Haiku #151

#151

A trip to the park

and a failed attempt to nap

makes my bed sandy

My Dream Garden: The Beginning

My Dream Garden

After nearly 7 years of home ownership I am determined to turn our sad, brown backyard into an exciting place for our family. I know little to nothing about plants, gardening or landscaping. Our budget is small but my ideas are BIG.

Here is what I want in a garden:

1. A safe and magical place for the children to play.

2. Plants and activities that stimulate all 5 senses.

3. Learning opportunities: science, math, art, music, reading, writing and loads of FUN!

I am committed to exploring the most kid- and earth-friendly options as we construct and build our garden. We will be reusing and recycling found objects in a variety of exciting ways.

Here's what we have to start with:

Built by the previous owners, this was a treehouse on stilts. We cut the legs off and converted it to a palatial dog house for Abe & Frida.

My goal is the repaint the exterior with whimsical colors and make make sure the rough interior is baby and preschooler friendly. I also imagine the house with a colorful flag or pinwheel!

Our backyard is shaped like a piece of pie with a very long stretch of boring privacy fence. We've had these 3 raised beds for several years with nothing but leaves in them.

My goal is to fill these beds with plants that appeal to a preschooler's sensibilities: pumpkins, radishes, cherry tomatoes, gourds, sunflowers, lavender and more.

Between the raised beds I want to construct a cave or teepee armature that will eventually be covered in climbing vines of morning glories and beans. I'm not sure what material would work best for this (strong yet earth-friendly and inexpensive). Rebar...? Wood...? Suggestions are appreciated!

Our first steps:

1. Fill the raised beds with soil

2. Start seasonally appropriate seeds indoors. We will be repurposing food containers for this purpose.

I will be documenting our progress as we work in the garden. Progress will be slow but I am determined to take back our yard from our pups! Please join us on our journey and share your ideas, suggestions and comments!

Haiku #150

#150

With socks on his hands

and visible underpants

he's ready for bed

Haiku #149

#149

our favorite game

is tortilla peek-a-boo-

fun with bread products!

Haiku #148

#148

His 10 month birthday

calls for a celebration:

a rainbow cookie

...his first Ukrop's rainbow cookie!

Haiku #147

#147

10 second puppet:

they're good for wiping noses

and keeping hands warm

(old socks, googly eyes, pipe cleaner & hot glue)

Haiku #146

#146

For Valentine's Day

he helped me push the stroller

through the warm garden

xoxo

haiku #145

#145

He appreciates

the simple pleasure and joy

a hoodie can bring

Valentine's Day Craft

Lovey Dovey - Crafty Crafts

To prepare for Valentine's Day we made heart banners to hang around the house. We used an old medicine dropper, liquid watercolor paints (food coloring would work as well) and paper doilies I found at the Dollar Store (28 for $1).

"Mama, heart has two eyes!"

It took some patience and practice but he quickly got the hang of creating swirls of color and was excited by the colors he made.

We sprinkled the wet hearts with salt. The salt absorbs some of the liquid and creates a beautiful, mottled effect.

Lots and lots and lots of hearts!

Ta-Da!

Haiku #144

#144

Due to lack of sleep

and complicated hormones

this one made me cry

Haiku #143

#143

My funny bunny

has two fuzzy ears, no clothes

and a big fat grin

Haiku #142

#142

Twenty Eleven

is the year of the rabbit -

hippity hop hop!

Happy Chinese Lunar New Year!

Haiku #141

#141

He was asked his age

and his answered surprised me:

"I two dinosaurs!"