Early Spring inspired seasonal nature table

With spring comes the warmth of the sun, the colors of spring flowers, and new life. This morning, my little one arranged our table with lots of treasures including: spring bulbs, found bird feathers, pussy willows, a nest of wishing stones, painted fairy wands, a wooden butterfly she colored and wool goodies. I especially love adding found elements from our nature walks and treasures my little one created to our seasonal nature table.

Stress release

Boy, I am struggling to find time between nursing the baby on demand, trying to get some sleep, and spending time with my little girl. These last 2 weeks have offered new challenges and many changes to our family. She is missing her time with me. I am trying hard to find more time with her and this was a little activity we did the other day, in which we hammered a flower bouquet. From the picture, it looks like this was a great stress release for her. The flower pictures transfer well on a cotton fabric.

Days with Dad

Dad has been great, amazing and wonderful during this transitional time for our family. My sleep deprived mind gives him random things to do and get for me and he's still hanging in there. Thanks so much, honey !!! He has provided our little one's days with structure and outdoor activities. With the nice weather the two of them were raking up leaves, cleaning up the flower gardens, planting grass seed, and digging volcanoes.

My little guy

Waiting to find out the sex of my children until their birth has been a wonderful surprise. In fact, one of the best surprises. With my first pregnancy, I had no idea if we were having a boy or a girl. This time, I really thought that we were having girl, so I am still in amazement that we have a son. But, we have a son, that's for sure. He is healthy and growing and I am very, very lucky, happy, and blessed!!!

Oh ya, we're Irish

Happy belated St. Patty's Day!! It was too late to grow some clover, but I managed to get together a simple science activity with carnations and food coloring to celebrate St. Patty's Day. The white mug concealed some purple dye (my little one's favorite color) and it was a bit of a surprise for my little one as she had to wait and see what color the flower would become. I found out you need lots of food coloring, so the smaller glasses worked best.

Dad made St. Patty's Day extra special with french toast topped with whip cream and green sprinkles. He had to sort the green sprinkles from all the rainbow ones.

Spring nature study & activities

Here is the beginning list of some spring activities that I plan on doing with my little one.

Create natural playground in yard

Gardening
- start seeds inside
- plant vegetables
- grow wheat grass
- inside moss garden
- make bird bath
- create garden stones
- plan butterfly & caterpillar garden
- press flowers & leaves
- start a compost pile

Biology study
- dig for worms
- put out nesting material for birds
- observe animal tracks
- identify birds & bird songs
- observe bugs & beetles
- observe buds
- investigate a spider's web
- inspect a mushroom
- collect & identify rocks

Pond study
- build a living pond (my little one would LOVE one)
- pond investigation
- observe a snail
- observe tadpole
- observe ducks
- look for tracks along the bank

Life cycle study
- seed to plant
- chrysalis to butterfly
- tadpole to frog

A spring butterfly

While Little A has been an amazing big sister, with a newborn home, she needs some extra cuddling and some one-on-one time. With so little sleep these day and 2 children, I realize there really is no multi-tasking at this point. I need to give my attention to one at a time. We started off painting together and as my attention shifted, a beautiful painted butterfly emerged fluttering around my house. Thankfully Dad was around because this little one was in need of a bath.

Special Delivery

I feel so blessed to welcome my son, Vince John. We had an extremely quick delivery and were very fortunate to have the people around us that we needed for his arrival. Hard to believe the labor went even faster than with my first child.

The miracle of life is so beautiful and amazing. I feel so honored to have the privilege of nurturing and caring for him.

Making firecrackers

These firecrackers were a long time coming (to celebrate the Chinese New Year!!!). I will say that my little one really enjoyed playing with these toilet paper rolls as they have been around her play area for months. She used them as logs and for building towers and play scenes.

Jump in

Lots going on today. Water play, picking all the buds on my pussy willow branches and singing a little song. Just enjoying the lyrics and plus I'm a little tired to grab the camera.

It's a wonderful day
Jump in
Jump in
jump, jump, jump in
all of you
sing a song and jump in
jump in
how do you know
jump, jump, jump, in
we'll show you
jump in
jump in
everybody
It's a wonderful day

Building a bird house

Our little one is requiring a little of mom and dad's attention these days. After a trip to see my midwife, we took a little walk and then little A and daddy built and painted a bird house. It's great to get some bird houses out before the birds start nesting in spring.

My little one really enjoys projects. She's a kinesthetic learner and after reading more about her learning style, I focus more on getting activities ready for her for the week. She is really interested in nature and science and I find it easy to plan activities according to the seasons. I also stocked up on some projects to make the transition with the new baby easier on her. I purchased a few big sister gifts for her and some others that we'll surprise her with along the way. I know we need to make her feel extra special and hopefully with her being almost 5 years old, she'll be able to express herself to us. Still, I am anticipating a transition period, as one should.

A few updates: all the hip shaking helped put the baby in a better position, which is such a relief. And our dog Bernie is doing much better. He still needs to rest his injury, which is so hard because he is such an active dog.

I am feel good and I feel ready to welcome my new baby.

When it rains, it pours

Well, it's not really raining.... It's SNOWING!!! And just the other day, it was 60 degrees. Weather could be so strange.

This is my other little one, Bernie. The sweetest, most playful, ball loving, motorcycle chasing, a little stubborn, sensitive, always getting dirty, dog. The poor guy was favoring his back leg the other day. It progressed through the night, so I stayed up to keep an eye on him. He started having some shakes, which progressed to panting, which are signs of experiencing pain. So, off we went to the emergency vet. He has a soft muscle injury, which should take about 2 weeks to heal.

As much as I am so ready to have my baby in my arms, I am hoping to have a little more time. Bernie really needs to rest his injury and that just will not be possible with bring home a new baby. With some extra time, I can do some more shifting on the hips, walking up & down the stairs, walking in place, and reflexology to help the baby get into a better position. The other day's swimming in the bath tub idea didn't happen. I did think that I would be able to fill up the tub and float, so it would kind of be like swimming, but my husband said, "Definitely Not." Sometimes, I have to admit he's right.

Swinging high

60 degrees, oh what a beautiful day.

Make a nature sculpture

This nature sculpture project is triple the fun and is great to do any time of year. Your nature inspired preschool arts and crafts project starts off with a nature walk to collect natural materials. Then, you get make super sensory playclay, which will be the base of the nature sculpture. Finish up by arrange all your natural material into the playclay.

Playclay
3/4 c flour
1/2 c salt
1/2 c cornstarch
Add warm water as needed, until mixture forms a ball.

Flying around

My little one's just flying around today.

I am still busy doing my hip rocking and marching in a leaning forward position, trying to help the baby get into a better position. Swimming is recommended, a chiropractor could adjust your hips, and my mother told me that reflexology might also help, by message the outer area of one's pinkie toes. I can't seem to reach my toes anymore, but that's not a problem because my little one is so caring, she eagerly volunteers to help. I'll also be filling up the tub in an attempt to float, the closest thing I have to swimming pool. I think I should have some supervision though, it might be tricky.

I love hot chocolate

I love the chocolate. I love the whip cream & marshmallows. I love the sprinkles.

Snow came today and I braved the cold for a wee while. With my shortness of breathe, lack of being able to zip up my jacket and all around just wanting to be inside, my little one had some fun. We zipped inside to get warm and enjoy some hot chocolate and back we go outside. She loves it so much, how could I not.

One paperwhite

One of our paperwhite bulbs took it's time in blooming and made it's way to our seasonal nature table here. It has just begun to bloom and fill the area with a sweet smell.

Pussy willows and ornamental grasses are added to our seasonal nature table. The grasses will be great nesting material for the birds as they will begin building their nests for spring. I foresee our nature table filled with grasses this spring as my little one is more involved than ever, in adding to our seasonal nature table. As the damp ground outside provides ideal conditions for the mushrooms to grow, a needle felted mushroom girl is added.