Art . . . Blocks . . . And More Art!

Finally this morning we had Iain over again. No vacations, no floods, we could at last do some of the activities we'd planned! My idea was to do gardening, but Josephine had waited for five days to do an art project with Iain, so she insisted. I had some little pieces of contact paper cut into small squares (I don't remember why now), so I put them out on the table with anything I could find to stick onto them--die-cut pieces of paper, silk leaves, ribbons, feathers, cut up comics, etc. In no time both Jo and Iain decided what they would make and they each set to work.

This is actually incredibly exciting, as Iain has not exactly been the most prolific artist. If he ever comes to the art table, his art can best be described as minimalist. Yes, process over product, but believe me when I say there was not much of either before.

But today he filled up nearly the whole sheet and THEN wanted to write on the leaves as well!

When he was done, he asked for blocks that he could "build tall and knock down." I took out the wooden blocks, but that was not what he wanted. He said they were colored, so I took out the colored blocks. Nope. I asked what color they were, and he said, "Squarey." Aha! Though he probably hasn't seen them for at least nine months, I have a bunch of large blocks I had made out of half-gallon milk cartons and covered with checkered contact paper. I went to the garage to get one, and bingo! That was exactly what he wanted.

After building several towers and excitedly knocking every one down,

he got serious and constructed an elaborate set of train tracks that went underneath a bridge and included even a switch.

This whole while, however, Josephine was still working on her collage.

She had decided to use the small white hearts to make a "Valentines collage." She then colored each heart with markers, and methodically laid each onto the sheet in a pattern (pronounced patterin by our resident artist) which she followed all the way to the end.

How fun to see such completely different masterpieces! Iain later on asked for beads, as he wanted to string together a necklace. I was surprised enough that he did a collage, but asking to do something else was more than I ever imagined!

The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men Go Oft Awry

No photos on today's blog entry. No fun activities explained. Instead, I have not been able to get out of my head today the words of the Scottish poet Robert Burns. Today I have ultimate sympathy for the poor little mouse from his poem "To A Mouse, On Turning Her Up In Her Nest With The Plough":

Wee, sleekit, cow'rin, tim'rous beastie,
O, what a panic's in thy breastie!
Thou need na start awa sae hasty,
Wi' bickering brattle!

And now the famous line (much later in the poem):

But, Mousie, thou art no thy lane,
In proving foresight may be vain;
The best-laid schemes o' mice an 'men
Gang aft agley,
An'lea'e us nought but grief an' pain,
For promis'd joy!

I had much promised joy planned for today. After not having Iain for three whole weeks, I had planned a very fun day. We had gardening to do in the morning--strawberry plants to put in the strawberry pot and herbs to put in the herb garden. And then we had an art project planned for Jo and Iain to do together. And then we would look at our new caterpillars that had just been delivered. Yes, it all seemed very exciting. That was, until we were standing in the kitchen, talking about our plans, when Josephine pointed at the floor and said, "Look, Mamma, water!"

Yes, water, which had turned the corner from the laundry room, was quickly making its way across our kitchen. A hose from the back of the washing machine had become disconnected during a wash load and was now quickly emptying out the contents of the washing machine all over the floor. By the time Josephine had noticed the water, the laundry room was completely flooded and the kitchen was well on its way to the same state. I definitely felt the panic of Robert Burns' little mouse.

My laundry room does not contain merely a washer and dryer. It is my storage room for all our art supplies and projects. There are many many many things in there, few of which benefit from an introduction to water. Immediately I started carrying things out to dry ground. Then I called my husband--not calmly, might I add, and he came immediately home from work to help out.

Just minutes after the discovery of the flood, Iain was sitting at the kitchen table saying, "I'm hungry. I want my snack now." Did I mention it was 9:00 a.m. and he'd only arrived twenty minutes before (I assume after having breakfast at home)? And Josephine did her part by sitting at the very same table saying, "I want to start the project now, Mamma."

Despite all this, everyone in the end was absolutely wonderful, not the least of which, my husband, who skipped a meeting to slosh about with me, set things outside to dry, and fix the washer. Meanwhile, Josephine majorly stepped up to the mark and helped out by carrying things from me in the kitchen to Sven outside. And she also took the initiative to go get Iain's snack, set him up with food, and then she sat at the table next to him with her colored pencils and paper and wrote letters to a friend. Iain was quiet and content during most of the operation, thanks to his snack, and a couple extra rice cakes Josephine added in.

So next week we will try again, barring any unforeseen disasters.

Spring Break Gardening

Iain and Ria were on vacation for the past two weeks, so Josephine and I were on our own in the garden, with much to do. We started off our spring break by making yet another trip to the city's recycling center to pick up more compost. We also got another load of wood chips to sprinkle on the paths. We still have to get more wood chips to fill in the rest of the garden, but things are indeed looking better. The soil in the various beds, despite all the rototilling we've done and compost we've added, still looked very hard and clay-like. We dug up every single bed, added compost in with the soil, and then put the soil back. That was a lot of work! But finally we got to the point that we could start planting. We started with the plants we already had, donated by a friend. We had wooly lambs' ears and daylilies. Here's Josephine with the daylilies:

We then started planting seeds. We planted California poppies in one bed and nasturtiums in another bed. The nasturtium seeds were sent from Sweden by Josephine's grandparents. The Swedish word for nasturtiums is slingerkrasse. Next we planted the hanging gourd seeds. They were very unusual looking. Each one was a different shape and color. We hope for them to grow along the arched arbor leading into the garden. Here is what they looked like:

Next Josephine watered the gourd seeds.

We then planted sugar snap peas along the fence. There is already a system of wires along the fence for the plants to cling to, so we have the perfect spot for planting them.

Then Jo watered the peas.

And Jo filled up the birdbath. In the past week I've seen so many birds drinking and bathing in the fountain.

And Jo even had a little drink herself!

We then finally planted our little peach tree. It actually has a little fruit growing on it already. It has not a single little bit of peach fuzz on it, which leads me to believe we may actually have a little nectarine tree on our hands (this was another donation, from a neighbor, so we are not certain). Then Jo watered the tree, all the while gently speaking to it: "I'll take care of you, little tree. I'll give you water and watch you grow."

We still have quite a bit to do in the garden, but we made some good progress over the last few weeks. This week Iain will be rejoining us, and we will plant more seeds and plants.

Last Wednesday I attended another one of the CAMP meetings (the program helping me to get started). I turned in a list of all the items I've purchased so far, and I still have some money left, so I did a little more shopping. I've been wanting to get some lap looms. I thought they would be fairly inexpensive and easy for young children. But as I searched I didn't find quite what I was looking for. The ages listed on them were much older than the children I take care of, like 7 or 8+. The only lap loom listed for younger children was extremely small, but still not terribly inexpensive. And then I found . . . the Brio loom!

I couldn't believe when I saw this on Amazon. Over Christmas, while I was in Sweden, I told my mother-in-law that I was interested in getting some lap looms for my program. She went up into the attic and came down with this same exact loom that I found on Amazon. My eyes popped when I saw it, as it was way more advanced than what I had in mind. It had been my sister-in-law's when she was a child, and it was fabulous. It looked like a miniaturized version of a real weaving loom. But now I found it on Amazon . . . and it is recommended for children as young as five! And it is only $40, comparable in price to the little lap looms I was finding! Of course I ordered one. The children will have to take turns on it, as I think it would be impractical to have more than one, but I think it will be wonderful.

Mint Plants and Power Tools

For the next two weeks, Iain and Ria will be away on vacation, so I'm trying to get as much planting as possible done now, so that Iain can participate. Yesterday we put together a little mint garden, but Iain instead opted to stay indoors and play with the dollhouse. Oh, well.

Our mint garden is mostly comprised of donations. A friend of mine over the weekend gave us three huge garden pots, one of which makes a perfect container for mint. Another friend donated two different kinds of mint to us (one I believe is peppermint, and the other we are calling mystery fuzzy mint. Josephine and I planted the two mints in the large container, along with a third one that we already had. It's chocolate mint, and I've had it for quite a while now. It died from neglect at some point, but then miraculously sprang back to life. After we planted the three plants, Josephine gave them all a good dose of water.


Next we planted spearmint seeds all around the rest of the pot. The seeds were so teeny-tiny that it seems incredible that actual plants wil be springing out of them.

And here is the finished mint garden! The pot is placed right next to the rosemary, and we hope to eventually add other herbs, such as oregano, chives, thyme, parsley, and sage, so we can create an herb garden.

Later in the morning, after Josephine left for school, I took out the second greenhouse, which I had been saving to make with Iain. He was only slightly more interested and excited than he was about the mint . . . that is, until I pulled out . . . a power tool! Now I definitely had his full attention, and together we constructed the greenhouse in record time. He was excellent at pushing the button on the screwdriver.

Almost Done with Garden Setup

This was yet another weekend of spending most of our days setting up the garden. We all worked super-hard and were as a result super-tired. Sven dug holes and placed the rest of the cement borders, so the beds are ready for planting.

Josephine helped me to build the arbor, on which we hope to grow hanging gourds. She was extremely helpful and great with a screwdriver. Sven dug 15 inch deep holes and placed the arbor.

Then on Sunday, after allowing the paint to dry for 72 hours indoors (all over my kitchen and laundry room!), I dug shallow holes in which to set the stepping stones, and then I planted baby tears and creeping thyme all around the stones. Hopefully the plants will not only take, but will also spread out, filling out the gaps. The steps read welcome, sprout, grow, bloom, thrive, and flourish.

And here is the nearly complete garden! It's waiting for wood chips for the paths, for the bamboo teepee, for the peach tree to be planted, and of course, for plants!

Also this weekend I did a lot of weeding, planted lily of the valley under the orange tree, started painting the children's adirondack chair, and I finished filling in the woodchips around the raspberry plants. And best of all, I received my reimbursement check from the 4 C's. This check covers all the start-up costs I paid in order to get the license (licensing fees, childproofing supplies, safety equipment, etc.).

Bubbles and Bottles

This week the kids and I took a little gardening vacation. The garden is still not ready for planting, so there just wasn't much for us to do. So instead we tried out our new bubble machine. It's great to see that a 3 and 4 year old can be just as delighted as babies or toddlers at the sight of bubbles.

After Ria's nap on Thursday, Josephine begged me to let her give Ria the bottle. I was really worried that Ria would just not like this one bit, as she's been exhibiting stranger anxiety characteristics lately, and has been very leery around Josephine. But Jo really seemed to be taking it personally as I continued to refuse, so finally I agreed to give it a try. It worked wonderfully! Ria completely accepted the bottle from Josephine, and I thought it was actually a positive thing, in that now maybe Ria would be more accepting of Jo if she got her bottle from her.

Just after this picture, though, Josephine declared, "This is boring! Can you do the rest, Mamma?" Oh, well.