A Louisiana Christmas

We just returned from spending Christmas with Mike's family in Baton Rouge. Please don't tell CPS, but we forgot our camera, so we are grateful for the pictures we got from family members. Hopefully, I will get some from our time in Fort Worth also, but for the moment, here's Margaux's Christmas week in Baton Rouge. First up, she loved playing in the sandbox Grandpa built for her. Then, Grandma, Grandpa, and Aunt Tammy kept Margaux while Mike and I went to New Orleans for the night (a complete blast for us, of course). While we were away, they took Margaux to pick out a Christmas tree. She loved that experience. Then, the last pics are of her on Christmas morning. Remember digging deep in your stocking to see if you missed anything? Remember, the crash after all the excitement and candy wore off? Ahhh, the joy of childhood.

Snow Day!

Yesterday, Margaux took a nap in her crib for the first time in days. She's been on this no-nap kick, which is about to send me and Mike over the edge. It wouldn't be that bad if she was physically ready to give up the nap, but on days she doesn't nap, she's like a drunk monkey by 5 o'clock. So, she actually did fall asleep yesterday and wouldn't you know it, it started to snow. I could hardly wait to wake her up. I went into her room and said, "Margaux, you need to wake up so we can go play in the snow!" She said, "No, Mommy. Just a few more couple minutes of sleep." That seemed like a sign of things to come. I finally got her up, and we had a blast outside. As you'll see from the pics, it took her a minute to wake up. Then, she got into it and even tried to catch snowflakes on her tongue. A very fun day!

Hold Still a Minute

So, the other morning, I thought Margaux looked like such a big girl. She was all ready for school and looked cute and happy. I had this thought, "Hey, take a quick picture for the family." Ha ha. There is no such thing as a quick picture of a two-year old. What you see below is the stream of pictures I had to take to finally get her to look at the camera and smile. As so often happens, the journey is even better than the destination.

Take a hike

Our friends, Tony, Patti, and baby Cecilia came to visit us a couple of weeks ago. We had beautiful weather, so we all went hiking in the Lincoln National Forest. Margaux loved the backpack experience (Thanks, Tracy!), but baby Cecilia preferred to walk on her own. It was pretty amazing because she walked a very long ways and only occasionally agreed to be carried. She's only 15 months old, too! It was a wonderful weekend with old friends and the great outdoors.

Happy Halloween!

To ACK and Back

A lot has happened since our little journey to White Sands. I left Ruidoso and went to a conference in Stillwater. It was nice to be back in our little house. I went by myself because we thought it would be too confusing for Margaux to be back in her “home house” for just a couple of days before she was whisked off on yet another adventure. So, while I was at the conference Mike was on his own with Margaux for six days, and that is no easy feat (as I am about to find out for myself when he leaves for a conference next week). On day six, he and Margaux flew to Fort Worth. We met up there, stayed a couple of days, and then flew to Nantucket via Boston. The Boston to Nantucket flight was the scariest of my life, but we made it (and everyone clapped when we landed because clapping is a sign that you are not dead and we had to reassure ourselves that that was truly the case). It was all worth it because we had a fantastic time on Nantucket. The sunny days were amazingly beautiful, and Margaux couldn’t get enough of the beach. The rainy days were days on Nantucket, which are still better than most days spent anywhere else. We’re back in New Mexico now. Margaux was so cute the night we got in. It was 9:00 p.m. and we were all exhausted from a very long travel day. I was getting Margaux ready for bed, and she was playing with her toys here at the house. She looked up at me and said, “Mom, I’m so happy.” Kids are so good at being in the moment.

Margaux in her special seatbelt on the way to Fort Worth

Margaux and me on the way to Boston

Margaux in the freezing cold water

If you thought Margaux was a girly girl, you’d be wrong. The kid LOVES to get as messy as possible.

Margaux and Mike walking to the Sankaty Lighthouse on Nantucket

Up Up and Away!

We had a fantastic weekend. We went to a hot air balloon invitational at White Sands National Monument. We spent the night in a nearby town because we had to be at the park by 7:00 a.m. We got up at 5:30 a.m. to pull that off. For all of you who know us well, you know what a feat that was. It was totally worth it. This was really one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen, and all three of us had a blast. It was over by 9:00 a.m. and we headed back to the hotel for a quick swim before starting back to Ruidoso.

Beauty is in the Eye...

Upon holding her first earthworm, Margaux said, "He's a cute little guy."

Marshmallows

My friend, Courtney, has the delightful habit of sending us (and by "us" I really mean Margaux) homemade marshmallows. Has it ever in your life occurred to you to make homemade marshmallows? Well, if you have the talent, you should cultivate it because they really may be a bite of one of heaven's clouds. The sequence below occurred when Margaux received a care package of strawberry marshmallows. Bon appetite!

New Mesko

I know. I know. We haven’t posted in a long time. Well, there’s a reason for that. We’ve moved! Sort of. We have relocated to Ruidoso, New Mexico until January. I'm on a research sabbatical from OSU for the fall semester. Margaux is doing great, and we all are enjoying our time here. Here are a few pics, and we’ll add more over the coming days. First, this is our view from the back deck. Awesome! Next, this is the temperature. Double awesome! Next is Margaux in a Margaux-original outfit. Hello, Project Runway! She calls this her “New Mesko house,” and occasionally says she wants to go to her "home house." That sort of makes us sad, but this is such a great opportunity for all of us, it is very much worth it. Finally, the last one is sort of hard to see so you have to click on the picture to make it big, but a doe had her baby on our property last week. If you look closely, you can see the doe on the right side of the pic and the wobbly legged, spotted fawn coming from behind the tree.

Playing in Daddy's hat

Margaux's first boat ride

We spent the 4th of July weekend at the house of some friends down on Cedar Creek Lake, outside of Dallas. Margaux got to take a ride on the ski boat, which she enjoyed very much. So if anyone's wondering what to get her for Christmas, she'd like someone to get her dad a ski boat so she can go for rides...thanks!

This morning, she was a little upset at having to get dressed and put on shoes. When she kept fighting me on the shoes, I told her "Margaux, you're grumpy," to which she replied, "I NOT GRUMPY...I BEAUTIFUL!" No self-esteem problems, here.

Wagon o' babies

Playing in the rain!

First lollipop ever!

When I look back over all of the things I learned from my Mom, I start to see how much of who I am today is a direct result of the beliefs she instilled in me. My earliest memories are of Mom encouraging my independence. Don’t get me wrong, she cherished me. I know this because every day after preschool and kindergarten she would pull me into her lap and say, “How was little day?” She wanted to hear all about it. But, at the same time, it was MY day and she wanted to know what I thought about it. When I would bug her endlessly to let me have a friend come over to play or to go to someone’s house, she would say, “Cindy, if you are not comfortable spending time with yourself, no one else will want to either.” She wanted me to be comfortable in my aloneness without being lonely. Her belief in the importance of being alone from time to time coincided perfectly with another value she had- reading. After reminding me about the importance of being comfortable with myself, she’d hand me a book and say something about how many lives I could live if I were willing to become a reader. She encouraged my education, but she never nagged me about it. I don’t remember my mom ever once asking whether I had done my homework. When I asked her about this a few years ago, she said, “Well, it was YOUR homework, not mine.” And, as many of you know, I proceeded to stay in school until the age of 30 and have since managed to make a career out of research and education, so her method of instilling internal motivation was clearly effective. Mom has been gone for a year today. I saw this picture of her and my daughter this morning, and it caused me to reflect on some of the values B would want me to instill in Margaux. I’m pretty sure she would think we are off to a good start.

First Haircut

Margaux got her haircut yesterday for the very first time. Not a tear
was shed, so it was a success!

Spring fun

Springtime to Margaux means...

"riding wheelies on my tricycle!"















"blowing dandelions seeds all over the yard, so dad will have a use for the weed-trimmer for many weeks to come!"















"giving thanks for my chalk Easter eggs"