Morningtime

scary spaghetti

we made scary spaghetti the other night.  this is a wonderful recipe for letting kids do the cooking.  calvin cut up the hot dogs while maeve stuck the noodles into the hot dog pieces.  they we cooked it.

it was awesome!

and also kind of weird...  but they ate it and loved it.  my kids did not want any sauce (or gravy as they call it out here) on it,  but i think that would yummy.  fun to make and fun to eat which is perfect for my little ones right now.  

spring sensory tub

i saw this post from notimeforflashcards and i had to make this spring sensory tub.  i haven't made a sensory tub in awhile, so it was very new and exciting for the babes.  i bought beans that were on sale in all different sizes, two sizes of little flower pots and some silk flowers and then just dumped it all in a tub i have laying around.

maeve filled and dumped and filled and dumped the little pots.

calvin was more into sorting the different types of beans and pasta that were in the tub.  he also made little arrangements in the flower pots with the flowers.

they played alone and then together for almost an hour.  they have brought it out every day since we made it.  success!

kites

we went to a local kite festival last weekend.  we have gone every year and it is on the shore and just a lovely small town event.  it is a signal that spring is here and a promise of warmer beach days ahead.  we bought a new kite back in january just for this special afternoon.  calvin picked out a dragon kite.  it flew for awhile and then...

crashed down forcefully into the sea.  as calvin and sam were fishing it out of the water, the town photographer (i didn't know there was one until now) came up to them and asked to take calvin's picture.  perfect timing... he agreed and smiled for the camera, then went back to helping sam with the kite.

although it was rather chilly, it was a perfect afternoon for kite flying.  love this local celebration of spring's beginnings, happy to have added it to our family's spring traditions.  

saturday afternoon

i love that calvin is getting old enough to play real board games. This afternoon i taught him how to play mancala.



he almost beat me. almost.

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spring!

happy spring! it is finally here! we have had a couple of really lovely days in that last week, which has allowed us to open windows and get outside. growing up in california i hardly noticed the coming of spring because it brought no real weather change, but as a nutmeger, wow i countdown the days and celebrate spring's arrival with much fanfare.

although the weather report is calling for three inches of snow over the next couple of days, i know it is a different kind of snow, a spring snow, which is very very different from a january snow. it is lighter, brighter and less permanent.

celebrating the last of winter

the snow is (finally) melting. i am starting to see the blades of grass that have been hidden for months now. i can smell the cold rain falling. this has been a long winter for this california girl. spring is coming... i am longing for spring with my whole self, but mindfully trying to savor these last days of winter. when my mind wanders to thoughts of gardening and bulbs blooming and no jackets, i try to pull it back to today, now. to help me rediscover the love for days spent (mostly) inside i pulled out a few favorites last week.

finger paints. this changed our whole afternoon. it was freeing and fun. calvin loved making everything turquoise. he liked the impermanence of making letters in the paint and then then painting over them to make new ones. maeve loved swirling the paint around and around.

button sorting. this was a spur of the moment idea and it turned out to be very entertaining. she sort and then dumps and repeats. she then carries it around like a little suitcase.

so for today we are enjoying out last few days spent (mostly) inside, seeing old things with new eyes and new possibilities. i am enjoying the closeness of my little ones as we share the same space, as i know once spring is here and we head outside, we will have much more physical space between us. for now, we can still enjoy hot cocoa and the occasional winter song (maeve asks for frosty the snowman daily), warm soup from a friend and flashlight fun after dinner. this california girl is going to savor these last few weeks of winter, be present and mindful of how fast they will go.