we finally got something good from freecycle! my plan is that in the absence of watching tv, my kids can create their own entertainment. of course, initially, they might need some help, so that will motivate me to do this with them. I can't wait for Hannah to be old enough to put on puppet shows and other things, like eventually a politically commentary newshow or something :-).

somewhat accidentally with the first weekend of spring, everybody decided to clean up their yards this weekend, us included. it's hard to be quite as motivated if you're just renting, but patrick did a great job! even found room for the sandbox, flowerpot, picnic table and barbecue on our tiny little cement deck thing.

we bought a potty! i gave it one day, then decided we're going to wait. suffice it to say though she finds it entertaining, she doesn't have a clue what's going on. but she does like carrying it around.

hannah loves playing in patrick's toolbox. she isnt' actually allowed, but we let her long enough to take this picture. can you tell her pants are a little too big? :-) we got a jacket last weekend from jeana, that used to be denton's (patrick's cousin). I love that Hannah can have it now! a tad big, but she likes it! she also knows denton from his picture in our photo album.

i clean the rest of the house every day. hannah is at the age where I have time and energy to do that. (I keep thinking of when the baby comes and I will go back to rarely cleaning and taking real showers, never picking up a book or doing my nails. at least now i know that stage passes!) the playroom, on the other hand, is it's own domain. she is into everything, so if somethig is missing you have no idea where it's going to turn up. the other day i needed my footscrubber. (i multitask while doing a pedicure when she's taking a bath.) couldn't find the blasted thing anywhere. i thought about cleaning up the playroom looking for it, but, you know. i finally bought a new one. then it turned up in the spare bedroom, under the bed.

unless she's wearing something that snaps at the bottom, this is what i find when i go to get her up. recently she actually proudly proclaimed "diaper off, mommy!" um, yes i see that.

this is my haul from tracking down a senegalese person here. i've found out that hair salons are your best bet. just like nail salons are for vietnamese. africans open up hair salons. i'd spoken with her over the phone, and we decided to go into the city and meet. in true fashion, she actually left her shop in the care of her son and we went over to her house. lunch wasn't ready, but she had some mafe in the fridge that she sent home with me. also a bag of piment peppers, and incense. unfortunately, it was too spicy to eat. my tongue has been back in america too long. she used her microwave to cook ceeb bu jeen, and a deep fryer for other traditional things. that's a true african american :-). it was fun. inspired me to try cooking it myself again. she invited me to a baby naming ceremony this weekend, which started at 9pm and went till 2 or 3, apparently. i tried to explain that my child would be in bed then, and then i remembered that's so uncultural it was probably a useless argument. african babies just go wherever, and pass out wherever. even toddlers. a random fact i haven't mentioned: when we were in colorado, we went to walmart to get lunch supplies. walking up, i hear wolof. at first i think it's the altitude. but no. apparently, there's a little senegalese colony there, all at walmart. 10 or 15 of them. it was the craziest thing. in the middle of nowhere. and COLD. it's a small world. it was fun for me and them, i think. i also heard pulaar (another local language) for the first time since i've left senegal, and that brought tears to my eyes.

we drew grandma jan a picture, and sent it to her with a family picture to cheer her up. then it arrived on the same day we did! we just decided saturday morning and left saturday afternoon, then came back monday morning. she is doing so well, we are so proud of her! i was amazed at how up and around and active she was. so the recovery's going well, and they are going to do a little bit of chemo.

the other day we made pumpkin banana raisin flax muffins (don't look for the recipe, i kind of made it up.) when hannah saw me taking them out of the oven, she went to get her own oven mit out of the drawer, saying, hot. she picks up on so much! apparently they met with her approval. she is learning so much. she puts words together a little, like daddy home. or hug daddy. or anything with daddy, really! she is still very determined and strongwilled. and just plain old strong! she loves to sing, we get new cds from the library to listen to. she's already learning lots of sunday school songs. isn't a big fan of veggie tales yet. for some reason she doesn't get the humour :-). she likes to put on lotion, brush her hair, and even cut her nails now. she knows everything that i do. it makes me so grateful that i am with her all the time. see, she already knows how to make muffins. she can bring me my shoes, put her own shoes away, put her books away, get a bowl or a spoon for herself, so many things. it's amazing.

new baby hasn't yet made his presence known. we have a sonogram scheduled, but there's a good chance it'll be too early to tell. gaining ridiculous amounts of weight for only being 4 mos, so i now definitely concur that every pregnancy is different. we are going to charlotte next week, so should have good pictures from there!