Annabel, Alexander, my dad, and I are all over in Bend visiting Jo and Eric. Later today we're going to head up the mountain to go play in the snow, since we didn't get any this winter over in the valley.

Annabel is still a little fuss-pot even though her cold is on the way out. But she is gracing us with more and more smiles every day. Her papa will be amazed to see how much she's grown after only three days.

A couple of days ago, Alexander gave me a new mommy experience. He was upset about something...didn't want to get dressed or brush his teeth, and he said to me, "You're a stupid mommy."

Wow, where did that come from? Then I realized that he got it from Alice in Wonderland. We've been reading that book, and in our previous night's reading Alice had said something about "the stupidest tea party" she'd ever attended. I'm not sure he fully understands the word, but he gets the gist and was trying it out. My mind flashed forward to his teenage years when I may be called things a whole lot worse.

Ah, motherhood!