Cub Scout Camping

Well, Dave and the kids got back from their camping trip late this morning VERY dirty, but very happy, full of lots of fun stories.

Apparently, there was a lot of hide-and-go-seek, played in the dark, with the kids wearing the coolest glow stick glasses.

They heard all kinds of animal sounds when they were falling asleep. Dave mimicked them for Evan, and that made him laugh.

They collected frogs (!) this morning, and actually had a frog-jumping contest. :)

That's all for now...poor Evan is not settling down for bedtime, probably because he's still not feeling well. I am going to go rock him.

Not Fair

Evan paid his dues just two weeks ago. But he came down with the stomach flu yesterday, AGAIN! Soooo not fair. I guess that his immune system must have still been weak from his last run at it, and there are a lot of germs out there right now. So, we are just recovering this morning from a rough day and night.

Caroline and I were supposed to have a "girls' night" (plus Evan) when the Henry, Seth and Dave went to the rescheduled cub scout campout. Knowing that she probably would not have much fun staying home with Evan in the state he was, Dave offered to take her, and Caroline excitedly agreed. When last I talked to her on the cell phone, she was happily making mud pies with a friend she had just met. That's our little girl!

I BLOW BUBBLES!!! (and hold worms!)

It was such a big day for our youngest...

First, he got to blow bubbles with his big sister. That activity never ceases to thrill Evan. And the whole neighborhood knew it from his many decibel announcements.



He also held a worm for the first time. Prior to today, he would only carry a worm around on a shovel. Now, perhaps because of his sister's good example, he is able to carry them around with his bare hands. (Grandpa Orton, I'm betting that my youngest two will not need your help to bait a hook.) Evan was so proud of his worm-holding that he held and played with this worm (pictured) for about a half of an hour. Poor thing was looking a little limp.

Organized garage accomplished

Caroline and I organized the garage today...I can't tell you how much that re-energized me. I had been feeling tired and slightly overwhelmed this morning. But I've found that when I feel that way, if I tackle something that I have been putting off, I feel much better. And our garage looks and functions much better. Its all good.

So, rather than bore you with another picture of our garage, I thought I'd share one of my favorite pictures. Henry had just turned 6, Seth was about 3 1/2 and Caroline was about 1 1/2. Weren't they sweet?!

Our "almost Kindergartener"

This picture was taken on Caroline's first day of preschool last year. We've blinked, and she is about done with her second year of preschool, ready to move up to the big time...Kindergarten.

We just had a conference with her teacher, who declared her "soooo ready" to start Kindergarten, and gave her such a nice report card. Caroline is obviously very proud of it, because she made me read it to her several times on the way home in the car. She loved the part where her teacher called her "a lovely young lady!" (We think she is too!)

The teacher said that the only thing she needed to work on was remembering the difference between the letters "b" and "d". Guess what she was practicing the whole way home?

I'm so happy that she's had such a good first experience with school!

Seeds

Seeds fascinate me.

The life within them starts out so small. All you have to do is pop them into the ground, water them, and soon a little tree or plant starts its life.

We planted a Kentucky Coffee Tree seed a couple of weeks ago. Seth just discovered a couple of days ago that our little tree just popped out of the soil. (It kind of looks like a little red worm.)

Its neat to have a picture of the kids with their little trees...my parents took pictures of me with trees they planted in their yard. The romantic part of me wonders if we could actually keep this tree growing, planting it outside when it is big enough, imagining that our children will be grown when this tree is, wondering what their lives will be like.

Henry's Do is a Don't and Our Baby Trees

Today was crazy hair day in Henry's class. He said he got many compliments on this look at school today, and asked if he could wear it this way again tomorrow. Thank God it all washed out of his hair tonight. That's all Mom has to say about that.
On Arbor Day, Henry's teacher gave him a fir tree. He has been taking very good care of it.
This is Caroline's Kentucky Coffee tree (aka Theresa), compliments of Grandma and Grandpa Orton. She is a good caretaker as well, even bringing her worms to make better soil. ;)
She is our dandelion girl. She picked a bunch of them for our centerpiece on our table tonight!

It all started when...

...I just wanted to plant some flowers in front of our house. While planting, I came across a fair number of worms. Knowing my daughter's affection for them (she takes after her Grandma Orton, love you mom!), I called her over. She began collecting them.

Well, you know, what one does, the others have to do too. The kids began to look for the muddiest spots in our yard to do some worm hunting. (What kind of a mom lets her kids do this?!) They were very successful, both in collecting many worms, and in coating nearly every inch of themselves in mud. I've got a little laundry to do tonight.

Right after we took this picture, we threw the kids in the bath, got dressed, and headed over to my sister and brother-in-law's for dinner (YUM, Jim's lasagna!!).

The boys playing video games with their cousin, Braeden. (He's in the picture, but you can't see much of him!) Evan thought he was such a big kid to play with the big boys!

Robbie and Evan ignoring all of the toys to play in the kitchen cabinets.

Thanks for a fun night, Karen and Jim!