Feeling better

I'm feeling more myself today. Still stuffy nosed and a little bit of a headache.
Claire And I went to the natural history museum today. I was aiming to catch the 3:00 live animal presentation in their discovery center but the guy who sold us our tickets was new and it took at least 5 extra minutes because he kept making mistakes with the computer. then we waited for the elevator. We finally got downstairs and found the discovery center and there didn't appear to be any presentation going on or anyone to ask. We started wandering around and touching the hands-on displays and at the very end of the live animal presentation we found the group at the back of the discovery center in a corner you couldn't see from the front. Oh well. Claire enjoyed toughing the polar bear, seeing the snakes, spiders and turtle and touching the shells and rocks and fossils. Then we went back upstairs and saw bison and elephants and other north American and African animals on exhibit. (I prefer the zoo.)Lastly we breezed through the rocks and minerals and the skeletons of sloths and saber tooth tigers etc.
We had a snack out in the rose garden and then came home.
When Mark asked Claire what she saw at the museum she said, "Snakes."

In Bed

I spent most of the day in bed with a bad head cold! UGH! None of us slept well last night. It is very warm and muggy here and we didn't get the AC turned on soon enough because we were out of the house. It hasn't been cooling off much at night either. It is 8:15 and still over 80 outside. Yesterday Claire and I went to the beach with Nina and Gary McFarlan to escape the heat. Claire loves splashing in the water and playing in the sand as well as swinging at the seaside park. She even liked the cold shower at the end of the day!

baking with Claire

Claire has helped me make muffins twice. This week it was Zucchini muffins. She doesn't seem to like them as well as the applesauce muffins. Today after helping me make brownies I told her we'll have to put on aprons next time. (We are both wearing chocolate.) She said repeatedly "need an apron." I sewed one for her with some stained cloth I had on hand. It is adorable. Maybe she will wear it Sunday since we are helping prepare luncheon at church.

Claire slept all night long the past two nights!!!
She also had 4 nights last week of sleeping 8-10 hours straight. Hurray!!
This is real progress. Thanks be to God.

There are so many things I want to do this week. I am feeling inspired to cook but yesterday's rice pudding fiasco has put me off. I somehow managed to burn it and it tastes terrible. I'd like to make some home-made bread, crackers, and breakfast casserole and banana muffins.
Tomorrow I may have a couple hours when Beth will take Claire to church.

I discovered something today... I was thinking about sandwich ideas for Claire--no peanut butter or other nut butters, no cream cheese... Today I tried bean dip. She had several bites so I think it is promising.

Sleep for Claire has been a roller coaster lately. The other night she slept 8 hours 20mins! This was the longest stint she has ever slept! I was feeling so hopeful...I've been discouraged since the following night because she has slept 4 hour stints or less. Last night she woke up 3 times. Also, she has started waking up at 5am and sometimes won't go back to sleep!

Backing up. We enjoyed spending Claire's birthday with my extended family this year. She especially liked her applesauce cake. (This is the same cake her favorite book character, Owen, likes.)

Next we traveled to Prescott with my family where we spent several days. I got to complete a sewing project and enjoy more time with my family. Claire had a wonderful time with her grandparents and grand grandma.