Category: Miss Leyba

Beach shenanigans

Earlier this month (wow, I am so behind!) friends from Germany visited us! We did a whirlwind town, winery and beach tour. Miss Leyba was teething and sleep deprived the whole time (i.e. David and I were short on sleep too!), but Stefan and Sandra were so cheery despite the nearly constant baby whining and crying (poor girl!). We had a great time and they were fantastic with her.

(By the way, she’s since popped 4 teeth! Our smiley and happy baby is back! THANK GOODNESS!)

Here are some photos from our excursion to the very windy coast, including a quick story that will make you smile.

Fascinated by the items that washed up on shore:

Blatantly ignoring the Do Not Climb signs on the rocky pier:

Beach shenanigans trying to crack Miss Leyba up:



How can he jump so high, Daddy?

And then the downside to beach acrobatics:

You never know when your stylish, European pants might rip!



Thanks for the great visit, guys! We loved spending time with you.

Playing in the dirt

David and I are thrilled that Miss Leyba loves the outdoors as much as we do. She so enjoys going for walks, picking flowers, playing with her ball in the yard, visiting each of the neighbors (and their cats and dogs too, of course!), and helping us garden!

She moves dirt from one pot to another (and back again). She puts stones and little plants and flowers in her pots too. She dumps the pots out on the ground, the porch, and in her lap. Occasionally she gets super excited and throws a handful of soil on her hair. As you can imagine, bath times have become much more frequent at our house. (Every day it’s the same routine: out of the garden and into the tub!)

Not only is playing in the dirt fun, but evidently it is very tasty too:


Here she is telling Daddy all about it.

Yesterday the three of us set up our vegetable garden in the bed that David constructed for me out of scrap lumber. We’ve planted three types of tomatoes, a sweet yellow bell pepper, spinach, lettuce, vidalia onions, cucumbers and beans. All organic goodies that we typically spend a bundle on all summer long.


Since we have limited space, we’re trying the square foot gardening approach for the first time. I am a little skeptical that everything is going to fit, so I’ll let you know how it works out.

Right now I am more concerned about Miss Leyba embarking on an archaeological dig in the veggie bed before the seeds sprout and the plants become established. I have big plans for a nearby sandbox filled with buried treasure in an attempt to divert her attention away from our veggie beds (for now!).

As you can see, our Mother’s Day was productive and fun! In fact the whole weekend was fantastic – for all three of us! We’re looking forward to many more garden adventures all summer long.

Welcome to the Aqua Farm

I went to a small liberal arts college in rural Ohio. The adjacent county was home to one of the largest populations of Amish in America. Clearly, we were in the country. Deep in the country. (I loved it!)

One rite of passage for a Kenyon student was when an older student drove you to the Aqua Farm. You’d spend the whole drive guessing, trying to figure out what it was. Most of the time you didn’t guess right.

When I brought David to Ohio to see Kenyon in 2003 I took him to the Aqua Farm. On the ride over he guessed right as to what it was. Immediately. It’s very him.

Here we are six years later living in our own Aqua Farm.

Yes, our house really is this color blue. We love it.

Welcome to our little bit of country. We already feel SO at home.



Miss Leyba has a new word that she says it over and over, all day long: “Happy!” It fits. All three of us are radiating contentment. It’s remarkable how a change of scene can transform us.


More updates from the country coming soon…

(Our laptop computer is SO broken. Hence the lack of updates. The real reason may be that we are settling in, unpacking and spending all our free time outdoors, playing, gardening and getting to know our neighbors, but I’ll blame it on the hardware.)

Lunchtime Conversation

Mama: What does a dog say?
Miss Leyba: (pause) Woof woof!
Mama: What does a sheep say?
Miss Leyba: (pause) Baa baa!
Mama: What does a cat say?
Miss Leyba: (extra long pause) Meama mama!

(We laugh)

Mama: What does a cow say?
Miss Leyba: Booooooooooo oooooooooo!

She also loves singing her ABCs — she joins me for “A, B, C, D, E” and then hums along through the rest, with occasional bursts of “I” or “P” in the right spot! As far as we can tell, she just thinks it’s a pretty song she sings with Mama every day. I think she has no idea what it means. She gets all excited when we start singing it together though. The girl loves her music! We’re all for using music as a teaching tool.

Here are some other fun verbal Miss Leyba-isms:

All plants are called “trees.”

She uses the word “apple” for both apple and pear. I can understand the confusion: all she sees are yummy fruit wedges cut up the same way.

Miss Leyba now makes “mmmmm” (“mwah!”) noises when she kisses. SO CUTE!

She’s learning new things every day and it’s such fun to watch!