Une Artiste

Gigi went to the funnest birthday party last weekend. It was an art party for Harper who was turning 3. Her mother went all out and had all these stations where the kids could paint pictures, birdhouses, decorate masks, make bean shakers, fruit loop necklaces and finally decorate a canvas bag with their name on it. After the art was created the mom hung all the pieces to dry on a laundry line strung across the yard. The hanging art made the party even more festive! Here are some of Gigi's creations and photos of her working on them. What an artiste! :)

Gretal Hair

Georgia is infatuated with Gretal's hair on the Sound of Music. Everyday she asks me if she can have "Gretal hair". Yesterday, as many days before, we brushed and twisted to get the look. She selected to wear this dress which never struck me as Sound-of-Music-ish until we did her hair. Now I see what Georgia was going for. This dress has a very Eastern European flair to it. It DOES remind me of the Sound of Music and also the Yukon Czech Festival. Hats off to you, Georgia, stylist in the making.

The other day Georgia ran straight to me and said "Mommy, I am going to make this line a circle." Then she ran straight back to where she started and then ran in a circle around me. She finally made a bee-line back to me and repeated "Mommy, I am going to make this line a circle" and did it again! Isn't that brilliant? I believe that spatial/geometric thinking must come from Rodofo's side because I know she did not get that from me.

Another funny thing happened the other night when we were trying to get her to bed. She did not want to go to sleep but was at least in bed, although quite angry about being there. In order to communicate how unhappy she was about having to go to sleep she started repeating "Georgia does not go to bed. See it says so in my story. Georgia does not go to bed." Have you ever seen Super Why? In this children's tv show they change words in stories to solve the problem. Georgia was trying to change the words in her story so that she did not have to go to bed. What a clever kid!

Mother Nature Responds

Well, I have told you now about our neighbor, Mother Nature. Saturday I started feeling pretty guilty about snatching the Iris and so I decided to give her a Mother's Day gift to appease my conscience. It wasn't 5 minutes after I gave her the gift that she asked if I would like any plants from her yard. She mentioned the Irises that I admire so much. I politely declined but she insisted that I have something. So, reluctantly (ok thrilled to the bone might be a better adjective) I accepted her offer. I figured she would give me one or two irises, but instead she gave me what I'd like to call a bushel (see photo). Then on top of all of that she handed me a peony in a pot and told me to plant it soon. Can you believe it!?! What a kind and generous woman. I have since planted the irises by a tree outside (see photo) and am trying to decide where exactly to plant the peony.

Midnight Flower Snatcher

It is the month of MAY!!! My favorite month of the year. It is when roses bloom, the air is warm (not hot) and the sky is clear blue. I love this month! And perhaps it stirs within me a slightly rebel spirit because, well, I have a confession to make. Last night, in the cover of darkness, I walked down the street with my pruners and snatched a few flowers from some blossoming gardens. Yes, it is rather criminal of me, but I don't think anyone will notice. My first snatch was 2 peonies that grow in an abandoned corner by someone's garage. There are at least 30-40 blooms in that peony patch and for the past 4 years I have watched them bloom, shine and fade wishing I could saveur them up close. It doesn't seem that anyone ever does anything with them, and so they were just crying out to be admired and appreciated. Then, after plucking the peonies I quickly snipped one delicate light blue iris from the garden of my neighbor who I affectionately call Mother Nature. She has tons (and when I say tons I mean around 400-500) Irises growing right along the street. In addition to these beauties she has countless azaleas, roses, hydrangeas, fig trees, magnolia trees, mint, clematis, easter lilies, redbuds, bouganvillia, ivy, gardenias, etc., etc, etc, ad. infinitum growing all around her house. I am hoping that she will not notice either, although perhaps since she loves flowers so much she will indeed notice. Rodolfo and I were joking that because she is so highly attuned to her flowers that she will be able to deduce from the snip that it occured last night at 9:30 PM with felco pruners from the hand of another gardner. Oh I hope not! If she figures it out I will offer her some clippings from my rose bushes. Above is a picture of these flowers along with some red roses from our garden here in the backyard. Now, not only myself but you too can admire the beauty of these blooms. Below is a video of Gigi smelling these flowers. Hooray for May!

Magic Rain Boots

In a quiet corner near our basement door sit a pair of Pucci-inspired rain boots. They are a little worn, a little muddy and serve me well when I need to go to the dungeon (our basement). These unassuming boots have recently taken on a new role; they eat credit cards. It is true. Rodolfo, who tends to loose things, had a terrible time finding his Discover card. He looked in all the usual places but the card just couldn't be found. After what seemed an endless search we gave up. That evening, on my normal laundry round, I slipped my bare-feet into those trusty boots. And what to my surprise did I discover but a shiny, crisp credit card. Who knows how it arrived there? Those boots must be magic and come alive when we least expect it. Since then the boots have taken to eating other household items, especially blocks, keys and little toy farm animals. I wonder what those hungry boots will eat next? :)