Mini Buds, Mini Vases

I just realized I have 14 posts in draft mode and I gotta get cranking some of these out or I'll never catch up! So here's one I started early last week...

Now that the warmer weather seems to be here to stay we've been spending a lot more time outdoors. And my girls have been picking me a lot of flowers. Well, they've been picking weeds and flowers.  Here they are with the dandelion bouquet they picked for their Great-Gram.

Dandelions are good for one thing:

Not much else pickable is blooming yet (they know bulb flowers are off limits), but they are not shy about plucking fists full of forsythia, johnny jump ups, and vinca vine flowers. "Here mom! You can put these in a vase!"  What kind of a vase can I stick these in when they leave me an inch of stem?

Years ago I picked up a bunch of mini glass bottles at yard sales for pocket change. I have had them lined up along my pantry window for years and when the season is right, I do like to tuck in little flowers. Only it just occurred to me - why do I hide these in my pantry? It's pretty dark in there - the window gets no direct sunlight. And to be honest, I don't spend as much time as I should standing over my sink. (I almost always have a sink full of dirty pots and pans that didn't fit in the dishwasher or didn't get fully cleaned by the dishwasher.)

So I moved all the little bottles from the pantry windowsill into our dining room, where we spend the most time and can enjoy the beauty of the sun shining in over the little vases full of flowers.

Now my girls can see them and know I do actually save some of the flowers they collect for me on a daily basis. Hey, I'm game for any excuse to bring the outdoors in. And put more yard sale finds to use.

So I had this post 95% done before I put the kids to bed tonight, and they knew nothing of what I was in the middle of writing about. Before I prayed and shut the door, I let each of the girls pick out a page from a new little devotional my mom got them for Easter. My oldest opened up to a page and handed it to me. And this is what it happened to say:

"Let's thank God! Thank God for the little things, the dandelion, the bird that sings. Thank God for the big things too. They come from His great love for you! I will thank the Lord will all my heart. Psalm 111:1"

Yes, I am thankful for the dandelions I suppose, and the joy they bring to our day. I am thankful for the little things.