Here is Ainsley doing her absolute favorite thing...playing with Play-Doh. She is also working on her Realtor's business smile, but she has a way to go before mastering it. Bless her heart for trying, but this is not quite the face of a genuinely interested broker. I'm sure by the time she's old enough for soccer pictures she'll have it perfected.

Here is one of Bennett's latest and greatest from her notebook.

Bennett is wrapping up her soccer season. This year she was on the yellow team (there is a piece of post-it note over her logo, if you are wondering about the white thing on her shirt.) Her favorite aspect of soccer this year was not kicking the ball or scoring goals, as one would think. Rather, she most enjoyed clapping and giving double thumbs-ups when other people kicked the ball or scored a goal. We're just glad she had fun, and also that she is perfecting her realtor business photo pose, as seen in her soccer picture. If we could just Photoshop on a business suit and replace the soccer ball with a globe, we're pretty sure she could be featured on the seat back of a park bench advertisement.

I'm sure some of you are getting tired of hearing about The Queen. However, we find following The Queen's life very humorous and entertaining. If you are sick of reading about a sandstone bird, no need to read this post. But, if you aren't, we wanted to let you know that The Queen's wedding took place today. Now, I thought that The Queen and The King had already married. True, they had...Bennett forgot to tell me that they eloped and a formal ceremony was to follow for family and friends. Well, bright and early this morning, Bennett asked me to please print up 20 animal-sized invitations to a wedding in French-looking letters. I did this for her, as you will see in the first photo. The invitation reads just as she dictated it should. Brief and to the point, I thought. Anyway, as you can see in the second photo, there was a good turn out for this amazing event. Many guests attended the ceremony, complete with a green aisle runner, a platform stage area and a small pink elephant serving as the officiant. (You are seeing the back side of him stuck into a coaster so he could stand up.) Finally, this union is being publicly recognized! Hooray! I asked Bennett where The Queen and King would be honeymooning. "Hawaii, of course...it's tropical."

Injuries and Memories

Tonight, just before bed, Bennett was complaining that her arm was hurting. I told her she would feel better after sleeping through the night. Her dad told her something different. He told her to come into the bathroom because he had just the thing to make her arm feel better. He dug out our splints, wraps and arm braces supply bag...yes, we do have a supply bag of these things. He then extended the bedtime routine by about 30 minutes as he carefully wrapped her injury for her. Of course, Ainsley's arm began to hurt, so her arm had to also be tended to. We have two girls who are feeling much better now, thanks to the compassion of their father. I think they are also feeling good because they got to stay up late for first aid. As Bennett says..."We're making memories!" Making memories is a good reason for breaking bedtime rules, most definitely!

Continued Fascination with the Aye-Aye

So, this was interesting. Today while playing outdoors, Bennett brought me a twig and asked me to get some tape. She wanted me to tape the twig to her middle finger so that she would have a long thin finger like the Aye-Aye. Those of you who have frequented this blog may remember past mention of this creature. It is native to Madagascar and has a long skinny finger for accessing grubs and bugs deep in tree bark and such. Bennett continues to be intrigued by this animal, as was apparent today, as she walked around with her own freaky finger. Remember, legend has it that if the Aye-Aye points its creepy finger at you, you will have less than one year to live. I'm glad that after a few minutes Bennett wanted that thing removed because the tape made her finger feel funny. Otherwise, I think all of the members of our family would be doomed by now.

The Royal Family

Well, we are pleased to annouce that "The Queen" has found her soulmate! The Queen met Ostrich R. Figurine yesterday and it was love at first sight. They quickly married and he is now known as "The King." The King surprisingly came with a miniature of himself, who we quickly identified as "The Prince." Hopefully the happy couple will wait a bit longer before adding a princess to the family. They really need to get to know each other better before bringing any more lives into this union. You may notice, in addition to the new men in the family, The Queen has also acquired some new accesories. She now has a soap dish throne, a new pet mouse and pet sheepdog, a hand saw and a cup of coffee. It makes a bit of sense that she would want pets and coffee, but the hand saw? I asked Bennett about this. She said The Queen used the saw to make herself the table that the coffee and pets are sitting on. I should have known! The Queen is not just a ruler, animal lover, and coffee drinker...she is also quite handy around the house. Oh, if only The King knew how lucky he is to have found such a jewel!

Today all of us girls got to go for a ride in the floater with Grandpa. It was a bumpy but fun experience. The last time I road in one of these was about 20 years ago, so I enjoyed reliving the childhood experience. The girls enjoyed seeing the pink marking foam.

Last night we enjoyed our first dinner in our "outdoor seating" at home. The children had a fine time dining and visiting at their little picnic table. They were actually laughing their heads off most of the time they were eating. I guess outdoor dining brings out one's sense of humor. When I took this picture, Bennett had just said something that Ainsley found to be absolutely hilarious. I wish I could remember what it was, but I don't think is was truly anything hilarious. It probably was a phrase involving the word "toot" or "underpants." Children seem to have a different sense of humor than their parents. Anyway, they really enjoyed their outdoor meal.

Bennett's Greatest Day

Bennett had a pretty great day yesterday. She even claimed that she was living life better than "The Queen!" Now that is a bold statement! She listed the reasons why her day was so great. Here they are: 1. She had bacon for breakfast. 2. She got to play with her friend, Annika, at the park. 3. She had a tuna sandwich and fresh strawberries for lunch. 4. She got to play in the playhouse with her cousin at Grandma's. 5. She helped make snowball treats in the afternoon and got to eat one. 6. She met a new little friend from across the street...Shawn. They talked and talked and did chalk drawings on the sidewalk. 7. She had her favorite brocolli pasta as a side dish for supper. 8. She got to ride her tag-along bicycle on the trails. 9. She gets to look forward to being leader on May Day at school. She's taking May baskets. Whew! What a fantastic day!