Sisters are fun company!

One of my sisters (I have three) is married to someone who is a BYU film major. They have known each other forever, and ever since I can remember, he has LOVED making films. This year he had a great idea to film BYU's rugby team and make a movie of their highlights. It just so happend he picked the right year, since they took nationals! Go BYU's rugby team!
This is all well and good for my sister, Becky's husband, but it has made some lonely weekends for my sister when they have their away games. This last weekend, he had to go to California, so Becky decided to come visit me! I was estatic, especially because Becky has a daughter, Eden, who was born just 1 week before my daughter, Elsie. I haven't seen Eden for a while, and have been anxious to see how her and Elsie would play and interact. Plus, it is always a special treat to have a sister over!
We had a fun time together, but I wouldn't call Eden and Elsie best friends. Mostly, Eden just tolerated Elsie, and Elsie loved to share things with Eden, including her kitchen set she pushed right over and onto Eden's head. No wonder Eden kept her distance! Eden was also not feeling well, so she mostly wanted her mom. There were a few times I was tolerated and got to hold her, however. It was fun to watch the two and see how differently they were developing, and yet so alike as well. I loved Eden's 15 month sprint versus Elsie's speed walk. It was lots of fun.

Our Local Zoo

I live in a tiny town where a saying under our welcome sign says, "Country Living at its Finest". I have a PO box, not a mailbox, and right next to the post office is our local zoo. It's actually a little farm where the family likes to raise animals, some of them a bit exotic. It's always a special treat to go to the post office and be able to pet the horses while you're there. Well, the little joy/pre school Peter is in got to take a field trip of the farm. They had a great time watching the sheep, seeing the horses, dogs, and even a llama and emu! I learned a lot about llamas, like how territorial they are, and I had never realized the amazing sound emu's make! It sounds like a low drum. The kids had fun, but I think Elsie had the most fun! She squealed at the dogs and loved the animals. She kept trying to squeeze through the gate to see the llama and emu, and got so mad when I wouldn't let her through. She sure is fearless, that girl!

Is THIS what little boys are made of?

A little over a week ago Peter had a couple friends over. This was a fun thing for everyone since it had been raining on and off and playing outside wasn't as much a novelty. They had a great time playing downstairs while I chatted with the "Moms" upstairs. That evening Mike and I were downstairs relaxing... or rather, I was dozing on the couch and Mike was putting Peter to bed. Yea, that was it. I was suddenly awoken by, "Peter, did you do this? This is disgusting!" Peter was quite oblivious to what Dad was talking about. So, I'm hoping he was innocent. Mike had found over half a dozen dried-up worms all over our downstairs! Some were intact and some were broken up in many little pieces. Sure enough...DISGUSTING! I had Mike carry me over the threshold (seeing as I was barefoot) and vacuumed first thing the next morning. Boys are so gross. Seriously, worms?

All for the want of a Nickle.

Ever heard of that Nursery Rhyme, "All for the want of a horse-shoe nail" where an entire battle was eventually lost? Well, we had a similar experience at our house yesterday afternoon. It was quite relaxing at first. I was cleaning my room, Elsie was playing on my bed, and Peter was rolling around on my floor looking for spare change. Suddenly, Peter turned over onto his belly quickly and started gagging. I knew he had found a nickle, and suddenly, the realization came. He was swallowing a nickle! He gagged and cried and gagged and I quickly looked for signs of choking. He was breathing, but still very uncomfortable. I called my pediatrician and the nurse told me he needed to go to the ER or Insta-care. I ran outside where my neighbors had gathered on their hill and handed Elsie off. Another neighbor quickly got her car while I grabbed a throw-up bowl, and she took us to the Insta-care. I used her cell phone to call Mike. It took me 3 tries to get his cell phone number right. I admit, I was scared. I kept telling Peter, "It's okay, you can still breathe, you will be alright" to comfort him, but truely, I was comforting myself. Just as we were about to drive into the Insta-care parking lot, Peter threw-up. As he threw up, I heard with it a "clink" from the bowl. After fishing around with my finger through his bile (being a mother really has its moments of desperation) I indeed found a nickle in the bowl. PHEEEW! Peter immediately felt better and I can't tell you the amount of relief that was lifted from me. I called the pediatritian back and asked if anything further needed to be checked. He gave me the clear that everything was indeed all right. As my neighbor put it, "There's never a dull moment at our house!" Isn't that the truth.

Bees

After reading The Secret Life of Bees, the busy insects have become an interest of mine. I've read a bit into the health benefits of honey, vs. sugar and read a little bit on the social structure of a beehive and whatnot. Well, I've forced my interest onto Peter and checked out books from the library for him on bees. For Joy/Pre School this last Wednesday, we met at my house and learned about bees as well. The kids loved it. When I asked, "Who do you think gathers all the honey and does all the work in the hive?" The boys answer, "the boys" and the lone girl answered, "the girls". Well, she knew what life was all about, apparently (joke).
After we talked about it for a while, we went to a local business that sells honey. In their store they have an actual hive behind glass. Peter and his joy-school friends loved it! The store manager even found the queen bee and we all got to see it. It was fun for even me. Then the kids had a great time sampling all the different flavors of honey. They were so enthralled, which is a rare occurrence for all of them at once. When I asked Peter and his male friend what their favorite part was, they said seeing the queen bee. When I asked Peter's little girl-friend what her fav was, she said seeing all the "princess bees". I didn't get it until later, but now it makes perfect sense. If all the workers are girls, and there is one queen bee, all the others must be princesses. Every once in a while, that glimpse you get into a child's brain is well worth the hours of frustration when you are not.

Is that a.... Groundhog?

I was on a walk with Peter and Elsie a couple mornings ago and just as we reached our neighbor's house, I saw something in their driveway. I stopped, and stared. I knew right away it wasn't a cat or bunny, but the process of elimination continued. No, it's not a squirrel or beaver or weasel; too big to be a prarie dog. It must be a... groundhog? Out here in the West we don't see too many of those. However, I began to get pretty excited, after all, it was pretty cute. I pointed it out to Peter and he and I began to follow it around the driveway. It eventually hid behind a small wood pile of theirs, so we walked on home.
I eventually called the neighbors, and told them I thought they had a groundhog in their front yard. I could hear the skepticism in his voice, but he said he'd check it out. Come to find out, it wasn't quite a groundhog, but a rock chuck. Well, I needed some clarification, so I went to the trusty internet. Aparently, woodchucks and groundhogs are the same thing and found mostly throughout the east half of the country. From what I could gather, rock chucks are very closely related, but found here in the west. Well, my great neighbors, being the humane people they are, caught the rock chuck and took him up to a nearby canyon. It made for an unusual day!

Mud, Mud, Glorious Mud!

There are signs of spring everywhere! Birds are chirping, bulbs are blooming, the grass is growing, and neighbors are out chatting. Ahhh, there is not anything more welcoming than the long awaited sun and warmth that comes with April! A few days ago I took the kids outside and we were enjoying just that, the outside. Often on sunny days my neighbors congregate on a little hill on the street and chat for hours. Anyone is welcome, so I wandered over there with the kids and began to chat for a bit. At first, Peter and Elsie were having a great time with all the neighbor's dogs. However, after being knocked down a few times, they soon tired of man's best friend and wandered off to greener pastures. After a few minutes, I thought it was about time I tracked them down. Come to find out, they had found another wonderful sign of spring, MUD! They were covered, and Elsie was even chowing down on the stuff. Good thing they were so cute and having so much fun, so that I couldn't afford to be mad. Those little rugrats.