Cover

I was going to do something cool for my 100th post, but as it turns out, that was the last post!!! So, I guess I'll save the 100-strange-things-about-the-Ragers for another time. Instead, I'm posting the cover of my book! What do you think?

Thanks, Dad, for helping me with this!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

In keeping with the holiday spirit, I am posting today. It' long overdue, I know.
A couple weeks ago, Lylli came home with a cool homework assignment. She had to design and build a trap for leprechauns. She was told that they are very tricky and small and that catching them is difficult, so she had to be creative. Now, keep in mind, she came up with the project on her own, Shane and I only helped her minimally.
She decided she needed a small box to capture him in. She made the outside of this box green (to blend in with the grass) and made the inside to look like gold! After all, a leprechaun can't resist gold! There was an awning and a porch and two doors. One door was stationary and the other only pushed in and then sprung shut, so that when the leprechaun went in to get the gold, he'd be stuck inside!! (Quite the little engineer, huh!) Her dad even helped her rig up a yellow LED light to a batter pack with a switch! She did all the soldering and had a great time putting it together. Didn't she do a good job?!

The bright spot in the back is the light to shine off the gold and make it look EXTRA shinny!

Gluing on the batter pack.

She had a great time putting it together. But yesterday, she discovered the leprechauns had been to the school and had left a mess in her classroom that she and her friends had to clean up! (She was not happy about that!) She was very disappointed that NO ONE had caught a leprechaun. And when I asked if they had left anything in her trap, she said, very disgustedly, "Only candy!" and huffed off. (She's not my candy girl.) So I don't know if this project ruined her - doing something only to be let down (which, of course, is part of life) - or if she's now more determined to catch one next year. I guess we'll see! Happy St. Patrick's Day to all!

Swimming Pool Day!

The Friday before Spring Break, (so March 6th) Layla had a swimming day at school!!! (So yes, I'm behind in my documenting.) They set up swimming pools and various activities for the kids to do. Face painting, fingernail painting, slides, swimming, sandboxes, snow cones, just to name a few! Needless to say, it was a fun day! Seryn even wanted to go and wear her swimsuit, but didn't know what to think of all those kids! But Layla had a blast!!!!!
Layla fishing! She caught one!

Seryn, playing in the sandbox.

Layla swimming!!!!

Seryn, not sure what to do or think of all the kids who are going crazy!
Layla, having the time of her life!

Laundry Helper

Okay, I had a few minutes to do a post. Now, I don't profess to be an expert on laundry, but I don't do too terrible. I sort things based on fabric and color, mostly. In fact, after I'm done sorting the laundry, it usually looks something like this.
See the darks and the whites and the heavy colors and the cotton colors. Pretty standard, or so I thought.
I have been busy editing my book this week and the house has kind of gone by the way side. (Of course, Shane was out of town a couple days and that didn't help.) So today, Shane decided to help me out by getting the laundry downstairs, sorted, and started. This is what I came home to. (Keep in mind, these are the same clothes as above, just sorted differently.)
Now, I'm not complaining because I'm ever so grateful that he wanted and tried to help me out. But look closely. Do you see any kind of a pattern here? I actually had to call him to figure out the logic behind his sorting. He told me he didn't really know!!! But he put all of the socks with the jeans, and then made a pile of lighter colors and darker colors. He also said there was a pile of knits too (which, incidentally, I found under the large pile on the right.) And from my guesses, the lighter colors are on the left and the darker colors are on the right. Now, perhaps this is the normal way of sorting laundry. I don't know. But it made me laugh! (And I had to redo it.) So I think I'll stick with what works for me. And thank you so much, Shane, for helping me out. I really do appreciate the gesture!!!

Beautiful Ears!

Layla came to me a month or so ago and wanted to get her ears pierced. I've always said, I don't care how old they are when they get them, but they have to be old enough to take care of them themselves and be responsible about it. So, I told Layla she could make a chart and brush her teeth every day, morning and night for a month and then she could get them. That would also tell me if it was a fleeting desire or something she really wanted. Well, she decided she'd do it. Then, Lylli, who had told me several times that she was going to wait until 4th grade, decided she'd do it too. So, for the past month, we've been keeping these charts. And Friday, Layla got to go get her ears pierced. She was very excited!!! I took Lylli to watch, because I wasn't certain how badly she wanted them. But, yesterday, she got hers too. The girls simply love them!!!
Seryn hated that Layla was getting pictures and not her, so here's Seryn copying Layla so she could get into a picture!

This is Layla before...

This is Layla after!

This is Lylli before... (how come my girls always seem to have dirty faces?!)

This is Lylli after! (The butterfly is from a birthday party she had gone to first!)