Butterflies

The kids have been begging to order butterflies and finally I caved. They love them so very much and they love to watch them grow. It has been a long time since we had ordered and it was time to just do it. Ellie helped me order them and then she was quite disappointed that they didn't magically show up the instant I placed the order. Instead, it could take up to two weeks! Gasp! What are we going to do between now and then?

Fortunately for them, it didn't take two full weeks and they were quite thrilled to receive their package with the caterpillars, butterfly feeder and nectar. Now leaving the containers alone and observing them will be the next challenge! LOL

Then the afternoon of their arrival I happened to go to turn on the garden hose in the backyard. It is located under our deck and so we have this handy little port hole that provides us with access. I lifted the deck board and began to reach down to turn on the hose when something caught my eye. Carie and the girls happened to be standing right beside me and she said that I about jumped out of my skin.

Well wouldn't you if you were greeted with this unexpectedly?

















It was just hanging out and camouflaged quite nicely with the deck!

Since we happened to have our butterfly pavilion accessible we got it out and gave the butterfly (and a moth) a new home for a short time.

That is Abby's hand next to (on the outside) of the butterfly pavilion to show just how big this thing was. While we've been able to see butterflies of this size at the new butterfly exhibit at the zoo, we've never seen one like this in the wild. Spencer thinks that it escaped from the zoo!

Melodrama

I feel like we are hosting an incredibly long melodrama in our home. As a current audience member (let’s face it, I’m sure I have my own moments) I am constantly reminding myself that we need to stay grounded. Though there are moments that I find myself bursting out into laughter, followed by tears, and maybe even a few moments of pounding thy head.

And thus we are seeing the downside of everyone's birthdays falling so close together. I'm absolutely blown away by the intensity and the way it peaks around their birthdays. The birthday isn't just a date on a calendar, for these little one's there is so much more going on. It is incredible and awesome if not also draining.

This whole growing up thing is hard. I can only imagine it being harder, in different ways, as everyone continues to grow and age. We'll cross those bridges as we need to.

For now I'm thankful that cuddling is still acceptable and can get is through some of the most dramatic of times.

Noise

I don't know what it is lately, but the noise level in our home has increased.

Constant noise.

Sound is coming out of all of the children's mouths... simultaneously and constantly. They aren't carrying on conversations or asking questions, we can absolutely deal with that.

This is just noise and it is driving us up the wall!

I'm sure the fact that they are all going through big transitions isn't helping. Three of them celebrate birthdays in the same week in April. The other two are only 6 weeks after that. Boy can we tell!

Are These Really Our Children?

Last night we went out for dinner and it was up to the kiddos to choose where we were going. Spencer belted out "PIZZA PIZZA" and the girls quickly agreed. They then discussed where to go for pizza, and thankfully they all came to the same conclusion. They wanted to eat at a restaurant, and more specifically "the pizza place with the dough". A local pizza joint that serves up delicious pizza by the slice.

We arrive and place our usual order. A slice each for Carie and I, one kid slice and one order of kids pasta for the three kiddo's to share. Essentially the kid servings are the same as the adult servings, but cheaper and pre-cut. Love that!

Generally that is more than enough to go around, with plenty left over. Last night though, so not the case. First Abby was upset that we didn't order her her own piece of pizza. Most of that was her tiredness speaking! After some negotiating, everyone got started on the dinner we had and we ordered another piece of pizza. Spencer was sitting between Abby and I and eating everything off of his plate and our plates.

When the 2nd kid piece arrived, Ellie wanted to share some more pizza. Thankfully Abby was away from the table for the moment and I managed to share Abby's pizza with Ellie while still keeping the pizza looking like a whole slice. Of course Ellie starts to tell Abby this, but thankfully Abby wasn't paying attention. I'm thinking there is NO way she's going to be able to eat all of it anyways. But, both girls finished it all off in no time. Abby even asked to try my pizza that has stuff on it. They used to eat toppings on their pizza, but now it is all cheese all the time. Except Abby will tell you she doesn't like cheese. After trying my slice she decided she liked the stuff! Before they were done they were asking for still more pizza. They had also nearly finished off the pasta that was originally ordered.

So, we ordered two more pieces to go since Mr. Spencer is beyond done at this point. We ordered one slice of cheese for Ellie and one slice with toppings for Abby. Sure enough, each girl finished off yet another piece of pizza. Between the three kids, they cleared four pieces of pizza and the better part of an order of pasta. Not only did they finish off our usual order that usually leaves us with leftovers. But they totally finished off three more slices of pizza.

You'd think they'd be full, right? Nope! They were up for snacks. They all had several mini-muffins for snacks.

Carie says to me... "This is all coming back up later, isn’t' it?"

I said... "Don't jinx us!"

Thankfully it all stayed in their little bodies and they all slept happily ever after.

Looks like we may need to go clothes shopping soon.