Wednesday, June 9, 2010

project 8 :: gulf coast oil spill

project 8 :: gulf coast oil spill

This looks to be a great project! Eeva & Ian have been talking about the oil spill for weeks now. They are so concerned about the marine animals. Last week during drawing time Eeva created a picture of a Sea Turtle but to my surprise colored the background black. When I asked her if the turtle was in a cave she said "no Mommy, she's stuck in the oil spill". My heart was broken =( Please check out this link & if you can send in as many wash cloths, towels & dawn detergent that you can!

Friday, May 21, 2010

(( this moment ))



A Friday ritual. A single photo-no words- capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your moment in the comments for all to find and see.

Blessings on a Beautiful Weekend!

Friday, May 14, 2010

(( this moment ))


(( this moment )) ~ A Friday ritual. A single image - no words- capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your "moment" in the comments for all to find and see.

Blessings on a beautiful weekend!

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Bubbles

One rainy day under the cover of the front porch Eeva-Liisa & Austin began a quest to create HUGE bubbles. After many tries and a little frustration & disappointment they both were able to blow big beautiful bubbles! It was wonderful to watch this unfold. You could see how excited and proud they both were each time a bubble broke free from the wand and floated up into the air. Some popped right away, some floated really high. It was a great rainy day activity that kept them engaged for over 45minutes =).
Come with me; forget your troubles.
We'll take some soap and make some bubbles.

~Ericka Northrop

Parents: 10 Reasons Kids Need Fresh Air - National Wildlife Federation

Parents: 10 Reasons Kids Need Fresh Air - National Wildlife Federation

Monday, May 3, 2010

Earth Day 2010

Treat the Earth well.
It was not given to you by your parents.
It was loaned to you by your children.

~ a Kenyan proverb


It was a beautiful day.....the perfect day to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day. The sun was bright & warm, the birds were singing, buds & flowers showing off their spring spender and the children were excited for the days activites! We started the morning by baking a freah loaf of homemade banana bread. When it was golden brown we took it out of the oven and enjoyed it warm with butter. Before each meal the children & I recite a verse or blessing, our morning snack verse & blessing was so fitting for Earth Day.

Good Morning Dear Earth
Good Morning Dear Sun
Good Morning Dear Stones
and Flowers everyone
Good Morning Dear Beast
and Birds in the Trees
Good Morning to You
and Good Morning to Me

Now we join our hands & with our hands our hearts.....

Earth who gave to us this food
Sun who made it ripe and good
Dearest Earth
Dearest Sun
We will not forget what you have done

With our hearts & bellies full we headed outdoors. First on the agenda was to do some Earth Day clean-up. Along the edge of our property is a run off from the road and unfortunatly a lot of garbage washes from the road into our little wooded area so the girls with garbage bag in hand helped clean the whole area up. The ferns are starting to emerge and the area looks beautiful thanks to a couple little hands! Harrison watched from his carriage perch and gave us some much needed encouragement & applause. Next we decided to beautify the front steps. The girls & I planted a whole flat of purple,yellow & white pansies. They did a great job of carefully tucking the flowers into their new beds. Again with a little help from some little hands all our visitors are greeted by a beautiful display of cheerful spring blooms. It was a beautiful & productive day and hopefully the children gained a little understanding of what Earth Day is and that even though they are small they can still make a difference. At the end of the day I read one of my favorite Dr. Seuss books.....The Lorax. The ending is great..... Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better, It's not.

Friday, January 29, 2010

Monday is Baking Day















Young children are very comforted by rhythmical activites. A day in The Nest has a rhythm all its own, created by myself and the children attending the program. There is a daily, weekly and yearly rhythm. The weekly rythm is formed by having a special activity for each day.....and Monday is Baking Day. Sometimes we make corn or banana bread , sometimes we make sugar cookies! But most of the time we bake bread! This week we made a simple white bread. Bella & Ian take turns measuring & adding the ingredients. Everett watches from the sidelines, soon he will be able to help too:) We set the dough to rise while we take our nature walk and come back inside to form our dinner rolls. Each child works their own piece of dough, adding special hidden treats like raisins & sunflower seeds. Then they make dough snakes and form the letter of their first name to mark which roll is theirs. We let the the rolls rise one more time and then it's time to place them in the oven! I love the smell of bread baking!

Homemade playdough

Every child loves playdough. Here is a simple receipe to make your own: 2 cups All purpose flour, 4 tbl. cream of tartar, 2 tbl. cooking oil, 1 cup of salt, 2 cups boiling water & food coloring.   Eeva-Liisa, Ian & Austin had a great time measuring out all the ingredients & mixing different food coloring to make their own unique playdough color. The dough was warm from the boiling water as we placed it on our floured counter, some stuck to their hands but they didn't seem to mind. Like all really fun projects it was a little messy but it was a wonderful way for the children to keep their hands busy:)Added bonus ....this dough doesn't have that weird playdough smell!
                                   


Friday, January 22, 2010

New Bird


We have a new friend at The Nest! Austin has been joining us after school for a couple weeks and we are so glad to have him here. Austin loves peanut butter crackers and playing in the downstairs playroom. He is a really talented artist who enjoys painting and drawing. There is a photo below of one of his masterpieces;) Sometimes when you ask Austin a question like what did you have for lunch? or who did you sit with today at school? he replies with "I can't tell you, it's a secret". It makes me smile everytime.....I wonder if he needs to feel more comfortable here to tell me these things and I hope to soon be trusted enough to hear the real answers. Eeva & Austin are both in Kindergarten, Eeva is 1/2 day & Austin is Full and during afternoon snack they exchange school day stories.....what they had for special, what books they read, what songs they sang...I usually sit quietly and listen. It's nice to hear what they find important & what they like/dislike most about their time spent at school. They also measure themselves each day to see if one of them has grown taller....so far they are the exact same height. After measuring they take each others hands and dance in a circle chanting " We're the same size!" " We're the same size!"
I enjoy watching the relationships my children are forming with our Nest friends;)