Earth Day

Happy Earth Day!   We spent the morning reading some of our favorite Earth loving books.  If you haven't read any of these books with your littles I highly recommend them.  They are sweet and simple stories about why it is so important to care for our Earth and that each little effort really can have a big impact.  It's so important for kids to realize that they truly are big enough to make a difference in this great big world.  Earth Day is the perfect opportunity for that and one of our favorite family "holidays".  Especially for Kinsley who I have no doubt will grow up impacting her world in a very big way.

We also talked about some of their favorite ways to help protect the Earth and everyone (and everything) living on it. 

• Growing a garden
• Feeding the birds
• Recycling everything
• Cleaning up trash that people leave everywhere 
• Making sure good bugs have homes
• Helping the birds make their nests
• Not wasting too much electricity
• Don't ever waste water
• Sharing

I think they came up with a pretty great list for sure.  There are so many great ways that we can all help out.  We try to limit our use of disposable products, reuse as much as we possibly can, buy things secondhand when possible, and use non-toxic cleaning and household supplies just to name a few.  It's important for us all to do what we can to help preserve the future of our planet for our children and to raise children that understand the importance of these choices as well. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Making houses for the bugs to live in, finding worms for our garden, and just enjoying spending time out in mother nature...seems like the perfect way to spend the day indeed.

This Moment...

{this moment} - A Friday ritual inspired by Soulemama. 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. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

 

 

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Crocheted Produce

My littles love to help with the gardening, at first at least.  The playing and digging in the dirt has always been a favorite activity and of course I'm pretty fond of it as well.  There is something so satisfying about working hard to prepare and care for a garden and then ultimately having it feed you and your family.  I'm happy to pass this love of gardening on to my girls as they grow. 

 

 

 

 

 



However, waiting for those fruits of your labor can take far too long when you're young and it is hard to be patient.  Checking the garden every day and getting frustrated by the lack of food to eat was beginning to wear on them so I thought I might ought to do something to ease the wait for them.  I thought a bit of surprise food might be just the trick so while they were off at Grandma's house I put together this little surprise for them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The bell peppers are my absolute favorite but the girls are in love with the apples.  There are still several other varieties that I want to add to the collection but that will require a trip to buy some more yarn.  I've been trying to work from my yarn stash to get it down to a more manageable level (is that even possible?) and it seems like I've actually used up a lot of my needed colors.  Oops.  Guess I'll have to make a yarn run.  Darn huh? 

Rain boots

We've certainly had some unpredictable Spring weather, and some cold snaps that those of us that have already started planting aren't too happy about.  One thing we are all thankful for is the amount of rain we've gotten this Spring, it has been such a blessing for our dry state.  And a great excuse for us to all try out our new rainboots. 

With a good rain our back yard very much resembles swamp land so I was thankful for these Sloggers my mom got me for Christmas this past year. Aren't they cute? I love that they're a made in the USA product and also really lightweight and comfy too. They've been great for tromping around in the muck this Spring.

Of course the girls couldn't be left out so I had to find them some "boots like mama".  I was disappointed that Sloggers didn't make boots for kids but then I found these Kamik rain boots.

They're very similar to my boots and the girls absolutely love them. I love that they have a great recycling program for worn out boots. Though I imagine it would take quite a lot to wear them out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The girls have obviously put them through some serious testing and they've passed with flying colors.  In fact it has been difficult to get them to wear any other shoes since these arrived.  I'm all for shoes that spray clean and they can put on and take off by themselves so everyone wins. 

Nesting Time

 

 

The weather has been absolutely lovely so far this Spring.  A few cold days but otherwise some lovely sunny weather.  We've been able to spend most of our time just where we love to be, outside.  Lots of planning, gardening, cleaning up, and of course playing.  We are also trying to make our yard as welcoming for the animals as we possibly can.  Our first project was to help our bird friends find some great nesting materials. 

 

 

All you need is:

 

• yarn or other nesting material
• scissors
• ruler
• suet cage 

 

 

 

 

The yarn should be cut into lengths between 4 and 8 inches long to be used as nesting material.  This is a great chance for the littles to practice their measuring and cutting skills.  It was a bit too windy outside which added an extra challenge to measuring.  We probably should have moved inside for this part.  



 

 

 

Our cage is hanging above our feeder in the backyard right now.  Hopefully we'll be able to see some bright colored bits sticking out of nests while on our nature walks.  And don't worry this is perfectly safe for the birds!  There are lots of other ways to attract birds to your yard an you can find lots of ideas here. 

This Moment

{this moment} - A Friday ritual inspired by Soulemama. 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.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

 

 

 

The bouncing egg Experiment

Have you seen this experiment floating around blogland and Pinterest?  It was so much fun and super easy to do which is always a plus.  If you haven't tried this yet I highly recommend it. 

All you need is a jar, a raw egg, and some vinegar.  What could be easier? 

 

 

1. Put your egg inside the jar.
2. Cover the egg with white vinegar.
3. Let it set for 24 hours.
4. After 24 hours dump the old vinegar and put fresh vinegar into your jar.
5. Let the egg rest in the new vinegar for another 2-3 days and watch the process.

 



 

 

 

 

These pictures were after sitting in the second jar of vinegar for 2 days.  See how cool! 

 

 

 

 We also tried a few different eggs just to see what the differences would be:

 

L-R:  Boiled egg, boiled egg soaked in vinegar, raw egg soaked in vinegar, raw egg.

 

 Then came the fun part, the bouncing!  And yes they did bounce, a little at least.  Although I think the best part was when we found out at a certain height it would bust. 

 

 

 

 

Nothing like some good gooey fun with some busted eggs.  My girls are already asking to do this one again.

Rain

Anyone who says sunshine brings happiness has never danced in the rain.

 

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Easter

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A wonderful day filled with family, a lovely church service, beautiful weather, and lots of good food.