Dandelions

My new-favorite picture. Her puffy cheeks make her look like a baby, but she's just had another birthday and is growing (too) fast.

Change of Plans

Yesterday I rushed the girls out of the house, planning to take them to a Spanish playgroup to assuage my guilt of neglecting Spanish, because we've started and stopped twice now. "Can I splash in that big puddle?" asked my littlest, looking toward the biggest puddle in our driveway, just a few feet away from the car I was loading with gear and kids. "Sure," I said. "Just a little one, and then we'll go."

Well, it's not fair to let the littlest splash and not the biggest sister, so I let Kardelen get out of the car and head toward the puddle. Here we come!


They were having so much fun, that I accepted the fact that we'd be late, and ran for the camera. Of course, one thing led to another, and I soon realized that either we were going to be very late, or we were just going to skip Spanish playgroup altogether and trade it for some rainy day fun. It was the first time the girls have actually been able to use their new raincoats in the rain this spring--they've splashed in puddles before, but not gone out actually while it was raining. So I scrapped my plans for playgroup and traded it for the curious and delighted fun of my girls in the rain.

We slowly headed down the driveway to mail a letter--why is it I feel like I have to accomplish something even during our fun times?--stopping to splash in each puddle on the way. The monstrous puddle by our neighbors' trailer had grown to an alarming depth, and the girls squealed with joy at the sheer excitement of it. Along the way, we saw worms crawling across the driveway, and the curvy little tracks they made. We stopped to watch them and even touch them (and I didn't even say eew!).

We followed a little "river" down to the end of the driveway, wanting to see where the water from all our puddles actually ended up. (A Magic School Bus book had taught us how water always flows to the lowest place, in this case the ditch.) Then it was only a short jaunt to the Frog Bog, which we have always wanted to check out but have never done together; and since we were in our rain boots anyway, it seemed like a good day to go poking about looking for frogs' eggs there.

A pity we didn't have waders, because the girls went in up to the tops of their boots, but we still didn't go in very far. We didn't find any frogs' eggs, but maybe next time. When we got home, we changed out of our soggy clothes, made some cocoa, and looked up worm books at the library at Kardelen's request. Then to the library we went, and I now know more about earthworms than I've ever known (or wanted to know) before!

I'm thankful. That God gave me the wisdom to slow down and savor the moment; the time to spend with our girls, the ability to spend a whole morning enjoying and learning about nature; and for these precious blessings, Kardelen and Sofia. It seems not too long ago that I wondered if we'd ever have children, and now these two blessings from the Lord give us such joy every day.

Thank You, Father.


Children are a blessing and a gift from the LORD.
Psalm 127:3 CEV