Author: Liz Braithwaite
Parade
Eating loads of taffy, and sitting on asphalt makes for two messy, but happy kids. We had a blast at Peach Days last week: riding rides, watching parades, and not going to the car show. I sent Joe and PB and stayed home while Mr. C napped. I don’t really care about mustangs or corvettes, although my car loving kid is making me notice them.
Sunflowers
Reaching up tall
Shining bright
Full of their own beauty
In their prime
Drooping
No longer beautiful
Straining under the weight
But here is where
The important work begins
For if a plant only flowered
It would be quite lovely
But eventually fade
And be forgotten
But if a plant not only flowers
But produces seed
It fades and dies
But
The seed continues
Next year, forever
Never forgotten
School
PB is in his first year of preschool, and instead of any formal preschool we do activities at home, like this:
It is a face, that went along with this book
I’ve been trying to get school to go a little smoothly, and a lot of it is just good preparation. Me trying to force PB to do something is not very effective. What works is setting up everything beforehand and letting him lead. This is what the setup look liked today:
The unused dish drainer worked perfectly for organizing school. Both the boys had fun with everything. Mr. C loves playing with the markers and managed not to bite off any of the tops today. We took the sensory bin outside where it was fought over a bit and then eventually abandoned.
Fish
We went down to the park with a friend, and found these giant schools of baby catfish. They would move much like the school of fish in Finding Nemo. Fun to watch.
Insects
Gardens don’t just grow plants. Here’s a look at some insects I found in my garden the other day:
Ick. I could use a lot less of these grasshoppers. I still don’t have any control methods I’m comfortable with, so I just give these guys glares and kill as many as I can.
Much better. This was a good sized praying mantis, we left him alone.
This guy is (as far as I can tell) a locus borer beetle. We have a lot of locust trees around for the juveniles, but this adult has taken up residence on one of the sunflowers.
Soap box moment: I don’t use insecticides at all, I think it can cause more problems that solutions. It is much more interesting to let insects fight it out. And please, don’t ever spray because you want to prevent an unknown problem. Spray only for known pest as a last result.
Prayer
My husband heard PB say a very interesting prayer in the bathroom:
“Heavenly Father, bless that I won’t have germs on my hands”
Joe went in to remind PB to wash his hands. He said he didn’t have to because he said a prayer instead.
Living Room
So this is my living room right now:
If you have been to my house, you will notice I recently acquired a black cabinet and new couch. I’m excited about it. I went into the store with an extreme low amount in mind, and I was actually able to find something in the price range that was perfect. Very awesome. The futon has been retired to the playroom, and the cabinet has made it possible to prevent Mr. C messing with all the cords and actually scan/print without losing my sanity. Although I might be picking up cushions all day from the pillow backed couch, it does make for good pillow fights.
Rain
We had a rainstorm! It actually rain enough to get everything wet and make streams run down the gutters. Utah tends to have a pathetic amount of good summer thunderstorms. So I enjoyed this one. I went outside and got wet. And I threw my kids outside too. Not for long, just enough to lighten my mood and have a very happy day. The kids were a little less enthused about it. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t get some good pictures of them.
If it rains, the best thing to do is enjoy it.
Golden Spike
PB kept covering his ears from the loud train whistle. But he enjoyed this day trip, and even got his Junior Ranger badge.
Liz Braithwaite 