Summer bounty

The vibrant orange of 'Sungold' cherry tomatoes looks too good to eat. 

Colors of flowers

Sorting, organizing and building towers of colors today. 

Exploring more colors in the garden. We careful picked a bouquet from the perennial garden and pressed a few flowers. 

Snowgirl in July

A snowgirl in July. Aside from our 90 degree weather, it sounds about right in the world of play.

Little, Little Snowman

A little, little snowman had a carrot for a nose

Along came a bunny and what do you suppose?

That hungry little bunny was looking for his lunch

And he ate that snowman's carrot nose...

Nibble, nibble, CRUNCH!

Snowman

Once there was a snowman, snowman, snowman

Once there was a snowman tall, tall, tall

Then the sun it melted, melted, melted

And made the snowman small, small, small

The Wintery Wind

The winter wind blows

The winter wind blows

It gives me the shivers

From my head to my toes

Snowflakes Falling Down

Snowflakes falling down, down, down

Falling on the ground, ground, ground

Great, big white flakes, flakes, flakes

That do not make a sound, sound, sound (whisper)

Leaf prints

Leaf prints - we gathered different leaves and even maple seeds for our nature inspired art project today. With just the right amount of paint, the veining of the leaf is revealed. 

To the land of magical things

Little friends

Little holes

A little love

Little treasures

It is wonderful to stumble upon little treasures that inspires wonder and awe. I love when my little one starts elaborating upon a found object and how it becomes part of her storytelling. I love seeing her imagination and creativity at work. It amazes me every time and really brings such joy to my heart.

It is fun to explore with her and lead her to little treasures that I have discovered. Most of the time, Mother Earth, keeps us busy but every now and then a special package arrives that I hope will encourage discovery and exploration.

A order from montessoriresources.com

- Sunprint kit

- Bug viewer

- Rainbow sled kite (for a trip to the beach)

- Wooden tangram puzzle

- A wooden slide whistle, a croaking toad, egg shaker, a spin drum and a stirring xylophone to inspire musical adventures.

- Jeweled mirror

- A sense of wonder book series

I also purchased some of their book recommendations over at amazon.com, which included: Stone Soup, Hands Can, Seven Blind Mice, Be My Neighbor, All the Colors of the Rainbow, What's the Weather Today, and A Little Peace.

Not sure where our adventure will take us as we explore the things we encounter "off the beaten path".

Peabody Museum

The Peabody Museum.

1.6 million years ago, Homo erectus

Found seed pods went right into play when we arrived home.

Throwing Mud

My little one tried her hand at throwing some mud today. It takes lots of practice to center the clay on the wheel. Next time, I think we'll make some pitch pots or even a rope pot. Before the mud was wiped from her face, she was off....

... to play in a huge mud puddle in front of her "rainforest". Our overgrown hydrangea bushes, which I think may be original to our house, have been a huge part of outdoor play. Her pal, Bernie, seems to always be by her side these days.

A baby Tufted Titmouse waiting for it's mother. 

Strawberry Picking

'Tis the season for strawberry picking. The season is drawing to an end, so the berries are so small and so sweet.

Pickin' up strawberries, put 'em in the basket

Pickin' up strawberries, put 'em in the basket

Pickin' up strawberries, put 'em in the basket

Way down yonder in the strawberry patch

An eye catching wildflower in the strawberry patch, an vibrant orange jewelweed.

Moose tracks heading to the water supply

A little dragonfly

A quiet ending

This Haba puzzle provided a quiet ending to our day.

Struggling through the day

Tickle, tickle

The day was off to a great start. Some tickle time with my little one, then she was off to make sea shell soup.

Then, we went in mommy's jewelry drawer. After that, there were too many nos for my little one and too many times I had to quiet my barking dogs. So, what's a mom to do? Just roll with it... on to a nature inspired art project, Feather Painting.

This was a very positive experience and after dinner my little one had earned her chocolate lollipop. Her mouth was covered with chocolate! Sorry no picture, I was relaxing on the couch.