Story Time

Just some photos Bryan snapped a couple weeks back of our evening Story Time! These kids would listen to books ALL DAY LONG if we'd let them... so story time is a long, evening affair now!

 

Grand Floral Parade

This past weekend Holly and I were lucky enough to slip out and enjoy the Grand Floral Parade - Daffodil Parade. We met up with some friends in Sumner, enjoyed some Dairy Freeze for lunch and had a good time!!! These are some of Holly's favorite photos we took.

Easter Art

Yesterday we kept busy with some fun Easter themed art projects. We also did a bit of holiday decorating and have enjoyed reading several Easter & Spring books. It has been a good week! Tonight we are looking forward to coloring our Easter Eggs... another creative experience we enjoy -- usually more than once a year. Who says you have to wait for Easter, right?

Anyhow, Holly enjoyed creating a paper chain using pink, purple and yellow paper strips. To her those were Easter colors. She loves to use Daddy's stapler. Even though the paper chain is a fun activity and requires good hand skill - reality is, she would have had as much fun just stapling a bunch of paper over and over. Maybe someday I'll let her do that.

We also made these cute paper Easter eggs. This one seemed like a fun little project so I decided to make one too. Holly is always wanting us to also make art with her, our own projects - sometimes we do and sometimes we pass. Today, I jumped in and had fun! The eggs took a long time and required a lot of work -- they took about an hour and half to make. We made our designs on the eggs, cut a ton of little colored tissue squares and then crinkled them all up to glue onto our patterns. I am sure Holly's little fingers were tired by the time we were done. She held up well to this project and had fun doing it. And, I must say that she is pretty darn proud of how well her egg turned out too!

To the Moon & Back

Today my little Holly hugged me when she got up and said "Mommy, I love you to the moon, the sun and every single little star out there and back. And, that is a lot Mommy!"

My heart grew about ten sizes this morning!

Gingerbread Play Dough

Today Holly made some wonderful smelling play dough, gingerbread play dough -- Yummy! The recipe was super easy to follow, very quick and just about the best smelling play dough we have ever made. She loves to do stuff in the kitchen, but even we can't eat to many baked goods. So, play dough fit the bill perfectly - a great winter treat to have some fun with. We broke out the gingerbread cookie cutters that Grandma Annette gave Holly last year - a fun way to use those too.

Gingerbread Play Dough

1 cup flour

1/2 cup salt

2 tsp cream of tarter

1 cup water

1 tsp vegetable oil

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp all spice

1 tsp ginger

Mix well. On medium heat stir for about 3-5 minutes until the shine changes a bit and balls up. Let warm for a few moments on the counter then play to your hearts content! Store in a Ziploc bag.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Last night Holly & I spent some time together making chocolate chip cookies. Holly adores cooking and we do try to spend time each week together in the kitchen cooking or at least helping with food preparations. So, tonight was cookies - she had fun! The cookies turned out really good too... making for a perfect evening!

A Little Garden

The playhouse project has had a great few days - a lot of change, a lot of progress and a lot of whimsy is emerging. It has really evolved into a wonderful play area for Holly already.... and we are not even done!

Mommy, when you were a kid...

Holly has really been into asking me about my childhood. We will sit and talk for upwards of almost an hour about my childhood, my likes & dislikes and similarities & differences between my childhood and hers. She is just fascinated by it! The best part for me is the conversation - at three years old Holly can really hold some amazing conversations! I love it! The bonding time over these conversations have really been some of my best moments with her lately - to talk, share and connect over each other... (*sigh*) is great!

Flowers

Lately Holly has taken to picking flowers for me, from the daintiest ground cover to the loveliest dandelion. Where ever we are if she spies the smallest of flowers, her sweet little hand has acquired it for Mommy. The look in her eyes when she hands it to me - just stops the world around me as she whispers "I Love You".

She is amazingly happy, full of thought and observing my complete reaction as I accept the flower - with a happy smile, hug and a whisper of 'I Love You' right back.

Mommy & Daughter Time

Yesterday we skipped our normal routine and instead I took Holly with me to the local plant nursery, Watsons. I brought along our sketch of the upcoming playhouse/garden and we went in search of some ideas for our plantings. She spent time walking with me as we searched out various plants and trees we liked. Holly pointed out items she thought were neat and we read many labels to learn about various items. A lot of exploration!

Holly enjoyed doing this for over an hour. No complaints. No fussing. No distractions. She honestly was fully engaged in seeking out ideas for her garden and our yard, she had input, commented on her likes and dislikes and even made some suggestions I hadn't thought of yet. It was wonderful!

After getting a bit cold we decided to head in for lunch. The nursery has a little lunch nook inside, nothing fancy - just your normal sandwiches and salad. We took a seat and Holly began a full conversation with me discussing our day, her new garden and she ordered a salad to enjoy for lunch because she wanted to be a big girl. We had a really nice time, a nice little lunch and most of all a great memory of some quality Mommy & Daughter time! I loved every moment of it!!!