munsinger clemens gardens

saturday jack and i went on a "ladies outting" to some gardens in st. cloud, mn. the gardens were fab. there was a garden with 1,100 varieties of rose bushes. there was a toulouse latrec rose bush... without any blooms. wouldn't you know. i wandered about with a very nice lady who was very interested in roses. she was on a mission.:) we bent down and sniffed some. i'm sure we looked ridiculous. most of the bushes were pretty short. i really liked the george burns rose. it was dark pink and white striped. i remarked that it suprisingly did not smell like cigars.

there was a "white garden". all the flowers were either white or green. the impact was immense. i am determined to have my own white garden next summer. it was very european, too. very formal. i like my gardens very formal, or very wild.

after the gardens we went to "old country buffet". i'm not one for public displays of gluttony.:) i would have preferred going to "red lobster" or "olive garden". for, out here in rural mn, we have no such delightful restaurants such as i have named. but, don't feel too sorry for me, we have plenty of other big names. anyway, what i really wanted to say was that the bus "boy" that we had was named "angel". don't you love it? i would almost name a son "angel". but, alas, the uproar would be so great that i don't think i could attempt it.:)

"i'm american. i eat american food." -- dan s. (my husband)

"automatic sprinkler"

"automatic sprinkler", that's what the onesie jay and his wife sent me said... jack peed on me for the first time today. oh, he's leaked on me many a time, but this was full on shooting me with pee. i was giving him a sponge bath. he was on the counter in the bathroom. i was in my robe. he was naked. i wasn't looking and all of a sudden i was getting a blast of liquid. i screamed. jack stopped peeing. so, i guess if you want a baby to stop peeing on you it is a good move to scare them. luckily i did not scare the poop out of him.

jack's gym

jack is relaxing upstairs with his leap frog learning gym that my cousin tiffany bought him. i thought it was a ridiculous and frivolous thing at first. then, i realized "where do you put the baby when you want to get things done?". in his bassinet? no, he hates that. on the floor on a blankie? boring. hold him all day long? no way!!! swing? doesn't always work, today he's not digging it. dan says to me, "doesn't he have one of those things...?" etc. and i remembered. aha! jack is happy and might be developing his little brain. that is what one hopes.
oh! the learning gym has music and language from around the world. it's like i'm priming him for epcot!:) i can't wait for the day he says "hello" in japanese. dan will flip.
"i'm american. i eat american food." -- dan s.
i videotaped jack smiling and "a goo"-ing at the machine. i think he really likes the woman's voice that sings out of it. jack loves it when we sing. he especially likes it when i sing "i'll fly away" or "sweet little Jesus boy". although, i sing just about everyting to him. lots of folk songs. i also sing to him in other languages: spanish, hebrew, cree indian, french... probably others i can't think of. one hopes they are expanding a child's mind that way, too.:)
dan sings mostly "you are my sunshine". it's sweet. did i mention that the other day he asked me the words to the "old dan tucker" song to sing to jack?:)
"old dan tucker was a mean old man. washed his face in a frying pan, combed his hair with a wagon wheel and died with a toothache in his heel... get out the way for old dan tucker. he's too late to eat his supper. supper's over and dinner's cookin'. old dan tucker just stands there lookin'."
was it just us... or did you learn a lot of dippy 70's folk tunes in your elementary school music class? and no, my teacher wasn't a hippy. i'd say he's a golf-crazed yuppie.

over the river and through the woods

today i took jack over to my grandparent's house. it is just a short walk down the driveway and through the little glade that grandma calls her "park". i took jack in his cadillac stroller. that is a beautiful machine. when we got there grandma served me a piece of gingerbread. how bucolic is that?

i have been really busy

i have been so busy. my blog suffers.
i just got back from the grocery store. as i am about to climb up into my husband's huge dodge ram truck, i hear "what? my name is... who? my name is... chick-a-chick-a, slim-shady!". i turn around and there's a really farty old-school cadillac. that was the funniest thing that happened today.
i went back to work monday night. i will work nights from 5-9 at the brainerd dispatch newspaper. it is a great plan! dan can watch the baby at night and i can make some grocery and diaper money!!! lovely. so, i had a great first night. the programs and etc. came right back to me. i got home and i said, "how did things go?", meaning "how did jack do?". but dan turned it around to be all about him.:) he informed me that the only thing he got done in 5 hours was getting the mail!!! oh really? i had done 3 loads of laundry, folded and put the clothes away, did a load of dishes, and took care of the baby all day. hmmmmm...
i found a large agate in the driveway when i got home. lake superior agates are the mn state rock. they are very beautiful. we have a large collection in various containers all over the house. do other people know what their state rock is? or are minnesotans just a bit rock-crazy?

beware my sister's children!

my sister is here visiting with her three daughters. she is staying at my parent's house. today jack and i went over to visit. these nieces of mine are nuts. the 5 year old (oldest), elerene, was wearing a cute shirt, jean skirt and some really grown-up white patent leather tappy shoes with a slight heel. what she didn't put on was some underwear. my sister noticed the lack of undies and ordered her to put some on. shortly thereafter we were mooned. my sister says, "look at that.". i turned, was mooned, and noticed a LARGE purple bruise on ele's backside. my youngest niece, nole, about 18 months, had bit her the night before. angie told me that ele and emelea were giving a "concert". they were singing "Jesus loves the little children" in front of some chairs. enolea wanted up on a chair. when ele didn't move... she bit her in the butt.

red and yellow, black and white... and with purple backsides... Jesus loves the little children of the world!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

jack at five weeks

jack is so great. he is 5 weeks old tomorrow. my baby! it hurts that he is getting older. really! it kind of literally tugs at your heart. yet, i love to watch him grow.

jack loves to swing. at the fastest speed. he is no sissy. thank the Lord for the swing. it certainly helps send him off to the land of nod.

jack gets the hiccups a lot. i am glad he is still not inside the womb. they freaked me out.

my grammy says jack is "perfect". i say yes he is... except for the receding hairline, booger eyes, and baby acne.:) hey, this too shall pass. except maybe the hairline.

jack has been smiling at us, but he doesn't have very good control over it yet. watch out when he does. he's going to be a lady killer, i can tell.

starbucks moves "up north"

my rurality is seriously threatened. there is a starbucks within a half hour of my house.:) the end is near! i see the third horseman of the appocalypse. he is clutching a dulce de leche latte.

i have only been to a starbucks once in all of my 30 years... that is until today when i trundled jack into the brand-spankin'-new store in baxter, mn to check it out. i ordered the java chip frappucino and it was DELICIOUS! so, starbucks is not the devil.

maybe richard simmons is. he's so scary.

pictures of jack? oh no!

no photos of jack for you. i just got 2 films developed, but there is no way to get them on my blog. dan accidentally de-programed the entire computer. that means no printer-scanner-copier recognized. drat. and they are very good photos. i promise to try to re-program the computer soon. on the good side, our e-mail accounts are moving more quickly.:)

thanks for the loot...

to those of you who have sent e-baby congrats and/or baby loot... THANKS! i promise i will get an e-mail sent and/or a thank you note sent shortly. my e-mail is still having problems with freezing up. also, see previous post of "ode to a baby swing..." to understand that i am very busy with a super demanding baby and i get excited when i actually get the laundry folded these days.:)

ode to baby swings...

oh fold up baby swing,
so handy and unobtrusive.
(forsooth, you fitteth under my bed!)
i sing your praise.
i am indebted to your steady,
rhythmic rocking and your
oh-so-catchy nursery rhyme tunes.
i thank thee, oh baby swing
for soothing my baby to sleep.
i had time today to fold
my husband's undies.

i am one rhubarb lovin' mama

remember the rhubarb i wrote about? the rhubarb from the farmer's market that i screwed up jack's nap for? well, i finally got around to dealing with it. i chopped up every last beautiful green and red stalk yesterday and i made a rhurbarb custard cake with about half the 'barb. the cake is gone now. i think i ate at least half of it. is that bad?

i got the recipe from a cookbook i just bought last thursday. it is an entire cookbook devouted to rhubarb! glee! did you know rhubarb is a veggie? eat up, it's healthy!