Spelling Tuesday

I am sad to say that my great grandmother Lila passed away this last week. I only met her once, but my mom thought she was a very special lady. Here is her picture and the obituary that was printed about her life. Nov. 14, 1910 — April 24, 2010 Lila Mae Larsen, 99, of Keizer passed away peacefully at home Saturday with her family by her side. She was born in Enumclaw, Wash., the oldest child of seven born to Elmer C. and Alice M. (Shay) Beebe. As a child, Lila was a self-taught musician, playing accordion with her father from a very young age at local dances. Lila left school to work at a ranch at Powell Butte to help with family finances. There, she met her best friend, Lela, and they continued to be friends for the next 70 years. She married Kenneth Howard on April 6, 1930, just before she turned 20. The young wife of a logger, Lila raised their first three children, Ava, Dean and Kenneth, while living in the Coos Bay area. They eventually settled in the Willamette Valley where Ros...

So yesterday Loralie and I went shopping together. Apparently Mommy was taking too long in Loralie's opinion, so she gave me what Caleb and I call the "stink eye" look. Scrunched up mouth, furrowed brows, lowered chin, eyes glaring up at you accusingly. So I said "Loralie, what is your problem?". To which she replied "ES SCUSE ME!" I burst out laughing at that one, because I have no idea where she learned to use that phrase in that context! We pretty much stick to saying " excuse me" after burping and farting (which she finds hilarious now), but I have never instructed her how to use it as a retort! And people say children are so innocent... (I will try to get a picture of the stink eye, but it is a tricky beast to photograph).

My mantra as a mom of a toddler is "Seize the Day!" It seems like Loralie is growing up so fast! I don't want to miss any opportunities that I have with her. Today I was in the middle of folding laundry when she toddled up to me with a book and said "bu mommy?" with the most hopeful expression on her face. My brain was saying "tell her you'll read it later", but my arms went with my heart and scooped her up and read book after book on this rainy afternoon. There will always be laundry and dishes to do, but there may come a time when my baby would rather play by herself than cuddle with her mom, so in the meantime "Seize the Day!"

Loralie Bria Lenz turns 18 months old today! I can't believe another half-year has gone by! Caleb took her to the doctor today for her 18 month check up, and she was 31 inches tall, and weighed 21 lbs. Short and skinny. Hey, I would pay quite a bit of money to be in the 10 th percentile for weight... She is talking up a storm, and getting into a lot of stuff! She likes to pretend to put on mommies make-up and daddy's deodorant (which she has stealthily grabbed out of the drawer when no one was looking!) She pushes her teddy bear around the house in the stroller non-stop, sometimes even pushing him down the stairs with a resounding "Uh-Oh!". She isn't really big into eating right now. She kind of goes in spurts, eating a lot at one meal, and then basically nibbling at the next five! She still isn't too big a fan of meat, but most other foods she is alright with. And her biggest obsession right now are swing sets . She LOVES to swing and slide. This last wee...

This weekend we drove down to Bolviar/Nixa to go to cousin Stephanie's baby shower! Loralie had fun playing with the other kiddos there, including baby Taylor (Caleb's cousin's baby). So what does that make Loralie and Taylor and (soon) Evan? Are they second cousins? Is there no name for what they are? What do your kids call cousins' kids??? Great Grandma Lenz is also (sort of) in this pic! And of course, we got to spend some quality time with Grandma and Grandpa Lenz. Loralie immediately called them "Nee nee and Boppa" which was cute, as that is what she calls my parents! She is making the connection! So, she pretty much got snuggled and cuddled and held all weekend. Here is Daddy and Grandpa trying to do her hair (hehe). And, no trip to Bolivar would be complete without a walk out to see the cows with Daddy. We have discovered that she really likes them much better from afar! As soon as she got up closer to the big old cows she started to cry, and then yelle...

Loralie's social schedule sometimes puts mine to shame! He he. The first item on the agenda this week was Jury Duty. That one was mine, not hers. Fun huh? I couldn't get anyone to watch her, so I had to bring her with me. After two hours of waiting (not so quietly) in line, we were dismissed. Whew. Dodged that bullet. Tuesday we went to the zoo with buddy Jack. Loralie had a great time (as she always does at the zoo) and mommy appreciated the fact that we got to ride the tram/train thanks to Jack's pass! Woo hoo! No walking to Africa! Wednesday afternoon Loralie had the closest thing she has had to a full out temper tantrum. She woke up from her nap crabby, and when I suggested that we get a snack, she started pounding on the front door, saying "Go Side-Side! Fwide! Fwing!!! SIDE SIDE!!!!!!" Mommy translation: she wanted to go outside and play on the slide and swing. She was bawling hysterically and her face was all red and hot. I was just waiting for her to throw...

Wedding season has officially started! Tonight's reception went great. We got nothing but compliments on the food and the building, so that is good! I really love my job. Whenever one of the brides I have worked with for months gets married, I feel like it is one of my friends' weddings! And it is, at times, exhausting, but it is never boring. I like how each event is different, with it's own set of challenges. But I really like the fact that we have encountered most of the challenges before, so we know how to handle them. As tonight's MOB pointed out "It aint our first rodeo." :) I am also finding that I love the sales part of my job. I like to be able to haggle and negotiate and figure out a solution that works for everyone. Who knew that I was a saleswoman at heart? Maybe it is genetic. My dad worked in sales for years! Working with my parents has been challenging, but I feel like we are getting better at communicating, and we are definately mo...

This story falls under the category of "kids say the darnedest things". When I was about two years old, my parents sat me down to tell me the exciting news that I was going to have a baby brother or sister. My response was "The mailman will be sooo happy!!!" To which my Dad replied "Say what?!?!" He always says it's a good thing I was born with the Brummett gap between my teeth, or Mom would have had a little explaining to do! They still to this day do not know why I felt our mailman would be the most excited about the new addition to our family!

Happy Easter everyone! We had such a fun weekend here at the Lenz household. We went to church together on Saturday night, and then went out to dinner with Grammy and Grandpa. This morning, Loralie awoke to find the world's largest Easter Basket awaiting her! She was pretty excited! The first thing she went for was the Reese's Pieces, which mommmy let her eat for breakfast, cause Hey, Jesus rose from the dead so that we can eat candy for breakfast once a year! The next thing she said was " Hair bow !!!". She also got a "big girl cup" and a new Easter plate, which she wanted to use for her (real) breakfast. She did pretty well with the cup, but by the end of breakfast she was dumping it out on the tray just because she could! Guess we need a little more practice. Mommy worked the Easter Brunch at the Tuscan Ballroom, which went 100 percent smoother than last year, so I guess we are learning as we go! There was only one small crisis: the beer cooler brok...