Our Sunflowers

This is the second year in a row that we've planted sunflowers. This year we planted the mammoth variety as well as some shorter varieties for more color. The mammoth sunflower is so fun! A little seed growing into a 10 + foot plant in such a short amount of time is incredible! The kids love watching their progress. They were so excited that the tallest one had bloomed today!

Our favorite spot in the garden

Caroline and I picked out a package of wildflower seeds at the store a couple of months ago. We opened the package up and marveled at the diversity of seeds there were in there. We agreed that they were "super easy" to plant because all we had to do was loosen the soil with a hoe, scatter the seeds, and water. A couple of months later, we're so excited to see all of the different flowers blooming, to see the wonderful variety of shapes, colors and sizes.

Tonight, we both agreed that it was our favorite spot in the garden. (You can click on the picture to see it bigger!)

All in a day's play

We've been hard at work with chores lately around home, so today we played a little hooky. We just played and played and played. And it felt good.

There was a lot of slipping...

and sliding...

and splashing...
as well as cookie baking (and dough-eating)...

and dress-up.
This photo makes for good leverage when Evan's a teenager. Since our daughter does not have a little sister, she has to make do with her little brother. Obviously, her big brothers are not as compliant.

At least she let him wear a police helmet. :)

And to end the day, sparklers and a sleepover...

Evan and Ryan

One afternoon, about 3 and a half years ago, my next door neighbor came over for a visit. Just that morning, I had gone in to my OB where my pregnancy with Evan had been confirmed. I had left my prenatal vitamins on the counter, and she spotted them. She excitedly asked me, "Are you pregnant?!"

"Yes, I am," I answered.

"ME TOO!"

We compared due dates and found out that they were within a day of each other. We were dumbfounded...and so excited. They were expecting their first, and we were expecting our fourth.

Its been so fun sharing our pregnancies and all of our experiences with these two good buddies!

Sarah's Salon

Because my daughter is about ready to start Kindergarten, we've been practicing several hairstyles recently. We'll practice whenever she's game and whenever I have time. This particular french braid we did when she was laying in my lap watching cartoons. That position is probably not the best one for straight parts, but she was still thrilled with her new "do". :)

Potty Training Evan is not for the faint of heart...

We're at about two weeks that we've been letting Evan run around the house sans diapers. He's been doing pretty well, as long as we don't put pants of any kind on him. As long as we do that, he doesn't have any accidents.

But...he does not fare as well once he's wearing something on the lower half of his body. He's trying, but he seems to not be as aware once he has something on. Today we tried new Sesame Street underwear. We figured he would be so excited about Super Grover on his bottom that he would have less accidents.

So far, so good. Super Grover seems to be working some magic. The only consequence to the new pants would be that they seem to have encouraged him to be a super hero himself. A super hero armed with a super-powered oven mitt. Beware, Henry, Seth and Caroline!

Our backyard pets

There is no doubt about it. Our children love exploring our back yard in search of little critters that they can call their own, if only on a temporary basis. Just yesterday they found a little toad. Young Caroline was bursting to tell everyone, including my Aunt Shirley, who I had just been talking to on the phone. She repeatedly told her Great Aunt how cute the toad was, how sweet and little.

Evan knows just what to do to keep a toad contained, but was also thrilled to keep peeking in at and showing off his little temporary pet.
They are always a little sad to let their pets go, but I think that it is easier for them to accept when they know they'll probably catch something else, possibly even the next day.

And it turned out that Caroline did catch something the very next day. Something she thought was even cuter and sweeter. Something that she wanted to keep forever. Here's a picture of what she caught. Any guesses?Caroline had been in the backyard today while Dave was playing with Seth. Dave noticed that she was digging with a little sand shovel in the corner of the yard. A few minutes later she came running over to Dave, saying, "DADDY, LOOK AT THESE CUTE, LITTLE CATERPILLARS I FOUND!!!" Dave took a look, and marveled at the little creatures with her. He insisted that she show what she found to me when I was done putting Evan down for his nap. While she waited, she drew that picture. Any guesses yet? Hint: They were NOT caterpillars.

When I came downstairs, Caroline quickly ran up to me and showed me what she found. I looked into her bucket and saw...

GRUBS!

Now, I have to admit, I did not find them cute or sweet. In fact, I did have to stifle a natural "Ewwww" reflex in order to protect my daughter's feelings.

They really are not a good looking insect, and they really are not that little. They were the size of a cicada.

We observed them for a little bit, and I did bring myself to call them interesting...fascinating even. And then we put them away for Dad to "release" later. ;)

Guess what Dave was doing tonight? Despite my daughter's wishes, I really don't want to keep those lawn grubs forever. God bless the people that make Grub-X.

A Popsicle Party honoring Evan's first Poop on the Potty

That's right! This young man did it! He pooped on the potty for the first time today. Peeing...that's old hat. He's been able to do that for ages. Standing up even. (Are you impressed?!) But pooping on the potty has been a little tougher.

As you may know, bigger challenges lead to bigger rewards. And in Evan's book, bigger reward=chocolate popsicle. So, after the big event today, it was chocolate popsicles for everyone.

Evan couldn't have been more pleased!