Nothing Beats the Heat Like a Dragon Pool

Well according to the manufacturer it's a crocodile, but my little one calls it her "dragona" pool. I think a dragon is more exotic and fun, so that's what it is. She's having lots of fun climbing her dragon's tail and sliding in. I think she is a little disappointed that I won't follow her lead but the manufacturer states that no one over 110 pounds should use the blow up slides and I'm taking their word on that point.

What a Difference a Year Makes

Last year she wouldn't even get in her tiny wading pool. She would help fill it with water and then put her hands in and play with the water from the side of the pool or maybe if she was feeling brave walk in it. This year she is not only more than happy to be in the pool, she is taking up most of the pool. When she tries to get down and swim she has to scrunch up her legs and gets frustrated. Not to fear, we are upgrading to Wading Pool 2.0! See next post.

The middle photo is the little one showing me how to dive. Opps! No diving in the shallow end! I really don't know where she learns certain things.

Home Is Where the Heart Is

This embroidery by Ana Ventura would make a lovely Mother's Day or house warming gift. N'est pas? Visit her shop to see more lovely gift ideas.

On a personal note, I've been drawing a lot of houses lately. The little one insists I put a house in each of our drawings. I always put a little heart in the eaves of the house, so this piece makes me think of our time drawing together. I draw, Little Miss Bossy dictates content. I'll have to post one of our creations.

For Your Little Dreamer

I think this print would be so sweet in a small child's room. I know I want my little one to be surrounded with affirmative and uplifting thoughts. In fact, I think the little one inside all of us could use more positive messaging in our lives.

There's plenty of positive and loving messages at The Love Shop.

My Little Helper

I'm so proud of my little one, for many reasons, but what stood out today is what a good little helper she is. She helps me when I empty the dishwasher, she helps me when I clean and when I cook. She can assemble the dinner salads by herself. She helps dry the lettuce in the spinner and then divies up the ingedients I give her. Sometimes the salads are a little uneven but extra delicious because of the love that goes in to them.

Today she out did herself and helped me mulch the garden. I was filling a big bucket and she wanted to help carry it. The bucket was practically as big as she is, so I gave her a little plastic pot to fill. She went back and forth from the mulch pile to the garden beds as many times as I did. Finally she got tired and retired to the porch for some ice tea with Grandma. Despite the over-sized hat she insisted on wearing, she was red from the heat and covered with dust from the mulch. It broke our hearts. After a nice cooling shower we went out for ice cream. A little reward for a very good girl.

Teeny Tiny Fashion

I'm pretty sure if kids designed their own clothing it would look very much like JK Lange's designs for her Teenytini line. All of the pieces are crocheted using natural fibers to be super comfy for the little ones. Teenytini sizes run from 0-24 months. Hmm, I bet there are a lot of jealous three year olds out there.

Flower Shopping & Puddles

I realize a two and a half year old can have fun anywhere as long as there are puddles to walk through. I want to be a two year old at heart and for my little one to keep her sense of joy and love of little things as she grows up.

Cool Paper Plate Weaving

It's really amazing what kids can do when you give them a great project and cool materials. I want to try this paper plate weaving project from Fem Manuel with my little one when she gets a bit older. In the meantime I could see giving it a try myself.

There is a downloadable pdf with instructions at Fine Little Day and a more photo's on Fem Manuel's flicker stream.

Earth Day

Our Earth Day was quiet and included a drive through Califon NJ. Here's a bit of what we saw as we hit the back roads. We took a turn down the Raritan River Road and enjoyed an up close view of the river. I got a kick out of seeing how residents hang hammocks on the river side of the road. A nice benefit of river front property.

Sleepy Snake and Mischievous Mouse by Mochimochi

I'd like to think snake and mouse have an agreement and nobody gets hurt in this relationship. I'm also betting that their matching toupees are a sign of a true and lasting friendship.

These two characters are just a few of the wonderful and imaginative creatures created by Anna of Mochimochi. Luckily you can purchase patterns from the Mochimochi shop and knit your own menagerie. You can also see more of Anna's creations and see what's she is up to on her blog.

Violets are Blooming in the Lawn

I love this time of year when violets are scattered throughout the lawn. Soon they will disappear and the regular lawn mowing will prevent them from coming back until next spring. Every year I dig a few patches up and try and establish them in the rock garden or a pot in our back garden. I'm having some success and a bunch that I planted in an herb pot have come back along with a few patches in our front rock garden. I hope they just keep spreading.

Spring on a String

This mushroom and butterfly necklace by Woodland Belle perfectly captures spring for me and the magic of miniature worlds. I like the way she describes how each necklace is made by hand and how she carefully paints the dots on the mushrooms. You can tell a lot of love goes into these necklaces.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

We have begun our gardening for the year. We started by planting some seeds for our sunflower garden. We still have another little green house to fill. Our sunflowers were so beautiful last year that I want to double their number this summer.

As we were working on this project together yesterday, I was struck by how much my little one has grown in the past year. Last year I did all the planting by myself and she helped with watering and making mud puddles. This year I have a full blown helper. She helped poke the holes for the seeds and put all the seeds in the soil. And who knows maybe she will really mow the lawn one day. Oh how our children grow.

There's Some Bunny for Everyone

I'm not a big fan of pass along emails, but leave it to my friend Susie to send one that actually made me smile. The title was "Beware of Identity Theft This Easter", but I prefer "There's Some Bunny for Everyone". These pairings are so cute, I fear I could find myself at a pet store. Must repeat "No bunnies, no bunnies, bunnies bite, no bunnies."

Hunting for Easter Eggs

"Eggs!". That's what my little one said when she looked out the front door and saw that the Easter Bunny had stopped by. I was so happy she was happy and also that the weather was so great, we were able to take the hunt outdoors. It was so much prettier seeing the eggs tucked in the plants and around the yard. And it was nice not to have to run around like mad trying to clean the house. Yeah for warm weather and living outdoors again.

Lost in the Pattern

When I was little I had a summer blanket with a pattern of children and kites on it. I really loved that blanket. It was like another world. I can remember being in my bed one summer afternoon, I had been crying for some reason, and I lost myself in the pattern of my blanket. I remember carefully studying all of the little children and different kite styles and wondering what it would be like to be in that blanket's little world before floating off to sleep.

These fabrics from the children's fabric section of Super Buzzy remind me of my blanket and also that I need to get a sewing machine. I could spend hours going through the Super Buzzy site, not to mention spend a fortune on all the great fabric and notions.
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The Easter Bunny Needs to Get Her Act Together

I should be using this rainy day to get my Easter Bunny act together and dye some eggs and assemble the little one's basket. I've already made a little basket of flowers for our Easter table (top two photos) which just needs an egg or two as the finishing touch.

Unfortunately, the idea of blowing out a dozen eggs right now has zero appeal. Said little one shows no sign of napping yet and I want her basket to be a surprise. It's amazing how hard it is to get anything past a two and half year old.

The beautiful red and white eggs in the bottom photo are from Hungary. I'm hoping they will inspire me to rally and take on those eggs later this afternoon. Now I'm thinking a rainy day nap may be in order.

Stuck Inside

One of my daughter's favorite words right now is "stuck". When she wants me to do something and starts pushing and pulling me she says "stuck". When she tries to steal my diet ice tea and can't take off the top she says "stuck". When she tries to unzip my makeup bag and get a hold of my lipsticks and eye shadows she says "stuck". Thank goodness for "stuck", especially when it comes to the makeup.

As I'm writing this, she just announced she is "stuck" in her bin of books. Unfortunately, it continues to pour outside and we are "stuck" inside. Rain, rain go away and take the mud with you so we can get unstuck and play outside.