May Flowers, etc.

What a great day we had!

We began our morning with a trip to Home Depot. I finally returned some tiles that I have been carting around in the back of my car for two months now, so that felt good! And with the money I got back, I was able to get a bunch of things for the garden! I got bird netting, bamboo stakes (to hold the netting up), tomato cages, another tomato plant, AND... two more blueberry plants! WOOHOO! The blueberry plants were an impulse buy. They were selling one-gallon tubs for only $4! And these already had leaves and berries on them, plus I was able to get two different varieties (Bluegold and Bluecrop). I dug up the bare root bushes I had planted the other day, and put the new bushes in their place. I should see berries a lot sooner on these! In the meantime, I put the bare root plants into the pots that the new ones came in, so they can still grow and do their thing. I am SO excited for blueberries. My kids can easily eat a pint (or more) at one sitting, so it will save us a ton of money to grow our own!

After we came home and planted our new purchases, we played in the yard for a bit and had some lunch. And then it was time for story hour at the library, which is always fun! I really feel like I am getting to know everyone there-- it's sort of a second home for us! The staff is amazing, the senior volunteers are always so friendly, and the moms that bring their kids to story hour are so nice (and many of them are former teachers... go figure!). But, this was the last story hour... they don't do them over the summer, though they do offer different programs (which we will definitely be a part of!). I think I need to make the leap and invite my new mommy friend over for a playdate. Otherwise, it will be months before we hang out again! Ack!

When the story hour ended, I hung back for a bit and chatted with the librarian about the summer reading program. And then she said, "Hey, I didn't realize that you guys were the ones that bought that house [insert detailed description of where our house is]!" As it turns out, she is very good friends with our one-and-only next-door neighbors, who we have yet to meet. To be honest, I had sort of written them off, after trying to wave and make contact with them during the billion times I've been out in the yard. But she assures me that they are nice people, and that their youngest, an eighth grader, will be a most excellent babysitter in a few years! Good to know! And I guess I will give them another chance. It would be nice to know their names, at least! Everyone here has been so friendly, but they just seem to keep to themselves. Oh well.

Anyway... we went home, and proceeded to play outside for hours! It was eighty degrees and very humid (just look how curly Maya's hair was!). The grass was soaking wet from days of rain, so the kids wore their rain boots along with their summer clothes, haha! While they played, so did I... with my camera, of course! I used my macro filter and took pictures of things around the yard. Some of these things were just tiny little weeds in our grass-- but they are all so pretty! So many little wildflowers! You can also see in there one of the Sweet Briar rosebuds, a few of my blueberries, a strawberry in my garden, and some raspberry blossoms. I LOVE our yard, SO much!!

Meanwhile, the kids kept themselves entertained. The MOST entertaining things in our yard right now are the maple seeds. You should've seen the look on Nikos' face when I showed him how they turned into little helicopters when dropped! He and Maya probably spent an hour dropping them from the back deck. We have a LOT of maple trees around here!

Eventually, I got tired of photographing flowers and things. I sat on the semi-dry grass and made a little flower wreath for Maya's hair. These were the same types of flowers (weeds!) that I did the very same with when I was in middle school! As soon as I saw them, I knew I needed to make her a little wreath. And she loved it. My little flower child!

Meanwhile, Nikos moved on to playing with his glider... which I bought for a buck at the supermarket. Best dollar I've spent-- he loves that thing!

I got one other pic of my girly, just as she was climbing down from the play structure. Gosh, she is beautiful (inside and out!)!

Moments later, it began to POUR. It literally went from warm and sunny to dumping buckets on us! So we ran inside. It was time to start thinking about dinner, anyway!

I checked my email, though, and was so excited to see a reply from the photographer who did Nikos' school pictures! I loved how they turned out, and asked if she would give me a low-res digital file to share (not to print). And she did! Look at my handsome little man! That's his "real" smile, which is the best part of the picture. He can be so silly... but she really did a nice job. YAY!