Flutterby

Last year for Walker and Kathryn's birthday, Nana gave them a butterfly house with a certificate for butterflies. We waited until this spring, however, to redeem our butterflies.

You can imagine my "delight" when a box of small white caterpillars came in the mail one day:)But as those little caterpillars ate and ate and ate and turned into larger caterpillars, it was truly amazing to see the Lord's handiwork being played out in our kitchen! And when the first butterfly popped out we were all in amazement!

We chose Mother's Day as the perfect time to release the butterflies, but only after Walker and Kathryn named all six of them!

I like to refer to this little guy sitting on Kathryn's arm as the runt of the litter (don't think he would have hung around as long as he did otherwise).  The kids affectionately named him Hornhead because his "horns" (aka antenna) were prominent and did look a bit like horns (plus our kids are not the most creative at naming things, but that's a story for a whole other post:)

This was such a fun experience, and one we will definitely do again!

Who Knew?

That you could grow green onions in a jar???

This is my second time to regrow from the same onions. They usually grow within a week, so I've been cutting (easiest way is to snip with kitchen shears) and freezing (a quick google search says you can) them for future use.

Next time you buy green onions, be sure to save the bottom white portion, place them in a container with a small amount of water and watch them grow!

Hats Off to Mom

Mother's Day started early for me this week with a Mother's Tea at the twins' school. Walker's class held their tea first, and it was quite the treat. He made me a yellow hat (now I know why he tried to convince me all week long that my favorite color was yellow;), and all of us mommies got a big kick out of trying to balance our hats while sitting in pint size chairs at pint size tables!

 My sweet Walker served me sausage balls, fruit and cupcakes along with the cutest punch idea I've seen in a long time! I'm so sad I didn't take a picture (and I can't seem to find any on the web), but you simply place a small tuft of cotton candy on the rim of a glass of ginger ale. Before drinking, drop in the cotton candy and watch the ginger ale fizz and turn colors! So much fun for kids and adults alike:)

 

Next up was Kathryn's class' tea. This time, I wore a green hat made by the ever fashionable Kat Lloyd. She and I dined on sausage balls, fruit, cookies and cupcakes, as well as, the yummy cotton candy ginger ale.

Of course, the girls couldn't resist trying on their mommies' hats! 

These two have treated me like royalty this week, and today (Mother's Day) was no exception!  Coffee and breakfast in bed.  Cards and presents and lots of time to lounge and relax today.  I love these little ones so much more than they will ever know!  They are truly my very best presents I've ever received!!!

Under the Sea

This past Monday, the twins took a field trip to the Dauphin Island Sea Lab. We've been to the Sea Lab lots of times to visit the gift shop but never to walk through the lab. Wow! Have we been missing out! It was fabulous. The kids had so much fun seeing the live fish, turtles, and snakes as well as the preserved ones too--like these little critters Kathryn couldn't get enough of...  

Walker wasn't really fond of holding the critters but he was willing to cozy up to this sea turtle skull. 

My little under water divers...

If you've never been to the Sea Lab put it on your things to see and do this summer. I promise you'll love it!

Before & After

We've had a little bit of work done in the backyard over the last few months. This past Monday marked the completion of the project, and we are quite pleased. As testimony, we've spent more time in our backyard over the last few weeks than we have in almost two years of living hear. I'd say that makes for a great investment!

Pile 'O Pics

Don't you just love looking back through the pictures on your phone. Normally, mine aren't very good quality, but I truly enjoy the random moments of our daily activities that might not otherwise be captured. Some examples from the past few weeks....

Last Saturday morning was spent in the doctors office.  Little Miss had pink eye!

Frances styling in the front yard.  Notice the shoes, the purse, the keys!  And her cute terrycloth one piece.  Snagged at TJMaxx for $8.  Thought it would be great for slipping on over her swimsuit this summer.

Several weeks back, while at Dauphin Island, I took these pics of the girls playing outside at the Estuarium.

We gathered some neighborhood friends for a lemonade stand early this week. 

And finally a few pictures of the new playset in our backyard. There are still a few more projects to complete, but the kids have already logged tons of hours playing on it!

A Hoppin' Good Time

I couldn't help but post a few pictures from Easter! Gotta love these sleepy heads gathering up the carrot trail the "Easter Bunny" left behind;)

This little bunny was a bit later waking up, so her brother and sister were extra excited for her to see her Easter basket!

 

After church, we made our way to Pops and Tula's house for our Easter lunch and egg hunt.  It was picture takin' time, and let's just say the cooperation was slim.  This picture wasn't too bad...

It's easy to snap a shot when they are preoccupied or if you have one that's extra willing....

 

But let's just say getting a family picture or a cousin picture was close to impossible!!!

So, let's hunt eggs instead.  No complaints there!!!