Things I Love Thursday

• Baby chub. Sadly, my "baby" is losing all of hers at a rapid pace! Thank you Mallory MacKinnon for sharing some of yours with me during your recent visit. This baby's thighs are divine! (She's also bigger than Piper and 10 months younger--that's a lot of lovin'!)

• Oregon sunshine (perhaps you're noticing a trend here?).
• Mornings (or afternoons, or evenings...) with Papa Mike. We miss you!

• The West Linn Library (again). Our friends emailed us Tuesday and mentioned there would be a puppet show at the library that evening. We had an early dinner, waited for Daddy to change out of his suit, then headed down to our library where we joined about 25 other kids for a great puppet show about water conservation put on by The Ladybug Theater. So fun!
• Visitors. Thank you MacKinnon Family for traveling a bit out of your way to include us in your holiday plans. My how things have changed since Matt and I were roomies! 

(Isaiah, Geneva, Jazelyn, Mallory, Kailey, Piper)

• Goodreads. It's a website that helps you stay connected with friends and share what you've been reading. It's great for getting ideas about what to read next and seeing reviews of books you're considering. Join. Friend me. (www.goodreads.com)
• Etsy. Another website. I figure in this difficult economy, if you're going to purchase something for yourself or as a gift, you might as well buy from someone who is creating the item first-hand. Etsy is just the place to shop. It's like eBay without the auctions and everything is handmade. There is a lot of beautiful artistry there. Who knows, maybe you'll see some PiperSimone personalized stationary there soon? (www.etsy.com)
• Spring. Of course, early spring in Oregon means warm coats and hats too!

(Abby, Evan, Geneva, Piper, Amanda)

• Lily Allen's new song, The Fear. (explicit lyrics in the video link)
• The prospect of starting Geneva in soccer this summer. I just signed her up for "Tiny-Hawks" yesterday. She'll start in mid-June and if she likes it, she can play all summer.
• This picture of my funny baby. She has a tiny wand in her hand and is turning me into a "vitch" (witch) in this shot.

• The fact that "witch" isn't the only word Piper pronounces with the "v" sound. She also drinks "vater," asks "vhy?," looks out the "vindow," and has an opinion about vhat I vant her to "vear" (you get the idea?). It really goes beyond the "v" substitution to the extent that we swear she's got a German accent. We've begun calling her our Little Kraut--though I worry it might be considered derogatory. I tried to find out the German word for "peach" because I think the term suits her... It's "pfirsich" according to the dictionary I checked online. Unfortunately, I have no clue where to start with that pronunciation... so for now, she is the "Little Kraut" (no offense).