Completely random stuff.....

I always have a bunch of random photos on my phone and when I download them, I always find some that I just have to share!!!!

I have at least 10 pairs of single socks in the laundry room (maybe even as many as 20!) that I keep in the hope that I find their partners one day.  What on earth happens to all of them???!!!!  Ben goes to bed with socks on every night and then kicks them off in the middle of the night when his feet get too hot.  Usually, they are on the floor by his bed, but occasionally I see lumps under the covers which indicate there are some in the bed.  I usually get them out and put in the laundry.  However, when I changed the sheets on his bed, I found there were several that I had missed!!  No wonder I have so many single socks.....

I bought a new pair of running shoes last weekend.  Best pair I have ever had.  They are wider at the toe so that your toes can spread out and form a wider base when you are running.  I wish I could wear them all the time!!!!  They are so comfortable.  Plus, they are so cuuuuttteeeee......

Janhavi sent me this moustache calendar, love it!!!  Thanks LMM

Ben asked me to sit with him and watch a movie the other day.  I was in the middle of doing all kinds of things around the house and really didn't have time.  Then, I stopped and realized that he won't ask me to sit with him for much longer.  So, I took the time to sit with him and spend some time together.

We bought The Hobbit at Target on Tuesday.  Ben has watched it every day since then.  Obviously it has the power to create sibling harmony because I found Ben and Maggie lying together on the couch watching it.

Maggie took this picture of Sam when we were at the Pow Wow last weekend.  Isn't he lovely?  He's the best husband in the World (in my opinion anyway!).....

Spring is fighting to make its way into the year.  It's been so cold this March and it feels like nothing will ever grow and fight through.  However, I went out in the garden and found this clump of daffodils flowering-they are always the first every year.  There is hope....

Day in Springfield, IL

Greta wanted to go to Springfield over Spring Break and we had never been there, so we did a road trip yesterday.  We went to Lincoln's home first.  Maggie and Anna don't look too impressed so far!!

 The house was very interesting and I was amazed that they will let you take photos inside.  A lot of the furniture was owned by the Lincolns

 We also went to the Lincoln Library and Museum.  It was great and we learned a lot.  I took a picture of the kids with the Lincoln family

 Greta standing in the log cabin door

 Maggie and Anna dressed as Mr & Mrs Lincoln

I guess you couldn't have a kids area without Lincoln logs!!!!

Pow Wow at Wash U 2013

We went to the Pow Wow at Wash U on Saturday. I wanted to take Greta there as it would be the only opportunity she had to see a small part of Native American culture.  I took some great pictures of the kids while I was there.

We went in time to see the Grand Entry, which is always a good opportunity to see everyone at the same time

We stayed for a couple of the competitions and then left before Ben & Maggie got too bored.  Not before Maggie set off the emergency alarm on one of the fire escape doors first!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T87CNC21OHw&feature=youtu.be

Springfield gymnastics meet 2013

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEJreHbkzwQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWV-v1pm5EM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFm2r8pNuPQ
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8Yzt-0SSeU

Maggie does Alicia Keys (warning may need to turn down volume)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMNlI4PNa9Q

A parent's dilemma

I took Ben to Springfield for a gymnastics meet this weekend.  We are not a fan of this meet, not really sure exactly why, but one reason is because they gloss over the individual events and only give a medal for the all-around scores.  Ben did a great job this year and his overall scores were very good.  As usual, he was the highest scorer on the team, but his friend Adam did really well too.  In fact, Adam has improved so much this year, he is much older than the other boys and started much later than they did.
At the end of the meet, Adam scored 50.7 and Ben scored 52.3, they were pretty close.  When they came to the awards ceremony, they announced that Ben was in second place.  I was thinking that there must have been a boy on another team that had beaten him.  No, they said that Adam came first and scored 56.7.  WHAT??????
I think they may have messed other scores up as well because a lady went over to the announcer after the ceremony and was talking to him.  By the time I found Ben, he had disappeared, so I couldn't ask about the scores.  I told Ben just to give Adam the win and not worry about it.  We all knew he had won in reality.  Now, I'm wondering if that's the right decision to make.  Will he always grow up wondering why we didn't fight for him?

Girl Scout cookies

We picked up the Girl Scout cookies for distribution on Thursday. It was more work than I had expected because the girls had sold almost 2,000 boxes this year. Ben read out what everyone ordered and Barbara,  Maggie and  I ran around putting the orders together

Greta came home from running half way through and helped too, she's great at that kind of thing

Our dining room was full of boxes by the time we were done.  Hopefully they will be picked up soon.
Just when I was thinking I don't ever want to see a Girl Scout cookie again, I realized I have to turn around and get rid of Maggie's orders now!!!!