Esther is Cute!

She said, "Oh, am I cute?"  Then I took a picture and she said, "Oh, can I see it?  Oh, so cute!  I'm riding a bike!"

I just can't get enough.

Easter (continued from yesterday's post)

I just love grandma's house.  In the middle of nowhere, though not far from the nearest town with a gas station.  Perfect.

It actually gets dark.  Quiet.

And it's beautiful.  I just love giong outside.  You think you're alone.  Then you take a listen.  You're not.  I hear the sound of a white-throated sparrow call resound through the timber.  I will never tire of that sound.

The trees all look like they're dead.  But they're not.  One morning you'll wake up, and it's like God just nudged them and whispered, "Okay, it's time to wake up guys."  So pretty.

It doesn't really fit into the whole nature tree-hugger theme here.  I wish it was a horse, but I just love to ride the four-wheelers.  It's so fun.  My uncle cut paths all around in the tall grass in his yard.  I just love to zip through and listen to the dog panting behind me.

Easter

On Good (why do they call it 'good?'  It's horrible!  It should be called Horrible Friday.  Although what was accomplished was very 'good.'  Anyhoot.) Friday we went to Church.

On Saturday we just mingled around and did chores etc.

On Sunday morning we got up and stumbled over ourselves down the 16 stairs to see what the Easter bunny brought.  I got chocolate (!), a puzzle, more candy, and my mom is going to take me to get a new cross necklace (my old one broke :0( ).  After that there was no time to hunt eggs.  We hurried to dress and ready and grab all our stuff (this is all happening at like 7 o'clock).  We scurry out to the car and drive drive drive (vroom vroom) to Illinois.

Once we get there, we get to Church (on time!).  We sing, then the kids go downstairs to Sunday school.  I love that Church.  It's so awesome; small (SMALL, really.), and your buisness is everybody's buisness.  I especially like how we testify and we could really go on all day.  And Tommy is always saying, "Can I get an Amen on that?"  "Sing Halleliua!"  I love it.

So after Church, we run down to grandma Judy's, then up to grandma Linny's for lunch.  And the Easter bunny apparently made a stop there too.  Stuffed, we go back down to grandma Judy's for (sigh) dinner.  At her house (this time) there isn't as much food, but still awesome food.  Ham sandwiches and hard-boiled eggs  (of course).  Farm fresh!  From Lula, who has, wait for it, chickens!

For desert-PINK STUFF!  My favorite.  I could eat that stuff all day.  Really.  And there was cherry chocolate chunk cake too!  Could it get any better?

After that we went down to uncle Joe's to play and (almost) watch Ponyo.  Of course, more junk food.  And since Lent is over, we played VIDEO GAMES!  (I gave up video games for Lent.) 

Then it's back up to grandma Judy's for bed.   Slept like a rock, and I had Bubbles the dog to keep my feet warm.

More tomorrow, it's time for me to get off now.  I had so much fun!

Such a Wierd Tradition

Not Easter itself.  The eggs.

We broke out the fingernail polish this year. 

But don't even get me started on the bunny.

Last night my momma was making jokes about the bunny.  She was telling The Story, and, just joking around, she said, "...  and on the third day...  a giant rabbit came and rolled the stone away!"  We all started laughing.  "What?  It couldn't have been a little garden bunny!"

Oh, mom.

So tomorrow, it's kinda jam-packed.  We'll get up at like 6:30 and come downstairs and do the egg thing and baskets.  Get dressed, take all our stuff out to the car.  We're going to take breakfast with us. 

So when we get to our destination, a 700-person town smack-dab in the middle of nowhere, we're going to church.  Then, we go to grandma Linny's for lunch with my dad's family.  After everybody leaves and stuff, we go to grandma Judy's for dinner with my mom's family.

She's making mustard ham (don't tell Abigail that's what she puts on it)  and pink stuff!  My family has a weird idea of 'salad.'  They think salad is marshmallows and Jell-O with a few maraschino cherries with cool-whip on top.  Really.  I don't even know what's in the pink stuff.  But it's so yummy.

Then in the morning we get up and drive back and get to school, but late.  Oh well, it's not like I have perfect attendance anyway. 

And right now I am loving all the white-throated sparrow calls I can hear right outside my window.  It is making me happy.  It's really spring!

Knots!

Because frankly, I can't get enough of them.  At school I tied a hangman's knot (useful for a hitch) and Mr.  Matt said, "What's with all of these kids tying nuaces?"  My dad taught me.  Well, he tied one and showed me and then I figured out how to tie it.  Anyhoot.

This is a half-hitch.  Heh.  You use it to begin ALMOST EVERY SINGLE KNOT.

Sorry, it's kinda blurry.

This is a clove hitch.  It's made of two opposing half-hitches.

I didn't take my own picture of that one only because I didn't really have anything good to tie it to.

This is a bowline knot.  It doesn't slip, so it is known as a 'life saving knot' because of that.

This is a climbing knot (I really don't know what it's real name is), which also doesn't slip, thus is used for rock climbing.

This is a climbing knot hitched to a handle (not that you would use a handle to go rock climbing).

Note that the knot is kinda doubled over, that's because you have to thread it through it's self (does that make sense?) for it to be complete (not slip).

This is a hangman's (really the name according to my dad; I don't know if that is the real name.  I assume so because Mr.  Matt called it a nuace and that's basically the same thing.).

It has a large loop that slips so I have found it is useful to hitch onto things.
It is VERY annoying to take apart....................................................................................

This is the hangman's hitched to a handle.

And, the all important square knot.

The granny knot is like the cousin of a square knot, but whenever I try and tie it I get confused and mess up or just end up tying  a square knot.  So here is a picture I found on the Internet.

I think it looks exactly the same.

There is also this one called the bowline on a bight, but I just don't get that one....

I Hear...

I hear

It almost storming outside and

It being very windy and

The artificial wind... air conditioner and

The blaring television, would you mind turning that down, Abigail?  Goodness you'll wake Esther up and

I also hear this song going over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over in my head and I only know one verse, and

 I also keep dreaming music, not like my own music that I made/dreamed up (although that would be AWESOME), but songs like the one in my head right now, thankfully usually more than one line long and

Speaking of dreams I had a weird one.  So for the Science Fair we have these sequence numbers.  In the dream I was reading the bible out loud to my dad and I read something like, "I'm down on my knees," but in the dream I saw the number.  Hmm.

Sure, there's another way you can do it.

I'm setting the twist on the YARN I MADE.  I can't believe I know how to do that.  But really.  Hung from the pot rack weighted down by a tin pitcher. 

If you really wanna know howta make yarn, you can look here.  (I hope Mrs.  W doesn't mind me linking!)

Bento

Now long past my tummy.

Well.

Well.  I don't know what to blog about.  I really don't.  But.  I don't know.  I think I will change the look.  We'll see.  Yes.  I think I will.  Maybe.  If it will load in less than like 15 minutes.  Well.  I've been meaning to.  But it wouldn't load.  Well.

Park

Well.... Esther would say, "parkswhinsliiiiiide," (parkswingslidealltogetherreallyfastlikeit'soneword).

Anyhoot, we went to the park (swingslide).

This is the bike rack, but really?  Two suns?

They have a lilac too!

(that red thing is a pole on a trellace ;^) )

And the tulips were so pretty!!!

I think I am going to make one of the tulips my new screensaver or something.  So pretty!

You Can Tell it's Spring When.....

You get April Showers-ed

You go on walks

We get the walking sticks out

Our neighbor puts her moth balls out to 'keep the squirrels away.'

Things turn pink

Our lilac blooms!

Abe

So I randomly was facting about Abraham Lincoln (yes, I DO know 'facting' isn't a word).  The dude who sculped him at the Lincoln Memorial is the same guy who did a sculpture at the first school for the deaf or something.  So, Abe is inconspicuously signing his name in sign language.

A:

L:

See it?  I think it's awesome.

Trip

Yes, driving for like 3 1/2 to 4 hours with two babies and an 8-year-old who constantly has to pee and just drank a thing of soda.

Oh, the view!

Oh, the stress!

Poor baby.