So Angry I Could Spit!

Dear Friends and Family,

Have you ever heard the phrase, "I'm so angry I could spit!"?  Well apparently Claire has, and when she doesn't get her way, or starts to get frustrated, that is exactly what she does!  The triggers for this behavior seem to be, 1) my divided attention when she really wants it and 2) when she gets fixated on something that she really wants, and I tell her she can't have it.  So how did all of this start? We've been practicing spitting after brushing teeth and Claire thought is was lots of fun. However, the next day I caught her practicing her spitting on the kitchen floor, and I said, "Claire, we do not spit on the floor. We only spit in the sink or potty. Spitting anywhere else is naughty." So, now when Claire gets mad, she spits on the floor and in between spits she shouts, "Time Out!" It's an interesting situation we have on our hands...I guess I should be glad that at least she's not throwing huge tantrums?

Aside from the things that frustrate Claire, we also have quite a few fun things to report that make Claire a VERY happy girl!

For starters, we got to visit with our friends, the Schillers, this weekend!  Claire really liked getting to sit at the kids table with Everett and Audrey!

I really can't tell you how shocked I was to see the kids actually sit at the table and eat! This was definitely a photo worthy moment!

Everett even provided us with some dinner entertainment when he was finished with his food!

Claire also loves her sand table, which Chris and I brought out from the garage this weekend. The girl can spend 30 minutes just playing at it alone - something I'm hoping will continue when Baby Supple arrives!

The cup she is holding has two small holes in the bottom. I'm not really sure how aware Claire is of this, but she did love the challenge of trying to keep it full.

While Claire was entertained by her table, I did some weeding and took some pictures of our yard!  It is so pretty with all of the daffodils, irises, and tulips in bloom!  The Azalea bush is also blooming and the hostas are starting to fill out!

We had our Crape Myrtles trimmed a few weeks ago too! (Trees on the far right of photo)

And we have some beautiful grass this year!  Who knew that one day I'd be so excited about grass?

Home Sweet Home! 

Chris and I are so excited to have our yard under control this year...of course once the baby comes, who knows what will happen! At least our neighbors can see our good intentions!

Some of our daffodils

Fancy irises!

I love this mini-daffodil!

With the great weather, Claire and I have been taking more walks around the island!  One of Claire's new favorite pass times is to toss pebbles into the water! She's developing a great throwing arm.

Boat watching and pebble tossing!  It doesn't get much more exciting than this!

Claire is a big fan of shopping at Wegman's grocery store.  I've mentioned this before, but this time we managed to get a cart with the car attached to the front and Claire LOVED "driving" the car around the store!  We took a pit stop to have some tea.

So happy to be serving Mommy some tea!

I'm so impressed by Claire's imagination.  She told me that we should have berries and then proceeded to pretend pick them off of the Kashi Granola boxes and put them in a bowl!

 Finally, Claire's other favorite ritual has become a grapefruit appetizer before dinner every night. It started at Christmas when my in-laws sent us home with some delicious grapefruit.  Chris and I would each have a half and then give Claire all of the remaining juice.  Unfortunately, my acid-reflux has given me problems with continuing this tradition, but it has worked out very well for Claire. She now eats my entire grapefruit half and still begs Daddy for his juice!

The grapefruit tastes all the more sweeter because it involves some good snuggle time with Daddy!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful week!
Love,
Bethie