Burcusa Family Musings and Adventures

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

a couple photos

I realized that I haven't posted anything in the last couple weeks. It's not that nothing is happening, but rather that so MUCH is happening! I promise to post more lately, but as a quick overview we are dealing with:
* Mike staying home with Rose during the summer
* Job updates
* Potty training
And a whole bunch of cuteness as Rose continues to expand her verbal capabilities!

I promise to write more as soon as I have the time and energy, but here's a couple photos to tide you over...

Sunday, June 1, 2014

baking

Have I ever told you how much Rose loves to help me bake? It's become my favorite weekend tradition!

This weekend we made strawberry rhubarb bread, strawberry rhubarb pie, and peanut butter / oatmeal / chocolate chip cookies. Yum!

I appreciate having such a great helper, Mike appreciates the cuddles, and Rose appreciates licking the beaters/bowl!

big girl bed

I meant to post this a few weeks ago, but totally forgot!

Rose is now in a "big girl bed"! It happened rather suddenly, after she was crying in bed and I walked in to see her attempting to launch herself out of the crib. We try to avoid brain injuries as much as possible in this house, so it was clearly time to make the transition. At first I was worried about how she'd adjust, but it went really well! Once she falls asleep (which is a different story), she stays in bed all night long (knock on wood).

She also loves laying in her bed during the day and saying "Mommy turn lights dark. Mommy go away" so she can pretend to sleep.

We tucked a pool noodle under the fitted sheet to help keep her from rolling out of bed, and so far that's working pretty well. As in, she's only fallen out twice, poor thing. Otherwise she really loves her new bed!

Rose-isms: barnyard edition

Rose and I were reading a barnyard-themed book yesterday. She would point out the animals, and I would tell her a little more about the animals. On the chickens page...
Rose: Rooster!
Me: Yep, that's a rooster. A Daddy chicken is called a rooster. Do you see all the other chickens on the page?
Rose: Chickens! (pointing)
Me: Yep, those are Mommy chickens which are called hens. The Daddy chicken is the rooster and the mommy chickens are hens.
Rose, after thinking for a moment, pointed to three more chickens: Ninja chicken! Pop Pop chicken! Gigi chicken!

Yep, because if there's a mommy chicken and a daddy chicken, there clearly must be a chicken for her grandparents as well :)

On a similar note, we told Rose we were going to the Farmer's Market this morning. After thinking about that for a minute, she said, Old MacDonald Market! and started singing the song to us :)

And, for your daily dose of cuteness, Rose insisted that "Baby" wear a raincoat if she was going to have to wear one, so here they are splashing in puddles together:

Hope you're having a great weekend!

Sunday, May 18, 2014

Mommy Happy Day, part 2

Photos from Mike's phone, that I couldn't figure out how to insert in my previous post! :)

"Mommy Happy Day"

Lately, Mother's Day has just been getting better and better! My first mother's day was one of the first times that we left the house other than for doctors' appointments. For my second mother's day, Mike put in a front garden while I spent the day with Rose. And this mother's day was exactly the kind of day that I wanted to have!

We started off with an early trip to the Farmer's Market.

Then we went to the Wedge to pick up food for a picnic. We drove down to Shakopee so Mike could drive us by the school he'll be teaching at next year (!!!!!), then parked for a hike by the Minnesota River. It's called the "Louisville Swamp" area, but it's a total misnomer because it's beautiful!!

(HERE is where I've been trying for a week to insert pictures from Mike's phone. Since I can't figure out how to do it, I'm going to add a separate "part 2" post with his photos in it. Ugh.)

We found a nice big rock to eat lunch on, then hiked back to the car. We got home in time for nap, during which time I was able to relax and read the newspaper. Ahhhh.

After Rose woke up, we let her watch some Mickey Mouse so I could finish reading the paper while Mike made dinner. :)

Then we played in the park for a bit, Mike put Rose to bed, and I got to go to sleep early. It was such a perfect day! Thanks so much to Mike and Rose for pampering me on my special day!! ("Mommy Happy Day," as Rose calls it!)

Sunday, May 11, 2014

Number 18

For every quilt I've made, I can still point out all the errors and things I would have done differently if I were to do it all over again. But despite that, I also have fond memories of all my quilts, due to the love that I stitch into all of them. I have quite a pile of scraps from all those quilts, and I certainly didn't want to throw out all the leftover fabric. So a couple years ago I cut it all into 2-1/2" strips, since there are a lot of quilt patterns that use "strip piecing" as the foundation. I got this book from my MIL for Christmas two years ago, and I immediate knew that I wanted to make the quilt on the cover: Bali Sea Stars. The whole time I sewed I was planning to give it to my friend Marcy, except for a few selfish minutes when I wanted to keep it for myself (thanks to all the fond memories from the specific fabrics). But the best gift you can give is a gift you want for yourself, right? And Marcy seemed thrilled when I gave it to her last night :)