Tiny Dancer

George & I often refer to Bea as our Tiny Dancer because, well, she loves to dance and she's tiny. She has "happy" dances, "sad" dances, "angry" dances and "silly" dances. She twirls and points toes and gracefully throws her little arms in the air. She love to "practice" her "ballerina dancing." It's one of my favorite things about watching my 3 year old.

So this week we were driving and the song "Tiny Dancer" by Elton John comes on. Bea immediately tunes in, quietly listening to the lyrics:

Jesus freaks out in the street
Handing tickets out for God
Turning back she just laughs
The boulevard is not that bad

Bea then pipes up from the back seat: "Did you hear that Mommy? They are singing about Jesus. They said Jesus. They said his name: Jesus Frees. Mommy, did you know that Jesus' middle name is Frees? His whole name is Jesus Frees."

Seriously. She is so darn cute, clever and all of the above.
Our little Tiny Dancer.

Ballerina, you must have seen her, dancing in the sand
And now she's in me, always with me
Tiny dancer in my hand

Salt Lake Pictures, part duex

Mommy & Bea next to our carriage horse, Kidd. Bea in the lobby of the Little America Hotel. I wanted her picture by a huge vase of flowers, she insisted on having her picture with this stone dog. Whatever -still cute a bug no matter what she poses by.
Three generations of Ericksons!! Only missing Grandpa Matt. Doesn't Grandma Dode look fiesty for 94??!!! Bea with Grandma Dode's doll, Mary Marie. Grandma Dode got this doll from her "Poppy" when she was only 4 years old - that makes this doll 90. It almost looks as good as Dode.

Broken Wing

Honestly, we have had the most eventful week we've had in quite awhile.

Here's the run down:

Sunday: Bea comes down with a NASTY case of the stomach flu and was a little wet dishrag on the couch all day with Mom cleaning up quantites of vomit. Meanwhile, Daddy & Ollie go for a day-long snowshoe adventure with Chris Tenny & Co.

Monday: Bea stays home with Dad due to the flu.

Tuesday: While practicing her "ballerina dance" Bea eats shit and lands on her ladybug tea set from her Nannie, thereby sustaining a "buckle fracture" to her forearm. Off to the First Care center we go for x-rays, splint, etc... We officially dub her with a broken wing.

Wednesday: Mom stays home with Bea and follows up with the orthopedist to find out....permanent cast is in the forecast once the swelling goes down. Nannie comes down to help Mom w/ Bea. Mom prepares for depos in Butte, gets Bea ready for her Valentine's Day party the next day, and gets the family packed for the trip to Salt Lake City - leaving Friday. Mom then has to leave for Butte, for depositions.

Thursday: BeaMom kicks some serious ass during depos, Bea & Dad drive to Butte to spend the night before leaving for Salt Lake City. Mom, Dad & Bea spend Valentine's evening at the Hampton Inn in Butte. We decide to make the most of our romantic suite and the 3 of us pile into the whirlpool in the bathroom for a big, huge, giant Valentine's day bubble bath complete with whirlpool jets. Top that off with boxed wine and Bud Light from the convenience store across the street. Hey, there was lots of love to go around on Valentine's Day, all we were missing was Puggy. That night Bea gets a 2nd bout of the flu, or else ate too much Valentine's candy, and throws up massive amounts of vomit twice in the hotel.

Friday: Get up bright and early - assess Bea - she appears fine. We hit the road for SLC. But first stop in Dillon for the legendary Patagonia sale. Too much money later, we head out covered from head to toe in Capeline and fleece. Drive like bat-shit crazy to SLC. Check into the Little America Hotel (our favorite place to stay in SLC). Bea & I get gussied up - Big Daddy G takes us to dinner at Romano's Macaroni Grill, where the three of us truly enjoyed ourselves. We take the light rail back to the hotel, get bundled up, then catch a 8:30 carriage ride of downtown SLC & around Temple Square. So, so, so, fun. 3 of us bundled under about 5 wool blankets snuggled in and taking in the sights of SLC at night. wonderful. Then to bed - finally.

Saturday: Get up, work out, drink coffee, go see Grandma Dode at St. Joseph's. Grandma Dode is George's grandmother who is 94. She was the reason for our visit. She didn't look a day older than when I met her 11 years ago. She was dressed to the nines in black slacks, nylons, dress shoes, crisp white button up blouse, brooch, Norweigian sweater, earrings, hair coiffed and lipstick. It was wonderful to see her so well. We ate lunch w/ her at her assisted living center, and stayed for about 3 hours hearing all about family history. It was a really great experience. We look forward to seeing her again soon. Then we left, Bea slept, George carted me around to go shopping at Ann Taylor and the like, back to the hotel for Bea & I to swim. George headed back to have dinner with Grandma Dode and his aunt Mary Ev. Meanwhile Bea & I lounged around, drank hot chocolate, primped, preened then waited for Big Daddy G to come back and take us out on the town. Daddy came back w/ Mary Ev, we went to great pub, ate, drank then fell into bed.

Sunday: Got up at the ass crack of dawn and hit the road. Drove like mad, and finally made it home. Went for a nice, loooooong walk, came back and ended the week with a hurrah at Blue Canyon Grill. What a week.

Bea goes in on Tues to get a permanent cast. She's doing great and not really in any pain. I feel so bad for her though b/c she's so tiny and she really does remind me of a little bird with a broken wing. :( But she's been getting tons and tons of TLC from us.

Anyway, I have tomorrow off, then on Wednesday have to head over to Great Falls for work. Blech. I just want to stay home. Well, here's some pics of our week-long trials and adventures.

Sunday: Bea recovering from the stomach flu. Note the yellow puke bowl next to her.

Puggy recovering from a long day of Snowshoeing with Fashja

Bea with her broken wing all wrapped up in plastic for the Valentine's bubble bath in Butte.

Bea & Daddy enjoying hot chocolate at the Hampton Inn after the "Bubble Bath."Mommy & Bea outside the Little America Hotel in Salt Lake City

Daddy & Bea after a big, hearty dinner at the Macaroni Grill in SLC.Daddy & Bea doing their best Italian Mafia impression after dinner - Capiche?Mommy & Bumblebee at the light rail in SLC...on our way to catch a carriage ride!The troop at the carriage ride - just like Cinderella! (or so we told Bea).Staying warm on the carriage ride.

A Girl & Her Pug

Lounging in bed.....

Looking for love & treats.....


....Slumber party!!

Sleeping by the fire...

Tea Party

Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?

Not Nannie. Tee-Hee.

House Frau & Hillary

We think Bea looks like the essential "HouseFrau" in this picture. I can't claim that term - in fact Grandpa Matt on occassion referred to our midwife as "the HouseFrau." Which still cracks us up everytime we recall him calling the midwife that.

Here's a few pics of Bea with her NanniePappy at the Ironhorse and then on the Missoula Carousel. Perfect day in Bea's world.

Pappy as sidekick - Tally Ho!!!

Finally, on a separate note, I have fully enlisted and brainwashed Frau to help campaign for Hillary. George has squashed my hopes of turning Bea in a HillGirl. Won't have it. Won't really even let me talk about it. So, I may have to do so here. Go Hillary!!!! Ollie & I are pulling for you on SuperTuesday!!!

If she gets the vote, Bea will be able to thank me in the long run when she's able to earn as much as her male counterparts without having to work twice as hard to earn less. And YES that is still the case. I'm rooting for Bea to be able to work in an environment where she's a part of the 'Good ol' Girls' Club" who goes to the winebar to conduct business instead of the 'country club' where she's not even welcome. Where Bea can choose whether to be a HouseFrau, mother or successful working woman and her choices will not be considered mutually exclusive. Where she grows up in a society that values helping each other, not helping herself. (On that note, kudos to Max Baucus for attempting to re-work the tax rebate to include the elderly and unemployed - it's not going to kill any of us to forfeit $100 to help someone else). And where her generation will be the fortunate recipients of a clean energy revolution.

So for now, Frau & I will be proudly touting our Hill-aphenalia and working our asses (and curled up tails) off to get her the bid. And for all you Hill-haters, if by chance you are offended, just go ahead and close the webpage. And for those of you who are intelligent enough to look past the smut associated with her husband and the GOP propoganda bullshit - go check out her positions on the issues: http://www.hillaryclinton.com/ And if you are inspired - donate or volunteer.

SuperSkeetieSaturday

Today was our first Saturday off as a family in about 3 months. George just switched shifts, so now he has Thursday, Friday & Saturday off. It was simple, and probably in the long run forgettable, but these days are what makes parenting a joy.

I put together "Land of Nod" cinnamon rolls last night. Actually they are a Canadian recipe, thanks to "the Best of the Best" cookbook from George's mom. They rose to massive proportions this morning and eventually got even bigger in the oven, but turned out to the perfect Saturday morning breakfast.

Skeetie slept snuggly between us last night, so pug resorted to being my pug-hat all night. Cramped, but again, perfect. She had spent the last 2 nights w/ NanniePappy, so we all just needed a good 8 hour snuggle-fest.

At any rate, we had cinnamon rolls & green tea smoothies for brekkie, then all piled Ol' Blue, including pug for a day around Missoula. We hit Great Harvest to pick up bread, invaded the Good Food Store for weekly supplies, ran to Target to get Bea a new big-girl booster seat, flew by Loose Caboose for hot chocolates, then drove out to Spurgin Road for some sledding. Sadly we didn't have our camera, but we had a kick-ass time flying down the hill on the purple plastic sled. Twice all of us piled on the sled and freakin' screamed down the hill. One time ending with a snow-wedgie. Soon thereafter we took off for the the Montana Natural History Center to participate in a kiddie-seminar on bird species. Bea huddled around the presenter, a bird-specialist from East Glacier, and was the perfect "little naturalist." Actually, she was fascinated with a flashlight battery that she had found and stowed away in the pocked of her fleece jacket, but regardless, she sat still. That is a fantastic center and I would highly recommend their kid-programs every Saturday.

We then headed home for naps and then made dinner. I found an instant Bea favorite: wild mushroom mac & cheese. She had a penchant not only for edamamme, but also for any type of mushroom, prepared any way. So combining mac & cheese with mushrooms was a delight for her. I'd highly recommend this decadent dish, particularly if you are hell-bent on ruining your healthy eating plan. You can find it at http://www.gourmet.com/ in February's recipes. After a supreme comfort meal we all rolled downstairs to finish the day with a movie. Tucked under a down blanket, on the couch with Frau, Bea & Big Daddy G - is quite simply the best.