Must be Spring!

This Winter Rocks

Last week:

 This week:

  

  

  

This winter rocks.

Snow Man!

Mercury rising...

When mercury levels pass 60 in January, we...

 put aside regular schoolwork for a "nature study day,"

 do lots and lots of winter yard work,

 collect an abandoned wasp's nest and a robin's nest for the kids to investigate,

and thank God for the warm respite

before the coming blizzard.

Gone Fishin'

 We took advantage of a picture-perfect early Autumn day to do some fishing in a friend's lake...

 Ammo caught a fish of her own, but was perfectly content to relax in her "little cute pink chair" and observe the rest of the action.

 Nathan was in little boy heaven--this kid LOVES the outdoors, and relishes every opportunity to do "guy-stuff outside"

Jakey reeled in the prize-winner, but spent most of the morning playing with the worms.

Miss B quote of the day: "You know, I often miss living in California.  But when we do things like this, I don't miss it so much!"

I second that.

Winter

Miss B. greeted me at the breakfast table with this spontaneous little poem, composed after glimpsing a bare branch through the window:

Winter

The trees are bare,

Their leaves nowhere.

Snowflakes fall on the trees,

Happy days begin to freeze.

But winter days have just begun,

Throwing snowballs is lots of fun!

We sled down steep hills,

What--more tumbles??

Now comes Christmas, quiet, fun,

And winter's just begun.

Often, rather than simply saying something like, "I'm excited for winter to come!" she'll write a poem, and has done so since she first learned to write--she just loves the sound of words, the varying rhythms, the lingual dance. 

Just one of the many little drops of delight with which she showers our days.  There's nobody quite like Julia.

Ammo's turn

About a month ago, Amberly turned to me and announced out of the blue that she would like to go to a "football game with Daddy. Not Jilia, not Nayfan, not Jacobitus, just me. Not a basketball game, I just already did that. A football game with Daddy." She has literally never asked for anything like this, but every day afterwards she repeated, very politely, the same request. For an entire month.

Fortunately, Daddy Make-a-wish Hintz remembered that the Spring intersquad scrimmage was coming up and he (along with everyone else in the stadium) managed to score some free tickets. This is what we call a win-win situation! Somehow Ammo also got a pink balloon and a pink ice cream cone out of the deal--her cup runneth over!

Spring means...

Easter,
New life all around,

Beezlenut stew-making,

Playing outside (yes, Jakey rides a Razor),

Long walks in the neighborhood,

Kite-flying,

Daddy time,

Family kickball games,

Visitors

WE LOVE SPRING!!!

Snow Fun!

Nate pulling Jake on the sled...

Jake pulling Ammo on the sled--pretty well!

Our snow-hobbitt

Duck!

And, of course, testing the effects of sub-freezing temps on the trampoline!

Rock Chalk Jayhawk!

For his birthday, Dave informed me that I had given him tickets to a KU basketball game, and he took his favorite 5-year-old fan to his first big game.

There was a bit of suspense when Alcorn State scored the first 4 points of the game, but KU then went on a 36-point scoring streak and ended all drama. Nate learned the rules of play, witnessed many slam-dunks, and had an all-around great guy time.
They came home at 11pm with a sleepy but glowing little guy. His dad was rather glowy himself.

Our backyard just got a lot more exciting!

The Ringmaster has been laboring,

The kids have been playing,

And the Trainer has actually managed to find some quiet moments with the kids so happily diverted!

An Excursion to the Flint Hills

This one's for all those who say Kansas isn't pretty! A friend took us to see the Flint Hills not long ago, about a 30-minute drive from our house. The kids found frogs, turtles, minnows, crawdads (sp?), tons of bugs (it is the Midwest, after all), cows grazing lazily, and lots more. The one thing we did not see was another human! We had a blast and can't wait to go back!