A Day at the Park

Last Thursday was such a beautiful day that John and I decided to take a picnic lunch to the park so that the kids could play. It was alot of fun, but gone are the days when Margaret was content to hang out in the stroller. (sigh) She wanted to walk (and somtimes run) just as much as Steven did!

Margaret sporting her new sunglasses

Look at that handsome smile!

Being silly with Daddy

Can you tell my daughter loves being outside?

America: The Last Best Hope

For John's birthday, I got him the box set of these two books which cover from Christopher Columbus through Ronald Reagan. I bought them about a month-and-a-half ago and I've been very impatient for his birthday to come so that I could start reading them. I finally started reading the second volume (John is reading volume I) which starts with WWI. So far, I've learned more about the Great War through this book than I ever did in school. Not only does the author, Bill Bennett, include so much great information, but he also makes the book very readable. I'm actually able to put things together and make connections that I've never made before. I've been having alot of fun reading this book as I'm trying to follow Reagan's advice to be more informed about our nation's history. Though I haven't encountered any bias yet, these books are written from a very conservative (aka patriotic and pro-America) viewpoint. I've only read through the boom of the 1920s and I'm about to start reading about the Bust and the Great Depression, but I love these books and I would recommend them to everybody! Go America!

My Husband is SOOO Old!

We celebrated John's 30th birthday yesterday and had lots of fun. Steven is still singing Happy Birthday to him today and probably will for quite some time. (I think Margaret got it for a whole week!) We were supposed to go play Putt-Putt, our usual tradition for his birthday, but instead John wanted to clean the whole house. (If you've read my previous post then you know that I've been sick for a few days... so you can imagine what the house looked like.) He said that's what he wanted to do for his birthday, but he might have just been tired of living in filth. Who knows? But we did throw a party for him last night at my brother- and sister-in-law's house. It ended up just being a family party, which is probably best because we got very loud a few times. We're all very competetive and there was definitely some trash talking going on during games. :) I'm not much of a party person, but I felt pretty pleased with the party and I think that everyone had a great time. Happy Birthday, honey!

Steven wanted Daddy to open his present first thing in the morning

#1- a new shirt

#2 - new jeans

Daddy's new threads

The birthday cake

Sick Sabins

The past two weeks in the Sabin household have been so fun for us. Margaret has been miserable with earaches that went away but I think might be coming back again; then Steven had some sort of stomach virus that kept him vomiting all of the time and extra grumpy; then to top it all off, I had some sort of 24-hour virus (that ended up being more like 48- or 72-hours) and I'm just getting better, too. Thank goodness that John was off this week for spring break so that he could take care of all of us... he was such a trooper!

The only way that Margaret would go to sleep.

Margaret checking her own temperature.

My poor little guy!

Hats and Slippers

Margaret and I were playing the other day while Steven was sleeping. She got so excited when I put Steven's hat on her that I just had to take some pictures. She also kept trying to slip her feet into Steven's slippers... very cute!

Margaret's 1st Birthday

Margaret celebrated her 1st birthday on February 23 and really partied like it was 1999! We actually had two very small parties for her: one with a few of our friends and one with grandparents. Here are some (very late) pictures:

Margaret getting messy with pizza and a wipe

Just before cake and candles

Playtime after pizza

With Grandma Gooch

Grandpa Sabin tickling her toes

Cake Time!

Getting to Know Me (Audrey)

Eye Color: green
Favorite Colors: blue, green, yellow and pink (hey, it's grown on me alot since having a girl)
Favorite Movies: Lord of the Rings, Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Ever After and Labrynth
Favorite Music: Sarah McLachlin, John Mayer, Daughtry, Miser, Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra
Favorite Authors: Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Tolkein and J.K. Rowling
Favorite Food: Lasagna (one of my many nicknames growing up was Garfield... get it?)
Places I Want to Visit: Ireland, Switzerland, Japan (though only from watching Planet Earth) and South Africa
My Fears: losing my family and being a bad mom!
My weaknesses: Controlling my temper, especially when it comes to defiant two year olds and having the guts to act on my promptings/impulses and fulfilling my dreams

Getting to Know John

Eye Color: brown with yellow sunbursts

Favorite Color: blue, blue and blue. Check out his clothes the next time you see him and maybe you'll catch on that his favorite color is... blue!

Favorite Food: chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes with gravy and fried okra

Favorite Authors: J.R.R. Tolkein and Shakespeare

Favorite Movies: Lord of the Rings, Star Wars (episodes IV-VI) and Unbreakable

Favorite Composers: Bach, Mozart, Brahms, Strauss and Shastakovich

Favorite Operas: Otello (Verdi), Der Rosenkavalier (Strauss) and Le Nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro - Mozart)

Favorite Radio Talk Show Hosts: Dennis Prager, Hugh Hewitt and Michael Medved

Hidden Talents: Singing and cooking

Dream Vacation: Washington, DC

Biggest Fear: losing a family member

Famous People John has Met: Renee Fleming (today's big opera soprano), Carol Burnett, Frederica Von Stade (opera singer) and Van Cliburn (from the Van Cliburn piano competition)

Getting to Know Steven

Eye Color: green with yellow sunbursts

Favorite Shows: Thomas the Tank Engine, Caillou, Bob the Builder and Super Why

Favorite Movies: Finding Nemo, Cars and Sleeping Beauty (he loves the dragon!)

Favorite Food: apparantly none at the moment; he says that he doesn't like it, no matter what I give him (unless its sugar, of course)

Favorite Toys/Games: Thomas the Tank Engine (with or without the tracks), cars, Hide-and-go-seek with Mommy and Daddy and finding the dragon that lives under his bed

Favorite Books: any Thomas books, How do Dinosaurs Eat Their Food?, In the Garden and stories from "his magazine", the Friend

What you May Not Know: Steven is very snuggly and still gets away with sleeping with Mommy and Daddy sometimes b/c Mommy secretly likes it (except when he kicks me in the back!)

Our Favorite Traits: very funny and loves to make anyone laugh, but I absolutely love that he has always been a people person. Ever since I can remember, he has always tried to make friends with everyone and has never really suffered from shyness.

Steven is growing up so fast and I can really see it in the crazy things that he says everyday. When I was trying to get him to eat his lunch today he said "Mom, I'm just so busy." I love hearing the things that he comes up with. He's also always singing some song or another (or one song to the tune of another!), which is highly entertaining (hmmmm, I wonder where he got that from!?!?!). I love my sweet boy and I hope that he always lets me call him that (he tells me that he will.)

Getting to Know Margaret

Eye color: blue with brown/yellow sunbursts

Teeth: 7

Typical Facial Expression: a huge, wrinkle-nosed smile

Favorite Foods: Cheese, grapes and bananas

Loves: to play with Steven, walk everywhere (with help, of course) and to eat!

What you may not know: I always give Margaret little love nips (soft bites) on her chin, and she has just started giving them back to me.

Our Favorite Traits: a mover-and-a-shaker and continuously happy

Margaret is constantly on the go and it really is a challenge to keep up with her at times. She's very determined and strong-willed (who could she have possibly gotten that from!?!), which is hard now, but those traits will definitely be a plus for her when she gets older. She loves to tease me by saying "Dada" whenever I ask her to say "Mama", all the while with a huge grin on her face. John and I love our happy little girl so much.