Carpe Di-worm!

It was a rainy day. We didn't sleep well, with all the thunder. We dragged ourselves out the door to drive Mark to school. We walked back to the front door after, wondering how we would fill this day. When, alas!, there it was:

We watched him for about five minutes and I could tell our day was looking up. The kids didn't really need to go inside and get changed out of their p.j.s; they didn't really need to keep from getting wet. Being the one who's been on the earth the longest, I knew it fell upon me to be the first to touch the worm. I don't mind worms, really, but it always takes a minute to get the guts to do it the first time after a few months (or years)!

Soooo, TX worms are much more muscular and slimey than the Idaho variety. The thing was flopping all over the place like a catfish, getting some pretty good air, and I couldn't get it off the sidewalk. The kids were squealing and would reach down and touch it's belly and all three (two kids and the worm) would go berserk. We ended up helping that one into the mud with a stick.

I locked the front door back up and we spent the next hour worm hunting, mud fishing, and learning to say "worm" in Chinese/Korean/some other asian language: "cho yu-on". We have a neighbor lady who loves the kids and can only say "hi. hi. hi." and "byyye!" She gave them some pretzels, which saved the intrepid explorers, since we hadn't had breakfast either. Simon found another worm pretty early on--"Jimmy"--which he walked around holding as eagerly as he holds my hand. Here's Jimmy in his temporary home--til Simon decided a few hours later that he looked sick and let him go.

A day well spent . . . so far. One of my favorite reality quotes:

"Find joy in your children. Don't overschedule them or yourself. You may not be able to take them on exotic vacations. It doesn't matter. When the day dawns bright and sunny, take an excursion to the canyon or the park. When it's cloudy and wet, read a book together or make something good to eat. Give them time to explore and learn about the feel of grass and the wiggliness of worms." ~ Marjorie Pay Hinckley

***Lest you think all is rosy, a child did cry through the making of the end of this post. I made her food to eat, she just wouldn't have it. Any suggestions for a child that prefers to moan through her mornings, refuse nearly all food, and finally eat and cheer up around noon?