fruit clock

our science experiment...a fully functional, fruit powered clock!

kentucky moonshine

mmm, mmm, good!

many thanks to dairy queen's chocolate malt for teaching emma how to use a straw.

oh, did i already post that she is now crawling (as of last wednesday)? she's improving her hand/knee/leg coordination each day and quickly gaining speed when she crawls. now we're in for it...

satu lagi (one more time)

just wanted to point out, real quick, 2 new links i added. they are both to blogs re: indonesian recipes/cuisines. i'm REALLY stoked at finding them! came across them as i was trying to add to my list of 100 indonesian foods/bevs./snacks...a game i'm doing for eyang's (my grandmother) birthday this summer. oooh...it's making me hungry :).

happy st.patrick's day

the boys in their kilts before going out for some st. patrick's day celebration. most (or perhaps all) of the bars in lakewood have been open since at least 7 a.m. some were offering free or inexpensive breakfast buffets, while one particular bar was offering 10 cent beers starting at 6 a.m. increasing by 10 cent increments every hour.

new faces

go figure, today is cloudy and rainy...the fickle weather kind of reminds me of seattle-i think that's a good thing :). at least it's still warm so i don't mind the dreariness as much....must drink more coffee....

it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood

it was such a beautiful day today...sunny, warm (up to mid-60s i think)...you know the kind of weather that tells you spring is coming, and summer is just around the corner. anyway, emma and i took a walk in the afternoon to the coffee shop, where i enjoyed a delicious iced americano while she drank her milk and snacked on some Joe's Os (trader joe's version of cheerios). we people watched for a bit then went outside to say hello to a dog named webster. once we got home, we played in the front walkway while tyler did his homework (outside too). it was a nice change for all of us.

emma, aaron & i also went to the doctor's today for our daughter's 9 mos. check up. she's developing normally though she didn't increase in weight or height. it was a little odd since she's been eating so much more food from her last visit at 6 mos. we were told it could be because she's decreased her breastfeeding (only 3 times/day now) significantly, and that i actually may not be producing enough anymore. so the weaning has begun a little sooner than i anticipated. i'm a little sad, but also relieved that she will probably self-wean as opposed to having me help her stop. on the plus side, we've been told to increase her calorie intake (though not food servings) and can serve her almost all the food we eat. i know she will really enjoy that since she really enjoys eating her food (she is probably the happiest when she's eating).

oh, and one other thing...ms. emma's picture is posted in the gallery section of clothing co. for biracial kids: http://www.swirlsyndicate.com/gallery/gallery.html.

more fundraising

fundraising time again for tyler. this one is actually raising money for his school. i'm not sure how long this is going on, but if you want to order something, click on this link:
http://www.malleys.com/?id=80099190-ead8-4370-9ece-be650563d50e

the fundraiser is sponsored through malley's chocolates, a local chocolate co. here in cleveland. they make their own chocolates (i highly recommend the dark chocolate break-up bars), ice creams and candies from their factory in cleveland. there's actually a store walking distance from our house that also has a little ice cream parlor. anyway, chocolate is good...

crawling...almost

emma's been up on her hands and knees for the past few months now, but not crawling yet, though she does travel. she hasn't quite figured out how to coordinate her hands and knees to crawl, so instead she propels herself forward off of both knees (kind of frog-like) OR she kind of flops forward from her hands and knees (think dead fish flopping) to get somehwere. she enjoys her new found mobility, but does get frustrated when she doesn't get to her destination fast enough.

on another note...i am done with winter. last week i was taunted with spring-like weather, but of course i am only left with a taste. we are now expecting more dumb snow and more dumb FREEZING cold weather, and my dumb car has a dead battery which we MUST change soon. blech. i think i just like snow when i don't have to live in it. snow is beautiful and wonderful when you know you don't have to stick around for the whole winter season, but when you have to take an extra 15 min. to warm-up, de-ice and remove the piles of snow on your car just to go a few blocks...well, that takes the cake! i am dreaming of warm (very warm), sunny weather.....

one saturday outing

what do we do when it's cold (and i mean VERY cold), crappy and cloudy outside? go to the mall for some cheap, family entertainment. i know it sounds silly, but really...taking a walk in 10-20 degree weather is not what we call family fun-especially for the wee babe. so we made our own fun at the mall...emma got to ride on a giraffe, tyler found some unidentified limbs, then we took a reading break at one of the bookstores. we had a great time!

niagara falls holiday

niagara falls photos are now posted on our website-click on "our website" under links. it was cold and not at all a winter getaway, but we had a great time nonetheless.