The Rowdy Pea

sometimes life really is a bowl of cherries

milkweed pod babies

I went back and fixed the links, so they should work now. Thanks for letting me know.

These milkweed pod babies were inspired by this amazing post from The Little Travelers.  I lovewhat she says about fostering connection, not collection. And that not only makes a lot of sense, but also rhymes. How completely perfect.

These babes were so simple to make. I just put a wooden bead on an inch or two of pipe cleaner and felted wool roving into a little bundle around the pipe cleaner. Then I added the acorn cap and a little more wool to make the milkweed pod cradle nice and soft. They look so sweet I almost wish they were real.

we got worms

One recent, raining morning Ivo said, "Let's build a wormery Mama."  He must have seen this somewhere, because he explained all about filling a big plastic bottle with sand and dirt and leaves and worms. So I did a google search and lo and behold : A pop bottle wormery.  Later that morning we went to the library and checked out An Earthworm's Life which was perfect. There's just a sentence or two on each page and the illustrations are actually quite beautiful (which I'm sure is not easy when your book is about worms).  Ivo's favorite part was when a boy finds a worm "stranded" on a basketball court and gently moves him to a garden. That small act of stewardship really inspired him, and now he likes to scan every sidewalk for worms to help.

 

 

We love to watch our worms. In a few days they will be back in the woods, but for now they are sparking lots of questions and creative thinking. Yesterday Ivo asked me, "Do worms breathe dirt? Papa said the fish breathe water. So do the worms breathe dirt?" I thought that was very clever. And I got a chance to be clever too. Today I picked up a dead junebug from our laundry room floor and my neighbor said, "Ew! I can't believe you can touch that." I said, "Hey you're talking to the lady with a pop bottle full of worms on her dining room table."  She'd heard all about the wormery from Ivo so that sent us both into giggles.

inspired by old glory

New in the shop, just in time for the Fourth of July . . .

These red, white, and blue fairy bell rings were my mom's idea.  At last year's Fourth of July parade Ivo and his cousin Quinn both had little American flags which they brandished with such exuberance, I think we all got poked a few times. Those little flag sticks are pointy!  These will be just as much fun and require a lot less supervision. Good idea, Nana!

birthday goodies

We put together this little bundle of felty goodness to help celebrate our friend Abebech's second birthday. Her party was on Sunday and of all the rotten days to get sick . . . poor Ivo was so disappointed to miss out on the fun. I'd been telling him for a few days that after lunch on Sunday we would walk over to Abby's party, so when he saw Josh and I warming up soup and making sandwiches, he started trying to convince us that he was well. "Hey, mama, *sneeze* Hey mama I'm not sick any-*sneeze* anymore."  And my favorite, with his hand on his forehead, "Hey Papa, my brain is cold, I can go to the party." We ended up walking over with Ivo in the jogging stroller to deliver the birthday girl's present, and wouldn't you know it, the party was in full swing and she was sound asleep with a cold and sniffles. Her mom was so sweet. She had a birthday bag for Ivo with a party favor, and the craft project (a clothespin doll), and even a hat and noisemaker AND a piece of cake. Ivo called it his "take home party." 

Here is a picture of our homemade gift bag. This is just two pieces of scrapbook paper wrapped around a box, like a present, but with only three sides taped closed.  Then slide the box out through the open end, and voila! A gift bag. Ribbon handles add a pretty touch if you have some ribbon lying around. The pretty paper and ribbon can be used by the recipient for arts and crafts, or the bag can be reused, or recycled.

pictures from our weekend

catching up

Well, I've been a lazy blogger lately if you haven't noticed. Last week I got walloped with the worst cold I've had in a very long time, and allergies on top of that. Yikes. It was a real scene around here.  But I am thankfully feeling much better now, and we are headed up north in a few hours to spend the weekend at our friend's lake house. Just the three of us-- woohoo!

Here are a few highlights from the past few days:

The salamanders are out and about. Right on time as usual. Ivo loves these little guys.

We had hail on Saturday.

My work table is so clean I had to take a picture. What a nice feeling to not be so messy all the time.

And last but not least, a funny kid quote. A few mornings ago I asked Ivo if he was all ready to go for our outing and he replied, "Yup, except I just need to spread my hair."

Have a fun weekend everyone!

nature hide and seek

Can you spot the hidden animals in these pictures? They're going to be included in a book we're making for Ivo's birthday in August.  He loves to play "I spy" so I think he will like his new book too.

Here is Ivo playing with a cattail, or what he calls "my favorite toy--fluffy wands!"