The Write Start

Blooming Boots

Inspired again by this book, we planted flowers in a pair of Daddy's old boots for Father's Day. Jack's favorite part of the project was drilling holes in the bottom of the boots (for drainage). Then we attached the boots to eachother, filled them with dirt, planted flowers in them and set them outside for Daddy to discover.

Can you tell by the look of the boots how hard Daddy works? Besides being fun and cheerful, this gift is an expression of our enormous appreciation for how much our favorite guy does for us day after day.

I also took dictation from Jack for his Father's Day card. "I Love you Dad. I love going to monster truck shows with you. You are my best friend. I love your excavator."

That pretty much sums it up. We really dig that guy. 

Bittersweet Butterfly Farewell

"I love you. Come back and visit me," whispered the boy to his butterfly.

Planting Seeds

There's been a lot of talk about growing this spring. Everything we planted last year is growing -- roses, hydrangeas, honeysuckle, a birch tree. Our moonflower seedlings are finally popping up, slowly but surely. Our caterpillars are in their cocoons, waiting for wings. And Jack's little sister is growing in my belly, getting ready for her day in the sun this summer.

  

To continue the growing theme we read The Carrot Seed and planted some carrot seeds of our own. It's a book about growing, but also about faith, and patience, and waiting. And caretaking. What great lessons for a soon-to-be big brother.

Sprinkling the tiny seeds was a challenge for his little fingers.

  

Then there was backfilling, spraying, and finally, making a tag for the seeds.

 

And, after about 10 days of loving care from Jack (constant spraying, placing on sunny windowsills, kind and encouraging words) seedlings emerged.

Not to exhaust a metaphor, but I must say that I LOVE to pair a book with an activity. Books are the seeds of many great ideas. And it's just amazing when children make the connection between ideas and actions. It's a big deal to learn that anything you can imagine, you can create. That's the seed of writing too. And probably one of the secrets for growing a great life as well.

What books inspire you or your child to SPRING into action? 

Welcome Caterpillars

Our catepillars arrived a few days ago. They have already tripled in size! We ordered them from Insect Lore and they seemed to come almost immediately. (We've been waiting for ants for our ant farm for months!)

We check on them throughout the day because they are constantly changing. They are eating and spinning silk and growing like crazy. We have been reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle and have some other butterfly books on reserve at the library. Jack is already sure that he will be too sad to release them when they become butterflies. I told him we can plant a butterfly bush in the backyard, and they will come back to visit us often. I hope this is true!

I will keep you posted on our metamorphasis...

Morning Glories and Moonflowers

On an early spring day we got to work on our very own Moonflower Tent, a project we found in the beautiful and inspiring gardening book, Roots, Shoots, Buckets, and Boots by Sharon Lovejoy.

We did the project one step at a time. First we bought the supplies. Then we constructed the tent. That was fun! (Anything that involves construction is a big hit around here.) Then we planted the seeds. We couldn't find Moonflower seeds so we decided to plant Morning Glories instead.

We poked shallow holes in the dirt with the back of a screwdriver. And then Jack put the seeds in. Planting tiny seeds is actually a great activity for excercising the pincer grasp. Picking up the tiny seeds and carefully placing them in the holes requires small, refined hand movements and eye-hand coordination. It is a great way to give the little muscles that will one day be responsible for holding a pencil a workout.

Easier said than done. Sometimes fine motor activities present a greater challenge than expected. I initially presented the seeds in a small dish. But they were super small and slightly wet (we had soaked them overnight to help them germinate) and very difficult (and frustrating) for Jack to get a grip on. So I quickly separated the seeds into the compartments of a mini ice cube tray to help him pick them up one at a time. Much better!

Backfilling the holes was Jack's favorite part. We LOVE dirt around here. Oh, and watering with the garden hose (another great hand strengthening activity, by the way) is always a delight.

A couple of days after we spotted our first Morning Glory seedling, we found Moonflower seeds at the store. So we decided to plant them too. Those seeds were much bigger and easier for Jack to handle. Maybe we'll have a 24-hour flower tent when we finally get the climbing blooms we are hoping for. I will keep you updated as we grow!

We have been up to our elbows in dirt with all of our gardening projects so far this spring. I will post about more of them soon.

Has anyone else caught the gardening bug?