Balloons Over Broadway

Like many, one of our traditions is to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade on television the morning of Thanksgiving.  Last night, Bryce read aloud Balloons Over Broadway by Melissa Sweet.  You guys, it's such a wonderful book!  It's informative, the illustrations are darling, and it's inspiring!  I always am excited to find a nonfiction book that is this delightful.

I love how it describes Tony Sarg as a man who never grew up or worked a day in his life, as he loved his work so much.  He was an inventor and artist who has brought joy to millions of people.  I had no idea about the history behind the famous Macy's Thanksgiving Parade, and I love that it partly grew from one mans love of marionettes, puppets and creatively solving problems!

After reading the book I asked the children if they would like to design a family balloon and Grace was excited about it (Harris was in a bit of a mood!).  She got to work and designed a frog and a fly.  I think they are so darling!

Do you think they will make the parade next year?

Dinner and a Movie- Ratatouille

Last week, we had another dinner and a (outside) movie night.  This time, in celebration of the abundance at the farm, we ate and watched Ratatouille!  

We really like this movie- it's charming, funny and heart warming.

We also had little mouse cheese and crackers.  They were a big hit!

While not the children's favorite meal of all time, Ratatouille is more palatable for the children when it's linked to something fun like the movie, though I must admit that the children asked me why my ratatouille doesn't look like Chef Remy's!

P.S.  Other dinner and a movie themes are here and here.

Tic Tac Toe in the Garden

At the beginning of the summer I spotted this post on Ohdeedoh that featured a children's garden in Virginia.  As you may have realized, I am a sucker for children' s gardens!  One of the (many) things I loved about this garden was the tic tac toe game they had created and so we set out to recreate something similar in our own children's garden.

We used stone that we already had and Bryce cut it using his tile saw.  I found cast iron critters at Amazon and sprayed them with clear Rustoleum to stop them from rusting since I plan on keeping them outside. We tucked in some moss in the crevices of the game and hope that more will grow!  I love that it adds a bit of whimsy to the garden!

Our Rainbow Garden

I'm super excited today to share a project that has been 8 or 9 months in the making!  Last fall, the children and I started a rainbow garden inspired by the book, Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert.

We picked a spot right by our driveway so that we could enjoy it as much as possible.  I will admit that I was a little worried that the garden would not be very pretty to look at because of the riot of color (in a straight line no less!) but that has proven to be an unfounded concern.  One of the best things about the garden has been the continual surprises and color.  Once one plant fades another takes up the slack!  The garden has been delightful to watch grow and bloom!

We mostly used plants that were suggested in the book though we did have to scale back a little due to size constraints.  We planted tulip, daffodil, crocus and iris bulbs in the fall and were thrilled when they poked up this spring!

With the exception of the zinnias, we planted the rest of the garden with plants from the nursery.  The green zinnias were from seed and the lavender was already planted.  Unbelievably, the hardest color to get was red!  We planted a red rose but it turned out to be hot pink!  Also, we had planted an orange poppy that was doing wonderfully and was ready to pop open, but we came home one day to discover that the bud had fallen off!

Yellow and Oranges

Purples

Blue

Green

Red?

Bird Topiary

We have added a feathered friend to the children's garden!  Several years ago I found instructions on how to make a bird topiary, and this year I finally got around to doing it with the children.

I bought a small boxwood at Lowes for $7.  We could have gotten a much bigger and much fuller one for $20, but I really didn't want to spend that much so I decided we would start small!

Following the instructions, we wrapped the head in copper wire and snipped and trimmed until we were happy with the body shape.

I think he turned out super cute and adds some personality to the garden!

P.S.  If anyone is interested in the exact instructions let me know and I will send them to you!

Miss Rumphius- Bringing Books to Life

I've always liked the picture book, Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney for its beautiful illustrations and its gentle and sweet story.  I especially like the message it conveys that we can all do something to make the world a more beautiful place.   Miss Rumphius has three goals in life- to live by the sea, visit faraway places and to make the world a more beautiful place.  This is the story about how she accomplishes each goal, especially the most difficult, and perhaps most important, goal of making the world more beautiful by sowing lupine seeds anywhere and everywhere.

With this book in mind, I purchased lupine seeds last summer on our trip to Maine.

A few days ago, I read the story to the children and we sowed our very own lupine seeds.  We planted some in our children's garden and some in a local park.  We mixed the seeds with a little dirt and then scattered the mixture everywhere.  We can't wait to see what comes up!

Doughnut Seeds

One morning while I was pouring out cereal a packet of seeds tumbled out (a prize!) with the contents.  Much to our amusement Grace read the seed packet and then went to throw it away!  In no part of her mind could she make sense of it!  Harris, on the other hand, was totally game for giving the seeds a try.

He found a patch of garden to plant the seeds.

He watered them with milk.

And waited overnight for the doughnut seeds to grow.

He was delighted come morning when a new patch of doughnuts had sprouted!  He was even more delighted to eat those doughnuts (as was Grace!).

Eggs

I'm always surprised at how beautiful our painted eggs turn out.  It's not at all easy painting on the small, sloped surface of an egg but every year my family out does themselves!

This year bird's eggs were used for inspiration.  Bryce started the trend when he painted a robins egg.  A discussion of the egg lead me to go get our copy of An Egg is Quiet by Dianna Aston and Sylvia Long.  This beautifully written and illustrated book covers the gamut about eggs.  It's gorgeous and informative!

Grace painted a booted warbler,

and Harris painted a black-necked stilt (from the cover).

Grace also painted a ballet scene that included her leotard, ballet shoes and a barre.

Harris made a flower garden.

My Mom made a colorful egg!