Busy, Busy, Busy!

The last week and a half or so were busy, busy, busy for us!  Dad was on a canoe trip in MN and the girls and I had quite a bit going on.  Here is a glimpse into some of our activities!

We stayed at Uncle J and Aunt L's house to just hang out and also to help with their garage sale.  Bennett and Ainsley enjoyed selling cookies and lemonade with A and L!  Three cheers for cookie profits!

There was also the required viewing of "The Swan Princess."  These girls LOVE that movie and LOVE to watch it when they are together!

While the little girls watched the movie, this big girl played dress-up!

Uncle J and Aunt L have a pond in their neighborhood, which means they also have a bazillion frogs!  J caught this huge bullfrog in the driveway while we were there.  The photo doesn't do him justice...he was GIANT!

Bullfrog!!!!!!!!!

The girls enjoyed some tasty Casey's doughnuts for breakfast before we started the sale up on Saturday.

After we left Uncle J and Aunt L's, we headed to a surprise birthday party for our friend Renee.  Other than the birthday girl and her husband, we really didn't know anyone at the party.  The girls were a little put out by the fact that they had no one to play with.  Then to make matters worse, we forgot to bring our bag chairs and we had to borrow from some kind strangers.  Bennett's chair was teeny tiny so it was hilarious to see her pulled up to the table to eat.  I was laughing.  She was not!

Ah, but after a bit, the girls got to visit with the birthday girl and they also made friends with a few little kids who were also at the party.  Once they started playing all was well!

Back home the next day we celebrated Father's Day with both sides of the family.  Grandpa C and Grandma D decided to spend their Father's Day putting up their new pool!  We are all thrilled!  Here are the girls swimming for the first time.  They got in as soon as the pool was full...the water was FREEZING but they didn't mind!

And I put this photo on because I think the placement of the pool is hilarious.  I guess three stall garages are overrated.  Grandpa decided that he really didn't want to have to level out a spot in the yard and put down sand so he just built a platform for the pool in the driveway.  What sacrifice for the grandchildren!

Happy Campers

We kicked off the 2012 camping season with friends last weekend!  Here are some photo highlights.

How many men does it take to chop wood?  At least three, and apparently a handful of children as well! 

Before our tent went up, the dads decided to play a little bit of "parachute"' with the littles. 

How many men does it take to put up a tent?  Again, it appears to be three, but in an amazing turn of events it appears they chose to READ THE DIRECTIONS!  Now that something you don't see everyday!

There were smores, of course.   But we did some "out of the box" versions...red, white and blue star marshmallows, Peeps, Reece's pb cups.   All were yummy!

Bennett took this lovely photo of the sun setting over the lake.  Ahhh....

 Dad had lots of help with lighting as he blew up this air mattress in the dark.  Several flashlights and headlamps....It was almost a mini light show!

There was swimming...

...and more swimming.

There was great food and convo with friends, big and little!

And there were sandy muddy undies!  Bennett will not be using these in her next underwear quilt!

We had a fantastic time!  And here is a group photo of the next generation of campers!!!

You Won't Find This on Pinterest!

Repurposing at its finest right here...

Bennett and Ainsley each got new undies this week.  They love new undies, and really, who doesn't? 
Bennett asked me if they could cut up their old underwear, as much of it was either getting small or falling apart.  Sure!  Why not?!  I did not know that the cutting would be taken so seriously and would result in some (ahem) wonderful creations.  First, we have headbands. 

The girls cut and cut for a large portion of an afternoon.  "We are making an underwear quilt!" they announced.  Yes, we'll see, girls.  As the next morning arrived, they immediately resumed cutting.  Maybe they are serious about this quilt.

And then began the arranging of the quilt squares.  Indeed, they are serious!

We ran a few errands after the quilt squares had been cut and arranged.  I did not realize until we arrived at our first destination that a panty headband had made it's way out of the house.  Fortunately, Ainsley was willing to leave it in the car while we were at the store. 

Bennett likes to hand stitch things, but decided that Grandma D's sewing machine might be handy for this project.  I told her I'd sew the squares down to a scrap of an old t-shirt for her.  First of all, I am not a sewer.  And second, I was not finding it necessary to invest much time or precision into an UNDERWEAR QUILT!  I quick slapped this puppy together...

 ...as you can tell by the stitchery on the back side!  Wow.  This is something you won't find on Pinterest!

 Slop job done, and we still have two delighted girls!  They love their underwear quilt.  Bennett is planning to hand stitch a tiny underwear quilt from the smaller set of quilt squares.  Then we'll have two!  Goodie!!!

And isn't it funny how children get attached to the strangest things?  Here is Ainsley, already cuddling with the underwear quilt.  It would not surprise me one bit if this quilt becomes a treasured item.  I can already here one of the girls asking, "Can I take the underwear quilt to school for sharing time?"  Um, no.  I have to draw the line somewhere.  This will be a stay-at-home treasure.  Silly girls and their out-of-the-box craft ideas!

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!