Spring 2011

Some photos from the spring.

Durham Bulls baseball game, April 18, 2011.

Clara loves talking on the phone (one of her favorite past times).

These photos are from Easter.

Clara in her beautiful dress (from her Grandma and Grandpa Biasi).

The Biasis

Everyone

(We spent Easter at my parents' house)

Easter 2011

This year we colored eggs for Easter. Clara was a huge help and had lots of fun.

The eggs are ready.Clara helped dip the eggs into the colors.

Even Coco joined in the fun.Clara waits "patiently" for the eggs to turn colors.

Daddy was there (Clara took this photo).

Clara's first egg was for "Papa."

The finished products. We had lots of fun; the eggs turned out great!

Clara visits the Easter Bunny. And a tornado?!

I really didn't want Clara to believe in the Easter Bunny (like children believe in Santa). Easter, just like Christmas, is a very religious holiday and society is making both so commercialized these days. We wouldn't have these holidays if Jesus didn't exist. Okay, off my rant now.

Anyway, somehow Clara figured out who the Easter Bunny is and started to like him. So we are letting her believe in the Easter Bunny.

Fuquay Varina holds an annual Easter egg hunt at the park down the road from us. I decided Clara and I would go. Her first Easter egg hunt, what fun!

We woke to cloudy skies and very windy conditions that morning. I wondered if the hunt would still take place. We walked to the park and saw it was going on inside. I was quite disappointed. They were just putting plastic eggs in big boxes and the kids were grabbing handfuls of eggs from each box. And the parents were letting them! Plus, the hunt was suppose to start at 10am, we got there about 9:50 and all the eggs were practically gone. I let Clara "find" some eggs and then we stood in line to meet the Easter Bunny. She was so excited to meet him. The picture does not portray that (our camera has a lag time from when you go to shoot and when it takes the picture).Anyway, we played at the park for a little afterwards and then headed home. It was just Clara and I at home that day, Mike was in Durham at the all state high school jazz band clinic. And this day, April 16, 2011, was the day many tornadoes (one traveling from Sanford, through Holly Springs, and all the way through North Raleigh) hit the triangle area. We had a moderate threat (as the meteorologists described it) for severe weather that day but I guess while at the park that morning, I had no idea there would be a tornado seven miles down the road from me. Clara was down for her nap and the wind was blowing and it started raining (a little hard). Then the power went out. Great, I thought. So I looked for a flashlight and some batteries to put in a radio. Because I knew we had a tornado watch so I was preparing for a tornado warning. Then Mike calls from Durham. Oh it is okay here some wind and rain I tell him. He is like, there are tornadoes everywhere and that is all you say. Anyway, we hung up and I just waited to see if I'd get a call (from wral weather call) or the radio would tell me something. Then I hear on the radio that a tornado is heading straight for downtown Raleigh. The announcers were telling everyone to take cover, if heading towards downtown Raleigh turn around, and they told everyone in the wral building to go to the basement. It was pretty crazy. Clara was awake by now so we ended up watching Scooby Doo on the computer. The power came back on about 3 hours after it went out. Then my mom called and said a tornado went through Holly Springs so she wondered if we were okay. I was like, yes and that is like 10 miles away so it isn't here. (I'm so nonchalant about it but really probably shouldn't have been. Tornado paths are so unpredictable).

On the drive home, Mike drove through that area of Holly Springs, he said it was pretty bad. We contacted a few friends to see how they were doing and they were fine. But next time, I will offer my house (or at least frig for food) next time. Some folks didn't have power for 3 days.

This area of the country is not known for getting tornadoes. The devastation was pretty bad. My family was spared but there were folks who lost everything. Keep them in your thoughts as they rebuild their homes and lives.

Klove

I am not sure how exactly I found this radio station but sometime shortly after moving into my townhome in 2003, I stumbled across this Christian rock radio station, Klove. I would listen to it off and on and soon learned the words to practically all the songs on it. Now I listen to the station almost 100% of the time I am in the car and I do feel empty if I don't get my daily dose of Klove.

They hold a pledge drive twice a year. During these pledge drives (and also not during them), they have shared stories of moms whose toddlers will start singing to the songs on the radio station. I thought, that is crazy, how can a toddler learn words to a song on the radio station.

Well now I have a toddler...and I don't know exactly when it first happened but Clara started singing a song when it would come on the radio station. It just happened one day around Easter, a song was on and she said "He's alive, He's alive" with the song. I was shocked...and thrilled. Now the song is "Christ is Risen" by Matt Maher and Clara has learned the entire refrain to the song. We sing along together in the car when it starts playing.

And that is why I support this radio station. It is great to hear your child singing about Jesus and God and His love for His people. Pure music. It is making a difference in our lives.

St. Louis Zoo

When we were in St. Louis this past April, we stopped by the zoo. The zoo is free! It was nice and Clara was way more interested this year in the animals. We stopped by the fish tank....

Visited the hippos and elephants.

Of course we had to stop by and see Clara's favorite animal...the giraffe! Oh, she loved seeing the real thing. One of the giraffes even bowed down and said "hello" to Clara. It was hard to say goodbye.

Another animal Clara now recognizes is the zebra.

And getting a picture of two 2 year olds together is kind of difficult. Here is one attempt. Jocelyn enjoyed the zoo too. She is adorable!

Banana bread

We've been busy, becoming a little more domesticated. Bananas are loved by Clara but she cannot eat a lot of them at one time so they tend to not go very fast in our house. So, we had a couple overripe ones one day and I decided to make banana bread. I went online and found a recipe and luckily had all the ingredients needed. So, I made my first loaf of banana bread....

This year for Easter, we colored Easter eggs. We hard boiled a dozen eggs. Ah, a thought, I'll make deviled eggs. I found a recipe online, had all the ingredients so I made deviled eggs for Easter dinner. They turned out pretty good.

And for dinner one evening, Mike made beef enchiladas. I have to admit, they were quite tasty (even better than most Mexican restaurants around here).