Cabin Fever is a Good Thing

We were away for Easter--a little family time together before Alan leaves for two different trips. This cabin, owned by a colleague of his at Howard Community College, was built in the 1800's, and we loved our evening ritual of being cozied up together on the sofa reading Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire! More pics to come from our Berkeley Springs getaway...but couldn't resist sharing this one right away!

Shopping

Yesterday I took the girls shopping. Amelia needed new flip flops, and I guess we were inspired to buy beachy footwear during spring break in spite of the fact that it snowed Tuesday night.

We don't go shopping very often (at least at "real" stores, as Amelia calls them--as opposed to thrift stores), and obviously I've not hipped my kids to the lingo. As we pulled into the Old Navy parking lot, I said, "Ok, girls, are you ready to shop 'til you drop?"

Evelyn replied, "Drop what?"

Rainy Days

This picture is actually from Christmas, when Grandma Blackman and I went to the local park, Mt. Trashmore, so the girls could get some outdoor time. ("Mt. Trashmore" always makes me smile--way to go, VA Beach, making a local park out of a landfill! They turned it into the only hill around!)

Today was rainy--a rainy spring break day. The girls watched "Pollyanna" this morning and Alan took them to the library to check out more books. Perfect day for books.

And on the way home from AWANA tonight there was snow mixed into the rain. As if we were going to forget how wintry this winter was!

Things You Find

Alan's been driven crazy recently by a strange, "rolling around" sound in the back of our car. So this week he  and Evelyn took apart the trunk and back seat looking for the source of the mystery sound.

They found no fewer than 45 pens/pencils/crayons/highlighters/markers, at least a dozen barrettes, and piles of crud I will leave to your imagination (keeping in mind that we DO, sadly, let our kids eat in the car.)

Unfortunately, the annoying sound is still there. Time to call Car Talk.

On another lost and found note, we recently bought a second-hand washing machine from a family at church. They drove over one Sunday to deliver and help install it. Dad and Son pulled out the old washer and I paused to clean the vacated spot. 

Within the grimy, dusty layer were all sorts of things: coins, more barrettes, a nasty sock, and...a tooth. :)

Signs

Evelyn has strep throat. Poor thing's pretty miserable, and is staying home from school on pajama day. It's bad enough missing a normal day when you love school. This is sheer torture.

We've been watching Amelia for signs of illness, of course, so this morning when I woke her up, I asked her how she was feeling and if she had a sore throat.

"No." She replied, shifting around groggily under her covers, "But I have a wedgie."

Cheers!

These were our St. Patrick's Day smoothies. We drink smoothies a lot--they double as dessert AND you can pack a lot of wellness into them. Usually it's kale that gives our green smoothies their hue, but this time it was spinach. Either way, they are enthusiastically received!

I love these outfits. There's a lovely woman at church who pulls me aside almost every Sunday to say, "I LOVE how your girls dress!" It's very affirming, especially since it's tempting to edit them. Our only requirement is modesty.

Last week at AWANA the kids were challenged to wear as many things as possible that began with the same letter. Amelia's letter was B: Black jeans, Black Boots, Belt, Bow, Bolero jacket, and...she's standing in front of the bathroom mirror putting Bandaids on her face. :)

Seeing her in front of the mirror like this gave me a sudden preview of having teenage girls someday, and what this spot in our house is going to look like in, say, four or five years. :) I'll hazard a guess she won't be putting bandaids on her face then.

Overseas Travel

We've been planning and saving for several years to take the girls to Europe, and there's finally light at the end of the tunnel. It looks like summer 2015 is our target, and we've started talking to the girls about what we may do and see when we go.

Tonight Evelyn said she wanted to go on a trip to Australia someday.

"Australia? That's cool," I said, "What about Australia makes you want to go there?"

"The naked people."

She has a classmate whose dad is Aussie and the classmate shared that on a visit Down Under once they observed some unannounced nudity.

So Alan told them there are beaches in Europe on which bathing suits are optional. (He did add--quickly--that we were not planning on going to THOSE beaches...)

Let's just say that interest in The Blackman Family's Great European Adventure continues to grow.

Lawn Games

The girls have had a game of croquet going in the back yard all week. They keep calling it "crochet." :)

Snow Memories

These are from our last big snow--St. Patrick's Day, I believe. We went sledding on a local golf course, but Amelia got sidetracked.

She found this branch, and it inspired her to build a "house."

She and Evelyn spent well over an hour building "houses" in the brush. 

While they were building houses, Alan and I built a snowman.

It made me wonder if the person who first drew a picture of a snowman as three perfectly round, white balls had ever actually MADE a snowman.

Because, just like real women vs. cover models, REAL snowmen are a lot lumpier and lopsided than those simple little pictures would have you think.

BTW--our snowman's cape was a deflated pool raft we found. I'm sure some neighborhood kids had enjoyed sledding on it as long as it lasted.

Sacred/Secular Clash

This past Sunday Amelia helped me take the cup during communion, pulling it out of the tray of little circles, then replacing it after I'd drunk it.

As the usher moved on, I whispered to her, "Amelia, what does the cup represent?"

She looked at me, giggled, and whispered back, "Mom! When you started asking me that, I thought you were going to ask, 'What does the fox say?'" (If this means nothing to you, you've not heard of this recent youtube craze that kids are all singing--find out by clicking here.)

This caught me totally off-guard, and I had a few moments of trying hard to suppress my own laughter. It also made me remember finding this Sunday School paper in the back seat of the car:

I'm sure it was the lesson on Jonah that got her thinking about animals and the sounds they make....

April Fools

So the girls wanted to "get" Alan this morning. And I think they did. They woke him up by telling him (and acting appropriately pitiful, wan, and weary) that they'd been throwing up.

Pretty good, huh?

:)