My Not-So-Girly Girls

It all started with a bug house. Today was a beautiful, sunny, spring day. Kate had just begun her long daily nap and Ellie wanted to play outside. I thought it might be fun to surprise her with a new bug house. Ellie LOVES to catch bugs, worms, frogs, etc and she is always stealing my kitchenware to make habitats (this completely grosses me out and then I can never use the items again because I think they are tainted for life). So this was a brilliant little dollar purchase. Of course the bug house was a hit and before long, Ellie had captured a frog, several beetles, a spider, and a worm. She soon had a following of 6 neighborhood friends who wanted to be part of the fun. And then the kids took it to a whole new level. Frogs were no big deal. Instead, they all decided it would be more fun to find snakes. Yes, SNAKES. Plural. Out here in the country, there are many little garden snakes lurking about (although I refuse to admit that they are anywhere near our yard, park, play areas, etc) so the kids got a big bucket and somehow (I am not even going to ask about the details) they captured several of them. And all the little boys ran away but guess which little girl was the ring leader and LOVED LOVED LOVED to hold the snakes. Yep. Ellie. I'm trying not to pass out just recalling the moment I turned around and saw my little "sugar and spice and everything nice" holding a slimy, slithery, creepy, SNAKE in her grasp. So much for my girly girl! And then there is Kate. No matter what I do, she is covered in crackers, boogers, and banana.

Ah, gotta love 'em though, ya know? :)