Firsts

We got to experience several firsts of the spring season this week! We took our first trip to a local, seasonal ice cream establishment. Welcome back ice cream topped with twinkles! We've missed you!

The first violets of spring have appeared in our yard! So exciting!

Bennett found her first worm. He was a tiny but speedy little fellow.

And we are so excited to watch Ainsley play her first season of soccer! Dad thought she looked like Johnny Cash on the field, all dressed in black. (I thought she would be getting her team shirt to go over her all black, but the shirts weren't in yet.) Here is a video of Johnny, I mean Ainsley, practicing.

Love Notes

Love is in the air...or something like that. Bennett brought home her first official love note, passed to her by a little boy on the playground during recess. He is smitten. As to protect his identity, here is the bottom half of his note, a sweet little song he wrote for Bennett. Judging by his statement, "I meen it," he is quite serious about his feelings for her. Notice, he desired a response..."Pleas write back." Bennett respectfully wrote him back stating that she enjoyed the note, and she values his friendship, especially when they play Super Mario Bros. on the playground. She gently informed him that she feels that she is too young to be "in love" or to have a boyfriend, so they would be remaining Super Mario buddies only. She asked that the note be mailed to lover boy, as she knows that note passing in school is inappropriate and against the rules. Into the snail mail it went. I hope the lad was not crushed when he received it.

Here is an entirely different type of "love note" we have on our fridge. Bennett has been struggling with some sadness and fears at home and school. Dad and I have been encouraging her to seek Jesus as her source of help when she's tempted to feel unfounded guilt, fear, sadness. We told her that Satan wants to kick her while she's down and she must resist him, and she would most likely have to resist him over and over and over, just as Jesus had to when Satan tempted Him in the desert. Well yesterday when I picked her up from school, she told me she'd had a good day with no tears. When I asked her why she said, "Well, every time I started to feel bad about something or sad, I just remembered to ask Jesus for help and I just told Satan to leave me alone!" Hallelujah!!!!!! Praise God that he truly is a help in time of trouble and she experienced this first hand. Totally awesome. Anyway, back to the love note, this is what she created on the fridge late yesterday afternoon. It's like she was just outpouring love and worship to Jesus...maybe for His help that day, maybe just because. Whatever the reason, this kind of "love note," unprompted by anyone, just a girl loving her God, was incredibly awesome to see. What a blessing that I hope to see continue in her little life. (And yes, the red cross is made from the beloved duct tape that is a current rage around here!)

Signs of a Good Time

You know how you are getting ready to have your great friends over, and you work hard to tidy up the house, making it clean and comfortable for the guests you welcome and respect? Yeah...why do we do that? Cleaning is not fun, but do you know what is super fun? Having your friends over! And the clearest sign that you have had massive fun...is a super trashed house! Yes? Yes! Here is a little before and after for you. Kitchen counter before = clean. So boring.

Kitchen counter after = trashed and disgusting. Who cares!? You had tasty food and great convo with your friends...totally fun!

Oh look. A clutterless kitchen table before. How nice...and dull.

Kitchen counter after = covered with wadded up wrapping paper. Evidence of children left ignored and unattended for two minutes too long...long enough to raid a storage closet and choose wrapping paper as a toy. Money down the toilet? Whatever! Children having a superb time with paper instead of watching television is worth the financial loss of a couple of rolls of wrapping paper, I'd say!

Ah, a tidy and organized play room before. How lovely...and unplayful. Blah.

A playroom after it's been played in, looking like a small tornado occurred inside of it. Awesome! Dad and I love trashing the house in good company. It's a great time, and it's a great feeling after the party ends to look at the disaster, look at each other and say, "Man, THAT WAS SO FUN!" C, J and I, thanks for demolishing the place with us. We loved every minute!

Things We're Digging

Well, I just don't seem to be taking many interesting pictures as of late. So as we wait for something amazing and spectacular to photo-document, I give you the "things we're digging" post. Here are some things we really like these days. First up is something Bennett is digging, and that is duct tape. Bennett has spent many an hour crafting things out of various colors of duct tape lately. In fact, I'd say she spent 67% of her spring break using duct tape. FYI, duct tape comes in an array of colors and patterns, and fancy duct tape is not cheap! The cost has been worth the creative use of time and energy though.

Mom (me) is digging the Asker series of wall organizational items from IKEA. Recently, I was able to purchase one piece of this set, the aluminum bar with the hooks and hanging ceramic pots. I LLLLOOOOVVVEEE it! I want all of these pieces! Help! I need more walls!

Dad has been digging fish tacos. We have a restaurant in town that offers them. They are quite delish. We are not Catholic, required-to-eat-fish-right-now-on-Friday people, but if you are, you should give these a try. Tasty as all get out!

And Miss Ainsley is really digging puppy chow these days. She'd been requesting that I make her some for weeks, and last night her wish was granted. A sweet treat for a sweet girl!

Spring, Syrup and Sympathy

Spring is officially here! We are so very excited to spend more time outdoors, and we began doing so this weekend. First stop...the Maple Syrup Festival! This was our first time attending the Maple Syrup Festival. It was a beautiful Saturday and it was quite fun. The event kicked off with a short hayrack ride to the sugar shack.

When we arrived at the sugar shack we saw a local celebrity and beloved naturalist, Ranger Pete. Oh, how the girls admire Ranger Pete! We were so pleased to learn about identifying and tapping maple trees from him. Bennett got to drill into a tree and a photographer from the paper took her photo. We have our fingers crossed that she will be in the paper this week!

Here the girls are learning about how the Native Americans and Pioneers first boiled the tree sap to make syrup. The delightful smell of the campfire made us really want to have a campfire very soon!

Our friends, Ed and Mary, are pros when it comes to making syrup, and they present at the MSF each year. It was fun to hear them talk about how they make syrup in modern days.

The girls also got to sample some maple candy and maple syrup on ice cream while at the MSF!

This final photo is not from the festival, but rather from our yard this weekend. With the arrival of spring and with the morning showers we received, the first official worm hunt of the season took place in our yard. One small worm was found, but he did not appear to be feeling well at all. The girls buried him alive because, well, if he's going to live he'll do just fine in the dirt. And if he's going to die they don't want to see it. May as well just bury him either way! They did so with utmost respect, creating a reverent cross grave marker and a sprinkling of pebbles. RIP, little fella....or maybe I should say live a long happy life, little fella! We'll never know your fate, but we wish you all the best!

St. Patty's Day Fun

Today is a beautiful, spring break St. Patty's Day! Happy St. Patrick's Day to you, from Cousin M., Bennett and....it looks like someone didn't get the memo. Ainsley chose to wear all brown on this special day. Her flip-flops are aqua blue. Oh, Ainsley.

Although quite overcast, it is a warm springish day. We decided to pack a picnic lunch and head to the park. Here is a photo of sweet sisters riding double down the fast slide.

Bennett is growing up, but she's not too old to enjoy the park!

Ainsley's favorite activity was going down the fast slide backwards and on her belly because it caused a wipe out at the bottom every time. Ainsley, now I understand why you chose an all-brown outfit today! Very wise choice!

Some drawing went down today as well. What does a huge, angry fish have to do with St. Patty's Day? Nothing.

Oops...sideways picture...forgot to rotate...sorry! Ainsley drew a lovely little girl with her Easter bunny. First the brown outfit and now this. Such a little nonconformist.

And we have another Easter bunny on St. Patrick's day. This one is Bennett's work and is fashioned to resemble Grandpa L. I'm sure he will be honored when he sees it, well except he might not care for the pin striped bibs.

Our Weekend: Cooking, Cardboard, Swords and Snowboards

We had a lovely weekend. Just lovely! Here are some highlights. I had some freezer meal making to do on Friday night. We ended up hanging in the kitchen as a family while I cooked for a good portion of the evening. It was pretty fun!!!

Bennett sat at the table, drawing her heart out. Her drawing theme for this particular evening was Easter.

Cardboard and duct tape have been very popular crafting supplies for the girls lately. Ainsley roped Dad into doing some major cardboard crafting with her while I cooked. Here they are putting wheels on a cardboard car, later to be turned into a boat. They are both flashing some kind of gangster face in this picture as well, and Ainsley is flashing a gang sign with her tools. They are so tough and they are serious about their cardboard crafts. Fo shizzle.

Here it is again...the cardboard car turned boat. Guess what? It wouldn't float. Back to the drawing board, kids.

And for your viewing pleasure, some videos from the weekend.


We got to hang with some super sweet friends from church. They are new friends and we are still getting to know them, but we can already tell that they rock in every way. Example 1: They love baked asparagus. Example 2: The Dad in the family is an excellent sword fighter, which makes Bennett and Ainsley very happy. Check it out!

And finally, Dad and Grandpa L. got to do something they love, love, love to do. Snow-tocross. As I've said before, this is an event where snowboarding and hillbilly collide. Pure ridiculousness.

Bennett's Bizarro Bedroom

You just never know what you will stumble upon when you enter Bennett's bedroom. Last night when Dad and I put her to bed, we stumbled across some crazy things. An owl in a bike helmet. Dad asked Bennett what was up with this. Her response was that "Owls are very wise, you know. He does not want to get injured when he's on the trail." Next time you are on a family bike ride, keep an eye out for biking owls. Share the road, people!

Here we go again with the creepy rubber fetus. I do not know what is the draw to this 12-week fetus we got at the Right to Life booth at the fair, but it is P-O-P-U-L-A-R. I would put it near the top of the "Most Played With Toy" list. Here we have a baby holding a fetus. Don't even ask. No one, not even Bennett, has an explanation for this.

A dolphin, lounging in a hammock. He looks rather uncomfortable to me, but whatever.

And I am SO THRILLED to see the return of random drawings to the back side of Bennett's math tests! She always drew crazy things on the back of her math tests last year in school, and we just loved them. This year she has not drawn much, in fact this may be the first drawing that has come home. It appears we have an outline of her hand containing an alien celebrating several American holidays. Makes sense. I know that whenever I finish working with numbers I immediately think about aliens and Easter. What is this girl thinking!?!?

Playmobil: A Peek Into the Soul

You can tell a lot about a kid by looking at the scene they create while playing Playmobil. Two very different girls live in our house! Here you have Bennett's scene. This is a group of explorers setting off on an expedition. They have gathered their supplies and animals in sleighs, chariots and the like and they are boldly traveling into the unknown! Bennett = Action, adventure, new vistas

And here we have Ainsley's scene. Babies, toddlers and children sweetly snuggled in their beds while a pan of cherry bars cools on the stove. The bars are most certainly a treat for the children and the grazing unicorns. Ainsley = Love, nurture, and magical creatures!

Just Dance!

What do Bennett and Ainsley do when their cousins come to visit? They dance, and dance, and dance some more!