When There is A Queen...And You're Not IT

Tessa has been very challenging this week. She seems even more independant than usual. The smallest things have to be done her way. Like getting in the car seat. I made the fatal mistake of putting her in the car seat rather than let her climb in herself. Now don't get me wrong, I love not having to heave that child in and out of that seat, but it takes her quite a while to get in the thing because she dawdles.

She has decided that she can use chairs as her personal step ladder to mischief around the house. I found this out when she came up and drew on my pants with a pen she used to not be able to reach and then ran off. I "confiscated" the pen and checked her other two favorite drawing places. Yep, there were incriminating swirls on her tummy AND the kitchen table. At least her height-challenged escapades all begin with the tell-tale sound of a chair scraping across the floor.

She also found a zip lock bag full of various sized rubber bands in a kitchen drawer. I scolded her for getting in the drawer and made her pick up every rubberband and put them back in the bag. She had left a trail around the house. A few minutes later, while I was folding laundry upstairs, I noticed it was quiet. That is never good. I looked over the balcony to see Tessa with the bag of rubber bands out again. She didn't know I could see her. So I said, "What are you doing?" and without even looking up she threw her body over the evidence and said, "I put back!"

And all I can think is, "Don't laugh, don't laugh, don't laugh..."

Clips for the Fam!

I have had a request to add some more video clips of hers truly. So here they are! The first three parts are of Tessa at the zoo (which she loves) and the last part is a quick clip of Tessa being a ballerina. Be sure to pause the music on the player to the right before you play the movies. Enjoy!

What are you gonna do? The girl loves her BOOKS!

This morning, I came down to the basement to do some email. At about 7:15, I heard Tessa stirring. She started her ritual morning conversation with Mr. Bunny who sleeps in her crib. I walked upstairs to get her up as usual, but when I opened the door, she wasn't in her crib! She was sitting in the rocking chair in her room reading a book. When I saw her sitting there, I laughed and she yelled "BOOK!!!". This is the second time she has climbed out of her crib in the morning. The first time involved vaseline and every surface little fingers can smear. I am still discovering vaseline in unexpected places. There's nothing like reaching blindly for a dry diaper and putting your hand down on a glob of vaseline.

Makes me want to sing!

Our little family has been blessed by the Lord lately. First, we had a quick visit from Grandma and Grandpa Todd. Tess thoroughly enjoyed showing off and having long conversations with them. She is so good at bringing smiles out in people!! Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures. I think the visit was so quick that I just completely forgot. I am regretting that now.

Shortly after Grandma and Grandpa Todd left, Memaw and Papa Burden showed up. They helped us paint the inside of our house! No more white! It looks fabulous--like right out of a magazine. My dad also installed a light in Tessa's room. So now there is a pretty butterfly/flower light and ceiling fan hanging in what was once a blank ceiling. Tessa again had tons of fun showing off and misbehaving.

Speaking of visitors, the Lord has filled me with His Spirit and taught me to forgive while giving me the opportunity to teach some of his younger children (teens). This age group is near and dear to my heart. Due to the Lord's timing, I will be teaching the teen girls in a Bible study. I have been given the "go ahead" to teach whatever I want. Because of the grace of God, I know what to do:

"Now Joshua son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom because Moses had laid his hands on him. So the Israelites listened to him and did what the LORD had commanded Moses."
Deut 34:9

"Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. "
Eph 5:18-20

So I will be seeking the direction of the Lord through His Spirit. Pray for the teens--and me!

Peace.

How to hunt Easter Eggs when you DON'T live in Texas

It was supposed to snow today. So the Easter egg hunt at our church was inside. No grass and sunshine. Just lots of brown carpet and white walls. And on top of that--there were no hidden eggs. They were all just thrown on the floor. It was so uncool. Also, none of the candy was chocolate because one child was known to be allergic. So all we got were jolly ranchers and now and laters that Tessa can't eat anyway. But at least she got the hang of putting eggs in her bucket. So we can check off that box now, I guess.

Crummy Coiffure Result of Diabolical Daylight Savings

The hair monster struck at our house with a vengeance today. I have not included my photo in keeping with the "non-offensive" rating of this blog. Trust me on that one. So after breakfast, I adorned my trusty baseball cap and drove my dazed toddler to "school". She has gotten pretty clever at school. She doesn't like for me to ever leave her anywhere, and lately when she approaches the door to the room she starts her school day, she valiantly (but vainly) tries to secure an escape. The funny part is, she tries something different every time. Today, she threw her lunch pail in some other kids cubby and ran for the stairs. I am sure she figured I would be so concerned about the lunch that I would forget the child. Once, a few weeks ago, she grabbed the pen parents use to sign their kids in with and ran for it. She isn't allowed to have pens at our house because she chooses to write on three things: the table, her stomach, my clothes. So I am sure she decided the acquired pen would trigger some sort of pursuit. OK, that actually did work.

So I left the building today hearing my firstborn scream "MOMO!!!" over and over. I keep telling her it's a good thing she's so cute.

Happy Birthday, Cutie!

Yeah! Tessa is two!

Anthony stayed late enough in the morning to be there to wake her up. We went into her room singing happy b-day. Anthony was holding a huge birthday balloon that scared Tessa right out of her footie pj's. She grabbed onto me so fast that she left a long scratch down the front of my neck. I asked her if she liked her balloon, and she said, "NO BOON!" It only took a few minutes though before she was trying to wrestle it into her crib. In fact, when we got to Women's Bible Study at the church, she told everyone she met that she got a balloon by running up to people and shouting "BOON!".

Anthony also bought Tessa two flowers. They are pink roses and Tessa loves to smell them, of course. She also got an Aquadoodle that hangs on the wall. After we put that up, her other two gifts might have been air. She drew and drew on that thing. And then she would get so excited about the whole drawing-on-the-wall experience that she would run into the living room screaming COLOR!! to us and then run back out again.

Tragedy struck right before dinner. Tessa had been playing outside and came running in for a drink. So I started to unzip her coat and inadvertently unzipped her skin on her neck, too. She cried a long time over that. You should be able to see the spot in one of the pics. Poor baby. That explains the puffy red eyes in the cupcake picture. She cheered up considerably at that point. You can also see her telling her Daddy to stop unwrapping her present and let her do it. I don't know where she gets that from! ;)