They needed a few rocks, a bit of dirt (optional), their moss, and some final touches...
This was the closest I came to a final picture (Amy put the kids names under their mini-terrariums so Mrs. B wouldn't have to take off each lid).
Although I can't believe I didn't take any pictures of the final products (I am pretty sure I'll be getting one on Sunday), the activity turned out to be super fun and really easy for the kids to do.
Amy and I am coordinating the kids' class Mother's Day project for this year. We came up with the idea of mini-terrariums. Since I-heart-these-things-so-much!
I ordered these little jars,
we'll fill them with Fort Drum nature finds,
mini mini pinecones
bright plushy moss
then they'll add on a few embellishments (e.g., rocks, twigs, twine), and voila their project will be complete.
Little did Amy and I know...the fun was in the collecting of the items.
Just as we started our short walk toward the woods a large porcupine crossed our path. So cool!
Can you see him? Right away I was so annoyed I left my good camera at home and only had my phone!
Checking out our loot.
Audrey's taking a break. Moss collecting isn't her thing.
Now rocks...
Now rocks...
And sticks are things that she gets excited about!
At this point the kids were supposed to be collecting rocks and pretty pebbles. They quickly realized that catching frogs and tadpoles would be far more entertaining!
Amy and I finally acquiesced and joined in the quest.
There is one frog and one tadpole (can you see the little guy?) in the bucket. They were SUPER hard to catch.
This set is a gift that Audrey received for her birthday last year and it was a favorite.
A year ago.
For obvious reasons it was an outside toy.
It has been hiding in the garage since the end of last summer.
Audrey found this set again this afternoon while she was playing outside and she was ready to recreate the joy she remembered from last summer. She just needed to find the doll that came with the set.
You see Audrey brought the doll in the house 'to keep it warm'. And...the doll has now apparently gotten lost in the toy room.
I assure you that Audrey and I looked and looked for this particular doll this afternoon. The one with the swimsuit. The only tiny doll ever meant to do flips down toward the slide. The only doll ever made to place her tiny feet into the diving board so that she can dive in the pool.
We couldn't find her.
I tried to offer Audrey several different options.
I tried taking clothes off of the Princess girls to give them 'swimsuits', I tried to substitute the Lalaloopsy ones, and finally I even tried the scary fairy girl.
Nope. Nope. Nope.
Not one of them was the particular girl she was looking for.
Audrey assures me she is quite certain of the exact location that she put the said swimsuit doll.
Between you and I, I am equally certain this doll met her fate a few weeks ago. (It's a good thing Abbey wasn't here to point fingers. She surely would have thrown me under the bus).
I somehow convinced Audrey these dolls could be a perfect substitution. We even found a few pets for the little ladies that could swim with their friends.
Sigh.
After we got the whole set ready, we lost him.
Clearly she was quite upset.
But alas, the starts were aligned...
Can you see how small this creature-that-I-need-to-keep-track-of is?
Isabella started the day off right with a delicious breakfast of pancakes and bacon.
Then we spent most of the rest of the day outside enjoy the sun...oh beautiful sun!
The girls caught the ice-cream man for first time this season too.
Appropriately enjoying their snack at the soda fountain table (a recent treasure I recently snagged off of Craigslist...and have on my project-to-do-list).
Audrey had equal amounts of ice cream in her tummy, on her face, AND in her hair.
Audrey LOVED being pushed around in her new 'ride'. We enjoyed a really long walk while the big kids rode alongside us.
The day was beautiful. Fresh air, exercise, time at the park, and time spent relaxing on the porch. Tomorrow's forecast is dismal. But our spirits are high because of this much needed respite from Mr. Sun.
We do. We all do. It's comfortable. It's durable. And It has hidden fingerprints, dog hair, pencil marks, coffee stains, sweat, tears, spilled milk, and greasy finger smudges pretty well.
It's lasted through 15 years, nine moves, three homecomings, and through the middle-of-the-night-feedings of four babies.
But it's time.
It's become lumpy and bumpy and a little bit holey. And It had an unfortunate accident last week...It had one large glass of wine too many spilled upon her.
So the search is on.
Silly me. I thought it would be easy.
Especially since my standards for a new couch are not that high. Something cheap and boring is fine. But the choices! Oh...the choices. Microfiber, suede, leather, cloth. Reclining or standard. Hide-a-bed or no hide-a-bed.
I walked into the furniture a few days ago and picked out a simple, plain, inexpensive option. I would have bought it on the spot. But Mr-I-don't-want-a-new-couch-but-I-have-standards-if-we-do now actually does have an opinion on the process.
I suppose We'll now approach the process a little more cautiously. We'll look around. We'll study Consumer's Reports.
And then we'll go back and pick out the couch that I want anyway.
