I’ve surrendered part of my sunny kitchen counter to future hopes of tomatoes and radishes, zinnias and marigolds. It still amazes me that tiny seeds can yield a seedling, and then a large plant with flowers and maybe edible fruits and vegetables. A little moisture, a little sunshine, and there they go, the seedlings unfurl their leaves towards the light. Livia tends to these babies with great care as well and it’s fun to watch her excitement at the new life.

Spring is all about new life. I found myself explaining to Liv the difference between Easter Sunday and our Easter/spring celebrations of bunnies and eggs. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve loosened up about a lot of things, but I still believe it’s very important to teach my child the importance of Christ’s resurrection apart from the hoopla of colorful eggs and chocolate. Some folks do their egg hunts and baskets on the first day of spring to separate the concepts for their children (great idea, by the way). So far we separate them by repeated conversations about Jesus’ death and resurrection—and by holding our egg hunts on a day other than Resurrection Sunday (thanks, Grandma and Grandpa!).

Livia learned the real purpose of the cross as I explained Jesus’ death to her. It’s amazing how the cross has become something we talk about and refer to with casual ease, and yet it was an instrument for a horrific death for criminals in the past. As a Christian, I can see a certain beauty to the cross in the same way I can refer to tomorrow as “Good” Friday. Still, I struggled with sadness as I explained how the Son of God was hung on a cross to die. At times in parenting, you wonder if you’re explaining too much. But Liv grasped the concepts in a very easy way and moved on to laugh out loud at a silly picture of Doubting Thomas pointing at Jesus’ scarred hands. We talk more about Thomas’ gaping mouth now than we do the cross. LOL.

Bring on the bunnies and eggs—we certainly have fun with them. Come Sunday we’ll be celebrating the resurrection of Christ and the truth that our awesome God has conquered sin and death.

World, meet Tobey the Snowman. He was quite a work of art. That is, until the sun finally made a puddle out of him.

Livia is the Master Name Giver. Not only does she give names to every doll, animal and snowman within arm’s length, she also remembers the names. Really, she should be writing this blog post as I can’t remember half of the names she’s assigned.

There’s the quintuplets: Nanny, Bobby, Jon, Violet and Strawberry. (Bobby and Jon are twins—Liv knows which is which based on a mud spot on one twins’ arm.) There are the Care Bears, both of whom earned cherished spots in Livia’s bed last night: Hammy and [first mommy memory lapse]. There are numerous others… Hamsty and Elsie, Paris and Luce the Bunny, Dorothy the female Betta fish and Nectar the neighborhood cat. Liv also gave names to Renae’s pregnant tummy prior to Simon’s arrival. There was Big Teeth if it was a girl, and Gooper for a boy. When I told her that Aunt Kristin is going to have a baby boy, her first question was, “What’s his name?” I explained that Adam and Kristin hadn’t picked one out yet and she piped up with, “I can help!” I bet you can, kid.

Of all the names Livia has assigned, Tobey is one most frequently given. For those who don’t know the real life Tobey, he’s our pastor and friend—and apparently Livia appreciates him so much she named a blond Barbie after him last summer. Tobey, native of New Jersey, meet your namesake Tobey, Barbie doll. Since that point, we’ve enjoyed numerous other Tobeys in the Tredway household… Tobey the toy pig, Tobey the caterpillar artwork from preschool, and finally Tobey the snowman.

If Flickr cooperates, I’ll post a pic of the real-life Tobey for some side-by-side snowman comparison. ; )

Step 1: Find the park in question. This usually involves Mommy driving around previously unknown neighborhoods in Lincoln, Nebraska, saying things like, “No, we’re not lost. I’m sure that park is here somewhere. Let’s drive around the block again.”

Step 2: Let child loose in park. Eagle eyes, with the help of given clue, will eventually spot the post.

Step 3: Take rubbing of aforementioned post. This part gets a little tricky when Mommy tries to take pictures at the same time.

Step 4 (opt): Since camera is present, make child stand by post. Smile in amusement when four year old holds up the rubbing to complete the perfectly posed moment. Wonder when she learned to pose like this.

Step 5: Take advantage of God’s creation and the beautiful weather and climb a tree. Notice powdered sugar still caked around child’s lips. Be overwhelmed with Mommy Love for this little face, powdered sugar and all.

Step 6: Take advantage of the man-made playground and put imaginations to work. Socks should be removed in order to climb up slides from the ground.

Step 7: Rinse and repeat a bazillion times in the different parks of Lincoln, Nebraska.

Yesterday we had gorgeous 60 degree weather—perfect weather to take the kids to the park. And just so everyone knows, that second kid pictured actually belongs to Renae. (Simon tends to show up here from time to time simply because of our close proximity as neighbors and dear friends.)

Once again our family is participating in the Lincoln Safari, whose motto is “Healthy Families Play Outside!” The Safari is something of an introduction to our hometown as it has us visiting parks and various locations we’ve never seen before. Yesterday I took my decidedly unhealthy child to two neighborhood parks in north Lincoln. The second park involved quite a walk and I questioned my sanity—and wondered whether I could haul my 45 lb child back to the car if she was totally pooped out. But our imaginations helped us out as we became great adventurers and braved a raging river (an empty culvert) and explored some magic trees (evergreen). Liv never protested the walk and we had a great afternoon outside.

A few days ago Livia told me she wanted to turn her bath water brown. (Yeah, you mamas out there know exactly what I was thinking.) I quickly warned her, “Don’t poop in the tub!” and thought all was well. A few moments later I returned to her side to realize she had dumped out my entire glassful of Diet Dr. Pepper, ice cubes and all, into the tub. Diet Dr. Pepper = brown, and yes, the water was colored momentarily. Good grief.

*****

Like I’ve said before, Livia is my favorite English Language Learner and I love how she is making sense of our world. Jeremy showed Liv the cave episode from the Planet Earth series and from that exposure, Livia later spoke of the man who jumped into the cave wearing a “pair-of-shoes.” Parachute does sound like pair of shoes, doesn’t it?!

Also, I tend to speak in hyperboles and figures of speech, which causes problems for ELL folks. I told Livia she grew a foot in the past few months—and then watched her seriously exam her socks.

Finally, we got a kick out of Livia’s exaggerated statement today, “Boy, am I parched!” Nope, she didn’t know what the word meant, but she did know she was quoting a character from Madagascar 2. My girl learns quickly, though, and after being taught one time, she remembers the correct meanings of words and phrases. Odd how that skill doesn’t apply to putting things in her mouth or yelling across the house… Hm.

Last year was the first time Livia handed out little Valentines cards to her classmates. It was so darn cute to see the teeny Incredibles cards and envelopes we found at Target. She received a few really creative handmade items last year as well—and I was inspired to make something at home this year. So before we get too far from V-Day, here’s some of the craftiness we came up with this year. (Next year I’d like to try hanging hearts and heart-shaped pancakes.)

The recipe for shortbread hearts can be found on Needs More Butter, our community dinner recipe blog.

I took the ruler idea from the Family Fun website, which has quite a few cute V-Day card options. Since Livia was sick and missed the Valentines party at school, I just might be able to make this sweet gift come together for her teacher as a belated Valentine.

**I should point out that finding six-inch rulers is far more challenging than it should be. If you think ahead and order online, you should be fine. If you want to be like me, I recommend buying four rulers from Hobby Lobby, then driving to Target, Michaels and ShopKo before returning to Hobby Lobby and giving up your perfectionism just a small bit in order to buy five more (gasp!) non-matching six-inch rulers. I ended up thinking about a certain preschooler’s Valentines far more than any adult ever should. Don’t be like me; buy online.

Today was a good day. We played inside. We played outside. We walked down the block with Joie, Simon & Renae.

The wee one is in bed and now it’s time to watch tv and cuddle with my husband.

Goodnight, mouse. Goodnight, house.

After a visit with the wonderful Dr. Brad this morning we’re treating Livia for acid reflux. The poor kiddo has been complaining of tummy aches for some time now. In light of today’s diagnosis, I’ll post this Livia-ism for posterity.

Heard last night, after reading a bedtime story about lambs: The puke just scampered up my throat, Mommy. But it’s okay. I swallowed it.

Cinderella paid a visit to my kitchen recently. She wears the most glamorous shoes, a darling blue dress and a hat that sparkles in the sun. Cinderella was a bit shorter than I had expected, but every bit as lovely as she appears on film.