Memorial Garden

Sylvie has always had a very strong interest in learning about her great grandparents and grandfather who died before she was born.  She keeps a framed photo of one set of great grandparents on her dresser, and dreams and talks about them all the time.  Yesterday she told me she was sad that she couldn't place flowers on their graves - all being too far away.  So, since I already told her that she could plant flowers in one of the vegetable garden beds, we decided to make it into a memorial garden.  She was so excited!  She decided the flowers needed to be very bright, because they were all happy people.  She wanted some pink flowers because they would remind her of the "roses in their cheeks", and some yellow because they were bright and cheery and happy.  

I'm not sure why she's so sensitive and interested in her history - but I think it's really neat.  Sylvie would love to hear stories about her ancestors from you all - she asks me tons of questions that I can't answer, so I tell her to make sure she asks her relatives as she sees them this summer.

She's been reading the Little House series as well as some American Girl books, and spends a lot of time re-enacting the times that she's reading about.  Today she pretended to put tallow on her boots before she went outside to make sure her feet would stay warm and dry.

The Memorial Garden seems to be a success.   Last night Sylvie put on her warmest pajamas, so that when she woke in morning she could go straight out to the garden and make sure the flowers looked happy, and give them a little water.  And, she did it!  She peaked in my bedroom this morning and whispered "I'm going to go work in the Memorial Garden", and then closed the door and off she went.  (I told her last night that she could do that)

Anyway, here are some pictures of her work on the Memorial Garden. 

Mother's Day

I've been stuck - I got so behind that I dread trying to catch back up... which means I will fall farther behind. So, I'm jumping ahead to today, and hopefully I'll manage to do some catch up posts...

I had a wonderful Mother's day spending time with the wee one and Pete. Sylvie had secret plans all weekend, which involved decorating the house and making me a dozen cards and drawings.... it was great! But, my favorite part was that I got to take pictures of Sylvie while she was pretending to be Daisy Dawson from one of her favorite books, while the sun came out and I got to use some of my favorite back lighting...

Fairies

My friend Pam decided that she wanted to take on the project of making Halloween costumes for the four friends that spend a lot of time together (the four on the right in this picture). She offered to make everyone a fairy costume - we just bought the fabric and chose a fairy. These girls were SO happy with their costumes. These are photos from when they first got to try them on together. These costumes came out so great! Pam, you're amazing!!!

Nanny

Sylvie and I took a quick trip to California for a family visit. We had a great time visiting everyone, as always, and wish we could see family more often.

For some reason, the only picture I took was of Sylvie learning how to feed Nanny's pets in the morning.

Before the freeze

Some fun outside time, while it lasts. (Pictures from October) I love this little green hat on Sylvie - enjoying the last bits of summer.

Garden in Full Force

Here's a September photo - just before the first freeze while the garden is still thinking it's summer... I love how crazy the garden gets this time of year.

Poetry

Once again, catching up.

This is from October... Sylvie decided she wanted to write a poem. She composed it, and wrote it herself - every now and then verifying with me how to spell a word.

When Sylvie gets an idea of what she wants to do, she thinks and thinks about it, and gets a very clear image in her mind of how it's going to work , and how to get it done. I love her determination and creativity -

me, he

what

do you

see

I see

a

fish

what does he

see