Thursday, June 24, 2010
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
beans
One of the cool things about being a part of the kindergarden contest is meeting The Author over at About a Bug. I was reading one of her posts about the purple beans she planted with her son, and I thought, "Oh, cool, PURPLE beans! We only have boring green ones." I commented on her blog about how jealous I was of her colored beans, and before I knew it, there were purple bean seeds in our mailbox!
Author, you are awesome.
I showed my son pictures from Author's blog, and now every couple of days, he tells me he wants to see "the pictures of the nice boys who sent us seeds."
We finally got them planted in pots yesterday, since the garden is pretty full.
We also planted a pot of snap peas (waaay late, I know, but we'll see what happens). We are excited to see our beans and peas sprout and grow! Stay tuned!
Author, you are awesome.
I showed my son pictures from Author's blog, and now every couple of days, he tells me he wants to see "the pictures of the nice boys who sent us seeds."
We finally got them planted in pots yesterday, since the garden is pretty full.
We also planted a pot of snap peas (waaay late, I know, but we'll see what happens). We are excited to see our beans and peas sprout and grow! Stay tuned!
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
the pond
(warning: loooong post!)
We have a pond. It looks like this:
We built it ourselves, a two-year project that we finished (for the most part) last year. It was a lot of work, but it was fun, and we love being near the pond throughout the summer.
We started by digging a big hole in the ground...
then picked up loads of rocks out of the corn and soybean fields across the street and hauled them to our yard (a family affair - all three of us were out there. The neighbors thought we were crazy)...
We made our own filter from instructions we found on the internet here. Our boy was fascinated by how it worked.
We then lined our hole with newspaper we scrounged from the neighbor's recycling, carpet scraps found in the attic, and leftover sand from some forgotten garden project...
and filled it up!
Then began the slow process of rock work...
and building the waterfall and supporting flower beds (more rock work)...
and filling the flower beds up.
Our pond is inhabited by some of these
And this year we have a lot of these.
We also planted these, which we enjoy when they bloom (our son loves to look out the window to see if there is a new one. "Mom! There's a pink one today!"):
But our favorite part of having our pond is watching these guys:
We started out with 29 cent pet store feeder fish, but have since upgraded to some prettier ones. We've been careful to not spend too much money on fish, because we seem to have the knack of losing them. Last year we lost several to a hungry heron. This year, the blizzard of February sent a ton of snow sliding from our roof straight into the pond, which we think trapped several of our fish and they froze to death. Poor little guys. So we recently made a trip to the garden center to replace some of our beloved fishies.
Our son is an excellent fish-picker. Once he had chosen the ones he wanted, we had the lady net them and bag them up.
We brought them home and set them under an umbrella (it was HOT that day) until they were acclimated and could be released into the pond.
It wasn't long before they had made some new friends and we could spot them swimming around with the others.
Next on the agenda: a patio out our back door where we can sit near the pond, listen to the waterfall, and entertain family and friends!
We have a pond. It looks like this:
We built it ourselves, a two-year project that we finished (for the most part) last year. It was a lot of work, but it was fun, and we love being near the pond throughout the summer.
We started by digging a big hole in the ground...
then picked up loads of rocks out of the corn and soybean fields across the street and hauled them to our yard (a family affair - all three of us were out there. The neighbors thought we were crazy)...
We made our own filter from instructions we found on the internet here. Our boy was fascinated by how it worked.
We then lined our hole with newspaper we scrounged from the neighbor's recycling, carpet scraps found in the attic, and leftover sand from some forgotten garden project...
and filled it up!
Then began the slow process of rock work...
and building the waterfall and supporting flower beds (more rock work)...
and filling the flower beds up.
(before)
(after)
Our pond is inhabited by some of these
And this year we have a lot of these.
We also planted these, which we enjoy when they bloom (our son loves to look out the window to see if there is a new one. "Mom! There's a pink one today!"):
But our favorite part of having our pond is watching these guys:
We started out with 29 cent pet store feeder fish, but have since upgraded to some prettier ones. We've been careful to not spend too much money on fish, because we seem to have the knack of losing them. Last year we lost several to a hungry heron. This year, the blizzard of February sent a ton of snow sliding from our roof straight into the pond, which we think trapped several of our fish and they froze to death. Poor little guys. So we recently made a trip to the garden center to replace some of our beloved fishies.
Our son is an excellent fish-picker. Once he had chosen the ones he wanted, we had the lady net them and bag them up.
("are you okay in there?")
We brought them home and set them under an umbrella (it was HOT that day) until they were acclimated and could be released into the pond.
It wasn't long before they had made some new friends and we could spot them swimming around with the others.
Next on the agenda: a patio out our back door where we can sit near the pond, listen to the waterfall, and entertain family and friends!
Sunday, June 20, 2010
tooth fairy
When our son's first tooth was starting to really wiggle a few months ago, Hubby and I had a brief discussion about whether or not the tooth fairy would be visiting our house. I'm afraid Santa and the Easter Bunny have not made their appearances, as our son showed little interest in them and we enjoy focusing on the other aspects of the holidays, but the tooth fairy somehow seems different. Maybe because she is not associated with a particular holiday? Or maybe because my son heard about her from books and videos and other kids well before his own teeth started to come out, whereas we got to choose how we celebrated Christmas and Easter before he was old enough to know any different. Regardless, I was (am) really excited about being the tooth fairy and participating in that childhood ritual with my son. So our house is on her list.
He lost his first tooth back in May and really enjoyed his first visit from the tooth fairy. He finally lost his second tooth on Friday. It has been loose FOREVER, I think he was rather relieved to be rid of it.
For this tooth, we downloaded and printed a free template (found here) for a tooth fairy envelope, which he cut out and colored.
We folded it up, taped it together, and under the pillow it went:
And in the morning, he found the book Flat Stanley in its place.
We read it from cover to cover. And he's already talking about the next tooth (he's got a long wait, I think...they're not really moving yet).
He lost his first tooth back in May and really enjoyed his first visit from the tooth fairy. He finally lost his second tooth on Friday. It has been loose FOREVER, I think he was rather relieved to be rid of it.
For this tooth, we downloaded and printed a free template (found here) for a tooth fairy envelope, which he cut out and colored.
We folded it up, taped it together, and under the pillow it went:
And in the morning, he found the book Flat Stanley in its place.
We read it from cover to cover. And he's already talking about the next tooth (he's got a long wait, I think...they're not really moving yet).
fathers day craft
I got together with my son this past week while Hubby was at work to do some clandestine Father's Day crafting that resulted in these:
Our supplies (blocks from the craft store, acrylic paint, brushes. Not shown are several sheets of small stickers):
We painted all of the blocks with a couple coats of paint.
We occasionally got paint on other things besides blocks...
After the paint dried, we pulled out the stickers and the boy went to town. He spelled out "I love you Dad!" with letter stickers, and then decorated the remaining sides of the blocks.
I was hoping to coat them with a layer of Modge Podge or some other sealant, but my son didn't want me to touch the blocks he had worked so hard on. So no Modge Podge. We hid them away in the back corner of the closet until this morning, when we set them out on the dining room table so that Daddy would see them when he came out for breakfast. While Daddy was still sleeping, our son worked on his card...
When Daddy came out he was very surprised - and impressed. And he and his son sat down and ate breakfast together, in front of the blocks (awwww...). Only I'm not allowed to post pictures because my husband doesn't want pictures of himself in his pajamas all over the internet. So you'll have to to take my word for it. :)
father's day
My son often tells me that he loves me "this much," and he'll hold his hands out to show me how much. "And," he then says, "I love Daddy THIIIIIS much!" and he stretches his arms out as far as they can go.
Despite my mommy ego getting knocked down a peg or two, I love it that he loves his dad THIIIIIS much. I love it that he gets excited about spending special "Daddy time" with my husband when I am out running errands or getting together with friends. I love it that there are more giggles and laughter when Daddy is around.
I am the one who kisses boo boos and calms nightmares, tucks in bed and reads stories, but Daddy is the fun one who really knows how to play creatively with our boy (although, he's pretty good with boo boos and stories, too). Our son is so blessed to have him for a dad, and I am so blessed to have him as a partner, friend, husband. It is a wonderful feeling to be in this parenting gig with Hubby - it is so much easier (and more fun, too) when you are doing it together with someone you love.
Happy Father's Day, my Love.
Despite my mommy ego getting knocked down a peg or two, I love it that he loves his dad THIIIIIS much. I love it that he gets excited about spending special "Daddy time" with my husband when I am out running errands or getting together with friends. I love it that there are more giggles and laughter when Daddy is around.
I am the one who kisses boo boos and calms nightmares, tucks in bed and reads stories, but Daddy is the fun one who really knows how to play creatively with our boy (although, he's pretty good with boo boos and stories, too). Our son is so blessed to have him for a dad, and I am so blessed to have him as a partner, friend, husband. It is a wonderful feeling to be in this parenting gig with Hubby - it is so much easier (and more fun, too) when you are doing it together with someone you love.
Happy Father's Day, my Love.
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