Caterpillar Update

Growing, growing and still growing. This caterpillar goes through about 8-10 Milkweed leaves a day! We're going to have to get some more milkweed this weekend to keep up with our hungry, little guy.=) It'll be a nice break when he actually hibernates in his chrysalis for a bit so we won't have to feed him all the time. He's SO interesting to watch. Again, if you've never tried this experiment (even if you don't have kids), it's so much fun. I'm hoping that my nieces and nephews (Izzy,Zander, Abigail, Sammy and Aleah) can help us find more caterpillar eggs this summer so we can watch this tiny miricle take place.

For Samuel

I had a nice surprise when I opened my mailbox the other day and thought I would share it with all of you. My nephew from England, Samuel, created a "Flat Stanley" and decided that Stanley should come spend a week or so with us here in America. We were so excited because this will be our second experience with a Stanley from England as my niece Abigail, Samuel's older sister, sent us her Flat Stanley a few years ago as well. We can only hope that since there is yet another Dryden, Aleah, we might have a chance at a third Flat Stanley visiting us here in the US. =) Here are some pictures of Stanley's adventures with us here in Florida.

Here is a picture of Stanley when I discovered him in the mailbox at our house. He was pretty tired from his travels, so after a cup of tea and a little nap, he was ready for some adventures.

The first thing Stanley wanted to do when he arrived is climb trees in the backyard. He was rather good at it too! He climbed pretty high one time and I had to rescue him, but that didn't scare him. He continued to climb trees and seek new adventures.

Stanley was very interested in helping out with the gardening so we put him to work pulling weeds and raking. I found it interesting that although the rest of us were sweating out in the sun that afternoon, Stanley remained cool and wasn't sweating a bit!

Uncle Robbie decided that Stanley needed to help earn his keep so he put him to work mowing the lawn. Stanley did a pretty good job with the exception of a few missed spots.

Stanley was so tired from all of his adventures that he found himself a shady spot in the backyard and took a nap. He'll be heading back to England shortly and will have much to share about his travels to Florida.


Thanks Samuel for sharing your Flat Stanley with us. We'll be sending him back to you this week. I'm sure you're enjoying wrapping up your studies in school so you can pack your suitcase and fly to Florida to visit us soon. We love you!

Love,
Uncle Robbie, Auntie Kelli, Avonlea, Lincoln, Riley, Fur and "the caterpillar"

The VERY Hungry Caterpillar

If you read my previous blog entry, you know that we just got back from an Orlando/St. Augustine vacation (Note to self...take an actual vacation to St. Augustine and not just a two-hour visit. There's so much to do and see. The history is amazing.). When we got home, we 1. unpacked the car, 2. started the laundry and
3. fed and gave water to all our animals. As I looked into the babyfood jar and saw our Monarch caterpillar, I couldn't believe how BIG he grew! He grew more than five times his size in just 4 days! I had to take a picture. He also is outgrowing his babyfood jar, so we gave him a new home in a little bug cage we had in the garage. We'll continue to fill it with a little water and Milkweed leaves until he decides to form a chrysalis. Avonlea is so interested in this experiment we're doing with him. I feel like he almost needs a name...any suggestions?

Our caterpillar's new home

Our Little Vacation

The four of us decided to take a little vacation this Memorial Day weekend and what fun it was. We drove up to Orlando on Friday afternoon, checked into our resort (did NOT have a good experience there...bad directions, no air conditioning for the first day, etc.), took a dip in the pool and grabbed some dinner at Logan's Steakhouse. We headed out to Publix (grocery store) for some necessities (shampoo/conditioner...which we forgot and some drinks/food so we didn't have to eat out every meal). Saturday morning, we got dolled up and drove to St. Augustine where my cousin Andrea got married. It was a beautiful ceremoney and we couldn't be happier for them. Congrats Jeff and Andrea! We then drove home after the wedding and enjoyed another dip in the pool that evening.
Sunday, we decided to extend our stay another day and we went to my favorite store in the whole world, IKEA. We just got an IKEA in Orlando in the past year and we used to have to wait and go when we were in London visiting Rob's sister, Kris and their family. We got a few items for the house (oddly enough, we never manage to spend too much money when we go which is a good thing!) and after heading back to the resort for some much needed naps, we got dressed and headed out to Disney's Boardwalk. It's such a fun, family atmosphere and the kids really enjoyed themselves. We were able to see Epcot's fireworks at 9:00 p.m. and after making a circle around the giant lake, we got some rootbeer floats (Avonlea chose M&Ms over icecream or any other dessert) and headed back. I have to tell you all this story though...At dinner last night, we had some Publix subs to eat and Avy decided that she didn't want to eat hers. We said "fine, but no dessert at The Boarwalk". She was okay with this at the time mind you, but I knew better as a mother. I wrapped the sandwich in a bag and stuffed it in our stoller knowing she'd change her mind later. I know we were on vacation, but I wasn't about to let this one go. When we reached the dessert shop last night, she THEN decided she did want dessert (duh!) so I reached into the stroller and pulled out the soggy sub. I told her she had to eat at least 1/2 to get dessert. So there in the middle of the dessert shop, amongst LOTS of people, she ate her helping of her dinner and then chose M&Ms for her dessert. I'm tough I know, but was pretty proud of myself for sticking to my guns. =)

Needless to say, we had a blast and can't wait to visit Orlando again when the Dryden's come to visit. We've already decided that we're going to get one of those big family bicycles (the ones that seat 10 people and everyone peddles) and ride around, ringing our bell for people to get out of the way! Can't wait.

At The Boardwalk in Disney. We NEVER get good pictures of the four of us together. This is a rarity folks! Notice, there are also pictures of me in some of these posts. Again, a rarity!!

One of the performers at The Boardwalk in Disney.

Avonlea and I in Downtown Disney in front of one of the most beautiful water/flower displays I've ever seen.

Lincoln and Mickey

On the road again...

The trip home. Ahh! Sweet silence. Both kids slept the entire way home.

Cousin Andrea Gets Married!

Congrats to Andrea and Jeff on their wedding this weekend!

Lincoln enjoying a dinner roll and being entertained by the dancing.

Lincoln was "out" by the time the cake was being served. Poor boy...he's been totally thrown off his nap schedule all weekend.

The four of us at Andrea and Jeff's wedding in St. Augustine. It was beautiful and so much fun.

Avonlea with the boquet. I think Rob breathed a sigh of relief when the guy who caught the garter didn't have to put it on Avy's leg!

Avonlea caught cousin Andrea's boquet. She was psyched!

Lincoln's 1st Haircut

Lincoln's first birthday isn't too far away (June 11) and although he doesn't have a mop of hair, his "bangs" (do boys have bangs or what are they called?) needed a trim so he could see. I got out the scissors and comb, handed the camera to Rob (of coarse we needed pictures) and after getting Lincoln occupied, I was able to cut some hair so the boy could see.

The finished product...hair out of eyes-check!

He sat pretty still and was pretty preoccupied with the comb, so I was able to take a few snips and bingo...he can see!

Oops!!!

Okay, so I've been playing around with our blog backgrounds, etc. and now I'm kicking myself because I've somehow lost links to "My Favorite Things" and "Friends and Family" blogs. Sooooo, those of you who used to have your blog links on our blog, could you kindly give them to me again? =) Just post them as a comment and I'll copy and paste from there.

Also, if anyone knows how I can get back erased links, PLEASE let me know!!!

Two New Happenings

Here's just two pics that I had to add...

Here's Lincoln with his (not sure of the real name) walking toy. He loves pushing it around and even though I was SURE he'd be walking by now (the kid has been supporting himself since he was two months old), he's taking his time and that's just fine with me.

I recently helped throw a baby shower for my friend Lisa who is due at the end of June (our anniversary, the 30th, the be exact) and I attempted to make a cake. I had a bigger picture for a more interesting cake, but long story short...I wound up making the cake THAT morning so it didn't turn out too bad after all.

Monarch Eggs and Caterpillars

Our baby caterpillar...2 days old. He's super small!!!

Caterpillar egg (it's very small and white)

Milkweed

Our hatching jar

Okay, so I got another neat idea from Family Fun Magazine. There was an article last month about hatching Monarch eggs and watching the metamorphasis cycle take place in your very own home. Well, I just had to try this out. We had just finished constructing our butterfly house out back (I still won't sink in the TONS of money it takes just to get caterpillars shipped here!), and I thought we'd take a trip to a local park (which has a butterfly garden) and bring a few eggs back home. The eggs that we did bring home were small, yellow eggs and they did wind up hatching, but all the caterpillars died. =( So, I took a trip over to our other house we own (still haven't sold it...urgh!), and I knew we had lots of milkweed plants there (milkweed plants are the only host plants that monarch butterflies will lay their eggs on) and found some eggs. You have to look very carefully to find them (you might even be able to find the eggs on milkweed you buy at your local Lowe's or Home Depot). After bringing the leaves home, we put them into a babyfood jar and have watched them for the past few days. One eggs has hatched and the caterpillar is VERY tiny and eating away at the milkweed leaves and the other egg is in the stages of hatching and will meet the world soon, joining his brother in eating the milkweed leaves. Avonlea is really enjoying watching this process take place and being hands on with it. So much cooler than textbook pictures. After the caterpillars get bigger, we'll transport them out back into our butterfly garden and watch them transform into butterflies. Neat stuff! We'll keep posting pictures of this interesting experiment throughout the next few months so stay tuned...

Sunflower Fun!

I saw this neat article in Family Fun Magazine (if you don't already subscribe, sign up today!) where you grow sunflowers in a square shape and create this fortress out of Mammoth Greystripe Sunflowers. It was too cool and of coarse, it had to do with gardening/planting so I had to try it. I called around (Home Depot, Lowe's, local nurseries) and had no luck trying to find the Mammoth Greystripes, so I turned to the internet. For $2.00 a packet, I was able to find the seeds at www.dianeseeds.com. I immediately planted them and I couldn't believe that all of them sprouted (sometimes, not all of them sprout). The picture of the little sprouting sunflowers is the bottom picture I posted. The top picture is of a sunflower that we planted a few months ago (just a regular Mammoth Sunflower). Well, low and behold, I read an article in Parents Magazine today about planting sunflowers and they had some more neat information about some even bigger sunflowers. I guess the largest in the world are called the American Giant Sunflower and you can get them from Burpee.com for $5.00 for 25 seeds. I ordered one today to try it out so I'll let you all know if they grow. =) I do plan on creating a "sunflower fortress" out of them. They grow 14 feet tall and are very menuverable (where you can bend them into arbors, etc.). The best part about gardening is that once you have invested money into your veggies, fruits and flowers, there's almost always a way to get seeds for you next year's planting out of them. I know that I might have spent $5.00 on a bag of seeds, but I can harvest the seeds I get from those sunflowers and plant them for free for the following year. This goes for everything else...you just have to research and know how to get the seeds. My dad taught me yesterday how to harvest lettuce seeds and oh my goodness, how much money I'm going to save!!! Gotta love how God created plants. Happy gardening all!

7 Random Things

I have been tagged by my friend Melissa so here are seven random things about myself...

1. I can't STAND the feeling of wood on my teeth. Like when someone eats a popsicle and they chew on the stick. Oh my goodness!!! It gives me goose bumps.

2. I am OBSESSED with lists. I am a MAJOR visual person and that's how I learn and get things done. I always tell Rob and other friends that if it isn't written down, it won't get done!!! I have lists for the following things: housework, to-do lists, grocery lists, lists for other stores (Home Depot, Walmart, Target, Dollar Store, Health Food Store, etc.), lists for what needs to be done inside the house (fixing things, etc.), a list for yardwork (mending the fence, clean the pool, gardening things), lists for certain meetings coming up and I have a regular family planner for the week. I also plan out my meals by the week (dinners only) and create my grocery list from this. We also have a family calendar (a white erase board) in our kitchen.

3. I still crack my knuckles. Horrible, I know.

4. I can't STAND it when people send a form of communication (texts, e-mails, letters, etc.) and things are spelled wrong or there's wrong punctuation, capitalization, spelling or grammatical errors. I am a former English teacher and although I know I do make mistakes, I always proofread EVERYTHING (for the most part).

5. I am a daydreamer. There will be times when I'm supposed to be paying attention to something and I'll be thinking to myself, "Oh, I need to add something to my to-do list", or "I need to pick such-and-such up from the store after this meeting". It gets me into trouble when I'm really supposed to be listening to something important!

The next two things (I couldn't think of two more, sorry) are about my husband. =)

6. He has a thing for even numbers. He can't go to bed at 10:32. He has to wait until 10:40. He also likes the volume on the tv turned to an even number.

7. He is always smelling his hand. He'll rest his hand on his mouth and sit there smelling it. Cracks me up!

I tag Emily, Joana, Lori, Kristine, Lisa and Valarie. Can't wait to read them girls!!!

Porch Play

The kids and I have really enjoyed playing on the back porch and exploring our creative side the past few days. I have heard neat stories about making forts, houses, tunnel systems, etc. out of refrigerator boxes so we decided to give it a try. There's an appliance outlet store near our house and I always see them throwing large boxes into the dumpster. We stopped by one day and they said I could have as many as I wanted. Cool! Free boxes! So we brought them home and first, created a tunnel. Lincoln really enjoyed this. Then, today we decided to take them out onto the porch and give them some color. Avonlea got a kick out of painting these large boxes. We have a rule at our house that we only color/paint on paper so I had to explain that this was okay. We've also had some fun playing in shaving cream. I used to do this when I taught preschool and it was a blast. You can add little dabs of paint to give it color too. Fun Stuff! =)

A Wonderful Mother's Day

I couln't have asked for a better Mother's Day! It started with a delicious breakfast of waffles (plate complete with flowers from our backyard...I almost took a picture of it!) cooked by my incredible hubby. He got the kids up, Lincoln's diaper changed and a bottle, made them breakfast, got them dressed and ready for church. I headed off to teach Sunday school while he entertained the kiddos, did some dishes and other housework (go Rob!) and met me at church. He took us out for some Mexican (gotta love Carmelita's!) lunch and then it was back home for some much needed naps. I received a beautiful card made by Avonlea and Rob (see above photo) and some gorgeous roses which he designed himself!!! What a guy. I felt so appreciated and loved on Sunday that I couldn't have asked for a better day.

I know Mother's Day is hard for some moms who have either lost a child (please continue to pray for our friends who lost their 2-year-old last week), couldn't spend the day with their child(ren), etc. So, to those moms, I hope that you were able to focus on the blessings the Lord has given you and that someone hugged you and told you you were appreciated.

I couldn't be more thankful for the two little, darlings that God has given Rob and I to raise. There are days of sheer insanity, but I wouln't trade my worst day with my kids for anything in the world. I pray constantly for their salvation that above anything else they accomplish in this temporary world, they may know their loving, kind and awesome Father in heaven. I am truly blessed!!!

Responsibility...

Fur has been a wonderful addition to our family, but like any addition to the family, comes work and responsibility. Last night, Avonlea learned how to help me clean out the rabbit's cage. I think people underestimate what toddlers are really capable of helping with. The job may not be done perfectly or as good as we might be able to do it, but responsibility gives a child ownership over something and hopefully (I say, hopefully!), this will help the child to become more interested in helping out. This was a first run at cleaning Fur's cage, so we'll see how long the enthusiasm lasts! =) Needless to say, she did a great job at placing new newspaper at the bottom, covering the newspaper with fresh pine bedding and making sure Fur had clean water and food. (I did the "dirty" work of dumping out the old bedding...fun.) Just for the record, Fur is growing and FAST! He loves garden lettuce, broccoli and other veggies.

Happy 11-Month Birthday Lincoln!

Happy 11 Month Birthday Lincoln Cole!

Lincoln has become quite the charmer lately. He loves to snuggle with blankets, lovies and people. I have read the book The Five Love Languages of Children by Gary Chapman and Ross Campbell and it's so amazing to see how these 5 love languages really pan out. Avonlea is a girl who's language is "time". She loves to spend time doing a puzzle with me or Rob, playing doll house with one of us (yes, Rob is secure enough to admit he plays doll house...he he) and anything that involves close, personal time with one of us. She does like hugs and kisses, but I really think that as she grows up, spending time will be one thing that we'll have to make sure we do with her. Lincoln, on the other hand, is a "personal touch" boy. He'll be off galavanting around our house playing with toys, eating Cheerios and playing with Avonlea, but he always takes a break here and there for a snuggle. He also has a problem with biting, which we're working on! Just for the record, the five love languages are:

1. Physical Touch
2. Words of Affirmation (praising your children, telling them you love them)
3. Quality Time
4. Gifts
5. Acts of Service

All children need all of these acts of love throughout their lifetime, but some are more needed than others. It's a great book and I highly suggest it for a re-read as well. I think I've read it 2 1/2 times.

Deep Thoughts

Rob and I had a difficult night last night. Some people we know lost their two-year-old toddler while he was sleeping yesterday. Our hearts just ache for them. As Rob and I prayed for them last night, I couldn't help but put myself in the mother's position. As parents, we try to protect our children from anything and everything, bringing them up the very best we can. I can't tell you how many times I've picked things off the floor praying that I didn't miss anything so my crawling 10-month-old doesn't choke on something. I worry about being in parking lots with my two-year-old, holding her hand ever so tightly. We do the best we can and yet we still doubt ourselves.

This morning, I turned on Spirit FM (the local Christian radio station that we listen to) and the first song that I heard was "Praise You In This Storm". I found the song on YouTube and as I watched, I was reminded again that I am not in control of my life. Sometimes, we go through our day-to-day routines and we cling to our to-do lists, calendars and daily planners. We make plans and forget that those plans could change at any given moment. Why? Because our Heavenly Father is the one in control.

I know there was a purpose for this trajic event to happen. We often forget that the loving, merciful God we serve is also a selfish God and He will do whatever it takes to bring us closer to Him.

Whenever I am going through trials, I often read in James and journal about the
trial(s) I am going through. Then, when I turn to James again when going through another trial, I am reminded of how my God answered and got me through the last trial, giving me strength for what He has in store for me next. Isn't our God good?

Hug your children extra hard today and tell them you love them over and over!

I Stand Corrected!!!

Fur the Rabbit went for a wagon walk with us last night. We got a few stares, but Avonlea was tickled at the fact that her new pet was taking a walk with us.

Okay, so remember when I blogged recently about our new member of the family, Peter Rabbit? Well, I stand corrected on his name. Avonlea has assurred me once and for all that this rabbit's name is NOT Peter. It is Fur the Rabbit. Fur has had quite the impact on our family the past few days. First of all, (yes, folks..I am blogging about a rabbit!) Avonlea has not left Fur's side. Fur goes everywhere with us, including the park today (sad, I know). Fur loves to be strolled around in Avy's dolly stroller and he plays in our butterfly garden, enjoying the warm sunshine outside and being able to eat fresh grass. Fur is even spoiled enough to get fresh greens (lettuce and broccoli) from our garden (I'd better not find him hopping around in there or it'll be rabbit stew!). =) Anyway, Rob is quite happy that I've "seen the light" and let Avy call her pet what she wants. I still think it's a dumb name, but it's her pet and I have officially stepped down from pushing the issue. Just for the record, he's pretty cute!

Trip to the Park

The kids and I took a trip to another local park and did we ever have a good time! They had a museum as you enter, little critters to observe, a baby-friendly play zone, lots of birds and animals to observe (including alligators!), lots of trails and a butterfly garden. We like to find Monarch butterfly eggs on the underside of milkweed leaves and take the leaves home to watch them develop. So far, the eggs have hatched and we have TINY caterpillars.





Observing the baby chickens
















Baby-friendly play area












Looking for alligators. We did finally wind up seeing one!












Avonlea and "E" on a cute bench in the butterfly garden.












This body of water surrounds the park and it's absolutely beautiful. There's even an island and the breeze is unbelievable.










Playing on the playground

Meet Peter Rabbit!

Here's the newest addition to our family...Peter the Rabbit. My husband will argue with you about the name though. Here's the story...














We have an 80 pound Golden Retriever (Riley) whom we've had for 5 years now. LOVE her and she's such a great dog. The only problem is that she sheds and eats ANYTHING left on the ground (yes, baby toys...anything) not to mention she could take out anyone in a short distance's length between her and her tail. Lincoln is crawling and putting everything in his mouth right now, yep, including dog fur. So, needless to say, Riley has gotten used to being an outside dog for the time being, at least until Lincoln learns that dog fur isn't a side dish! Sooooo, I've been on the hunt for a pet that Avonlea can enjoy, learn responsibility from and that is her size. We recently visited a local preschool (LOVE it, but too expensive) who had a rabbit and she loved him. Well, I knew it was a sign that we get a rabbit because the following Sunday, a family from church brought in one of their baby rabbits from a litter their mama rabbit just had. They were giving them away for free so I just knew this was meant to be. The family dropped Peter off (yes, he's a boy) yesterday and Avonlea hasn't been able to part with him since. He goes everywhere with her and she's so gentle and loving towards him, it's rediculous. Too cute really. =)

So, Rob will argue with anyone about the name. When we asked Avonlea what she wanted to call the rabbit (I truly believe she didn't quite understand what we were asking her at the time), she said "fur". I think she was describing the rabbit, because anything else we name is called "Charlotte" (?). She has recently discovered that that is her middle name so she names every bug, butterfly or lizard we catch, Charlotte. So, Rob calls him "Fur" and continued calling him "Fur" all day that day. I thought it was a dumb name (really, "Fur"? Come on!) so I kindly suggested "Peter", a more fitting name, I thought. I guess you could say that this rabbit's name is officially Peter Fur Bates. He is pretty cute and definately earns brownie points in my book for putting up with our noisy household and Avonlea's constant picking him up and giving him rides in her dolly stroller. I'd say he's a keeper.

Welcome to the family Peter Fur Bates!