that I plan to post more this semester, I think we all know that it is not going to happen.  But honestly, I would rather spend my free time with my kids.  So, I'll post pictures whenever I get the chance. 

You might notice that the pajamas on Christmas Eve are not the same as the pajamas on Christmas.  We had a case of the Christmas Flu.

 

Sadie enjoyed the box that we gave her, but Grant still hasn't used his potty.