Secret Garden
One day the kids came in from the backyard and asked me for some seeds because they wanted to plant a garden. I gave them some lima bean seeds and black bean seeds from our craft closet that, up until that point, had only been used as decoration for our play-doh gingerbread men. I also grabbed a few popcorn kernels from the pantry and then sent them back outside. To our surprise, we've recently discovered their plants are actually growing. It looks like a real, miniature garden back there. I guess technically it is a real garden! There was no prep involved - no garden soil, no fertilizer, no mulch. Just two kids who dug a little hole in the red clay and did some sporadic watering at best and - voila! We grew stuff! They've already asked for a more legit garden next year. I'm thinking with their green thumbs we'll be able to do quite a bit!
Patriot Pride Award
Sam received a very special award at school this week. Every six weeks each teacher recognizes a student in their class that consistently showed a certain core value during that grading period. Then one award is given to a student who consistently showed ALL the core values that six weeks. That award was given to Sam! His teacher called and invited me to the awards assembly and asked that I keep it a surprise for Sam. After the ceremony I framed his award and it sits on his dresser. We're so glad he's a good student and school citizen!
Swings
At school and at the park, it's always swings first. They're her favorite.