State of my Child Address

Friends, neighbors, homeschoolers...

...ok, so this post is just to catch up on a few points of interest because I have been too lazy busy to post anything for the past few days.

Geocaching

We have a total of 5 kills finds now.  Not a lot, but they were all fun.  We found a couple in the Metro Center Mall area on Saturday and then had a go at the Riparian Preserve on Sunday.  The cache we found at the preserve is our favorite so far because it was a coffee can (see photo below) which is big enough to hold cool stuff like small toys and travel bugs.  We traded a couple of new McDonald's toys for a Nickelodeon toy and I grabbed a travel bug that is from Alaska.  I will be moving the travel bug to a cache in Yuma when we go caching there next week.

Kylie and Michelle raiding the cache

Gardening

We established our first container garden in our backyard.  We started very small in order to determine if we can actually grow anything.  If we do well, we will expand to larger gardens.  I moved the rocks out of the way, set up the container box and poured in the soil.  Kylie helped me break it up.

A shovel and dirt...only the best toys ever!

Later, Kylie and Michelle added some plants and veggies we picked up at the nursery along with a few sprouts that finally appeared in the little greenhouse kit thingy that they had been working on for the past few weeks.  I know that we bought strawberries, chives, bell peppers and lettuce.  I can't remember what kind of flowers those are.  I think the small flower pot in front has catnip in it.  As it turns out, growing the catnip won't be necessary.  A neighborhood cat has already "christened" our garden.  I guess I'll be building some kind of light cage soon to keep the cats out.

For all the Farmville addicts, this is what real plants look like.

Innocence

I thought I would also mention some "moments of innocence" that Kylie shared with me this past week.

First, we were at a Wendy's drive-thru waiting for Frosties (we love our frosties), and Kylie rolled her window down.  She was talking to a crow that was sitting on a tree branch just outside.  She held out her hand and said, "C'mon birdie.  Come stand on my finger."  She kept calling it and asking it over and over again.  She didn't give up until we finally had to drive forward to grab our order.  It always amazes me how young kids can be so persistent and never seem to be deterred by exercises in futility.  It's just cool.

Later, she asked me to take her to Lala's house (grandma) instead of dropping her off at mom's work.  The drive is long and boring, so I can't blame her for pushing for grandma's house.  I explained that she had to go to mom's work and that I had no choice.  She immediately said, "Yes you do.  Here."  Then she extended her empty hand to me, offering me an invisible "choice".  Then she said, "Take it.  It's a choice."  So I took it and she said, "Now you have one.  Can I go to Lala's?"  Clearly the fact that I defaulted to "having no choice" was as transparent to her as the "choice" she offered to me.  I then proceeded to explain why I had to take her to mom's work instead of using the lame excuse of having no choice.  I love when she helps me realize that I am being lazy with my responses to her.  I think it helps me to be a better parent.

Finally, she recently acquired a pair of binoculars from Culver's.  I was happy that we can finally add them to her pack.  We were on our way to McDonald's (I really need to break that habit) and she was scoping out the area as we drove.  She kept saying things like, "Look at the cars and the mountains and the sky."  Then she said, "Wow!  Look at the sky.  I can see God."  I said, "Really?" and she confirmed it.  I didn't see him myself, but I didn't have the binoculars either.  If she really did see him, those binoculars were a steal for only $5.

Until next time...