A New Use For Packaging Paper

I received a parcel in the mail yesterday. Large pieces of wadded up paper were used in the packaging. I told Bennett and Ainsley that they could have the paper to do with as they pleased. For a while they used it as a plank for their mock-pirate ship. Then we played "Bible Story Time" and read a book called The Crippled Lamb by Max Lucado. This prompted Bennett to decide that turning the paper into characters from The Crippled Lamb would be a fabulous idea...we would be able to reinact the story! We started this activity of creating paper characters around 4:00 p.m. This activity ended up lasting the rest of the afternoon and evening. The Girls were still reinacting at 7:45 p.m. until it was time for pajamas and bed! They had a great time with this. Here you see Bennett and Ainsley standing by Joshua, the crippled lamb (notice his bent leg), and his cow friend, Abigail. If the reinactment continues into today, I'm probably going to start advertising and charging a ticket fee for this production to go public!

Candlelight Dinner

The other evening The Girls requested we have a fancy dinner. This is what a fancy dinner entails: dress clothes and an elegant hairdo (for The Girls), crystal glasses, crystal candlesticks with lit candles, our best china, and of course a menu written in swirly lettering. Bennett and Ainsley named our kitchen The Caffie Cafe for our fancy dinner. There is no significance to the name...it's just what popped out of Bennett's little brain. We had a dazzling experience. Baked Beef Stew was on the menu on this particular evening, and I have never tasted such fancy beef stew! The only thing that wasn't very fancy, as you can see, was the unsightly tub of Country Crock on the table. We have a little bit of refining to do...

Serious Infraction

Last night Bennett did something very illegal in our house. She took one of Ainsley's whole pretzels and traded her a broken one. Ainsley was immediately outraged. This was not the major offense, however. The major offense came when I told Bennett to trade the pretzel back with her sister. She looked me right in the eyes and took a bite out of her sister's pretzel! I was hot! I realize one should not discipline out of anger, but I picked her up off the floor and carried her straight to her bed...no second chances. She was quite upset by this sudden consequence...she was not even allowed to gather her beloved "bedtime items" a.k.a. blanket and doll to take with her. She did not even brush her teeth. It was quite a severe course of action for her, especially the part about not having her blanket and doll. She was in her bed crying and screaming for at least one hour about the lack of bedtime items. Here were a couple of her statements...."I WILL NEVER GO TO SLEEP WITHOUT MY BLANKET AND BABY! NOT EVEN IF IT TAKES TWO YEARS!" THIS IS THE WORST NIGHT OF MY LIFE! BLANKET AND BABY! BLANKET AND BABY!" It was crazy. She put up quite a fight. She eventually calmed down, and I was able to talk with her about her disobedience and why I chose such a harsh consequence. She understood. I think she thought I would give her back the bedtime items after our talk, which I didn't, which began the intense crying again. But eventually she went to sleep and she is a much happier kid this morning. Her eyes are still red and puffy from last night, but she is chipper. She assures me there will not be a repeat offense anytime soon. I hope not!

Paleontology 101

Bennett brought me this stack of plastic toy fingernails and wanted me to tell her was it was, as if I should know. I said, "...a stack of plastic fingernails? I have no idea..." She informed me that it was actually the skeletal remains of a dinosaur's spine. Oh,yeah! I should have completely known that! Silly me. I better brush up on my paleontology so that I'm in the know next time I am presented with a piece of history such as this!

The Notebook

Ainsley said something that was impressive today, regarding her tiny spiral notebook. First, a little background...The Girls each have a small spiral notebook. We usually keep them in the car for drawing on roadtrips. The are identical notebooks, so I wrote each girl's name on the back of their notebook so they would be able to distiguish between the two. This has created a strong possessiveness regarding this beloved notebooks. Bennett DOES NOT want Ainsley scribbling in her book, and Ainsley DOES NOT want Bennett drawing or writing in her notebook either. So, then comes the impressive statement. Today, Ainsley was showing Dad her notebook as he buckled her into her carseat, recapping a recent occurance for him that involved the book and a brawl. This is exactly what she told him..."Bennett was messing with my notebook and I was not impressed." I overheard the statement. I said, "Did she just say she was not impressed?" She and Dad both confirmed that what I heard was correct. It was pretty fun to hear. I was definitely impressed!

New Camera!

We got a new digital camera! Our old one was beginning to fall apart and picture quality seemed to be somewhat lacking, so we decided to upgrade from 4 megapixels to 10 with the Fujifilm FinePix something-or-other. I have been fiddling with it, trying to learn how to use it properly. The girls have been guinea pigs as I snap a shot here and there in an attempt to use the "face detection mode." They are becoming less than thrilled with me, as you can see by the expression on Ainsley's face. Apparently I had snapped her picture one too many times as she was eating her waffles yesterday. Sorry, Ainsley! All in the name of capturing memories!

The Girls recently had some photographs taken by a great local photographer. Here is one of them. He did a fantastic job of just letting them be themselves...no posing and making crazy bird noises to get their attention. Also, no squeaky toys were used to induce smiling. He caught them sharing an affectionate moment in the above shot. How sweet! If only I saw this type of affection at home more often!

Bedtime Snack

I cannot compete with Dad when it comes to amazing snacks. The girls wanted turkey meats, pickles and black olives the other evening before bed. I would have given each of them a small pile of each food. Dad gave them a couple of creepy looking guys, one of whom had a handlebar mustache. The Children were thrilled. I was kind of freaked out.

Egyptian Princess

Bennett has been taking in some nonfiction television lately. Grandpa and Grandma have a variety of cable television channels featuring informational shows, and since we're house sitting she's soaking them up in the evening before bed. Most recently Bennett has been watching a series about Egypt...one on a mysterious mummy from King Tut's lineage, a show about when Rome ruled Egypt and one about Cleopatra. She decided to make Egypt part of her reality today by fashioning some fine jewelry for herself, creating an Egyptian princess look. When she showed me the jewelry I said, "You look great! I will be sure to take your picture." She immediately ran to the couch and posed herself in an Egyptian princess position. Then she posed herself to look as the mummy of Cleopatra would look if in its sarcofigas...nice! And of course, a mummy in a sarcofigas would have a solemn expression. I am pretty sure Bennett thought she really was an Egyptian princess mummy at the moment the photo was taken.

Pillow House

Grandma has a lot, and I mean a lot of pillows at her house. Ainsley loves these pillows. Here she is relaxing in her "pillow house." I think she used eight pillows to build it. That should leave her enough pillows for a guest house or two.

A New Favorite Creature

First came the aye-aye, and now I'd like to introduce you to a yeti crab. This is Bennett's new favorite creature. This crab can be found in the depths of the South Pacific. I'm pretty sure the appeal of this thing for Bennett is the fact that it's name includes the word "yeti." It is pretty cool. I tell you, if you want to expand your knowledge of the animal world, get yourself a little kid!

Chiropractor Trip #2

We made our second long trip to the chiropractor this week. It only took a total of 7 hours this time...yikes! I guess that is better than 11 hours. Anyway, Bennett was experiencing some congestion from allergies as we road along, listing to her favorite Coldplay song. She was singing along and just when the song hit a break from lyrics for a little instrumental segment she chimed, "Great...just the right time for a phlegm break!" Then she cleared her throat. Dad and I found it quite humorous. "Phlegm Break" will now become a phrase used within our family, I'm sure.

This week we have driven over 2 hours in one direction for Bennett and Dad to see a special kind of chiropractor. We had to make two trips this week, and the first trip ended up being an 11 hour ordeal. Bennett was glad to stumble upon this McDonald's we stopped at for a restroom break. It featured a lodge theme and even had lovely rocking chairs, a coffee table and a fireplace. As you can see, she was able to kick back and relax for a few minutes...little did she know that within 15 minutes of leaving McDonald's she would be kicking back and relaxing for 1.5 hours at a stand still on the interstate for some type of road closure. She did not find an extra hour and a half in the car so relaxing.

Holiday Highlights

For some reason our weeks have been busy but not really very "interesting-busy." Therefore, I have slowed down on the posts for lack of content. We did have a fun 4th of July weekend though. We enjoyed hanging out with the fam, grilling out, swimming, water balloons, biking and of course, fireworks! Here are a couple of pictures of the girls enjoying the campfire with two favorite relatives. They sat by the fire in Grandpa and Grandma's backyard while watching the distant fireworks display. Everyone was actually awake to watch the fireworks, but I think the camera's flash in the pit-dark backyard made for blinking eyes in every photo I took that night!

Wintery Summer Again!

Once again, summer became winter at our house this afternoon. This time, Bennett and Ainsley thought it would be a great idea to walk their dogs and their galimoto toy through piles of snow while wearing sundresses and cold weather accessories. They then decided they wanted to wear these things into the real outdoors where the temps were in the mid-80's. The outdoor arctic adventure lasted about 30 seconds. Two sweating kids came back in the house. I'm glad Old Man Winter paid us such a brief visit.