Today was no different and actually I had to bust out laughing when I asked Ryan what he was making with all of the wonderful items including sticks, rope, trinkets and whatever else was around the “shop” at the time. He said, “Well a Leprechaun trap of course”. Quite ingenious, complete even with a built-in zip line.

Upon further inquiry I asked what the small bells were for and he proceeded to describe the inability for the Leprechaun to get a foot hold and stand up. That is by design of course, to keep him captive.

I’m always enamored about how children enjoy playing with everyday things. How the imagination invigorates the soul. Reminds me of childhood and the many fun times we had growing up.

Happy early St. Patty’s Day.

Unfortunately, Trev was unable to join us. He was off having fun at an overnight birthday party. Our nephew was in town, so we thought he might like the outing as well.

They  have quite a few raspberry plants, some that had many fruit on them, others that were picked completely. Most branches had a mixture of very ripe fruit to very green.

I’ve been contemplating whether to plant them in my garden or not. It seems to me if I can go to the orchard and have an abundance to choose from, makes more sense as they take up quite a bit of space.  Space is very precious in town.

While we were picking, the boys were busy doing more fun things. They managed to find quite the garden spider.

I remember when I was young we lived by a ditch with very tall grass. I used to spend my summers going from web to web feeding the spiders grasshoppers, crickets, or whatever we could find.

We looked a bit to try to find some food for our friend, to no avail.

We all had a wonderful day picking and munching. What a great way to spend an afternoon.

The only regret of the night was that we forgot our good camera, so I guess cell phone photos is what we got.

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Eric made quick work of the less than 1″ of snow.

Notice the pumpkins behind Em, a bit early for snow isn’t it?

Trevor found his snow pants, though he didn’t find a matching pair of boots…missed that shot

And then there’s Ryan, too tired or cold too sick today (Monday) to take a photo.

We attended our annual Capital City Gymnastics team picnic on Sunday. We had a fantastic evening, though it was quite cool. It was much better than it would have been last week in the 40 mph winds. This year was a bit different, Duane decided to get new foam cubes for their jump pit, so he held a creative contest for the girls to create a sculpture using 5 cubes each. Emily made a gymnast. They all were very cute. Unfortunately after hard work and dedication, Emily didn’t win. Congrats to Mandy and her gym girl as well!

We celebrated Trevor’s 11th birthday this week, and well, we’re already to Christmas. We had our annual Jensen Boelus Christmas yesterday as well.We had a lot of fun, Russ always puts on a great party. We missed all the loved ones that were not with us, though in spirit they were alive and well. We won’t forget the enjoyable memories we’ve had with everyone through the years. Russ was playing an old video that someone had taken of one of the Christmas’ past.

How could I forget the anxious window peers. Ryan and Marcus, my nephew are discussing whether or not Santa was going to arrive soon.

She’s caught the Olympic bug!  After watching Shawn Johnson and Nastia Lukin, she’s ramped up her training time to 9 hours IN the gym and @12 hours OUT of gym practicing and working on core body strength.  No matter where she’s at, she’s doing gymnastics…. a Husker tailgate party, our front yard, neighborhood gatherings, school, Sam’s Club….. you name it and she’s attracting people’s attention with her moves. The latest feat, a back walkover on the high beam, which mind you is a mere 4″ wide.   It’s breathtaking!  After taking gold this summer at the Cornhusker State Games for All-Around & Bars, her next step is the normal season, think she’ll rock the State this fall.

Ryan has provided us with an eventful summer.  One which includes spray paint…. lots of RED spray paint.  On two separate occasions, hes displayed his “artistic” ability.  First on the van, and then onto larger canvases like….. the house and neighbor’s hose reel.  Luckily, we got most of it off.   The amazing part is that he hasn’t gotten a drop on himself AND has been smart enough to put it back when he’s done.  Oh,    he’s also provided us with a field trip to the E.R.  His first batch of stitches-no, nothing to do with the paint episodes, just a fall at daycare.  The bottom line you ask?  He’s constantly into things and places he shouldn’t be.  I predict an interesting kindergarten year ….. and yes, his teacher’s been warned!