OUR Birdman

Zach "Birdman" Wallace.

I don't think he knows much about Birdman, since our family hopped on the bandwagon late in the season, but he did think it was fun to get tattoos up and down his arms.

Unfortunately, our Nuggets couldn't get past the Lakers last night. Imagine how often we might have Birded-up around here if we'd won?

Go, Nuggets!!

Birdman

Might we have a Birdman here?

"Why is it called 'Minnesota?'"

This wasn't a joke, but I was awaiting a punchline. After I'd reminded myself not to be annoyed by all the whys.

Then, his non-punchline turned out to be pretty funny:

Why is it called Minnesota? ....
It's kind of like "soda."


P.S. It's probably obvious, but this was Zach speaking. Or maybe it's not obvious, and I need to get on the ball with posting some more of Olivia's speech these days. Pretty darn cute, it is.

Zach Joke # One Zillion Seventy-Eight

Zach: Mom, what do you call a tissue dancing in a chair?
Mom: What?
Zach: A DANCING TISSUE, TISSUE!! Hahahahahahahahahahah!


Zach: Mom, what do you call teeth inside a tissue?
Mom: What?
Zach: A dancing tissue teeth!


* * *
Methinks these are his interpretations of the one (thanks, Motherhood) clean (thanks, DeLene!) joke I can remember and told him a while back:

A: How do you make a tissue dance?
B: I dunno. (Bonus points if you think of the same person I do when reading this line.)
A: Put a little boogie in it!

More Historical Society Fun

Gobble, Gobble!

The Joy of Water

Mama and Her Little Shadows

Littleton Historical Society & Bear Creek Picnic

I love that about eight years ago eight couples with no kids met at church and formed a young adult group that has stuck together despite the pull of lots of "real life" experiences. Thanks to Jackie, some of us have begun to meet once a month with as many (here, now!) kids as weather and school permit.

Today we went to the Littleton Historical Society to tour their fantastic *and free!* pioneer village and working farm. Turkeys, goats, mules, and more are right on site. This was my family's first time there, and I know we'll definitely be back. The kids had a ball, and as usual they made their fun. The all-but-empty old barn was quite possibly more exciting than the two-storey, fully stocked house we walked through.

It's so fun to see our little kiddos growing up together. We missed those who couldn't be here today. Here are some more pics. And check back because I have a couple of videos to post soon, too.

From Pioneer Woman Photography

(click title of post to see article)

Then, get in the frame. Now.

“You will have written exceptionally well if, by skillful arrangement of your words,

you have made an ordinary one seem original.”

– Horace

Sneaky

I snuck some in with earlier dates:

Song

Snow! Glorious Snow!

Questions

Did I say we were averaging 5 questions per minute? It's the denial, I promise. It's more like 20:1, or sometimes more than that. And there's something about the confined space of the car that really turns up the frequency.

Not even counting just the incessant, stacatto "why?"s.

This morning, at breakfast, it was all about Spanish:
Mom, what's 'nose' in Spanish?
Me: "Um, I don't know. I'll look it up." Typing into MyFriendGoogle: "English to Spanish translation" then realizing, I don't know how to pronounce Spanish either.
What's finger?
Me: "Deedoe. No, day-doe." If the child would ask me French, it would all be easier. But I'm learning, too, though he'll retain 90% more than I will.
Day-doe. What's 'foot?'
Me thinking: We really need to find a Spanish program. This is good.
What's 'hand?'
Me: Oooo, I know this one. Thanks, Sesame Street. "Mano, Zach."

Sometimes, especially by about 5pm, it's hard to remember that all this inquiry is a blessing. He's a bright little Poppet, who's just trying to soak in the world.

Biker Babe

"I gotta adjust this derailleur cable tension."

Olivia's been receiving package after package these days, as she attempts to fix up her bike for this season's races. Ebay has been her most frequent emailer, and she's watching those bike-part sales like a hawk. On the weekends, she gets in at least one long ride, whether-the-weather-be-fine, or whether-the-weather-be-not. (By "long," I mean 6+ hours.) Her first race is coming up on May 9th, the Front Range 50, down at Bear Creek Lake Park about 3 minutes from us. We'll get to see her several times, as she completes each of the 5 ten-mile laps. Bike season is here, friends.

Oh, yeah. By "Olivia," I mean "Scott."

But don't count her out of the fun. Daddy is The Best. Nobody earns a "welcome home" squeal like he does.

Song

Sung to the tune of "Frere Jacques" (or "Are You Sleeping?"):

Oh la-Livia, oh la-Livia.
Cakes and Pie! Cakes and Pie!

Lolly Dolly Livvy Girl,
Lolly Dolly Livvy Girl.

Cakes and Pie. Cakes and Pie.

We sang this way-back-when LaLivia was just a Biddle Dollit. Oh, wait. She still is. Anyway, we did (and Zach, too) sing this back when she was under the age of one. Now, of course, we realize we should have been singing, "Oh-ah-ee-ih-ah, Oh-ah-ee-ih-ah, Cakes and Pie..."

Melodies bring back the memories just like that *snap*.

When I hear the CD that played non-stop during Zach's first year sleepy-times, I'm lulled into a peaceful fog. And then shocked that I survived on so little sleep. That music, which did not magically induce sleep, played continuously during naptimes, and nighttimes, and on the road trip to Montana, and out at the cottage in the MN humidity, and in the cramped little Vegas hotel room on the computer when Zach was the youngest SuperFan at his Pop's baseball tournament. We only stopped playing it when the curious Poppet had banged on the buttons of the player enough that it finally acquiesced, and played its last lullaby.