Way Back In Time and Nowadays

I'm slowly but surely catching up on photos. You'd think that being a (mostly) Stay-at-Home-Mom I could get this stuff done, but nope!

Samantha recently turned 9 years old! Can you believe that?!? I remember waiting at the hospital all day when Deana was induced. That was one of the longest days of my life.





A while back I snapped this shot of Enid with her new floor puzzle. (Puzzles, Pranks, & Games is a pretty neat store if you're ever at the Outer Banks.) She's been wowing us with her talent for puzzles since she was barely 2! Since then, she's moved up from puzzles for 5 year olds to helping with adult puzzles. I admit she's better than me!



Enid loves flannel stories and playing with her own flannel fairies that she's had for a while. While in college, I made lots of flannel sets. This one was intended for storytime with the very young. I came into the room and found Enid had created faces with it. I remember when I was worried that she couldn't create a face. I guess I can rest easy now.



While grocery shopping one day, I got the idea to make cupcake cones. Enid picked out tiny kid cones, strawberry cake mix, and rainbow chip frosting. She wanted sprinkles too, but I informed her that rainbow chips were basically the same thing and we didn't need a double dose. They turned out pretty good, but we had to cook them much longer than expected for the middles to be done.



About three weeks ago, we spotted a caterpillar by the backdoor. We watched him for a little while and joked about him making a cocoon right there under the carport. Well, the very next day when we went outside, this is what we found. What a great opportunity for learning about the science of nature!



We've also been working on our garden for the past few weeks. I am amazed at how fast Enid's lone strawberry plant is growing. My four tomato plants and butterfly garden are also shooting right along. With our veggies and everything PaPa has planted, we also have about 6 kinds of tomatoes, 2 kinds of eggplant, 2 kinds of cucumbers, carrots, pumpkins, and cantaloupe. Enid's Grandpa is starting yellow squash for us, so we decided not to plant any of our own this year. Enid has been a total mud bug digging and slopping in the garden. I told her when the weather gets a lot warmer, we'll make toad homes with our feet. I think she's intrigued by the idea of just what in the world I mean.

Here are some random photos of Enid playing outside... She's discovered hopscotch, and after a brief explanation, she was playing the right way all on her own! She's been helping PaPa cut grass, playing basketball A LOT, and riding her new-this-year Barbie trike. We couldn't pass it up for less than $20 at the old Wally World.

I keep forgetting to post these photos from an outreach fair we went to with Mandy and Tim at their church. It was the first time the church has had one, but it was great fun for Enid. There were lots of games, a "helicopter" ride, slides, bounces, concessions, prizes, and even a blacklight puppet show! Enid was timid on the big slide at first, but after a few controlled descents, she was a mad woman sliding full speed and running past bigger kids to get to the top again and again! I myself beat Gerald at the buzzer game.  I managed to get the big AND tiny little wands all the way across without setting off the buzzer... go me!! For Enid's first throw at the milk jugs, she made it in! What a fluke.