Caterpillar spring... Nature Scene style

We were invaded about a month ago. By caterpillars! We were all playing in the backyard one day when Chloe shouted, "Mom, this tree is growing baby sticks!" Well, as you can see in the picture, the baby sticks are indeed caterpillars. Tons of caterpillars. They had nests on both of our crab apple trees and there were about 20 other nests on the trees at the back of our yard and in some of the limbs that hang over our fence from the woods behind us. It was amazing! I couldn't stop taking pictures of them, and watching them grow was pretty cool too. (Did you have to watch "Nature Scene" in elementary school science? I did. And at the time I really didn't appreciate it, but now I love that kind of stuff.) All I could think was, this would make an awesome "Nature Scene" episode! Chloe really got into it too. She learned how to very carefully pick them up-- so she wouldn't get their "guts" on her- they actually excrete something (guess what) if you startle them too much. She counted and guesses we had at least a gazillion caterpillars in our backyard. We've been waiting patiently (somewhat) for the gazillion butterflies that should follow, but so far have only seen two. Needless to say, Chloe hasn't been too pleased with that ratio!
Here are a few pics of our little friends (notice they've sucked the crab apple trees dry!) and also Chloe's own "Nature Scene" video is at the bottom. We'll let you know if we see anymore butterflies!
Click on pics to make larger

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Shh... please don't tell Chloe that I posted this 2 days late :-(
Don't worry, I showed it to Micky on his birthday, but she specifically asked me to put it on my "computer page"-- and this is the first time I've been able to sit and do it :-)

Try not to get too scared!!!

Since I posted that bit on Feb.2 about Micky telling Chloe the Golden Arm story I've received about a dozen e-mails from people telling me they remember the story and it was one of their campfire favorites, and have received just as many asking what on earth the Golden Arm story is?!? Well, here it is.... Chloe style! (please note that we have explained to her that Farmer Fred could not legally marry his sister and that grave robbery is a serious crime!)
ENJOY!! --oh, you may need to turn up the volume!

Second Verse!

If you saw Chloe's end of year school program post, you know how much of a hit "You Are My Sunshine" is in this house. (If you didn't, click on the videos section to the left and watch Chloe belt it out!) Well, it seems this song is Emma's favorite as well. Generally, the only time she fusses in her car seat is when she's tired. We've discovered that if we sing this song she immediately stops crying and will turn her face into her car seat and try to go to sleep. It's pretty neat to watch-- and if you stop singing before she's asleep she quickly lets you know. Last week we went to dinner at a friends house about 20 minutes away. The ENTIRE ride home Chloe and I took turns singing-- and no other song would do, trust me! You may not know this but the second verse is better than the first! Now I could be biased because I made it up when Chloe was a baby and would sing it while rocking her to sleep every night. But I think I should get a copyright for this straightaway!
(to the tune of "You Are My Sunshine" , the second verse!)

The other night now while you were sleeping
I closed my eyes and I softly prayed
Oh please Lord watch over my dear sweet Chloe
Please don't take my sunshine away

Feel free to substitute your child's name and watch him smile with delight at having a song sang just for him!

Can You Hear Me Now?!?

We've been repeating this scene at our house over and over again for the past two weeks:
Emma will crawl a bit~ I'll get the camera to tape her~ Emma stops crawling to stare at all of us acting like fools~ Chloe tries to get Emma to crawl again using any type of persuasion she can.
For the past two days Chloe's persuasion techniques have included INCREASING the volume of her voice-- as if Emma was hard of hearing. I can only guess that Chloe must think that if she says it loud enough Emma will suddenly understand and start crawling, talking, and doing long division. So, while Emma is very cute to watch in this little clip, I can't stop laughing at her drill sergeant barking out orders! (At about 10 seconds in you'll hear Chloe say something about a spider being on my head-- she got this from my family using it on her to get her to look at the camera-- something that even as a 4 year-old she still hates to do.)
You won't actually see Emma crawl in this clip but I promise she can-- especially if Chloe drops a Cheez-It anywhere in a 1 mile radius. Emma and Clyde will race to get it! (don't worry I'm not letting her eat crackers yet... she's still getting use to steak!)

Sounds that fill my soul!

For about a month now we've been cracking up watching Emma crack up at Chloe. Sometimes Chloe just has to walk in the room and she'll give a hearty laugh. Emma's always given her biggest smiles to Chloe, and it looks like she'll be getting her best laughs too! It makes my heart leap each time!
Tonight Chloe was entertaining Emma by jumping off of the couch and spinning around. A couple things before you watch this, 1. Sorry for the poor camera work-- kinda hard juggling 20lbs on one side and trying to aim a camera on the other! Oh--and there's nothing wrong with Emma's face-- some of her slobber got on the lens when she reached for the camera (don't worry I wipe it off after a few seconds!) 2. You should be impressed that she can laugh like this AND keep her finger in her mouth at the same time (we saw the top of tooth #1 poking through today--YEAH!!!!). Hope you enjoy!

"...never know dear, how much I wuv you..."

Last night, Chloe's school had their end of the year program. All the kiddos (ages 1-5) wore bathing suits or other beach wear for their "Fun in the Sun, Praising the Son" program. All of the songs were very cute. It's usually pretty funny watching what all the kids will do on stage. Some of the best entertainment comes from the ones who aren't actually singing or dancing-- they're discovering their belly buttons or playing with the girls hair who's standing in front of them-- things like that. Chloe is typically the child who will sing along and do some of the motions, but she usually prefers to just watch the kid standing next to her and let them do all the work! Well, not this time. She was singing and dancing her heart out-- and then she took my heart (along with the heart of every member of our family who was there to see her) and made it sing! When her class finished singing their 2 songs, the teacher held a microphone for Chloe and she sang "You Are My Sunshine"-- and she did an amazing job! There wasn't a dry eye on our two pews when she got done. Her teacher was very smart and didn't tell me about this beforehand, and they only had Chloe practice it once the day before. They knew if we made too big a deal about it she would never do it. Luckily, Chloe could sing this song backwards in her sleep we sing it so much around here, and it was AWESOME! I particularly enjoyed how proud of herself she was when it was over. It was great to see her, who is usually so shy and timid in a crowd, have that much confidence in herself. It made me so proud! This just so happens to be the song my mom always sang to me and is my #1 choice of songs to sing to the girls. It's always had a special place in our hearts, and now it's even more special!