Year Of Wonder

Gardening with Max

I do not have a green thumb- at all. Both may actually be black, since most plants I try to care for eventually die. But, I want to break the cycle and give Max and chance to enjoy nurturing plants. So, we did the old "dried bean in a plastic bag experiment" a couple of months ago- and right before I was about to declare it a failure we noticed that the shriveled kidney bean had started growing roots! Then it grew leaves. Soon it need to be freed from the plastic bag, so I replanted it in this glass jar. Then it grew flowers! This amazes me because it started as just a little dried kidney bean that I picked out of Max's bean box. This weekend I gave the amazing bean plant an outside home in a real pot. We'll see what happens!

I also bought some basil and sungold tomatoes, which are supposed to be super yummy. Maybe with Max's help we'll actually be able to eat them later this summer!

Flowers and art

Flowers are blooming everywhere, so I decided to use a few in some arts and craft activities. When Sofia was here to play we picked some violets, dandelions, bleeding hearts and rhododendron and made flower suncatchers.

Max helped me arrange this spring bouquet by trimming the stems and then arranging them in the vase. He has been wanting to use scissors, but I wasn't sure how to help him use them successfully until my friend Sarah, a Montessori teacher, suggested skinny strips of paper. Success! He loved it!

Frazier Discovery Trail Hike

Sean has requested more time outside in nature, so we've planned hikes every couple weeks. This was a short loop in Shenandoah National park. The hike up was lined with violets and small white star-like flowers. We hiked on the Appalachian Trail briefly (well, a few of us hiked on it a bit longer- but that's another story), came to this inspiring overlook, and then back down into a lush forest with a cool rock overhang. I'm hoping to go back there again sometime soon and see how it changes with the seasons.

Mother's Day

Mother's Day was a beautiful, crisp spring day. I spent most of the morning outside reading. Chris and the boys went to Lowe's to pick out flowers for me (us) to enjoy in the garden. Then we ended the day with a fun picnic and croquet challenge in the Griscom's beautiful back yard. Throughout the day I felt very grateful to be a mother and be surrounded by so much love!

White Oak Lavender Farm

Max and I visited White Oak Lavender Farm- a place I've been wanting to go to for years. Max loved seeing all the animals, especially the very tame bunnies and friendly goats. The lavender wasn't blooming yet, but the gift shop smelled wonderful. We bought a candle and have been lighting it at bedtime every night since our visit.

One of the most memorable parts of the visit was watching a killdeer try to lure us away from her nest with her "broken wing" routine. The nest was in the open- right among some rocks in the labyrinth. Below are her beautiful eggs. And the picture below that is the mama sitting on her nest, which she returned to as soon as we figured out what was going on and walked about 10 feet away.