Peepers, Patio Furniture and Piles....

Spring is finally here. Despite the rainy weather forecast, today turned out sunny and warm and so came peepers, patio furniture and piles.

I did not go to the mall and ended up doing chores and spring clean up. George put out the patio furniture and then I took part in my yearly attempt to clean the cushions and remove the stains and mildewy-like spots. Next year I swear I am splurging for new Pottery Barn cushions. Maybe something like this -

After the furniture looked somewhat decent, I helped George rake the lawn to get rid of the matted grass. Somehow we accumulated more than 6 wheel barrows of debris on our lawn. The raking was quite the chore, but I think it can count as exercise! (At least that is what I am telling myself.)

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Raking does count as aerobic exercise.

Throughout the afternoon we were serenaded by the peeper frogs. We have a wetland pool right behind our house and it must be full of these little frogs. Their mating calls are a sure sign that spring is here and that the days are warming up. Frogs are my favorite "outdoor" animal so it always makes me happy to hear them.

These small frogs are quite loud!

Men at Work

The boys working on their Lego creation.

Taking a quick break to pose for the camera!

Jacob's buddy Brendan spent the night. The boys had fun with their usual routine of video games, wrestling and Legos. This morning they opted to work on the Lego base. Brendan added his personal touch to the base and the base now offers a custom medical room courtesy of Brendan.

The rainy weather gives me the perfect excuse to head to the mall this afternoon. So I am going to sneak out and do some shopping. My plan is to spend my Christmas gift cards on some spring clothes. Hopefully I'll find something I like - sadly, I can spend hours at the mall and not come back with much at all. But I am hopeful I can find a few things.

Jacob - the Journalist

Jacob is on the newsletter club at his school. The group meets weekly to write articles, comics, and puzzles for the school newsletter. Jacob enjoys being part of this group and has contributed a couple of articles to the school newspaper. Usually his articles are interviews of his classmates asking them to name their favorite food, sport, least favorite subject, etc. Brendan has been interviewed by Jacob and featured in a past newsletter.

This week Jacob put together a cartoon....about guess what...Legos! I thought it was cute and wanted to post it on the blog. (I took the picture and it is not the best job but you can get the idea.)

Wild Times!

Jacob and I stumbled across this state of New Hampshire web site - Just for Kids - a while back and enjoyed printing and reading the Wild Times nature magazines. Now that the weather is warming up we may see some of these creatures out and about again. Jacob really liked reading about Frogs, Toads and Salamanders and the one on Birds, Birds, Birds was good too.

Finally...a bird.....

A customer for Jacob's bird feeder.

Jacob wanted and got a bird feeder for his birthday. We put it up this winter - it is located right on our deck - and then waited for the flocks of birds to arrive. Sadly, we did not get any action and not a single bird visited our feeder. We would have even been happy to have a squirrel come by but for some reason they stayed away too.

So, this morning, as I was toasting my english muffin, I look out the window and there they are! Birds, birds and more birds. Black birds, brown birds and yellow birds. A small woodpecker even stopped by. Now, I just need to figure out when I should take the feeder down, as I don't want to attract any bears!

Kids Say the Darndest Things...

Jacob and Ben said some funny things this week....

A couple of days ago, on our way out to the bus stop, I commented to no one in particular that my hair looked puffy. Jacob then consoled me by saying that it was not puffy and that he liked it. He particularly liked "the way that one side is lighter and one side is darker" and "how one side is curlier and one side is more wavy". Now, these are not things I requested from my hair stylist. So, despite my somewhat neurotic and compulsive nature, I promised myself that I was not going to worry about this!

Benny also had me laughing this week. He is very excited about playing t-ball this spring and also mentioned that he wants to play soccer in the fall. We are not a soccer playing family but we will certainly give it a shot. Benny wants to play soccer so that he "can score goals on all of the teams and win all of the games".

When asked if having fun or winning was more important. (I naturally asked this question because as a mom I need to use this type of questioning to gauge the moral compass and developing character of my children....ha ha, but I digress....) So, when asked if winning or having fun was more important, Benny quickly said "Winning!" and then added "I want to win a trophy". Now, who does he get this from?

After a few more words of wisdom from me and his pre-school teacher, we convinced Benny that having fun was more important than winning, especially when we explained that these days all of the kids get trophies - even if you don't win!

Another Yankee Fan!

Today is opening day for the New York Yankees. They were scheduled to play yesterday but the game was rained out. This is an exciting event at the Snow household.

George is a Yankees fan and has been since he was a little kid. Yes, he did grow up in New England but for some reason chose to like all of the most hated rivals of the local teams. (So in addition to the Yankees, he likes the LA Lakers and the Pittsburgh Steelers - no local teams here in the Snow household.)

By association, and as a survival mechanism, I too am a Yankees fan. My interest and knowledge level wanes from year to year and some years I can easily list off the entire line up and other years I am surprised by the names on the roster.

Jacob is also a dedicated fan. He has been to Yankee stadium three times now and is not afraid to wear his Yankee gear to school and out and about here in NH. He is starting to get into the stats surrounding the game and keeping track of players, trades, league records, etc.

This is the first year that Benjamin has shown any interest. He has now watched a couple of games with George and appears to be excited about the game.

Let the games begin!

George and Benny watching the Yankees take an early lead...


Jacob sporting one of his favorite player's number