Lately

It's been a while since I've taken the time to tell you about (and record for myself) what we've been up to lately.  This is primarily a Sara post, of course.

First, a funny story: for the first time in years, Steve sent me flowers for my birthday, and they were to be delivered to my work.  If you've followed my posts (or any news whatsoever) for the last week and a half, you know that the snow and ice kept us home from work for four days during my birthday week and one more day this past week.  FTD attempted to deliver my poor flowers on February 2, 3, and 4th to an empty building.  Steve was left feeling totally defeated in his attempt to do something out of the ordinary for me.  Fortunately, the flowers were successfully delivered on Monday, February 7th ... still beautiful and fragrant.  Unfortunately, I don't think Steve will be trying his luck with any more floral deliveries in the near (or distant) future.

I used the snow day this past week to work on saving all of our photos onto an external hard drive.  Since Sara's birth, we've been using Picasa to store photos, but I'd used up my free space.  Since I had the time the other day, I worked on getting rid of some of those online files and transferring them to our own device.  Now I just wish I were better at printing photos, changing out frames, etc.  I guess that's one downfall of digital ... I take tons and tons of pictures, and then do little else with them besides store them.  But there are only so many hours in a day.

Sara enjoyed her days off from school, but was ready to get back this past Monday morning.  When I went in to wake her up, I said, "Sara, are you ready to go back to school today?"  She hopped right up!  Recently when we drop her off and pick her up, she is so excited to show us the projects she's completed.  On Thursday the kids made some Valentine's Day decorations, and one of hers was already on the wall.  When I opened the door to her room, she ran right over to the project and said, "Sara made that!  Sara made that!" 

Sara also speaks almost exclusively in third person (as seen above).  Here are a few more examples:

Mom or Dad: "Who went on the potty?" Sara: "Sara did!"

Mom or Dad: "Who broke this book?" Sara: "Sara broke."

Mom or Dad: "Who wants to push the buttons in the garage?"  Sara: "Sara do it!"

Another variation:

Sara: "Mommy hold you." "Put blankets on you." "Daddy carry you." 

When I taught English, we spent a lot of time trying to understand the implied you, which can be a hard concept to grasp (i.e. In the sentence Go to the store., where's the subject?  A 7th grader might tell you there is no subject, but the subject actually is the implied you).  In Sara's language, the you is the implied Sara.

Recently Sara's favorite movies to watch are Toys ("Toy Story 3") and Princess ("Beauty and the Beast").  Her preferred position for movie viewing is curled up with blankets in our laps.  After she asks to watch one of these movies, her next command is that either mommy or daddy "hold you."  For those of you who don't enjoy the movie play-by-play, I wouldn't recommend Sara as a viewing partner.  She likes to show off her memorization skills by telling you what will happen a few seconds before it actually does.  I love the evenings when, after the rush of the day, dinner, and whatever else needs to be done, we curl up with blankets to watch part of a movie.  Sara is so independent and on-the-go, but when the only place she wants to be is tucked into blankets in my arms, I'm sure there is no sweeter reward in all of parenthood.  She is growing up so quickly, and I dread the day when she no longer squeezes into my lap with her head on my shoulder, giving away every detail of what's to come in the movie.

In the past weeks I've read a couple of good books that I'll post about in the near future.  Today the sun is shining and the remaining snow and ice are melting.  It's nice enough for a walk to the park.  Next weekend Steve and I are going to celebrate our 30th year with a night in Forth Worth.  We will stay in the Sundance Square area and do whatever we feel like doing.  I'm so excited!  Between now and then, we have a fun family Valentine's dinner planned for Monday night.  Sara will be bringing Toys Valentine's cards to her friends at school, and she's very excited about the prospect of a candy exchange.  Simple joys...

Hope life has been treating you well lately.  Enjoy your weekend!