Angry Birds

We received a package from Grandma today!!  What fun!  Inside were custom-made Angry Birds.  

When we visited at Christmas, she showed us her patterns and asked the kids what colors and kids they wanted.  

Amanda wanted a pink (of course!) pig.  

Andrew received a Green Pig, but I think he has more on the way in a future package.  He is our true Angry Bird fan and wants one of each color.    

Scott is Red Bird.  

Such a fun gift!

The End of an Era

We love story time at the library.

 We have loved it for for years.

 I first took Scott as a toddler, but both Andrew and Amanda went as infants. I think listening to Miss Jessie read stories and sing songs could be counted in their first memories.

 Today was a sad day for me. Just after we sing "Funny Fat Frog" and before we sing "We're all here for story time...turn your ears up high and your mouth down low," Miss Jessie makes announcements for the adults. Today she reminded us that this was the last story time for the year.

 And so, for our family, it was our last regular story time ever. Amanda will be in preschool in the fall, so will miss the Tuesday/Wednesday program.

We will still be regulars at the library. And they have GREAT programs for kids in school. But, I'll miss the sweet time with the toddlers.

 I told Miss Jessie that I may have to steal someone else's child to bring. So, if you ever want a free morning next Fall, just let me know and I'll be more than happy to take your sweet toddler to story time!!

Strawberries

The strawberries are ripe!

The farm is just a few miles down the road.

And we love our yearly tradition of filling the buckets (and our bellies) with sweet, red, delicious strawberries.

What a wonderful way to spend a weekday afternoon.  I picked the boys up from school in the car rider line and we went straight to the fields.  There were only three or four other families there, so we had our row to ourselves.

Truth be told, Scott was really the only *great* helper.  Amanda ate more than she placed in the bucket (including several green berries.)  Andrew was careful to select pretty berries, but tired long before his bucket was full.

Normally we freeze all that we can't eat within a week.  We enjoy strawberries all year frozen or in smoothies.

But this year we actually used them in recipes.  The first was the pink lemonade that I've been promising Amanda for months.  We blended the berries in our hand blender, added the juice of two lemons, some sugar and water.  Delicious!!

The second was an amazing strawberry meringue cake, a recipe that was featured on the cover of Southern Living this month.  It looked nothing like the cake on the cover (did I really think it would?)  My cake may not sell many magazines, but it won the hearts of my family.

Actually the only thing I would do differently is make the meringue into cookies and serve them as individual little cakes.  This cake was hard to cut.

The rest of the berries are in the freezer...waiting to be eaten as a special treat in the heat of July and August.  Mmmmmm....good.

A New Playhouse

Derrick has spring break this week and we are excited about tackling some projects around the house. Most are tedious and boring (like sorting the basement and finding a screw that will bolt our bathroom sink to the wall), but he started with something really easy and fun.

Amanda has been asking for a playhouse for so long.  We decided to turn the hull of our pirate ship into a little house for Amanda.  The deck serves as her roof.  

You can see in the above picture that she moved her "bed" and "chairs" into the house even before the walls went up.  She was so excited.

And, do you see the little cinder block in the corner?  That serves as her stovetop and oven. We have propped a little box next to it to be her refrigerator.


She really wanted a pink playhouse, but we settled with white lattice and pink trim.  Derrick even created an "A" for her door.

I think her window could serve as a great drive through window, but we almost never go through a drive through, so it generally isn't a part of her play.  

Not surprising to me is that dogs are welcome in her "home."  Farley can come in as long as the door is open.  He enjoys a cool place to rest.

The best part of Amanda's play is her imagination.  Here she has to improvise with a baby.  

This treated piece of wood is her baby - "Caroline Rose" (named after a dear friend's baby)

Since this picture was taken, "Caroline Rose" has mysteriously disappeared, thanks to Derrick.  We didn't think it was a great idea for her to play with treated wood, especially with the stains it left on her clothes.  But, don't worry, she has found a new piece of wood to be her baby...that is, as long as Andrew isn't using said piece of wood as a weapon upstairs on the deck of the ship.

On another note, Scott is perfecting his pogo-stick skills.  He's trying to break is record of 386 jumps in a row.

Vet School Open House

We attended one of our favorite annual events this week - the UGA Vet School Open House.   

And it was most fun because friends joined us.  The day started with a ride on one of the UGA buses from the remote parking lot to campus.  For these suburbanite kids, riding a bus is a real treat. 

Our first stop was Teddy Bear surgery.  I've learned that the line only gets longer as the day progresses.

The first order of business was pre-op.  After all, we need to make sure the bears are OK for surgery.

Andrew carefully watched as the mouth was restitched on his bear.  

We brought a bear from home that needed stitching (Super Ping Pong is his name).  He lives on Andrew's bed.

Here are all the kids after a successful surgery.  

The next stop was to see the live animals on the front lawn of the school.  This woman is giving a milking demonstration.  

All the kids had a turn learning how to rope cattle.  Good thing this guy wasn't really moving.  

My favorite room is always the anatomy room.  We save it for last because it is never crowded and the kids want to spend so much time looking and asking questions.   

My mom joined us for a little while with my niece and nephews.  We had our own personal tour of the surgery area

The pharmacist wore the right outfit for the day.  I wonder how many pictures he posed for.