Story Time, Beans, and Guns

Today is Tuesday in most of the world. Not here. At our house it's "LIBRARY DAY!"

Here is Halle at Preschool Story Time- she's the one in yellow (right side):

I wish we could make it on Wednesday mornings- they have the preschool and toddler story times then, but (sigh.) we have other things to do. We'll probably switch back this summer (if I can manage with three! kids.) For now, Cate joins in when she can and hangs out with me in the back. The only thing I love about going on Tuesdays is that the numbers are so much lower. Wednesdays can be jam-packed with wiggling, talking, coughing kids. Ick. :)

Yesterday we got out The Beans. They were pretty good with them, and it bought me an entire HOUR of housework! (Oh joy.)

Uncle Tyler and Aunt Steph came through a few days ago, bearing gifts! Cowboy stuff! (Halle insists she isn't a cowgirl. Whatever.)

Here is our ballerina-cowboy:

Riding UncleTylerHorse:

*I am not trying to be controversial or hurt any feelings here.*

My opinion on kids and guns:

It didn't hurt us.

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We grew up with toy guns- cowboys pistols, cowboy rifles, space-alien guns, and sticks. You have to understand: we were John Wayne and Annie Oakley and (most often) Jim Craig. And we're not murderers. We're not gun-obsessed. We knew not to touch Dad's shotgun (not that we ever had access to it.) And guns weren't some forbidden-fruit-of-a-toy that we snuck around and played with at friends' houses.

The gun rule:

DO NOT point them at each other.

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The girls use them to go "hunt"- after which they cook their prey in their girly little kitchen with their girly little aprons on. Or they sneak up on "bad guys" and shoot the guns to "scare them away."

I'm not naive enough to think that we can keep them from playing "Cops and Robbers" or "Cowboys and Indians" (favorites of my childhood) especially when our little man joins the party. Eventually, they'll start pointing them and "dying"- we'll deal with that later, though. For now, they're content to hunt and scare. And I'm good with that.