dandelions: May 2011

literal minds

E's been learning at preschool an American Indian poem/chant/song that apparently goes something like this:

The Earth is our Mother.
We must take care of our Mother.
The Sky is our Father.
We must take care of our Father.
The mountains are our Grandfather.
We must take care of our Grandfather.
The oceans are our Grandmother.
We must take care of our Grandmother.

It's been really inspiring to me to hear E talking about respecting and taking care of our planet, and I'm loving her learning this beautiful spiritual perspective. I talked about ways we can show respect and take care by not littering, not wasting, etc. When she let the water run too long after brushing her teeth, she said, "Sorry, Grandmother!" I thought that was cool.

Yesterday at the sink she told me something like, "You know, the ocean is made of our Grandmother's spit." When I laughed it surprised her. She held up her hands and said, "Because it's liquid!"

Mothers Day at the park

Pictures from part of my Mothers Day 2011. Took a long walk from my friend Marie's house to the park. Ate Cheetos and drank soda. Threw dirt clods. Haven't E and V grown??

E and E sitting in a tree

(thankfully not k-i-s-s-i-n-g! as the rhyme goes)

E and E are best friends and talk about getting married when they grow up. I like the other E but hope that my E will learn that love is more than just desperately wanting to do everything that person does! She wants to be just like him, "except for his hair". It's been a serious crush, maybe lessening up slightly but they still can't get enough of each other.

art

Try this link to see a slideshow of some of E's preschool artwork. The teacher uploads pictures now and then.
http://www.artsonia.com/museum/slideshow.asp?artist=2850685&school=126434

First prize, Military category

David won in the ASAA art show! First place in the "military" category. He's pictured here wearing a suit (!) and shaking the hand of Keith Ferris, one of the most famous aviation artists.

E's first meal

Spread a slice of bread with ketchup, sprinkle with grated cheese and chopped-up hot dog, heat it up, you have a mini-pizza! I made one of these for E one time last week, and mentioned that I used to make them when I was a kid, that I had a recipe for them. It was either found in the Mini-Page (kids section in the newspaper) or in my Girl Scouts cookbook. So she promised that next time she would make mini-pizza for me. Tonight she tried to fool me that she was making something else (a layer cake) and I played my part so well that she had to ask me if I really thought it was a layer cake.

I grated the cheese but she chopped the hot dog with a table knife. She wanted to use the microwave instead of the toaster oven and thankfully she asked me which buttons to push before doing it. So the bread was a little tough, the hot dog lukewarm, but we sat there exclaiming to each other how yummy it was. "Do you like my cooking, Mommy?" she asked, several times.

5 and a half

Today was E's half-birthday. She's 45 inches tall, about 2 inches taller than 6 months ago. She marked the occasion by saving special treats for today - the last tube of "go-gurt", and the bonus package of frozen blueberry pancakes (there are normally 3 in a serving, but they must have slipped up at the factory). She also had this little sample-size shampoo bottle she plays with in the bath, and she filled it with water over a week ago and put the lid on, set it on the side of the tub. Then she saved it to open today, on her half-birthday. I don't know why that was so exciting, but it made her happy!

loud joy

E puts on her hearing protectors to stomp bubble wrap.

stuck tape

E and I made up a story the other day and one thing she said stuck vividly in my mind. There was a roof that needed to be securely attached so that whatever the villain was wouldn't be able to fly/blast/sneak through it. She said the fairies used "stuck tape, peanut butter, and bricks" to fasten it down.

hairstyling

Last night I braided E's hair to make it wavy and fluffy in the morning, thought she would like that, and she does! But she liked the braids better than the waves and we re-braided this morning for her to wear to school.