Being 5, but Missing 4

We have a 5-year-old in the house! Eeks!

Although, if you ask Hannah, she'll tell you she doesn't feel 5 yet. "I still feel like I'm 4. Nothing has really changed. My hair didn't even grow any since yesterday!"
I told her to go to sleep on that and see if anything changed in the morning. If nothing else ... she's asleep! ;)

She is heading into her fifth year being an energetic, compassionate and talkative little girl! Dramatic as ever, but ... that comes with the territory these days!
The birthday pair got to go to a school field trip to a farm, where little miss was able to hold baby chicks, pet goats, lambs, cows ... who knows what else. She was certain the teachers picked her birthday to go on this particular field trip because they know how much she loves animals! Oh to be 5 and have the world revolve around you! (or rather, still 4, I suppose!)

The day before her birthday, Hannah was rather glum about turning 5. "I'll never, ever be 4 again after today. And that's kinda sad." Only Hannah would think of such things! So it was a good thing we had a day full of her favorite things. She was able to "burst" through a balloon wall around her bedroom door upon waking up, and Caleb and Marta stuck yard signs throughout our yard, so Hannah was thrilled when she peered out the window and saw hot pink "Hannah" signs everywhere! Then, we ended the day with a trip in our canoe (Jeff's present ... for the next SEVERAL birthdays!), which seemed to turn her spirits around and she was thinking being 5 is a pretty cool thing after all.

Birthday pie pit stop on our boat ride!

5 fingers, and a magic wand/grape kabob cookie treat!



Birthday party at school!

Looking forward to lots of new adventures in the coming year! Never a dull moment with Miss Hannah!


Praying Mantis Babies Are Here!

The babies have hatched!
After watching, and waiting ... and waiting and watching ... they're here!!!

We took a trip to a park yesterday morning, and when we came back, countless miniature praying mantises were crawling all around. We set most of them free around our yard already, but (of course) the girls wanted to keep some as pets. So we kept three for ourselves and gave three to another little bug enthusiast down the street.

To be honest, these bugs totally freak me out, but watching the girls run through the grass in the evening to catch tiny little fruit flies for their food source is simply the best. The not so great part is realizing that the praying mantises eat when we eat. Let's just say, dining with bugs eating other bugs doesn't do a lot for one's appetite!

Now, we're just waiting for our cecropia moths to hopefully emerge and Hannah's ant farm to arrive, and our budding entomologists will be overjoyed!

Our Pirate Card Shark

For the last couple of years, Hannah has become rather obsessed with cards. When I go upstairs to put Adelaide down for a nap, I come back down only to find Hannah already dealing out a deck of cards, anxiously awaiting a new game to unfold.

This past winter, we have graduated from Go Fish, Snap and Old Maid-type games to more intricate games, and her true nature has been revealed. Our sweet, shy Hannah is actually quite a card shark!

Jeff found a version of Hearts on our iPad, and Hannah has somewhat learned how to play that game fairly well. I can't even master Hearts, but then ... some sort of wine is generally involved, and since it's something we play when the kids are down and friends are over, I'm generally much too excited to have "grown-up conversations" taking place to really focus on the game, so maybe it's not as hard as I think!

Anyway, it wasn't until we were camped out at the gymnastics gym a while back when Hannah was intently focused on playing Hearts on the computer, that it occurred to me that maybe this girl needs to be stopped! Another mother looked over at Hannah and asked what kind of kid-friendly apps I liked with the iPad, and what Hannah was currently playing, "because she seems so focused and really into it."

"Umm, well ... She's actually playing Hearts right now. But there are other really cool apps out there!"

"Hearts? Like the card game, Hearts?"

"Well ... yes. She just really likes playing cards, and it keeps her happy while her sister is in class!"

Needless to say, I don't think we'll be getting to know that family very well as the mother's shocked look kind of said it all.

All I can say is that it's a good thing that mother isn't hanging around us lately, because there has been a new twist on all of our card playing that I find to be rather funny! The girls have really gotten into pirates lately. (We really know how to pick nice, wholesome themes, don't we?!) Hannah particularly finds pirates quite intriguing and prides herself on being so brave while reading stories about them. Granted, these are all kid-oriented stories about pirates, so any dangerous stuff is simply implied, but for Hannah, that's all it takes. That, and it's said they have green teeth, "and it's NOT from eating spinach, Mom!!"  ;)

Anyway, Hannah has gotten to where she talks like a pirate while playing cards! When she takes my stack while playing War (or as we hippies like to call it, Higher/Lower) she cackles, "well, let's see what ye gave me, Matey! BLIMEY! That's quite a booty! Ye even gave me a few Kings! Ha ha ha!!"

Or when Trioploy (a board game consisting of three different card games rolled into one) has FINALLY reached an end, she stands up and roars, "hand over the gleaming booty! Argh!"

Since she is most often wearing some sort of girly dress, and immediately resorts back to prancing around the room on her tip toes, it's even funnier to witness her sneer and cackle like a pirate!

So consider yourself warned! Pirate Hannah takes no prisoners! ARGH!!!!! ;)

Argh! Me card holder's me toes so I can double up!

Proof that Hannah learned a few things in gymnastics in
addition to perfecting Hearts during Addi's class!