Category Archives: Recreation

Extemporaneous Singing

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I overheard Claire singing a made-up tune while she was looking at the Olivia book while on the potty. I took notes. Sometimes it even rhymes! The stanza breaks are mine based on when I heard her pause. My Sunshine Girl is not only a scientist, but also a lyricist and composer! I can hardly believe she will turn four in less than a month.

You make me sneeze
because I’m allergic to you
the library’s a mess
I’m the best of the rest

Oh me-oh my-oh
You get the funnest job to do
Abe Lincoln brushed his teeth
But now he’s got ahold of you

You need a lot of things to do
You can do all the best things
But now you know what
Edwin knows the caden(?)

Now a ball a bust
Now it’s time to go read
Now you know what
I am not so sleepy
But now you gotta but

Now listen to me
Now the world be gone
Run run run run
Not so tired at all

We all ate the pizza
we wish we are ballerina
And now you got to be quiet
Because of the oldest day

You kept a lot of things
I wish I could do that
Now I really moan
Now I can’t really do that

I painted on the wall
Wubba wubba wub-ba
Now it’s time to take your bath
Now a time out floor
I was thinking of my dinner
Now it’s time for more

Now there’s only a few things
Just until your more
These are my books
These are my books

The Queendom of Teeny-Tiny

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In the past couple of months, Claire has fallen in love with teeny tiny toys. Miniature dolls — Lalaloopsy, Strawberry Shortcake, Squinkies (OMG Squinkies!!!), and miniature accessories are the rage. For example, I came across this flower fairy tea party set up on the sofa in Daddy’s spot this afternoon.

flower fairy tea party

Here is Claire playing:

playing with tiny things

This is a close-up of her hand (to show scale) setting the table:

tiny dishes

And a close-up of the teeny tiny cups:

teeny tiny cups

Another party from this morning (notice the buttons — they make handy plates):

it's all about teeny tiny

The other day, Claire created an ocean with a blue scarf and proceeded to have a huge party on the beach next to it. Then baby got in the water and floated away, and then there was a shark attack! She needed saving, so everyone came to her aid:

little people rescue baby from shark!

She also has numerous (100+) plastic animals she plays with. Today the barn became a home for the tigers and a lion, plus a cat or two. The hand-knit hat that my Gramma Leola knit for me as a child was their bed, and the mittens were sleeping bags for other friends:

felines

One little tiger wandered out and got lost:

tigers and lion in barn

And when Claire is not busy playing with teeny tiny toys, she practices her back float…

practicing back float

…and spends time reading (mostly looking at pictures and telling herself the story):

reading

More Summer Fun

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We’ve been busy climbing and splashing and creating! Claire had a total of three weeks of swimming lessons. She is still shy about getting her face in the water and going under water, but she had a blast with her teachers. She very specifically insisted on lady teachers “because they are more gentle.” (She had a man the first day and cried, and refused to even allow a man to put her into the pool.) She practiced floating on her back and kicking…

back kick

…and jumping into the instructor’s arms.

ker-splash!

We’ve also been playing with our food:

dinner
lunch

One day Claire asked for a knife and began slicing up pepper slices I’d given her. Once she cut them all, she ate them. Never before had she asked to do this, and she demonstrated real dexterity at cutting. That brain of hers is always growing!

slicing pepper

Yesterday we took a day trip to Mount Madonna County Park. It’s a gorgeous park, and they also have campgrounds, which we may reserve for later. Here’s the scenic view of the valley:

view from mount madonna

And up-close views of beautiful mosses and lichen:

such a variety of green

We saw California banana slugs:

banana slug view 2

And a Santa Cruz Gartersnake basking in a spot of sun:

cool snake

The redwoods are amazing:

hollowed out giant

These were the Twin Giants:

beauty on high

We had fun hiking the trails:

mommy and claire

We visited the Henry Miller Summer Home ruins, and Claire hopped around:

in the miller house ruins

A view from within the former house:

room with a view

Claire had many questions about the former house and why no one took care of it anymore:

miller house 2

We walked and walked, and later she had a nap on the way home:

strolling

We’ve played with paint and paper plates:

paper plate ladybug
paper plate fish

And we’ve started collecting our spare change in a jar which we decorated. We’ll empty it periodically and use it to donate to the food bank, or the Family Giving Tree, or some other worthy organization.

our collection jar

And so our summer continues!

Summer Days

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The lull of summer has me reading a lot but writing little. This blog has become a pictorial daybook with a few quotes tossed in for spice. Well, I blame the summer, but evidence shows that this is the trend my life has taken for the past year. Somewhere along the way I feel I’ve lost my mind. Not in a mental-illness sense, but more in a “I’m a thinking person who has thoughts about what’s happening in the world and am capable of articulating them.” Yet unfortunately, I feel increasingly removed from it all, and apathetic; I rarely read news or listen to NPR anymore. It didn’t help the other day when I read an article about Sheryl Sandberg in the New Yorker. I’m so utterly unaccomplished, my ego tells me. I’m just a mother. Just a housewife (and not an exceptionally good one at that). Just nothing.

But aren’t we all nothing? Everything changes. Human endeavor fades and is forgotten. Eventually we all end up the same place. And there is freedom in knowing and accepting this. Freedom to pay attention to what matters right now, and to enjoy this moment. That’s my bit of insight for today, because it’s late, and I’ve just finished sweeping, mopping, folding, washing, changing sheets, and pilling the cat. Meanwhile, take a peek at what’s been happening.

Claire earned her princess bike because she graduated to being a big girl and uses the potty. Pedaling and steering take concentration!

pedaling takes concentration!

She also had her first session of swim lessons and loved it, especially her teacher. She’ll have one more week, and then we’ll see.

with beloved teacher josie

I did a lot of cutting, gluing, and tying, but Claire decorated with glitter glue and stickers. It moves beautifully in the slightest breeze.

butterfly mobile

We did this craft awhile back, right after 4th of July!

fireworks!

Claire had me draw the rainbow and face, and she colored the rainbow and decided to use beads for flowers.

happy rainbow

Transformation

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We’ve been busy lately. There have been little-girl sleepovers, outings to the park, and a field trip to pick strawberries. So, without further ado, let me show you the results of our latest outing. We start at this and this:

picking
tasting

We picked nine pounds of strawberries!

And proceed to this and this:

prepping
canning

A sticky, boiling mess!

Ending in this and this!

garnet red jam
11 pints

My first time canning, ever. I ended up with 11 pints of strawberry jam!

We All Scream

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There’s an ice cream truck that rolls through our neighborhood at a speed that makes it impossible to catch if we’re inside or the back yard. We’ve pretty much given up on it. There’s a man who walks through our neighborhood with a cart and a bell, whom we usually can reach in time. But yesterday we didn’t dash out at the first sound of his bell; by the time we did, he was well down the street — beyond shouting distance. Claire was sad. We drove around a few minutes to see if we could find him (my suggestion, I thought we’d succeed). When we couldn’t find him, Claire dealt with her sadness by suggesting we make a stop sign for the ice cream guys. She painted the sign (including the edge) and I painted the words:

letting the ice cream man know what we want

Now we’d best be ready to follow through!

‘Tis the season for daisies… At the park yesterday, Claire ran up to me with both hands overflowing. I love being a mother!

flowers from claire

The Elements Arranged

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Sometimes when I take photos of small objects we find on walks, I arrange them variously. With the most recent attempt, I’m having a lot of difficulty choosing a favorite. The light, texture, and composition in each shot brings forth something special from these same objects. Which one do you like best?

DSC02007
DSC02034
DSC02046