Lemonade for Sale! Come and get your lemonade!

So, a few weeks ago, Olivia started asking about setting up a lemonade stand. Yeah, just what I want to do at nine months pregnant in the 100 degree heat: set up a lemonade stand in front of our West facing front yard! I put it off for as long as I could, but they had there little hearts set on it so they could "make some money."

It finally got the point where Olivia said, "Mom, you keep promising that we can do our lemonade stand and you never let us!"

I'm such a bad mother!

Well, I PROMISED Monday would be the day, no matter what.

The girls and I had already made a list with them of things we needed such as cups, lemonade, signs, etc. Everything was very well planned.

The girls wanted both pink lemonade and regular lemonade. I also suggested selling some cookies, which they did.

We went to REI and bought a new canopy (we needed one anyway) after Mark got off work. We then came home and set up their lemonade stand. As it turned out, the weather was overcast and only 97 degrees instead of the forecasted 103 degrees.

I have to say, Mark and I were worried no one would buy their lemonade and cookies. I remember doing a lemonade stand as a kid and didn't make squat! And, after all, I have never stopped at anyone's lemonade stand. However, we did not let the kids in on our doubting ways. We actually expressed a fair amount of enthusiasum when it came to setting things up for them. I guess we live in the right spot. Everyone in our neighborhood has to drive by our house to get in and out of the subdivision. Location, location, location.

As you can see by the sign, they were charging 50 cents each for lemonade and cookies. I instructed them to sell 2 cookies for 50 cents instead of just one cookie for 50 cents. Well, people assumed they got one cookie for 50 cents and that is what they started off paying, so I didn't correct anybody.

The whole thing was truly amazing if you ask me. People from down the street came out of their houses and walked down to our house to buy lemonade! We've never met so many of our neighbors. And who knew there were so many families with kids our kids' age? People pulled up in their cars, some got out, some didn't.

People would be walking toward the house and Anika would shout, "Lemonade, come and get your lemonade!" I think she has some sort of natural born sales instinct like her Uncle Brian. Of course, it probably helped that they waved to everyone driving by as well.

In approximately 1 1/2 hours, they raked in a whopping $25 even. I still can't believe it. Anika says they'll be open again today. At that rate, they could buy their own school clothes this year! Ha ha! They'll be taking it to the bank to deposit in their savings.

Oh, Olivia did say when I split up their money that "We can buy lots of expensive things with our money." I think it's time to teach the real meaning of profit.

Oh, to be a kid again..................

P.S. THANKS GRANDPA AND ZACH FOR DRIVING ALL THE WAY OUT TO BUY LEMONADE AND COOKIES! THEY LOVE YOU SO MUCH!

What I've Been up to for the Last Month

We went camping over Father's Day weekend. That was fun and I wish I was able to do more camping this summer. We took the girls up a few days early to hang w/ Grandpa. It was funny because Olivia was NOT going to stay (said she'd miss Mom & Dad too much). We knew better and packed her bags "just in case." Well, we got up there and she changed her mind (said she didn't want to go on the ride home-too long). They didn't seem to mind at all when it was time to go, we had to ask for hugs and kisses because they were too distracted getting ready for swimming!

We got a new tent, it's bigger and better than our last one. It will fit all 5 of us AND the dog next summer. I can't wait!





Let's see..........what else?

Olivia lost her second top tooth and she now has a sweet gap she likes to whistle through. Anika has been taking swim lessons this week. She is quite the little fish in the water. She has always loved water. Olivia is the cautious one in the family.

Oh yeah, about the time we went camping, we had a robin make a nest in one of my beautiful hanging baskets Mark got me form Mother's Day. The basket hangs right on the front porch. In the days after the girls left for camping, she laid some eggs. She sat on them and about two weeks later, they hatched! Four baby robins! We watched the "Mom & Dad" robins bring their babies worms. The girls LOVED it! And we could watch them from inside the house without disturbing them! They grew so fast. Then one day we came home from the pool and there were only 2 left. The next morning, I went out to get our milk & eggs (we have them delivered) and there was one left. Olivia stayed on the porch while I took the milk inside. As soon as I got inside, I heard Olivia say "Mom, the baby just jumped out and plopped onto the lawn!" Sure enough, there he/she was with Mom nearby. The whole experience was really neat for all of us.







I worked lots of extra "on call" shifts. I only work 40 hr every two weeks, well, it works out to be 40 hr in 6 days and then I have a stretch of 8 days off. So, I am able to pick up extra 4 hr on call shifts, if I so desire. It's completely voluntary, but it is time and a half (if I get called in to work) plus an extra $3 an hour just for being on call. Fortunately, my on call hours are DONE! No more until after I return from maternity leave.

Speaking of maternity leave, I only have 5 more 4 hour shifts left until I am officially on leave. These were originally 8 hr shifts, but I was on bedrest last weekend due to swelling and increased blood pressure. My swelling and BP went down so nicely, my doctor said it would be OK for me to work just 4 hr shifts. THANK YOU! My doctor is great, he even called to check on me Friday night.

The girls went camping with Grandpa and Grandma Deb last weekend, they had a blast. Both of the girls have a great relationship with my Dad, but Anika has especially bonded with him. She is already threatening to move to his house when she gets upset with Mark or me. Can't wait for those teenage years!

First Tooth Fairy Visit and Posing for the Camera

Olivia lost her first tooth last Saturday. She pulled it herself. She talked about it for at least an hour afterwards! She is very proud of herself - and she should be! Here is a picture of her right after she pulled it.




Not to be left out, here is Anika posing for the camera. I think she's been watching too much of "America's Top Model" or whatever it's called.

Funnies by Anika

Two recent funny, well we found them hysterically funny, conversations at the Bennett house. Keep in mind, the kids have a mother and three grandparents, both Mark's parents and my mom, who are nurses! My kids are subjected to lots of medical mumbo jumbo!

#1 Picture our family at the dinner table.

Anika: "I figured out that the baby is going to be a boy!

Me: "Wow, Anika, how did you figure that out?"

Anika: "I could feel his p_ _ _ _ through your belly?" (Baby is now big enough to feel body parts and we have been talking about feeling feet/knees/butt)

Olivia: "I don't even know what a p _ _ _ _ is!" (Denial)

Anika: "You know, it's that thing that hangs down from your bunkie (Mark's family nickname for bum) and when you're a boy, you go pee with it."

I am really surprised Mark and I didn't choke on our food, we were laughing so hard!



#2 Prologue: At my last OB app't, two weeks ago, my blood pressure was 130/96 (I'm fine), my legs were swollen (they still are), and I had protein in my urine (I know, more than you wanted to know, but these are all signs of pre eclampsia). Because of this, I had to collect my urine for 24 hours and deliver it to the hospital lab. I couldn't really hide it from the kids because I had to keep the container in the fridge. So, when they asked, I just told them the truth about what was in the container. Life went on and everything was A-OK (and still is, my blood pressure is down now).

Anika woke up just after 7 a.m. yesterday. We could hear here walking around upstairs for awhile before she actually came downstairs.

Mom and Dad: "Good morning, sweety. What were you doing upstairs?"

Anika: "If I tell you something, do you promise not to get mad?"

Mom: "Nope, I won't get mad. What is it?"

Anika: "I'm collecting my pee for my collection." (She likes to collect various things, but pee is a new one)

Mom and Dad (trading glances at each other): "Oh, really? What are you collecting your pee in?" (knowing I had an extra container in my bathroom cupboard)

Anika: "The bathroom"

Mom: "Yes, but what kind of container? What did you pee in?"

Mark is sitting next to me trying to control his laughter, as am I, but I want more information.

Anika: "You know that Target bag that you put Adam's (baby cousin) present in?"
Mom: "You peed in a bag? Where is the bag now?"

Anika: "It's on the floor in the bathroom. It only has one little hole in it."

Then I kindly asked her to go move the bag into the bathtub. The rest is kind of a blur since I started laughing so hard.

Then I went up to the bathroom and there was the bag. It was no joke. Olivia reported when she woke up that Anika actually made her first 'deposit' the night before when getting ready for bed. That makes 2x she collected!

Shrek the Third

We went to Shrek the Third yesterday. It was great. What was not great was the money we spent on popcorn and soda. I can't even bring myself to say how much we spent. We even snuck in our own candy! It was a good thing we had 2 free tickets for the movie itself.

School Years

Well, Anika's last day of her first year in preschool was today. Everybody met at the park and we had a few hours of play and socializing interspersed with eating the snacks we packed! I am glad it's over. Next year won't be so easy.

Olivia had her music program last Friday before we left to go camping. I only cried once when they sang "What a Wonderful World." Not bad for a hormonal pregnant lady! After the music, they had a short graduation ceremony, complete with caps and "diplomas." I got the cutest picture of her walking down the aisle with her cap on, wiggling her loose tooth (I may post it someday, I have to download it first)!

Two more weeks and Olivia will be done with kindergarten. I can't believe how fast this year has gone by. This summer, we plan to sleep in, well, Olivia and I hope to sleep in anyway. Anika is an early riser. She'll climb into bed w/ me and look at books while I doze a little while longer. We'll go to the library once a week and will frequent the local swimming pool a few times a week. We'll have park days w/ Anika's preschool classmates once a week, too. I think we'll stay plenty busy.

So It's Been Awhile.............

I guess it's been awhile since I posted! Nothing too exciting since last post. I am feeling really, really good these days. Wish it was going to last, but I know it's not. Olivia now has 4 loose teeth, she should be losing that first one any day now. It will probably happen while we are camping this weekend! Anika has been keeping us laughing with her witty sayings. School is out in a few weeks and I couldn't be more relieved! We are planning on hanging out at the pool and the library this summer, maybe a few "field trips" to different places.

We are going on our first of two camping trips this weekend and everyone is VERY excited! I don't know who is more excited, the kids or Grandpa! Olivia is disappointed thought that we only get to stay for 2 nights. The weather should be great; it's looking like it'll be in the upper 70's!

I am looking forward to seeing Shrek the Third, as is Mark (and the kids). We will probably go see it next week.

Oh, I almost forgot! We had 4 (maybe 5) bull snakes (aka gopher snakes) in our back yard last Thursday. At the same time. Two of them were rather long at 4-5 feet each. The sprinklers had been on and I think they came for the water. They must live on the other side of our fence. It is nice to know they are there. I guess they like to eat rattlesnakes, which have also been seen in the field behind our house, as well as our front yard!!!!!!!