"It's a flying tractor!"

Aiden has always been very dramatic and creative. He plays hard and plays loud. When he plays with his toys he always accompanies their movements with sounds. I have always loved to hide in the background and listen to what stories or adventures his toys are on. This morning I was beaming when I spotted his wooden tractor. He had added a chicken feather and a few dried vines from our nature table. When I asked Ehric who had made it he proudly said that little brother did. When I told Aiden how much I loved it he said, "It's a flying tractor!" Well of course it is!

I love my children's imaginations and try to encourage them to use their's. I see way too many children who's imaginative life is squashed by well-meaning adults. I believe that play and creativity are so important for children (and adults too). I'm so glad that I can provide them with an environment conducive to play and creativity. I believe it is my job as a parent to leave things out for the boys to discover at their leisure...like the toy tractor and the items from the nature table. But I do not believe it is my job to direct their play. I leave that up to the boys...and I am always so amazed at the things that they come up with. I am so thankful for their creative spirits!

What I am thankful for this morning

The past few days have been rainy and overcast; and the weather forecast is predicting another wet four days! Since they are predicting afternoon showers today, I am very thankful for the few rays of sunshine we are getting right now.

I think because we have been cooped up so much, we all seem to be a little crankier and demanding more than usual this week. Not a good match when both Momma and the boys feel that way at the same time! So I am hoping that this morning we can all get a little bit of fresh air.

The birds seem to be enjoying the weather. The boys and I listened to a bird singing in our front yard. Our guineas seem very happy and are making their very distinct noises. I even spotted a few chickens out happily pecking the ground.

Whenever the rain lets up for good...sometime next week I believe...it will be time to mow the grass again. Daddy has realized lately that he cannot mow the grass in peace like he used to (without little men wanting to tag along). So he compromised the last time and got a little exercise in the process.


Here is Ehric riding and Daddy walking along! I don't think that Daddy wants to mow our 2 acres that way every time, but it sure did make a cute picture moment!

Have a great day!

Fun in Our Yard

After rearranging furniture all morning the boys really wanted to go outside. So we have spent most of the afternoon enjoying our yard. It has been a little overcast but a relatively seasonable day. The birds have been chirping away and we have been having fun. I love spring!

Earlier in the day Ehric wanted me to read some of our library books to him while they played in the sandbox. So I lugged out all the books and started reading. I was a little leary of bringing the library's books out because of it being overcast. I guess I was right to worry because at one point the clouds got really dark and the wind picked up. Sure enough it started to down pour. I ran with all the books in my arms and safely got them inside. But before that we were having a good time; and even one of our roosters seemed captivated by a book I was reading. I made sure to show him the pages before I turned them. It was funny!

After spotting two little red birds (I believe) earlier in our apple tree I got out our binoculars. The boys and I went birding around our yard. It was a lot of fun except that the birds all seemed to be hiding on us. Also Aiden decided that he wanted to use the more expensive, nicer pair and I got stuck with the kiddie one. But it was fun to watch him walking around like a naturalist.


This past weekend Daddy and the boys came home with a trailer load of logs. After reading Toymaking with Children by Freya Jafke I got inspired to make a ring of logs for the boys to walk on. It has been a hit with the boys. One flaw is that Aiden needs my help to go around it (or so he says). The other day I must have gone around in circles atleast 50 times. Amazingly I was not dizzy but I was tired!

Our daffodils are really blooming right now. They look so pretty walking down the driveway.

Tucked into the daffodils I found one pretty red tulip. I had to talk Ehric out of picking it for me even though he really wanted to. Last year Daddy got mad when Ehric and Aiden picked one too many of the daffodils and tulips. But if he wants to pick some dandelions for me I would be fine with that.

The boys love to play in their sandbox. Since Ehric was a little one he has always been so relaxed playing in the sand. I was able to capture him playing happily and relaxing at the same time.

Aiden was in an imaginative state right here. He was making up stories and brooming his dump truck along. I love when they can both be so close yet do not bother one another. It makes for peaceful play.

Well we are all getting hungry...so time to make dinner! So glad that we had a great spring day!