April Showers

This was the last time we saw the sun. Since then, it's rained almost 4".

Guess who wants to "golf" every chance she gets?

Thanks to Ga-Ga for my new Muck Boots! These are the slip on shoes, which are PERFECT for this time of year.

Plus, with my newly diagnosed Plantar Fascitis, I needed a decent supportive shoe in the garden.

See my poor, little Snap Pea seedling...in standing water?

Even the lettuce is struggling with this much rain. Plus, my garden plot seems to be a washout/drainage area for the field. The lettuce plants just miss being washed away by a river of water through the garden.

The red and yellow onions are the happiest thing in the plot right now.

This is my cucumber/snap pea trellis, assembled and staked into the dirt. I started about 15 plants from seed indoors, which I will move outside next week. Most "old timers" in the garden strongly suggest waiting, "....until Derby," to plant warm weather crops.

Speaking of weather, I made an executive decision to move Devin's outdoor bounce house Barbie party, indoors. We scheduled her a small Birthday party this weekend, since next weekend is Easter. Unfortunately, the forecast for Saturday is a cold rain. Boo. The wonderful folks at Kazoing squeezed us in to a morning (indoor) bounce party. Devin also gets a face painter and balloon artist after the bouncing, so she is very excited.

She has a small preschool class, so just 4-5 kids are expected (with siblings) and some of my friends who are close to Devin want to visit.

Devin chose a "Barbie" theme, out of the blue. So, I'm surprising her with a Barbie cake. She thinks it's a regular flat cake with a Barbie theme. But, my favorite local cake artist is working on one of these:

Tomorrow, we're having professional photos done for Devin's 5th Birthday. These pictures will be a different experience, as I chose a "mom blogger" who's traveling around the country supporting her family by taking pictures. I've always liked her style of photography and I credit her blog (and a few others) as my inspiration for getting a "real" camera & learning how to work it! I'm hoping we can capture Devin's spirit and thinking at this age...so no posed photographs, no matchy-matchy outfits and no studio. In fact, it's Devin's choice on the outfits and we're shooting in a park. Also, we get all the rights to every photo...so I can print them, send them, blow them up to canvas size etc...

It's supposed to be picture perfect weather tomorrow (pun intented), 72 degrees and partly cloudy. No April showers on photo day!

"Kindergarten"

Last week, Devin & I completed the application process for her "Kindergarten." We're using that term for now, since her preschool friends are throwing it around. But, for her (hopefully) she'll begin Montessori school. (We're waiting to hear back, for an official contract offer)

Montessori generally does not have a separate Kindergarten. The kids are grouped from 3-6 yrs. and then move to individual grade rooms after that.

The application process involved several visits, including a chance for Devin to separate from me for about 30 minutes in the classroom. She was reluctant to say the least, but she did not cry. I chatted in the lobby with another mom who's son was also shadowing in the other classroom. When she came out, Dev had a picture from a student: Rebekah drew a picture of Devin, which I thought was very sweet.

As we were driving on to her regular preschool, I didn't ask any questions about the visit and she wasn't saying much. Eventually, I HAD to ask her what she talked about with the teacher.

Her answer?

"Oh Mama, it was so hard! I mean, it was sooo easy. I just told her 2+2=3, 3+3=6 and 6+6=7!"

We're beyond thrilled that this school opened their new facility less than a mile from home. I spent many winter evenings reading about the Montessori method & feel it's a perfect choice for us, more importantly for Devin.

We've worked hard these 5 years to not use rewards...we don't do stickers, charts, prizes for behavior, etc... I'm a big believer in the ideas behind "Punished By Rewards." And, I LOVE today's Wall Street Journal article about the method.

WSJ Montessori Article

In Kentucky, (IMO) public schools are hyper-focused on standardized test scores...since our schools rank as some of the worst in the nation. But, mostly I want to instill a love of learning & support her natural tendencies. I've seen her focus for 90+ minutes on making, "a book." Basically, she sat and copied one of her favorite books:)

On Day 3 of Spring Break we went to an Open Play at Kazoing. (And indoor bounce house place)


And, I made a 3-D Bunny Cake! Matt had some work friends over, so I thought I would practice with my new Milton cake pan!

Spring Break Week

There's no preschool this week, Spring Break! We're enjoying the free-time, it's so nice to take a break from the rushed mornings.

We decorated for Easter, with my favorite giant eggs. I remember buying a few of these at Meijer one year and losing most to a wind storm. Then, someone was getting rid of their eggs on Freecycle & I rushed over to get their free giveaway.

This year, we made holes at the end of each egg and filled them with water. They didn't budge in yesterdays awful storm.

I'm always want to rip out these Hyacinth, since they're only pretty for the next 2 weeks. But, Devin LOVES picking them and making bouquets.

Dev and I ate lunch out today...Rapunzel braid and all.

We worked on rainbows and I tried explaining the order of the rainbow...ROY G. BIV.

I'm going to try something new in the garden this year...a Cucumber trellis.

I ordered 2 of these. I love how you can plant some shade loving veggies underneath. I hope to do snap peas and squash on one and cukes on the other.

It's That Time of Year

It's the time of year, when I wake up and just about everything is sore. It's when I look down at what's supposed to be my nails and see dirty, broken, scraggly things. Also, I tend to spend ridiculous amounts of money.

Yes, it's gardening time!

It's our 3rd year at the community garden & we're (all) getting a late start this year, due to weather.

Every year, it's so hard to remember that this:

...will look like this, very soon:

These folks were ON it today. They worked from 7:45 am (when I dropped off some dirt) and were still at it after 3:00 pm.

Me? I was happy to get my 21 lettuce plants in. I raised these from seed for the last 4 weeks.

I threw this picture in...just because cats are annoying. SO glad we have the double vanities. I wouldn't want to inconvenience anyone with having to wait for a drink. God forbid they actually use their water bowl.

The better weather, means we're outside most all day.

We decided to take a "break" from gardening to go on a nature walk.

Dev spent an hour floating things down the stream. We watched this acorn top for a bit.

HFCS

Chances are, if you're a parent of a child 10 and under, you've heard the debate over HFCS. (High Fructose Corn Syrup)

A friend posted the spoof on FB, but you have to see the original first!

Original Ad

The SNL Spoof

And now I know why my bathtub is always dirty

Oh Baxter, I mean Woofy.

Artwork

This post:

http://mommyme-thewonderyears.blogspot.com/2011/03/journal-drawings-age-4-5.html

got me thinking about Devin's artwork. She's a very prolific artist, churning out 5-10 pictures a day sometimes. But, every once in a while there's something new and different in her work. For the first time, I noticed her "grounding" the figures. She even pointed out the "carpet" below our feet in this picture.

I thought her depiction of Matt's weekend stubble was precious.

I gave her a tube of expired Pillsbury crescent rolls to play with, while I made real (edible) dough.

She told me this was Ruff Ruffman and Blossom. (From a PBS show she likes)