Boy Saves Family from Apocalypse

Plants vs Zombies.

It's real.

Real apocalypse, maybe not.  But a real video game, which is nearly as startling.

Noah: You can call it 'P v Z' if you want to.

Good. I was hoping to abbreviate the cumbersome Plants versus Zombies thing when debating game strategies with my friends.

Little Hen

Dear Maggie,

If your father had agreed to it, I would have named you Henrietta, and would have called you my little Hen.

If I had agreed to it, your father would have named you Sophie, I think, but he might have spelled it with an f.

Magdalene was our middle ground, and we meant to call you mostly Magda, but here you are...

...mostly Maggie, and looking like nothing could have suited you more perfectly.

{above: reason #587 why we love our nanny - the girls let her do their hair in pony tails / a beautiful face, ravaged by central wisconsin mosquitoes / magpie in the field, in a bathing suit, of course / maggie and milk - there is nothing in the world she loves more}

Here You Go, You Earned It

Can I just say, I really love summer?

I really do.

Sandy Diapers

The long-awaited, highly-anticipated summer break is finally here.  And as if Someone out there was looking out for me, I had an easy, breezy work night on Monday {read: SLEEP!}.  I did not waste any time making the scrubs-to-swimwear transition.

Our local lake's concession stand offers a choice of soda or snow cone with a hot dog meal.  Greta doesn't like soda.

Maybe it was a little drizzly.  Maybe the water was a little cold.  I don't think anyone noticed.

There are two games that a kid at a lake could play until the end of eternity.  The first is Throw a Rock in the Water.  The second is this...

Day two of summer break.  A little more noticeably rainy.  A little more disheveled as I tear the house apart trying to gather up all the supplies for the summer's first camping trip this weekend.

See you in a couple of days, Rice Kruschkes!

Friday Night Light

After a week of dreary, we had a small window of sunny tonight.  Sun, and a clear schedule.  All of us together, with no place else to be.

Woods is learning baseball this spring.  Kevin is learning to coach.  Both are coming naturally to each of them, I think.

Maggie has watched Greta make a thousand wishes on all the dandelions in the neighborhood.  Tonight, she found a fieldful of her own.

She wished for another dandelion, and her wish came true.  Then she wished for another dandelion, and her wish came true.  Then she wished for another dandelion...

Baby Teeth

It's a rainy day in our corner of Wisconnesota, and Greta and I are spending it crafting teacher gifts for the end of the year {read: covering ourselves in glitter}, licking brownie batter spoons, and talking about loose teeth.

How many teeth did you lose, Mom?
Uhh... ?

Early May anxiety

How old were you when you lost your first tooth?
Err... ?

Late May smile

Mom, which tooth did you lose first?
Well... ?

June grin

Did the Tooth Fairy leave you a dollar coin?
Or something like that.

Greta does most of the talking in our house.

Pilot

My dad gave us this kite string reel for a birthday a few springs ago, and I'm pretty sure I have never loved a toy more than this one.  Greta can pilot her kite {nearly} solo while I chase Maggie around the slide and listen to Noah complain about how the park is stupid and he would rather be at home beating Bowser's Castle in Super Mario Galaxy.

We recently found some more of these treasures at a hobby store nearby.  If your birthday is this summer, you just might get one too, you lucky duck.