Joy of a child

I came home Wednesday evening after a very full and long day at the church. When I pulled into the driveway Katelyn, my parents and my neighbors were all out front. My neighbors had their sprinkler going and Katelyn wanted to go in it. It had been a beautiful day out and before we know it fall and winter will be here. I told her she could go play in the water and she did a double take...looked at me for a brief moment as if to say, "Really?" And when she saw I meant it she ran next door and right into the water. She stood there with her hands out saying, "It's raining. It's raining." so I grabbed the umbrella...

There are so many times when I have to say no...when I have to tell Katelyn to stop doing something. But I want to make sure there are plenty of times I say yes. It may mean that she ends up wet or dirty or something takes longer to clean up...but kids grow up so fast and I want her to look back on her childhood and remember times of play...of laughter...of wonder. I don't want her to miss out on being a kid because getting messy is inconvenient for me...

And we all laughed and hung out together with a little bundle of joy running around...and then the little bundle got tossed into a warm bath...and slept well.

On the garden front...my tomaotes and peppers have gone crazy. Isn't this beautiful? I paid about $20 for the plants and dirt I needed for this year's garden. Boy has that paid off. We eat the little grape and pear tomatoes all throughout the day. I made more salsa and spaghetti sauce this week. I'm going to can some tomatoes on Monday. I think I should be set for most of the fall and winter.