St. Patrick's Day

I think this is the first time I have ever even really thought much about St. Patrick's Day. It is another one of those random, non-holidays to me. Though I'm always looking for something fun to do with Carver, things to fill our days-- hence the St. Patrick's Day festivities.

Since the "holiday" fell on a Saturday, and Daniel actually had the weekend off, he was able to celebrate with us.

We started the morning with some rainbow pancakes and rainbow fruit salad.

And green milk, of course.

Do you see Lea?

Then Daniel and Carver did a little St. Patty's themed coloring.



In the afternoon we made green cupcakes with sprinkles.




For dinner Carver ate (predominantly) green foods.

And after dinner we did a little painting with a bell pepper. We cut it in half, and using green paint, we made "shamrock" imprints on the paper...sort of. He had fun, but he wanted to use his fingers and the paintbrush much more than the pepper.


All in all it was a fun family day. Carver had no idea why we were doing these specific things, but that is what is nice about 2 year olds-- the "why" didn't matter, he just had fun and went along with whatever we had planned.

We're getting plans in place for Easter festivities. I'm thinking about making the whole week leading up to Easter a celebration of the holiday. I mean, this actually is a BIG one!

And then in April, of course, there is Earth Day :)

A lot happening around these parts lately. Stay tuned.

Projects and Patience

Last week we had several rainy days, which meant projects were on the agenda.

First we made "Baked Cotton Balls." (Again from this website.)

Supplies:
Cotton Balls
Flour (1 cup)
Water (1 cup)
Food Coloring

First I mixed together the flour and water. Then, I separated the mixture into several bowls so that I could make different colors. I chose to do 4 colors.


I set Carver up at the table with the cotton balls, colored flour mixture, and a baking sheet.


Carver dipped each cotton ball into the flour mixture and then placed them on a greased baking sheet. I had to help get the cotton balls completely covered, and keep him from grabbing handfuls of cotton balls and stuffing them all at once into the balls. Overall, he did great!


He also wanted to dip a cotton ball into one color and then transfer that cotton ball to another color. . . I had to stop him. It was too much. The colors should stay separate. My OCD couldn't take it.

Then we baked the cotton balls for about 1 hour. When they came out they were hard and crunchy on the outside-- much like rocks. Next time I will probably get the jumbo cotton balls, but otherwise I wouldn't change anything about this activity.


Several days later we took them outside to crush them in the driveway. Carver used a hammer/mallet/tool type thing to break them open to get to the soft cottony inside. He liked stepping on them too. He wasn't as interested in crushing the balls as I thought he would be-- he lost interest after about 3 minutes. But, you can't win them all. The actual making of the cotton balls he loved.


Our second project of the week was "Cloud Dough." (Find it here.)

This project was a little rocky from the start.

First, Carver caught me setting up for it and then was extremely impatient to get started. Super annoying. We were about to forget the whole thing. . .



But, I continued to gather all of the supplies:

Flour (8 cups)
Baby Oil (1 cup)
Tub or some sort of bowl to play with it in.
Miscellaneous kitchen gadgets and toys.

I laid towels down in the kitchen to cut down on the mess (which was an extreme waste of time-- see below).

Then I laid out cups, spoons, etc. for him to use to play in the cloud dough.


At first, he was really calm about the whole thing. Dipping out small amounts of the dough, not really using his hands. I did show him how to make a ball out of it, which he found a little amusing, but he mostly wanted to use the scoops to dip it out.



He kept spilling it all over himself and I probably said "Keep it in the bowl" 800 times. Finally, with my patience about at its end I opted to leave the room, not worry about the little spills, and just let him enjoy it.


He was too quiet. Far too quiet.

Three minutes later I returned to this. . .




The problem was not so much the mess, but rather how hard it was to clean up. The mixture was completely embedded in the tile grout and would not vacuum up. The baby oil made the floor slick so I had to mop also. The mixture was embedded in his clothes too and even after washing they feel a little crunchy. (This is why I swear by making a distinction between play clothes and "real" clothes-- I promise I dress Carver better than it normally appears on this blog.)

Overall, I would still say cloud dough was a success because he seriously loved it and it entertained him for close to an hour. But, I really don't have the patience for this. Watching the mess get bigger and bigger made my blood pressure elevate and it was a struggle to not be annoyed and irritated with him. I think I held it together reasonably well, but we will definitely do this outside when/if we repeat this particular activity.

In unrelated news. . . here is a picture of Carver watching the beginning of the tacky/trashy cheerleader movie, Bring it On. The first couple of minutes are recorded at the end of Cars (movie) that we taped awhile back.


Clearly, he loves it. It's a little disturbing.

Spring

I really love Spring. I think Fall is probably my favorite season; but Spring is a close second. This year we had an incredibly mild winter, so it was not so much the temperature change that was nice, but rather the sudden appearance of flowers and leaves and rebirth of life. I love to watch things come back to life. Flowers begin to push their way through the ground, trees bloom and then leaves cover the limbs again, birds are more active, and the world just seems more alive than before.

Spring also brings the emergence of these "little" guys.

Meet the Carpenter Bee.

Yesterday, when I pulled into our driveway I saw, for the first time this Spring, these ginormous bees flying around. In general, I am afraid of bugs, especially those of the stinging/biting variety. But, these have been around in mass every Spring and Summer since we moved here so I have learned to live with them without too much fear.

Spotting them yesterday was bittersweet.

Delia was completely obsessed with these bees. And I had forgotten that. She tirelessly chased them around the yard, through my flowerbeds (often crushing my flowers), jumping up and trying to catch them in her mouth. I would watch her, so stressed, that she would succeed and then have an angry bee trapped in her mouth.

Delia and I spent countless hours outside together. Most of these hours were before Carver was born, when my time was much freer, but even after his arrival we sat outside together. We usually sat on the front porch, me in my chair, and Delia in hers. I would read or talk on the phone, study, or grade papers. Periodically visiting with neighbors (and their dogs). And all the while Delia stayed right with me. These are some of my favorite moments with her.

Seeing the bees yesterday was a little sad. It's sad to know that I won't get to see her chase the bees anymore. It's daunting to know that every time I see one of those bees (which will be multiple times a day), I will think of those long spring and summer days with Delia. Happy memories that are still frustrating because I won't ever get those moments back.

A sad reminder of what is lost, but a sweet reminder of what I had.

But, I can so vividly picture her enthusiasm at chasing those bees. Usually futilely. But, they gave her so much entertainment, such focus, and she would chase them with reckless abandon. I loved that. It was some of her most active moments.

Maybe every Spring the return of the bees will be a sweet reminder. A chance to remember better days, and a time to thank God for new life. For the movement of time. For sending sweet reminders of her that are good and happy and special.

That's what these bees say to me.

Goodbye Second Trimester

Tomorrow officially begins the third trimester of this pregnancy. It is good and bad news. My third trimester with Carver was miserable. Seriously miserable. But, it means the big day is getting closer, which is always appealing.

This last week of trimester #2 was a little rocky. It started with extremely bad weather and tornado warnings all around us, which meant a really long, sleepless night waiting to see if we needed to grab Carver out of bed and head to a closet. (Luckily Daniel stayed up watching the weather much later than I did).

The following morning brought better weather (hooray), and a stomach virus for me (boo). A stomach virus is a sure way to make pregnancy so.much.worse. After 48 hours I was dehydrated and having contractions and visiting labor and delivery at the hospital for monitoring. Thankfully, no preterm labor but it was still so unpleasant. Nothing like driving yourself to the emergency room, while having (minor) contractions at 4:00 a.m. Antibiotics and 2 bags of fluids later and I was on my way back home to sleep off the drugs they gave me (and, by default, to baby). We both slept the rest of the day which meant Daniel had another full day of Carver duty all alone. I think they did great-- or at least I didn't hear of any disasters.

I spent about three full days quarantined in the guest room and Delia's absence was felt profoundly those days. Normally, Delia would have never left my side for however many days I was in bed. After Carver was born I was in bed for about 2 full weeks. Delia only left to go outside or to eat. (Even her loyalty to me could not outweigh her loyalty to mealtimes). So these three days, with Lea often not in the room, and Delia obviously absent, were so sad. A tangible, real, reminder of what a painful loss this is. And continues to be.

By Tuesday I was on the mend and Daniel was back to work. Carver celebrated the occasion by refusing to take a nap. Of course.

So, this second trimester ended with some drama. Hoping that the third trimester isn't too traumatizing and passes fairly quickly.

Never fear, we were able to fit in a couple of (very minor) projects/crafts for the week.

1) Painting with watercolors.

2) Gluing beans into works of . . .art.

3) Baking Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Two Months

Two long, sad, brutal, months.
And no end in sight.

Clean Mush

We are currently under a tornado watch here in North Georgia. A perfect opportunity for project #2: Clean Mush.

Supplies:
2-3 rolls of Toilet Paper
1 bar Ivory Soap
1/3 cup Borax
1 box grater
1 medium to large plastic tub/container
(and warm water)

We started by unrolling the toilet paper. Which was hugely entertaining for Carver. Probably because he is never allowed to do it in the bathrooms. This part alone gave him at least 15 solid minutes of entertainment.


Then, we added the toilet paper to the borax and grated ivory soap and saturated with warm water. *This was the only tricky part to this project. I didn't really know how much water was enough, or how much would be too much, etc. Trial and error.


I helped mix the concoction until it was to a reasonably good consistency. Then Carver jumped right in. We made balls with the mush (balls are his favorite thing on earth), then he would take them apart and throw them back into the plastic bin.

He did get messy (hence the play clothes), but this was one of his favorite parts. He likes water in any form.

Great entertainment for around 30-40 minutes, which is substantial for a 2 year old, or at least my 2 year old.

The supplies were cheap and clean-up was super easy. Success!

Disclaimer: Again, this is not an original activity. Stolen from the same website/blog as before: Check it out.