Where We Are

A visit to Randall Glen Farm

We've had gem mining on our wish-list of activities for a long time, and I was so happy to get pointed in the direction of Randall Glen Farm by my lovely friend, Briana. She and her daughter, Amara, accompanied us and we had a great time. Here are some photos from the day.

 


After we were done gem mining we wandered around the farm for a while- enjoying the multitiude of animals, having a snack and relaxing in the sun. If you are in the area, I highly recommend a visit to this farm!

We are leaving for Wisconsin to visit family and friends this week, so I won't be posting for a while. Enjoy the rest of Spring!!

Family rules canvas

I have seen some searches on my blog for the family rules canvas that could be seen in the background of an Easter photo, so I have decided to go ahead and do a post about it. It was a really great activity that nourished my creative side while at the same time allowed me to think about what I feel are important values to share with my children.

I got the idea from The Pleated Poppy. All the instructions can be found by following the link.

What are your family rules?

Felted seed satchels in use!

First of all, I have to point out the luscious grass underneath Esme's new seed satchel (we ended up giving her original one away for a birthday gift)!!! I aerated the soil with a hand tiller and planted grass seed with Esme' and a little girl in my child care. It has grown in so nicely and I am excited to do the other half of the yard.

Yesterday I unexpectedly got the day off from child care, so we packed up and headed to our favorite playground of all- Montreat (I am sure there is a more official name). I have alwayes felt this place is magical with all the trees and the meandering waters, especially when it is not crowded.

We brought snacks and satchels and the kids set straight to play!

Asher spent most of his time collecting rocks.

Esme' was determined to catch a fish!

It's amazing how refreshed I feel this Monday morning after having spent three days in a row in nature! Happy Monday to you all.

 

 

A wonderful day

I am so grateful to be a mom today, and our family has had a beautiful day. It all started with a visit to the Early Girl Eatery, which has been my favorite place for breakfast ever since I moved to Asheville 8 years ago (after tasting the bland bacon this morning, however, I may change my mind). While waiting for our table, we walked around the Wall St. neighborhood a bit.

After breakfast, we headed over to the French Broad Chocolate Lounge for Mommy's chocolate fix! Then we went home to get ready for a hike at the Dupont State Forest. The last time we went there, Esme' was about 6 months old! It was so wonderful to revisit, and I hope to make many more trips to this awesome forest.

The photo above is of High Falls, taken before we descended down for a closer look. The rest of the photos are from the base of this waterfall.

Happy Mother's Day!!

Lego writing

There are so many ways to use Legos!! I was so impressed to look over one day and see what Esme' had created. I kind of want to ask her to spell "Where We Are" so I can use it for my banner. Stay tuned on that....

Q-tip and cotton ball painting

I first saw the idea for painting with cotton balls and Q-tips over at The Artful Parent. We have tried it before, but I don't think I have shared it with you all. The kids came straight to the table when they saw what was on it, and they were focused for quite a while with this project (they each did at least two full paintings). We will surely do this again!

I love this painting of Asher's!! I love that I can see the marks and remember how his little hands looked when he was using the materials.

 

Happy painting!

Easter, a bit late

We got a new computer (a Mac Mini!) with our tax return!! I am astonished with how fast photos download. I am so delighted that I decided to share a bunch of photos from our Easter preparation and celebration, even though the holiday has come and gone.

Several weeks ago, we planted wheatberries in our Easter baskets to grow our own Easter grass. I bought two cups of berries, soaked them overnight, and then the kids put them on top of some organic potting soil in plastic lined baskets.

They started growing after two days.

The finished baskets on Easter morning! I am pretty sure that the Easter bunny got the personalized wooden eggs and the wooden bunnies from Etsy.

We tried two new kinds of egg dying this year. My favorite of the two was to wrap rubberbands around the egg for stripes.

Esme' made these two by herself (I put the rubberbands on).

We also made some eggs by dying them and then drawing on top of them with watercolor pencils. I wasn't as thrilled with this process and neither were the kids, but some of the eggs turned out cute. The ones with the names, the bunny and the flower were done in this way.

For our Easter craft, the kids set to immediately eating their eggs and we saved all of the beautifully colored shells to do this project.

 
 

And, our decorations for the day. I made sure to buy perennials, so that we can put them in the ground and enjoy them next year.

Happy late Easter everyone!