Random Tee Jamboree 2012

The first (hopefully annual) Random Tee Jamboree took place last night, and oh man, was it fun!  A little back story...we'd been wanting to have a party that had the word "jamboree" in the name for quite some time, just because it's a fun word.  This spring we decided that it would be great to have as many of our friends as possible join us in wearing their favorite or craziest or least likely to be worn in public or whatever t-shirt for a party, thus naming it the Random Tee Jamboree.  We had a good response to the idea, which I guess means everyone has a shirt they would normally not wear in public but secretly want to...well last night was the night!  Here are a few photos!  I have many others, all of them so good, but in order not to blow up my computer I'll just share a few!

Sweet bear face shirt!!!!

 The children represented well!  So many fun shirts, and I think the kids all had a great time playing together.  And just for some perspective, the two boys beside Bennett are the same age/grade as she is.  A little size difference!

It was so fun to hang out with so many incredibly awesome people!  I think we ended up with about 80 friends in attendance.  There are tons of awesome people in the world.  These are a few of the best!

Random Tee 2012 was just a plain old fun gathering.  It was also a sort of BIG news announcement-type night!  This little man's shirt says it all!  Baby #4 for his family is on the way!

And another HUGE announcement...Baby #4 on the way for these two as well.  What a sweet suprise to many!  And, uh, again...her shirt says it all!

Another highlight of the evening was the presence of Parker, the 10-week-old teacup Pomeranian puppy.  Ainsley, among many others, is in love!  He was an awesome little dog and he is officially welcome at all parties!  So darling!

With so many people and so much activity, we used a megaphone for announcements.  Grant and a megaphone = still not very loud!  It did help a lot, he is just not a loud talker.  Given that I am, I guess it's a really good thing he isn't!  We balance each other out.

Here was our youngest tee wearer...oops I caught her in a blink!

Another great kid's tee...love her smiling eyes!

These two had some of the most colorful shirts!

And this friend won "Best In Show" and the "Key to the City" prize.  His shirt was kind of morbid and depressing, but being that he is a native Ottumwan, it was somehow hilarious and okay for him to wear it.  Oh Dan!

And finally, a slightly innappropriate shirt on the right and a homemade shirt on the left.  I post this picture because when I took it Levi was mid-laugh about something.  Fun photo!  There was a lot of smiling and laughing all around...I hope our friends had as much fun as we did! 

Here Comes Summer!!!

Summer is heeeeeere!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Yes!  We are excited! Below are some reasons why.

 Kittens!  Grandpa L. and Grandma L. have some, and we happened upon them over the weekend.  The girls and I have gone over every day to try to catch a couple in an effort to tame them.  It was going really well until today when we discovered the wild mama cat has moved them.  Bummer!  Well, we will not give up.  We will switch our efforts from taming to locating.  We love kittens!

 Reading!  We love reading.  Well, Ainsley seems to love decorating with books, judging by the photo, but she'll also enjoy reading some of these.  Books are great!

We love the berries of summer!  Too bad they cost about a zillion dollars at the store right now.  I did find some blackberries on sale and Bennett was mega impressed with this mega berry.  She had to take a picture of it because it was just. so. big.

And finally, fishing!!!  We fished with Grandpa C., Grandma D., Aunt K. and Cousin S. for the first time of the season.  Grandma tried taking a fish off the hook for the first time in her life, and she chose to do it with her sweatshirt sleeve.  Man, am I glad I got a short video of this event because it has generated a LOT of laughter over here.  So, so funny!  Oh Grandma, you are a gem.  Thanks for the entertainment.  We will ALWAYS be taking you fishing with us!

When In Doubt, Google It!

A school visit from a Blank Park Zoo employee, a tale from Mom about a giant bug on a past family vacation and last night's Junebug attack has prompted Ainsley's interest in big beetles.  I walked into the kitchen this morning to find her sitting at the computer, attempting to Google by herself for the first time.  Below you will see her search term for "Google the biggest beetle."  We made some spelling corrections and hit enter, revealing some nasty, HUGE beetles.  It was so cute to see her trying to Google.  I mean, it is THE best way to aquire information, right?

And in other news, Bennett waltzed into the kitchen looking like a male cubical worker, wearing a man's button-up shirt and swooping, feathery news anchor hair.  Dad gave her this shirt and she wears it around the house ALL the time, although this is the first time I've seen it fully buttoned.  Maybe she thought the business casual would improve her Super Mario skills this morning, but judging by the expression on her face, things were not going well.

A Few Randoms

We had a lovely Mother's Day weekend.  Lot's of fun and quite busy, but few pictures to show for it.  I'll just give you a few randoms from the past week...

Ainsley is her father's daughter.  She is a people person who is all about friends and giving.  She would have a friend over every day if possible and she would give them a present every time she saw them if she could.  Nothing is too small to be a treasured gift.  Not even twisty ties.  Here is a note and some "rings" she made for a friend.  "I hope you have a great time with the rings" is the translation.  Lovely!

Oh dear.  We have a new driver in the family.  Grandpa C. has been teaching Bennett how to operate the Gator.  Over the weekend he let her drive solo for a few minutes.  Cousin S. was her passenger, and while he looks completely upset he was actually having a super time.  He just makes a really painful face when you ask him to say "cheese" for the camera.  Stay off the roads, folks, or I guess the yard in this case.

And speaking of "her father's daughter," here is a Post-it I stumbled across this morning while cleaning up the kitchen.  I believe this is a word bank that Dad created to help him write a poem of sorts in his grandma's Mother's Day card.  It may be the first time in history that the words "crunch" and "punch" and "munch" have been used to express appreciation to someone on Mother's Day.  But just as twisty ties are useful to Ainsley, no word is off limits when it comes to telling your grandma they are special, at least not for Dad. 

The Power of a Fence...I Mean a Mother???

So, from my last post you will recall we are taking down our fence.  No biggie, right?  Well, apparently it's a pretty big deal to someone.  Check out the Mother's Day gift I received from Bennett below.

Bennett brought this lovely Mother's Day writing piece home from school.  If you click on the photo you can enlarge and read the sweet things she wrote about the impact I've had on her life as her mother.  The usual is listed...and the unusual, namely the importance of taking down the fence.  She mentions that crazy fence business more than once.  "My favorite thing to do with you is take down the fence..."  "Thanks for teaching me how to screw the bolts off the fence."  "One of my favorite memories with you is fixing the fence and carrying the parts to the shed."  Really?  Are you kidding me?  I mean, we did have some family fun tearing down the fence, but I had no idea it was such an amazing experience.  Never underestimate the influence you or your fence have on your children.  It's the little things, you know!

Whose Kids Are These? Oh, Wait...They're OURS!

 Bennett and Ainsley are a joy these days.  I love the young kid years.  Here are a couple of examples...

They are becoming increasingly helpful!  We decided it's time to take down the hideous fence around our yard.  Both girls had a blast helping us with the bolts last night.  They cannot wait to continue work on this task!

Ah. Making memories.

And this is rare but it's becoming more frequent.  The incidents of affectionate embrace are on the rise.  I took this photo this morning before school.  So lovely!  Now mind you, we are soon to embark on summer vacation and the first few weeks can be rough.  Too much togetherness, you know?  I'm thinking about blowing this photo up to poster size as a reminder to these two that indeed, they DO love each other, come June.  We shall see.  Anyway, Bennett and Ainsley are a complete joy 98% of the time.  What a blessing!  For those of you who are living the baby/toddler days, hang in there.  Your glory days are coming! 

Getting Excited!!!

 Nice weather means the fire bowl is out again!   We decided to roast some Peeps last week.  Two observations were made...1 - Toasted Peeps are way hotter to the touch than regular toasted marshmallows.  2 - Toasted Peeps are quite delicious!  You should give it a try some time.  The spring weather, fire bowling and Peep roasting is getting us pretty pumped for some camping!   We've got some of that scheduled for early June.  In the meantime, we'll just Peep roast away!

Pony Up!

Well, we just had a super fun weekend!  A pizza party with friends, a birthday party with family (pics to come) and an afternoon at the ranch with more friends!  Here are some photo highlights from our horseback adventures. 

Our friends Levi and Laci invited us to go riding with them.  Laci's family owns and operates an equestrian center.  We were so, so pumped to ride horses, for the first time as a family, and there is no one we'd rather ride with than Levi and Laci!  Sorry for the sideways picture, but can you tell Bennett is excited?

Bennett was a little nervous at first, but not Ainsley.  She got right on her horse, Angel, and was ready to learn!

Laci spent some time teaching us how to ride and lead the horses, and then we set off on a trail ride!

Is this a bizarre sight or what?  If you know Dad well, you know that he's not really into animals.  It was so weird to see him up on a horse and liking it!  He had a fantastic time riding Deluxe!

Out on the trail...it was chilly, hence the hoods and stocking hats.

After the trail ride, we rode a bit in the outdoor arena.  Laci taught us how to command the horses to trot.  That was super fun and super bouncy!  Ainsley and Bennett got to ride by themselves in the outdoor arena, and Ainsley even got Angel to trot.  It was so cute!

The girls enjoyed the horses, but they equally enjoyed this white kitty who lives in the saddle room.  Bennett, get away from the cat!  Achooo!

After we finished riding, the girls got to reward their horses with a sugar cube.

 This is a sight I never thought I'd see. Dad, grooming a horse?  Say what?!  And Levi examining a scar on a horses behind?  This is so not them!  Way to take one for the team, boys.

We also got to see a two week old baby!  His name is Prince and he is darling!

Here is Bennett, giving Levi and earfull, I'm sure.  She adores him and she will just talk his ear off!

And not only were their lots of horses, there were lots of dogs...nine, I think? Bennett, stay away from the dogs! Achooo!

Here is Ainsley, putting a horse away for the day.  The girls are already begging to go riding again!  Thanks for the wonderful time, Levi and Laci! 

A Double Rainbow!!!

This morning on our way to school we saw the most amazing thing...a HUGE, vivid double rainbow.  It was amazing.  I have never in all my days seen such a full, bright rainbow.  Simply incredible!

Honestly, it's also simply incredible that we made it to the school parking lot without crashing the car.  I did not have my eyes on the road much, and I was snapping the camera repeatedly while driving to try to capture the rainbow.  In my defense, I was not the only driver I saw taking pictures.  There had to have been a fender bender somewhere in town because of this amazing rainbow!

The girls kept saying, "A DOUBLE RAINBOW!  WHAT DOES IT MEEEANNN???"  If you've seen the YouTube video of the crazy guy in the mountains who cries like a baby when he sees a double rainbow, then you will understand.  No one in our family cried over this rainbow, but it was really sweet!  Such a great reminder of a faithful and awesome God who always keeps His promises.  Oh, and about the bathrobes...it's Pajama Day at school today!  Yessssss!

Weekend Sitings

Here are some fun things we spotted over the weekend.

Lots of beautiful tulips and two cute little girls to go along with them!  These two are embracing as if they might actually love each other!

A van with a painting of itself on the side?  What can say about this really?

Ainsley laying on Bennett's lap while watching a show.  I guess that settles it then.  They really DO love each other!

And....a man riding a segway on his way to a gas station.  Just before I took this he was multitasking by also talking on his mobile phone.  This photo is a bit blurry, kind of like a bigfoot siting photo.  Honestly, seeing someone on a segway in our neck of the woods is about as rare as bigfoot.  Weird!