Janet - a cricket

Several weeks ago, while walking into town, Bug found a water bottle in the grass and discovered a cricket inside of it. We found a cap for it, and carried it with us while we ran our errands for the day (this included a stop at the library for cricket books). Bug named the cricket "Chester" (from A Cricket in Times Square) but after getting home and looking through the cricket books, we had to rename HER. This is Janet.



Sadly, Janet died last week. Bug insisted on a burial and used a permanent marker to make a gravestone. Janet is buried behind our garage.
Bug says "She was a very nice cricket and I loved her a lot."

Fun with leaves

While at cousin B's house, B & Bug played in a leaf pile.
I love this photo.

Dead boy.
B's mom....Aunt P., decided to get in on the fun.

How about a nice action shot?

Cousin B's birthday

Bug's cousin, B, just turned 13. We gave him a "scratch and sniff" card that kept him occupied for a while.

Now's he's deciding which friends to try to use it on.
WOooHOOooo!!!! Kleenex!!!
Oh...no kleenex. Just money.

Getting ready to blow out the candles.

Bug's new jacket

I've been knitting and knitting and knitting.....
Hmm...it's even too big for me.

Ahh...much better.
I just need to get clasps for it and it will be done.

Smile!

After helping out at the candy store one afternoon, Bug found out that she had earned a caramel apple...her first. She loved it.

We took this photo last Friday for one of Bug's little friends. E is almost 2 and runs around saying her name. His mom says he now carries the photo around.

Here she is less than a week later. Quite a different smile, wouldn't you say?

Rocks & Minerals

Some friends came by recently and gave Bug a private rock & mineral lesson. She got to see many interesting things and got to keep quite a few pieces. She was quite excited, as you can see here:

Bug was quite interested in what Michael & Jeannie had to say. Thanks, guys!

Apparently geodes make her laugh...

Recent photos...

The three of us took a little hike one day. Bug liked this tree.

Now that Bug can read "in her head", she's always got a book handy. Here she is, sprawled on the couch enjoying Calvin & Hobbes. Like her new tie dyed shirt & socks? The felted hat is one that I just made.
Yes, she still creates odd costumes. She found this neck pillow and decided that if she wore it this way she would look like a sarcophagus. (we're studying ancient Egypt right now)

Bug told me that this is "Springman". She also pointed out that she used to draw him a long time ago.

What a fun weekend!

Bug's dad had to work, so we hopped on the train and headed "home". After a yummy breakfast with Aunt Pat, we walked around town and visited some old friend...and made a brand-new one! Thomas is one week old. He came a bit early...heard Bug was coming to town, I guess.

We spent the day at the Celebration of MN Children's Authors & Illustrators. Always a fun event. Here's Bug and a friend, climbing on Max. (the creator of Mudboy...Bug's favorite sculpture)

Bug was a little sad when I told her that David LaRochelle wouldn't be at the show this year. I emailed him and found out that while he wasn't doing a reading at the show, he MIGHT come down for part of the day. You should have heard the SCREAM when Bug spotted him. Here she is with David and the picture/story she made for him.

We met Nancy Crocker and loved her book, Betty Lou Blue. Here she is with Bug after signing the book for Bug.

Here is Bug as a giant purple fish. She loved this.

This year, Bug decided that she was big enough to try the stilts...although she said she didn't want to fall and get stitches.

He got her to the tree where she was supposed to hang on and just practice walking in place for a bit, to get used to the weight. She immediately wanted to be done. We got a few more steps out of her and called it done. I think she'll give it another go next year.

Leaf girl

I took these a few weeks ago and forgot to post them. The girl was having fun with the BIG leaves from the tree in the neighbor's yard.

Of course, in Bug's world, EVERYTHING is a hat!

A few new drawings.

Bug is always busy, drawing. I like this first one a lot. She had a puppet-making class this summer and this is a drawing of one of the puppets that she made. He is playing basketball. Notice how she wanted to show that the ball was bouncing, so she drew it multiple times, and each one is colored in a little lighter than the last. Very cool. Oh, and at the bottom is a swingset, but "It's very far away. That's why it looks small". In the middle is his teddy bear and there is a cactus next to that.


This cookie-eating bat was made for the owner of the local candy store.

Bug & her dad just saw Wall-E. She drew this afterwards.

Fun with geodes!

We're learning about rocks & minerals, so we got out the "break your own geodes" kit this weekend. We didn't crack all of them...just a few. Here's Bug's dad showing her the proper hammer technique.

Bug gives it a whack.

Now, to reach inside and see if it worked....

She cracked it!

Sadly, this one had no crystals inside. Bug was happy anyway!

Let's try another!

Crystals!

There were 2 really small geodes in the kit. Bug smashed one of them. It was purple inside. Yay.