Playing in the Garden

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When times are tough and it's hard to find beauty in my life, I take comfort in nature. I look for the beautiful moments I find in little things.  

This week I found a caterpillar munching on a two year-old, flowering parsley plant.  I've trimmed this plant down once already and thought of just pulling him out all together as he's in the center of my square foot garden and taking up too much space.  Just as I was contemplating this once again, I spotted this beauty.  We believe he is a Swallowtail butterfly in progress and we can't wait to see him transform.  

We agreed not to move him or try to watch him in a jar.  We talked about how the caterpillar needs a lot of nutrition and this plant was the perfect plant for him to eat in our garden as we are not using it.  Meanwhile, Owen decided to make him a home, a little fairy garden of sorts in the garden bed.  Owen played there for a long time.  When he finished he wondered why the caterpillar wasn't coming down to his home. This gave us an opportunity to talk about how much caterpillars need to eat to survive and find the energy to transform into beautiful butterflies.  

I loved watching Owen play here while I puttered about the garden.  

Until next time...

cold & wet... heaven

We have been visiting family and enjoying the countryside of Western New York.  The first day we went for a long walk down our dirt road.  It was overcast and rainy the first week we were here, perfect weather for a few desert rats tired of the Southwest heat.  We found two salamanders and the boys were interested in how they differ from our desert lizards. 

It sounds funny but just wearing sweaters we never pull out until winter in the Southwest was super exciting for us.  Silly Owen, who is used to warm rains went out in the cold rain here to play.  Before I could get him dressed he was out in the rain in his undies.  He came back 3 minutes later saying, "Whew, it's CHILLY out there!".  We then got properly dressed and went out to play.  We laughed when Gramma came out in her nightgown to take a picture of those crazy New Mexicans who were playing on the swing set in the rain.  I said, "Who's crazy you're in your nightgown, in the rain taking pictures of us!"  We all had a good laugh.

I have many more fun things to share.  Until next time...

Happy 5th Birthday & Owen Says...

Owen is 5!  This year we had a simple birthday.  We invited friends over for a playdate and made cupcakes.  The boys had a fun time playing and frosting cupcakes together. 

Both my boys seem to be growing up so fast.  Michael is almost taller than some of my friends already.  So, in effort to remember...

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The other day Owen said, inquisitively.  "Daddy is a worker.  He has tools.  But he doesn't USE them!?"  (Such is the life of an academic, they have tools but they hardly use them, lol.) 

Owen has a million stories about the "centipede spider".  This is a mythical insect who is always changing & morphing into Owen's newest idea.  Sometimes he lives under the barrel cactus.  Owen is obsessed with the barrel cactus.  He loves to see them, read about them and has a toy (train) that he says is a barrel cactus that he "plants" outside and waters. This Spring because of all his talk about cacti, we bought him a little one to take care of.  He loves it and has figured out just how to touch it without getting hurt.

His favorite movies right now are all about letters. We found some at the library that he has been carrying around with him everywhere.  Today, my boys and I started reminiscing about little things that have happened in our life together.  I showed them old pictures here on the blog and realized how thrilled I am to have this space to record our family.  I haven't been blogging much lately and I want to change that, but however life twists and turns we have such a beautiful record of our love here. 

Happy 5th Birthday Owen! 

Seedlings & Sprouts, an update...

So much of the garden is volunteer this year, I'm not completely sure of some of what's growing. I love that!  I love learning to recognize seedlings.  French Marigolds & Nasturtiums are popping up everywhere and now that I've grown them from seed for the past few years I can recognize them.  This time of the year is so exciting.  I have the memory of how the garden looked last year at its peak and I want that!  But that time of the year is just a fleeting glimpse of the very hottest point of summer. It's such a reminder to stop and enjoy this moment when everything is beginning anew. 

This looks to be zucchini.  I had wondered if it was summer squash but I compared pics from last year and it appears not. This is where I had wanted to have a butterfly/ bee garden.  The Borage is
coming up beautifully and there are a few flower seedlings under the right zucchini. I wonder what they will become?  Perhaps the zucchini knew right where it would be pollinated best. 

Cherry tomatoes are popping out already, green and full of potential.  Last year I tried yellow pear & grape tomatoes and I guess I decided I didn't like them much. I did try to enjoy them but we're back to cherry this year!

 

My  other "sprouts" are growing well too.  Lately wherever we go Owen has been asking women, young and old, for their hand, kissing it and then telling them they are beautiful. I'm learning this boy LOVES getting a reaction.  It's pretty darn cute.  Whenever he sees me annoyed or getting stressed about something, he forms his hands and forearms into a heart and says, "Mom. Hearts & love".  It always melts my mood, how could it not?

Both of these little sprouts melt my heart and drive me crazy everyday.  If you're a Mom, you'll know exactly what I mean by that. 

In our front yard where the Spring bulbs came up, we threw shade flower seed.  I can't wait to see what these seedlings will become. I love the idea of perennial flower/veggie gardens.  I want to see this effortlessly beautiful all throughout the season. 

There are plenty of other "seedling" projects going on here, including some really exciting Homeschool developments.  More on that another time. 

Until next time...

{ this moment }

{this moment} - "A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember."
Amanda Soule

Go to SouleMama to participate. 

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Enter to win my Valentine Bear giveaway, here.

while visions of sugar plums danced in their heads...

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house  

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;  

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,  

In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;  

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,  

While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;

Merry Christmas from the Southwest!  I love that top picture because it shows both our pretty tree and our beautiful Southwestern, winter sky at dusk.  This was a few nights ago.  Owen fell asleep while we were reading Scrooge and he looked so angelic I had to take a picture.  After we put him into his bed I heard what I thought was crying.  I went into his room and found him asleep, bouncing on his knees and laughing hysterically.  I got him to lay down and then up he popped again laughing.  So... I think there really were sugar plums in his head. 

I hope you are having a wonderful Christmas! 

Christmas Picture Outtakes

Me: Let's take a nice Christmas picture for our family boys.

Owen: Look Mom I'm a dog! 

Michael: Nothing cutsie!

Michael: You're touching me...grrr...

 

Owen: Look, a bird!

 

Owen: Look a bug!

Michael: I am so annoyed with you right now.

Michael: Stop touching me Owen! 

Michael: Let's just smile really big and get this over with!

 

 Michael: Something we can agree on.  Cat: Hold me a second longer and I'll scratch out your eyes.

 

This is as good as it gets, Merry Christmas 2013!

(hmmm, I think I like the cat picture best.  What do you think friends?  Seriously, there are two decent ones out of thirty!)

Embroidery Hoop Jack O' Lanterns

I thrift-ed these beautiful, vintage, embroidery hoops awhile ago and was looking for just the right project for them.  Finally a fun Halloween sewing project came to mind.  I found this bright orange patterned fabric and we cut up a black, felted wool sweater to make jack o' lanterns. I was going to have the boys cut out their own shapes for faces but they had their own ideas.  

Owen loved the idea of them but was not so interested in the actual making of them.  Instead, he was busy making his own Halloween project. More on that later.  Michael was excited to make a specific jack o' lantern he saw on some napkins we bought at Target. He wanted nothing to do with the cutting part.

The top jack o' lantern is Michael's.  For his I traced an oak leaf and cut out eye holes for the mask-like eyes.  He was thrilled with the spooky effect.  Then for mine, the one on the bottom, I did the same by tracing maple leaf patterns & cutting holes in them.  If you want to make these, Google leaf patterns and you'll find many to choose from.  Michael is still working on his bit by bit.

As for 4 year old Owen, a cute story:  lately he's been obsessed with cutting paper, gluing and drawing.  So this day he was busy making Halloween costumes for the birds.  He made a tiny shirt, pants, a mask and hat.  Without saying a word he put them outside under a tree.  It was only later I found out what he did when he came inside excited they were gone.  He just new some little bird was excited about his new Halloween costume!  Oh kid cuteness, my heart just swells...

So, how are you celebrating the season?  

Until next time...

Home School Rocks!

Another year of home school has begun for us!  This is our fourth year homeschooling.  Our style this year is an eclectic mix of curricula and materials, classic children's literature with a heavy influence of Waldorf rhythm, focus on nature, arts & crafts and festivals. 

We've begun this year with so much enthusiasm! It's nice to feel this excited about home school after such a challenging year last year (for me). This past spring I wasn't even sure I wanted to continue and we put Michael's name into a lottery for a really good charter school in our area. As soon as I gained a sense of peace about homeschooling, Michael did get into the charter school. It was offered to him just a few days ago. I went to meet with the teacher and realized through the process that he is one lucky boy to be able to work at his own pace at home.  Reading has not come easily for him, so we are using All About Reading this year.  He really enjoys it and it's nice to see marked improvement. So, we happily gave up his spot at the charter school and have realized truly how fortunate we are to be following our own path.

I haven't been able to keep 4 year old Owen happy with drawing or playing while we work, so he is doing "school" too this year and having so much fun with it.  He can't seem to get enough. His excitement is boundless and contagious.  He still does not quite understand when it's his brother's turn, so I'm working on finding quiet things for him to do while we work.  I'm thinking some of that pumpkin pie spiced play dough is in order.  We will be doing a Fall circle time, my boys have insisted!  I'm so excited to pull out the songs we sang last year and the before and the year before that, they are like old friends now that come to visit each year. 

I feel much more at home with our eclectic home school style now.  I feel like I'm finding my groove as a teacher & even that balance between formal school and child-led interest.  It feels so good to be letting go of the things that do not work for us and embracing the things that do! 

Until next time...

Please read this post as simply our experience, our journey in schooling and not a judgment call on any form of schooling.  I truly believe there are infinite ways & methods of learning both at home and in a school building.  There is no one right and perfect way.

Strawberry Boy Birthday Party!

Thank you for your condolences about my Gram everyone.  She was/ is a special lady.  ( I say is because I know she still exists somewhere.  Death is not an ending to me.  I know in my heart these loved ones live on.) Her passing was expected yet I was surprised at how much I grieved for my time with her as a child.  She was/is a pretty fun Grandma.

Anyway, on to Owen's Birthday party!  We decided to make Owen's 4th birthday a strawberry party because when we bake or even talk about baking he always asks for a strawberry cake.  I have never made one, so he was thrilled at the suggestion of a strawberry party!

I made all of his Birthday ring decorations except for the two snails, which are from Armadillo Dreams.  The snails are for play not decoration, but they still looked pretty darn cute on Owen's birthday ring,  Here is his happy storm gnome because he arrived during a thunder storm.  His strawberry, the number four, a moon because we sing, "I see the moon and the moon sees me...", a sunshine because he is a summer babe.  And a star because his favorite song when he was just learning to talk was, "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star". 

My dear friend had this vintage strawberry fabric in her stash.  I fell in love with its quirkiness.  My husband says is looks like a "70's acid trip".  To which I replied, "but it's so ugly, it's cool, it's vintage."  And he said "yah, leprosy has been around for awhile too but you don't want that."  He's going to just love it when I haul out this table runner and eight napkins every summer season!  What do you think?  Quirky vintage or "leprosy"? 

A little felt strawberry mobile.  I love that we can keep all of these things for next summer's seasonal decorations. 



An easy strawberry burlap banner.  My friend just happened to have this strawberry stencil lying about.  The burlap coffee sack material was left over from my covered studio boxes.  Miniature clothespins hold them to a hemp string with curly green hemp string tied between. 

We had five boys at the party and boy were they thrilled with the balloons.  We had a few easy and fun activities planned.  They sailed ice boats on the hot sidewalk.  Inside the ice were little frogs to play a leap frog game.  After that they made wire bubble wands and bubbles with homemade solution.  Then out came the sidewalk chalk.  Lastly I had coloring pages printed and a new box of crayons for them to take home. I printed cute Jan Brett cursive letter practice sheets in the boys initials amongst other Jan Brett color pages.

I baked two cakes.  The first was a strawerry flavored cake that came out disgustingly sweet with an odd texture.  I know this because one of the cakes fell out of the pan in a crumble. This was a really fun way to spend the evening before a party, let me tell you!  The above was my second attempt, this time a yellow cake with yummy chocolate icing and strawberries on top. My friend also brought a strawberry pie.

We had hamburgers, brats, olive & sweet pepper pasta salad, asparagus potato salad,  cilantro pesto pasta, chips and salsa verde, strawberry spinach salad, fruit and veggies.  The kiddos ate well on brats, veggies and fruit, strawberries in dirt chocolate pudding & yummy cake.

Strawberry spinach salad. I took this photo early I guess because it was so colorful.  Later I added feta cheese and almonds. 

Owen loves his new mama made strawberry boy crown.  And yes he was fully dressed when everyone arrived and somewhere along the way both of my boys lost their shirts. It has been about 106 degrees outside so who can blame them, right?

Owen told his friend he loved him & gave many hugs and kisses to everyone. He was very excited about all of the presents, a play doh truck, a wooden semi truck, a wooden tool set and work bench.

A bow and arrow & quiver set by Backyard Ballistics on etsy. 

A pair of wings was the last present to open.  He asked, "Can I fly with these!?!" and went racing out the door to test them.

 

My Dad sent him this Superman cape which he slept in the first night.  We had a bonfire at the end of our party for about 5 minutes before a huge wind and rain storm came up.  Yes, it stormed and poured rain on Owen's birthday, just like when he was born.  A fitting end to our evening. 

Until next time...