Nice Spring Day

We had our first really nice day today...about 75 degrees and sunny. I enjoyed letting Sophia play with the hose. She occupied herself for 45 minutes while getting soaked. Oh-well, I have a large, domestic-sized washer and dryer now that really comes in handy.

She is actually about to blow water that she just chugged from the hose...notice the 'chipmunk' cheeks. The term wet does not describe her. She truely had a blast though.


"Wow! So water squirts out real fast and messy when you try to plug the opening with a finger." She was rather surprized!

This is right before I stripped her. Yes, that is some kind of filth/dirt on her nose and face. Most likely from the sandbox. Sophia just loves getting dirty. I actually caught her the other day crawling under a shrub in the dirt because she had seen Cootie kitty go between the house and the shrub. Needless to say that her diaper was full of dirt and bark.

Comfy Chair

Just a picture of Sophia getting comfy in her pink chair with blankie and lamb-lamb.


She loves David Kirk's Miss Spider books. She is reading it here. You can try to read the whole thing to her but, she'll only let you get so far before she swipes it and reads for herself. I think she just likes turning the pages and saying the words to the images she is seeing.

When Finger Painting goes South

I was actually smart enough to strip her entirely of her clothing, sans a diaper. And fortunately, her highchair is very easy to wipe down. Painting on the paper lasted all of 30 seconds and then she discovered it was more fun to paint on herself. I just let it go, why bother when it cleans up nicely. Hmmm, "pick your battles" says the little voice of reason (in my head).



"I need more paint for dipping, right about here Momma!" By the way, those are stickers that you see stuck all over her hand and chest. She really only tried to eat the paint once. She liked the feel of it on her lips I think. I had to remind her that it wasn't for eating, "yuck".


This is the face after she proceeded in smearing the paint everywhere else on her face because I had given her a boundary. Yes, that is a look of defiance, and I do believe that John and I are in for a long, hard struggle :) in our battle of the wills. This look was also one of "stop taking pictures Momma and wipe this stuff off". One lesson I learned was that next time, we'll paint right before bath because the wiping off of the paint was not a highlight for Sophia.

Lovin' this Chalk

Sophia is really enjoying her sidewalk chalk. She uses both her left and right hands to write/color with. Luckily the dust has been coming out of her clothes completely. And no worries Lynna, it comes off the sidewalk easily too.


Thanks for my new vest Grandma and Grandpa Barson. My legs are a little too short to wear the pants just yet. I am stylin' now!

Easter Greeting

Hoppy Easter

Yes, I know and don't want to hear about it. It has been a while since my last post. We have been sooooooo busy. So little time!
Anyway, here are a few pictures from Sophia's egg hunt on Easter. The Easter bunny gave her three M-n-M's and three jelly beans in each plastic egg. She actually only ate maybe a total of 4 pieces. We shared them with her over the course of the last few weeks. She also got finger paints, stickers, sidewalk chalk, and a new coloring book in her basket.

Ahah! Found the first one.

She asked (told) us to carry her bucket/basket within minutes of starting her egg hunt.

Maybe my shovel will help excavate this purple egg...or maybe I am just getting distracted with playing in the sand.

The chalk was a big hit. She calls it 'colie'.

"What, you say I'm getting colder...no eggs over here?"

Pathetic, but oh so good...

Every year I eagerly anticipate the coming of Spring. Not for the blooming flowers, sunny skies, or warm temperatures, but for the arrival of Girl Scout cookies. This pathetic addiction is fueled by the creation of my version of a 'Smores'. I take a Do-si-do (peanut butter sandwich cookie, like Nutter Butters) and gently peel it apart leaving the peanut butter on one side. Meanwhile, I turn on the broiler in my oven. I then slather a heaping teaspoon of Nutella (chocolate hazelnut spread) onto one half of the open cookie. I thread a large marshmallow onto a metal skewer, and lightly toast it under the broiler. Once heated through then I place the marshmallow on a cookie half, join the top, and savor the goodness. Ooey, gooey, peanut butter chocolatey cookie goodness. Don't knock it 'till you try it!

Whipped Cream

When Gamma came to visit us last weekend she brought a truck-load of groceries from Trader Joe's (thanks Gamma). She included a can of the Rockview Farms Sweetened Whipped Cream, which is really tasty stuff. Like her DaDa, Sophia enjoys taking hits straight from the can. I am sure you can imagine who taught her that. (Actually, it was me...I confess) Anyway, this was just a fun way for her to continue practicing eating with a bowl and spoon. I filled one of her tea cups with the cream and she went to town.




"Yummy whipped cream goes here!"












"Doesn't get much better than this."

Deodorant...yummy!!!

Well, we made our first phone call to the poison control center a few days ago. Yep, Sophia got ahold of Dada's 'Old Spice' and gnawed a good portion off the top corner. We were able to find most of the chunks that were spit out by the TV. She had quite a bit melted all over her face. Unfortunately, DaDa got a time-out for his part in this mess, and Sophia got cleaned. Neither of them were too happy about their punishment.

Green Food Immersion Therapy

This scene is what I like to call “green immersion therapy”, and Sophia is putting on a brave (disgusted) face for the camera. You see, she has started refusing to eat all vegetables (except tomato in the form of marinara). You all know about the green juice that she drinks to score some descent nutrients. I guess I went a bit overboard this time. She does often eat avocado (technically a fruit) and sometimes kiwi fruit, depending on the tartness. I just thought this was pretty funny with the green peas, avocado, and kiwi (which she was juicing through her clenched fists).

Walking the Cat...er, dragging the cat

No animals were harmed in the capturing of this photograph! Yes, this is as pathetic as it looks. I have a harness and leash for the cats. I usually walk the cats around for a few weeks in this 'get-up' to get the acclimated to their new yard so that they don't bolt when they get a bit more freedom. Sophia thought this was hysterical. She insisted on trying to walk BooBoo kitty. Needless to say, he did not cooperate very well and wiggled out of the harness a few times. He was far more interested in eating grass than checking out Sophia's sandbox.

Sophia's First Horse

Here is a photo of Sophia playing with her first "Breyer" horses. I purchased them at the Aslin Finch & Feed Store here in Spokane. She was having a great time trotting them around in the sink. The horse says "neh-he"! Auntie Kim should be proud. My sister actually owned probably 50 of these model horses with their accompanying stables, arena, and jumping courses. This 'pony paradise' was set up all over her bedroom, and I dared not sneeze or I would have been strung-up and quartered if even one hoof was off its mark.

First Hike

After Sophia recovered from her tummy bugs we decided to go on our first hike of the season. There is an area called Dishman Hills Natural Area about 2 miles from our house. It is a neat wildlife area in the middle of Spokane Valley with gentle, sloping hikes. We completed a ~2.2 mile hike, which was just about all that Sophia could handle in the backpack. Luckily there was a huge field with a play area at the end of the hike. She was able to unwind there and play out some of her energy.

This is one of the first blooms I have seen this season. This was up even before the crocus. It is called a 'blue-eyed grass'.

Sophia used the sticks to help guide Dada along the path she preferred. She liked holding sticks and leaves during the hike.

Some views from the hike...the bottom left picture is looking north-northwest into downtown Spokane. The top right picture is looking north-northeast into Spokane Valley (Idaho is just to the east...right). Lots of Pine trees.

A parting shot of the family just before the hike ended. I probably should have taken one beforehand when Sophia was still smiling. She unfortunately learned that trail mix comes with M&M's...now she is thinking back to all the times we just fed her the raisins!