Laowai

Ah, after three feverish, fussy days Bea is feeling better. It was nice and warm out so we put on her shoes and went outside…

Then she ate dirt.

“Life is always better when you’re waiting for something to grow or something to hatch.”

Charlotte, from Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)

We are eagerly waiting spring. Today it’s supposed to be close to 50 degrees out. Bea has been a little feverish so we are skipping the gym and going for a walk out by the water. We’ll be looking for little bulbs sprouting and listening for the sounds of busy birds chirping.

This is what we call Peter Lemonjello Salad… or Mormon Funeral Salad. The recipe came from my sister-in-law, Kim. The kitschy look of it delights me. Ever since I bought this old Pyrex dish at a garage sale this summer I’ve been looking forward to making Peter Lemonjello Salad in it. Peter Lemonjello Salad consists of: Lemon Jello, 7-up, marshmallows, banannas, pineapple, gooey sugar and butter filled topping, Cool Whip, maraschino cherries, and walnuts. Yummy. It’s generous to call it a salad.

Here are a few random photos of something else that is sweet:

“Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful”

From William Morris

I think this is my all time favorite quote. If you follow this quote’s advice the ugly things in your home should be very useful. Of course it’s much more fun to aspire to have items that are beautiful and useful.

Here’s a little item that I find beautiful and useful:

“Let us hope that we are all preceded in this world by a love story.”

From Author Don Snyder, Of Time and Memory

Okay – so I think I developed a habit when I did my 30 days of photos. So I need a new little project as an excuse to post. I have several quotes hanging around that ring true to me – I’ll be posting them each day. If you have a favorite quote please leave it in a comment, I’d love to hear it.

This romantic quote is from a recent favorite movie called Sweet Land. The ironic thing is that the movie is about an arranged marriage in 1920s Minnesota. If you like big Midwest landscapes, sweeping views of farmland and strong silent-type farmers you should see this movie.

Today Bea and I took a field trip to the Art Institute of Chicago. I wanted to see a new exhibit on Ed Ruscha, a photographer and painter. The exhibit was mostly photos taken in the 1960s. They were little black and white photos – the subjects were groups of gas stations or apartment buildings or parking lots from above. He made the sets of photos into little books. They wouldn’t be half as impressive if they weren’t presented as a series. Lots of them featured interesting typography. I thought mostly about how he took the photos and the fact that he didn’t have the immediate feedback of a digital camera. He had to carefully make the composition in his camera’s little viewfinder and then wait until the photos were developed before he knew if he had a good photo. We also saw some of the modern art galleries with big, bold, colorful paintings. I thought Bea would enjoy the modern art but I think she likes people watching most of all.

We had to head over to Millennium Park and take some very touristy photos next to the bean sculpture before we headed home. It’s very cool. You can go inside it and it kind of scoops up and you see your reflection dotted all over a thousand times. It’s best to see it on a cloudy cold March day because in the summer it’s a mob scene.

Yesterday my baby left me and in her place… a toddler. Yes, she walks. So far she hasn’t taken too many steps and she hasn’t realized the possibilities that come along with walking. She’s still in tune to crawling and being close to the ground. And yet she gets this huge smile on her face when she realizes that she’s standing there without hanging onto anything. I tried all day to get a video of her walking but I didn’t have any success. Here are some silly little videos anyway. In the second one she is feeling a little angry and I can’t help but laugh at her.

Well, I don’t know what a one year old does when mommy gives her a lemon. She didn’t make lemonade.

I decided to try a new template for my blog and I think it’s about time I changed the name – it makes less and less sense everyday. Any ideas?

We celebrated Bea and Jenna’s birthdays over the weekend. I must stop eating chocolate birthday cake.

Playing with balloons before the big party:

Grandma Dice’s chocolate cake recipe – yum:

My darling, clever, two year old niece opening birthday gifts. The clever part – she knows her port hand from her starboard hand.

Chocolate cake number three – delicious cherry chocolate:

Enjoying a bottle before bedtime at Grandma’s house. In the next moment Jenna had Bea’s bottle and was trying to fit both in her mouth at once. I wish I had a photo of that.