Mystery Plant

After winter creeped away and spring set in, I cleaned out our raised veggie beds and started to think about what to plant in the next few months. A few weeks after cleaning the beds out and going to Lowes to pick out new veggie plants with Matt and Lily, we brought everything down to the beds to get started. I saw a teeny tiny sprout of something from last year...but I didn't know what it was. I scooped it out and just couldn't throw it into the woods behind our garden. Something about that little plant's seed being down in the soil all winter in the cold, and then sprouting all of a sudden made me want to save it. Lily dug a hole under the stairs of our deck and we stuck it in the hole and watered it. Lily wanted to know what kind of veggie would come out and I told her I didn't know...so we began calling it "The Mystery Plant". Each day after school Lily would ask to go see the mystery plant and we would walk down to check it out. And to use her exact words, "it grew and it grew and it grew until a flower came out!" She was so excited when she saw the yellow orange bloom spread its petals reaching for more sunlight. She continued to ask me "What is it Mommy?" and I still didn't really know. I figured it was either a pumpkin, squash, or zuchinni. Lily called my mom to tell her all about it...all of the time! She loved descibing it to her Mimi and I loved hearing her talk about nurturing this plant and the excitement in her voice when she told Mimi that it was a mystery plant.

One day Lily and I took Zeke out into our backyard for some sunshine and Lily yelled "OH MY GOODNESS!!! THE MYSTERY PLANT ISN'T A MYSTERY ANYMORE!!!!" And there it was...a yellow squash laying on the ground that was about 3 inches long. She was so excited. I love the innocence of childhood and being with my daughter as she discovers things around her. Something so simple to me, is amazing to her. I've got to remember that in the rush of life, especially when school starts back. We get so busy that sometimes we do not take the time to smell the roses...or in this case, take the time to watch the mystery plant!

The eve of summertime

I can feel it...the excitement I get when I start counting down the last days of school before I break through the finish line and have the entire summer to do whatever I want. Wind in my hair, sunshine on my back, adventures to begin!

I can't wait for my mother to come next week. It will be a week of girl time---all three generations making memories. I remember when my mother took me to visit my Granny. We didn't do anything fancy, but we shared milkshakes, drank lemonade on her front porch, and helped in her garden. We went antiquing, hunted for fossils, and went on nature walks. I loved every minute of it and if I close my eyes and get really quiet, I can almost smell the milkweed pods growing in the corner of her garden. I hope Lily has memories like this of my mother. I love my mother so much sometimes I just ache to see her and hug her. When things aren't going my way or when I am feeling pitiful I wish she was here with me to tell me that it's not a tragedy and that everything will work out. I call her on the phone all of the time, but there are times where I just need her here to hug.

Last night, Lily was trying out her slip and slide. She would wiggle her way down the plastic, stand up, and yell AGAIN!! Fun times until someone gets hurt. Lily scraped her toe and started to cry. As we walked inside the house for a bandaid, Lily started crying harder and looked up at me and said, "I just want my Mimi". Mimi can make anything better in her eyes, and in my eyes too.

This week I will not only be counting down for school to be out, but for my mom's visit! And that's more exciting than 3 months of no school anyday. 10 more days and a wake up!