The News That's The News.

As mentioned previously, 2012 is moving right along whether I'm ready for it or not.  Astrid is exhibiting the regression in toilet training that we knew she would with her mama pregnant.   Odin will be welcomed to our world in the second half of May, and No. 1 and her family are enjoying their new house which is halfway between the homes of both sets of grandparents.  We visited them there last Tuesday afternoon as tornados raced through North Texas.  None of us encountered any damage, even the Darwin Award candidates who drove through them. 


We left the Easter egg, Easter dinner, etc. to No. 1's in-laws; their Christian status makes them the logical candidates and I don't even want to support the concept of  an Easter bunny.  Holidays make for nice pictures, though.

No. 2 has also been experiencing some fairly significant life changes.  She's still going to nursing school and working as a bartender, but she tried out a Groupon trapeze lesson and got hooked on it.

This resulted ultimately in a new boyfriend and participation in an amateur circus.  I could use some tips from her on stretching the hours in a day. 

Two of my favorite pics are these: 

No. 2 was Astrid's age when I started her in gymnastics (along with No.1 and No. 3).  She absolutely LOVED it, and I'll never forget her first day and how she took me aside after we got home to say, "That man (the coach) made me spin around a bar."  It sounded like a complaint until she said, "When can I go again?"  She was good at gymnastics ... good enough that the gym coach wanted her to join the team and compete.  That would mean practice 5 days/week and I didn't think gymnastics more important than softball, scouts, music lessons and all the other things that make for well-rounded childhoods.  Besides, I had two other kids to think about and competitions require dedication to the one child's one activity with a future of maybe the Olympic games followed by underwear salesperson.  So, I said, "No" to a gymnastic future for her.  Heh.