Laowai

Bea got a butterfly habitat for her birthday – it comes with a coupon that you send in and then you get five caterpillars in the mail. The girls both had fun watching the caterpillars getting fat and eventually forming into chrysalises. A few days ago the butterflies emerged and today it was time to realease them.

It was all fun until a few minutes after we came inside. Bea freaked out and was crying really hard. She had one of the butterflies cupped in her hands and she didn’t want to let it go. She is so sensitive and feels things so deeply. We had to put that one butterfly back in the cage thingy. I’m hoping we can sneak it out and she will just forget about it soon. Remind me not to buy her a fish – my poor Bea.

No more rummage sales for me these days. I am all about the estate sale. I used to be intimidated by estate sales – maybe it’s the word estate that made it seem too fancy. Really it’s a bit sad rooting around in some older persons home. But then I seem to find the best gems and I’m not so sad about that. I’m fortunate, being a stay-at-home mom, that I can make a quick stop when I see the estate sale signs on my way home from dropping off kids. This time I found a pile of great pillowcases with such darling vintage summery patterns. I love ’em. 

– Do you ever make a recipe (cookies in this case) and when it doesn’t turn out at all like the picture in the recipe book you feel grumpy. And the only way to get sooth your disappointment and get rid of the offending baked goods is to EAT THEM ALL. I’m exagerating only a little bit. Bad idea.

– We had a nice walk at the Morton Arboretum last weekend. Good idea. I would visit the arboretum all the time if it wasn’t such a long drive from home. Lovely and green all over.

– This sign at a nearby park was a bad idea:

– And these no gun signs that have popped up everywhere infuriate me:

– Good idea – I ate a delicious salad that I picked from our garden:

– I cannot seem to remember to put sunblock on myself and the girls so we made some signs. I saw this good idea on pinterest – painting on a pannel of a shopping bag – it has a built in handle. 

I hope putting these signs around the house will help us avoid feeling like this:

Bea has more birthday parties to go to. She has fun and I like to make little bags like this. I get to use up scraps of fabric and I don’t have to go to the store and spend $$$. I should probably get smart and just make twelve at a time. I hope the girls like them.

Claire got a nasty bruise and scrape on her face yesterday… again. This is the fourth time she’s fallen (or been dumped) on her head. This time she had a bloody nose too. She’s tough and she didn’t cry much, but it still freaked me out. All she did was trip and fall on our driveway – she wasn’t even running. I looked over and her face was on the pavement and her body was twisted in a way that was not natural. 

Here’s a close up of her poor face. And let’s take a trip down injured Claire memory lane.

Oh Claire E. please let this be the last head injury.

The weather has been summery and our backyard smells of lilacs and lily of the valley. We’ve been hanging out in the backyard until it’s time for the girls to go to bed. I’ve felt so relaxed.

I took about 60 photos of the girls sharing the swing tonight. Sometimes there is a special moment and everyone is feeling happy and it shows in their beautiful smiles. And thankfully I actually had the camera ready to capture it this evening. 

They have scraped up knees, messy hair, dirty feet, grass stained pants and Claire’s face is dirty from the popsicle she had before the photos were taken. Don’t they look like summer. 

How long will their little bums both fit on that plank? 

I love ’em.

Over the weekend we had a house full of grandmas. Great grandma Dice, my mom, aunt Garlene and aunt Lana all drove over to see us and it was so nice! We spent one day in Chicago doing some touristy stuff and the next day we went to the botanic garden and saw a beautiful display of Spring flowers. I think my favorite part of the weekend was showing them around my house and hearing all their kindnesses and encouragements. And just having those special ladies gathered around my table chatting and laughing was wonderful.

Here’s how the girls greeted great grandma – she’s under the thousand stuffed animals. 

Grandma Dice is the epitome of young at heart – she tried out our swing and Bea gave her a push.

Bea was at school when we went to the botanic garden so Claire was the lone recipient of 4x grandma attention.

What a beautiful time of year to see the garden!

Thank you for coming Grandma and Mom and Lana and Garlene!

I have some very important visitors coming this weekend. I’m beyond excited. I hope these flowers last for their visit.