Carrying On

I returned from Medford and was delighted to see little green shoots in my garden! I had nearly despaired of anything growing because the squirels seemed to be digging up all of the seeds and either moving them somewhere else or eating them. I now have some peas coming up among my petunias, which I should transfer; but, I am not sure whether thery are sweet peas, in which case they would go to the fence garden, or snap peas, in which case they would go to the vegetable garden. Should I wait to find out or just guess while they are still rather managable seedlings? Probably the latter.

Inge has enjoyed spending time with me in the garden on days that are fair. We have had some uncommonly cold weather. I was outside yesterday morning and found myself quite chillled to the bone and required a bath to get warm again. However, you can see that we have had some nice days. Here is my little woodland sprite:



Can't you just imagine her doing something a little mischevious--casting a spell on unsuspecting intruders like me?



Inge talks and talks all day. Perhaps someday she will be a teacher or orator. She is certainly priming her voice for extensive use. Bjorn generally just looks at her and smiles before he goes on with his little tasks. Bjorn's tasks include "shopping" (moving canned food from the kitchen cupboard to the footstool and back again), reading (flipping intently through books), and learning to walk. Yes, Bjorn has taken his first independent steps and seems to be taking more and more everyday. I will miss his enthusiastic crawling, accompanied more often than not with "aaaaaaahhhhhhh" as he smiles delightedly because he is trying to get away from me. Last night we attended Byron's retirement party and many people told stories about Byron that elicited laughs from the crowd. Bjorn joined right in and laughed and clapped with everyone else. He has an uncanny grasp on humor at his age. Bjorn is also learning new words. He likes to look at things (he is not particular although he really liked the Tiki torches last night) and say "oh wow."

We like to have little devotionals over breakfast and are going through the Topical Guide sections on Jesus Christ. These are typically only one or two verses, which is good for our short attention span. Anyway, I asked Inge what was the most special and important thing in our lives after reading a verse about how Jesus is our Savior and the only way we can return to Heavenly Father. She replied without hesitation and with great enthusiasm, "toys!" I chuckled before responding that, while toys are very important and lots of fun, Jesus is moreso.

Inge is really becoming interested in participating in storytime at the library, which is good because she has had over a year to do it. It is fun to see her doing head-shoulders-knees-and-toes and teddy bear-teddy bear with all of the other children. Another highlight of the past week for Inge was an invitation to a friend's tea party birthday party. She wore her "Rose Fairy Princess" tutu and enjoyed herself thoroughly. Inge's favorite thing in the world right now is probably her Thomas, Rosie, and James engines. They are squishy little bath toys that my sister Crissy sent to Bjorn for his birthday and Inge appropriated. Bjorn does not really know the difference at this point, although after his cousin Jordan's Train birthday party Bjorn has his own squishy engines that he defends. Anyway, Inge brings Thomas, Rosie, and James everywhere. This is really one of the first things to which she has been consistently attached. We went shopping at a consignment store the other day and there was a huge Thomas that one could ride on and Inge was absolutely delighted just to look at it!

A final note on Inge. We are digging really big holes so we can plant roses in our front yard and so we have unearthed a few earthworms. Inge was with me the other day and I found a really big one. She was interested in it so I gave it to her to hold in her hand for a little while. She did a great job and thought it very interesting. I was REALLY excited that she did not think it gross because, as those who know me know, I like the small creepy-crawly things very much!