We are so looking forward to spring and being outdoors! But I must say, these long winter days have held many opportunities for the girls' imaginations to be in full swing. They are crazy little things! Here are some recent "glimpses" into their world of make-believe... I noticed Bennett was "flying" some contraption around the house last weekend. I had her stop so I could take a look. Well, it was none other than a love-struck hamster, flying around in an American Girl bicycle helmet! I should have known! The hamster was towing a penguin, a cat and some teeny tiny babies around in a tea-cup turned wagon of sorts. The hamster took off before I had the chance to ask any more questions. One can only guess what was going on with that!

Early out from school = watching a documentary about lizards on Netflix! I'm not sure who enjoyed the show about monitor lizards more...Bennett or her reptilian friends.

What to do after school? Play school! Here Bennett is creating a PWIM chart for her "students." Webkinz, American Girls and a little sister...what a fine group of learners.

Bennett and Ainsley brought this girl to there dad the other evening. She was in a laundry basket-bed with her arm and let wrapped in crocheted doilies. They were quite worked up about her condition, explaining to Dad that she was very sick. As the doctor, he was to treat her condition. He quickly whipped out two quarters, placed them on her eyes, put one doily on her head and said, "Thank you for coming today." For those of you who don't know, he was being Nacho from the movie Nacho Libre, which the girls have seen. Though this was not exactly what they were expecting him to do, they thought this was HILARIOUS! We all got quite a laugh. Nice one, Dad!

Weekend Recap

We had a fun weekend, despite lots of coughing! Here are some highlights... Bennett and Ainsley were able to celebrate cousin S's 1st birthday with him for a little while. Here they are posing with him before eating some of his tasty birthday cake.

They got to see Grandma E. at the party as well!

One of the favors Ainsley received at the "farm" birthday party was a new bandana. Here she is modeling it for me! Nice smile...


Other little cousins were visiting and the girls were thrilled. They went swimming in Grandpa C and Grandma D's basement together. Here they are taking a break after a dip in the pool.

While the kids swam, some of the grown-up "kids" had a ping-pong tournament. It was a lot of fun, especially since we had an old Milli Vanilli cassette to rock out to during the games.

Last but not least, Bennett's silly tooth FINALLY came out! She'd been wiggling it since the beginning of December and it had turned gray and then pink. It just would not come out, but finally, after praying about it, the tooth loosened up and popped out! God does answer prayer, even simple things! The tooth fairy at our house, however, failed to show up and forgot to swap the tooth for some cash. I'm glad that Bennett believes in God and not the tooth fairy. She was cool with it when I just aplogized and gave her the money. Anyway, congrats to Bennett!

V-Day

The girls had a great Valentine's weekend, even though Dad was out of town and Bennett was battling a cough. Here are just a few highlights... We enjoyed dressing up for a fancy lunch at an area tea room. The girls were very lady-like, but poor Bennett coughed and coughed. She still had a nice time. Grandma D., Grandma E. and Aunt B. went with us.

Bennett and Ainsley were showered with cards, gifts and treats from many aunts, uncles, grandparents and friends. Here is Bennett with a bag of goodies from Grandpa C. and Grandma D.

Every year we make Dad a homemade Valentine. This year we made him a love robot.

Since Dad was gone and Bennett was sick on Valentine's Day, the annual father-daughter date had to be postponed a few days. Midweek, the girls got all dolled up and enjoyed an evening out with their special guy!

Bedroom Remodel...It's About Time!!!

I bought some bedding on 75% off clearance for Bennett a year and a half ago. It wasn't until this week that I finally got around to getting it out. Dad was out of town for a few days and that left me with some spare time, so I decided it was time to repaint and redo Bennett's room. She had never liked the lavender walls (I can't blame her) and so she was thrilled that we were finally going to get rid of them! Bennett's walls are now "wading pool" blue. She has a tropical quilt and a grass bedskirt. We framed and hung some of her artwork from school. It is a drawing/painting of various suns, each with a different facial expression. The photo doesn't do it justice...it's really cute and well-done in person!

Long, long ago, Dad also designed a metal surfboard to hang on her wall, once the bedding was on. We painted it a bright orange, like the orange in her bedding, and hung it right away. She just loves it! It's pretty cool. Good job, Dad!

Ainsley's Art

Ainsley has been drawing quite a bit lately, and the practice is paying off!

Her drawings are getting more advanced...

This bottom is a self-portrait, I'm told. I LOVE the eyelashes and the flower in the hair!

Amber Alert!

Randy has gone missing, complete with ransom note!

Sledding

Well, we hit the slopes at a family for the first time this season. Bennett and Ainsley were so, so thrilled! Dad and Ainsley are preparing to take off down "Knicky-Knack Hill."

Here is the view from the top. This is such a great sledding hill because it's large enough to provide thrill, but it's managable for young children to climb. It's also relatively safe. However, there was a layer of ice under the snow this time, so it was really slick and fast! It was a good thing we took regular sleds instead of our toboggan. That would not have been safe!

What a beautiful winter day! It was in the upper 20's with absolutely no wind and the warm sun was shining! Check out the blue skies in the above photo...

Bennett and Mom at the bottom of the hill. We took quite a ride, quite a bump and quite a tumble! Bennett was laughing so hard she "peed her pants a little!"

As we packed up the sleds to return home, Bennett wanted to show off her snow-packed stocking hat!

LONG Overdue Christmas Highlights

I apologize for the long wait for Christmas pictures. I have not done well with organizing and editing them, and this post is a backwards, jumbled mess. If you want it to make a bit more sense, start and the bottom of the post and read the captions from the last photo up to the first! Ainsley helped Aunt L and Uncle J open their "Mystery Gift!" They were the grand-prize winners and lucky them. They received a massive supply of household items, both necessary and unnecessary. Ainsley's personal favorite, the jumbo puppy slippers!

This is what the big kids do on Christmas...play Yahtzee. What's at stake? First, second and third place "Mystery Gifts."

Bennett sported her new "detective" hat at Grandpa and Granma's. She found a huge magnifying glass to complete the look. My, what a big mouth!

Bennett, Aunt K and Cousin S, hangin' in the playhouse for the annual playhouse Christmas Tea. It was really cold and snowy and the playhouse was freezing, so we skipped the tea and treats and had about a 5 minute party this year. Boo!

Bennett and Ainsley enjoyed making antique funny faces with Cousin A.

Christmas at Grandpa L and Grandma L's!

The second annual reinactment of the Christmas story took place this year. The cast was cute and cooperative!

Lots of cousins, decorating birthday cakes for Jesus!

We had a Christmas sleepover at Grandpa L and Grandma L's house this year. We had a loaner Wii and it was lots of fun! Here is Bennett doing a little bowling. She threw a strike, I'm sure!

Grandpa and Grandma D. with all 9 great-grandchildren.

"Santa" a.k.a. Grandpa C. came over Christmas morning. The children were not pleased with his gag gift...grapefruits! He presented them each with a can of pop and a candy cane. That's more like it!

Christmas morning at home was low key. We read the Christmas story, prayed and the girls opened a few gifts. A favorite of theirs was the Pink Panther 5 Disc Collection!

On Christmas Eve we were thrilled to hang out with Uncle B and Aunt J! We had pizza and hit the town to look at Christmas lights.

I still have Christmas pictures I need to post, but I am just struggling to get them edited and organized! In the meantime, I'll show you an interesting item I found on the kitchen counter a couple of days ago. It is an index card with the head of a wolf, cut from a magazine, pasted onto it. It also references a lovely song from the '90s. I'll give you two guesses who made this, and the first one doesn't count. We could make millions of guesses as to why she made this, and we would still never know. She is just a random sort of kid! We love that about her!

A Glimpse Into the Future...Oh, Dear

So, birthday parties have really evolved over the past several years. I remember the days when you went to your friend's house, ate a piece of cake, played a simple game and went home with a balloon. No more! Parties are much more complicated these days. Bennett attended a classmate's party over the weekend. It was a salon party. I thought, "Oh, how nice. Bennett will get her nails painted and a couple of cute clippies in her hair." Little did I know that I would drop her off as a child and pick her up as a WOMAN! Yikes! Here she is, about 20 years older than when I dropped her off! The child had her hair, make up, nails and toes done. She was just thrilled!

Check out the hair! It was pinned up with 752 bobbie pins, sprayed with glitter and felt like astroturf. They did a beautiful job. Now we just need a tiny prom dress.

Ainsley loved her big sister's new look. She decided to give herself a fancy hairdo as well. Lovely! At least she still looks her age. This experience was very fun for Bennett. I'm glad she was able to partake. However, the next morning she said, "I really want to wear lipstick today," to which I said, "I'm sorry...no. Chapstick...yes." She quickly followed with the question, "When can I start wearing a training bra?" Oh, dear.