Recently India found a 4-leaf clover. I thought now might be a good time to post the image since Friday the 13th is coming up. If you feel you might need a bit of extra luck, just come by and maybe some of the clover’s luck will rub off on you.
This boy loves being the Ez Monster. Not sure where that came from, only that he would growl when a babe. It has stuck and he is proud of his monster status.
The other day I decided to try to style his crazy, unkempt mop. I put in some gel and tried to work with his cow-lick by pulling his bangs away from his forehead. Well this is what I came up with, halfway through. This halfway-hair-do cracked him up so much, I couldn’t flatten it out. So we kept it and headed to the library story hour with Ed Grimly hair. Of course, it was a big hit with all the moms.
My baby no longer. I guess when her brother was born, the change was complete. Since we left Boston, I feel like things have been moving in fast forward. My little girl is 6 and almost done with Kindergarten! Unbelievable.
A portrait of India today:
*A sweeter girl there never was. She is very affectionate. I often see her holding her friends’ hands, giving hugs to her pregnant teacher, and generally giving and receiving affection.
*I often hear the rustling of paper from her room. She can often be found creating a sign, making a birdhouse, or drawing a picture or note for a friend. All this made on her desk (now enlarged to table) using her stash of paper, pens, tape, scissors and glue sticks.
*She loves to stay up late, but will quickly shut down once she feels tired. “I’m too tired to put on my pjs!” In the morning is a similar sentiment about getting dressed… too tired to get dressed. I think not having to wake up at 7am will be one of the only things she will like about not being in school.
There is much more, but I tend to remember these things only when I hear the funny phrase or see my little girl growing. I’ll have to make an effort to write down some more characteristics and continue this in another post…
Ok, after all my talk about natural playscapes, we got a climbing gym. Although I must say that this piece of play equipment has been in the Arapahoe Acres neighborhood since the 60’s so it seems only proper to carry on the tradition.
So far India loves it. She is able to jump and swing from several bars, like a little gymnast. She calls it the climbing sculpture. Zach calls it the rocket ship and is trying to get Ezra to call it that too.  We’ll see which sticks for him.
I’m just glad there is an official kid-thing in the yard that is more like a sculpture, less like a log cabin (as our neighbor, Ron, called the more standard options). I am so grateful to our neighbors, Ron and Suzanne, for passing this along to us. This is really how things ought to be acquired, second hand.
Sadly, the branch house was taken down… but it hasn’t been missed. Once we hear about it again from the kids, we’ll build it up in another spot. That apple tree wants to live and can’t with all those branches covering it. Although the little house was much prettier then that crooked tree.
This week has been filled with all sorts of outdoor activities, just what would be expected for Earth Day week. Yesterday we visited the Botanic Garden and saw all the new growth, daffodils, tulips and even a gardener tagging the plants in the kitchen garden. I had a little chat with him and he gave me some good ideas of what to plant in my garden. He said to take green onions, just the root part, and plant them in the soil. Within a week we should have new growth. Sounds like this would be worth trying.
Monday afternoon a friend came to play. While the kids played outside I began pruning our crab-apple tree. While I was high in the branches the girls began to sort the fallen limbs into usable, blossom, and fix-it piles. Each pile getting ready for the fort they wanted to build. Here is what they came up with… with only a little help from me:
If you look carefully you can see our bent apple tree under the tepee, right between the girls. This is what is holding up the branches.
Ezra got into the action too. All the kids tried and tried to knock it down. The wind was blowing strongly too. I even tried to blow it down, as the big bad wolf of course. It isn’t going anywhere.