Stomach stuff bag turtle toy

Esme asked if I could make this toy she saw in a TV commercial.  I haven't gotten his shell made yet, but she is downstairs playing with him 'eating all the toys' already.  I still need to do the embroidery on his 'hands' as well... but that will take a while to do.  I designed him so that he could at least eat the zebra blanket from her bed, but definitely not what I was sure the commercial items had in them that would allow them to eat a LOT of things... he is just a toy with a bag in it, like the whale I wanted to make once and might still make.

We also went to the park today, fed some ducks and played with another girl.  We had ice cream sundaes and played in the garden some.  She has had a pretty good day - we both got some sun.  I planted the Japonica striped corn and the whipporwill peas today. 

Yesterday planted : (had a clearing out of every seed packet that I thought might grow... )
Smoke signals corn
Hutterite beans
Kenearly beans
columbine, gypsophilia (baby's breath)
african daisies, gloriosa daisies, gallairdia
marigolds, small and crackerjack type
chives
pyrethrin robinson's red chrysanthemum (painted daisies)
lettuce (2 types)
salvia, pansies, snapdragon, campanula bells,  hollyhocks
shackamaxon beans, wax beans (dragons lingerie and golden wax)
pink hopi corn
coleus
shirley corn poppies
cushaw squash
connecticut field pumpkins
king of the early beans (I thought these had to be them.. hope so)

Still have to do :
more corn experiment if I can find room..
transplant the cotton plants outside
plant the pink evening primrose I got in the mail
get the transplant tomatoes large enough to go outside

s.s dinah cardboard pirate ship - stage 2

The second stage of the cardboard box pirate ship. I kind of plan on buying a few dowels to make a sail out of for her as well, and putting some pirate ship themed pillows in it inside her room. One bit at a time. Right now it is in her room and ready for play. We asked her what to call it - and she said 'The Dinah'. OK.

The stars and sunflower glow in the dark :)

And obviously, she did the artwork on the inside.

Stage one cardboard box pirate ship

I brought these boxes home from work and they said 'pirate ship' to me.  I had also bought a quart of paint that was supposed to be brown, but ended up being purple.  All the better where Esme is concerned.  I took a pair of scissors and packaging tape and followed my instincts, and it took shape.

Daddy helped us paint the outside of it, and I will add some more details to it later.

Library, rain and leftover corn

We went in the rain to the library today, on Esme's request.  She was very happy to be there and to play.  They have so many toy animal characters from the books that are available to play with.  She had made the rounds, read a book with me, done some JumpStart with her headphones on...  we were almost ready really to go, when a mother with six children arrrived, all ages.

Esme was excited, and ran all over the entire room with the youngest two until she fell over.  We had two pull-aside talks about running, and I finally asked her to read with the big girls who were sitting nicely.  She said they were bad, but did not tell me why.  I told her they were big like the girls she will go to school with in July, and she should go learn to do like they are.  Esme could not do this - she was mad... she told me their talking hurt her ears and she did not want to be by the talking.  The toddlers she was playing with were running, shrieking, talking etc...but she did not seem to mind that.  The girls were reading in a monotone voice, back and forth - and that put Esme over the edge.  She went to a corner and hid under a table for a while with her hands over her ears, until they were done and went to a computer.  Then she came back out and played with the younger children again until they nearly knocked the older girls out of their rocker chairs and got them very mad at her.  Esme didn't seem to think they were doing anything wrong, and stalked away again angry.  I do worry what that kind of attitude will bring when she does go to school... but what do I do?  I understand some of it, and the rest I just have to hope she will eventually work out.

She did very well reading her own book with me, and when the girls came back to read again I found a beautifully illustrated Rapunzel and asked her to read that with me over by the corner.  We did, and then she leaned in very close to me 'They're back - can we go now?'.  OK.  We went to the store, and drove home in the rain, which was very hard and there was some water over the road - which was scary for both of us actually.  She did a good job at the store and has been polite and happy since we've been home.  The rain is stopping, and the sun is coming out.  I have a jacket and a pair of pants cut out to sew for Esme and I may do that while she watches TV with Daddy for a bit here.

 Playing in the mud after the rain

 We were out by the west field, where we had planted the corn experiments last year - and this one had been forgotten and was sprouting.  We will keep it and see how it grows.  Esme cut her hand outside and hadn't told me until after I had already went inside ... we washed it up with many tears and bandaged it - not too deep, but she had rubbed mud all over inside it.  She had some ice cream just after the bath and talked me into stringing my loom.  Now she is watching Simpsons while waiting for a real dinner (Fish sticks in the oven now).

garden update and puppies

Cotton plants growing in the house window. I wonder where I should put them now that they have actually come up for me? They should have pretty pink and yellow flowers.

Adding bricks and another bean fence to the garden. I planted Glass Gem popcorn, Hopi Purple String Beans and some gorgeous blue gladiolus bulbs Mark got for us. Esme helped with the beans :)

This is what happens to the gladiolus that grow outside the garden.. Kitty goat mows them down.

Spud puppy (left) and Sweetie puppy (right), bluetick coonhound and catahoula leopard dog cross.

The whole garden with the new lilac tree in the corner. The sweet corn on the left is doing well but the tomatoes really don't like all this cold weather with dry periods in between large rainstorms.

I have to work tonight but have tomorrow off - sadly, it is forecasted to rain tomorrow, and Esme really wants to go to the park. I have been knitting on her blanket and right now she is painting a map on some paper.  Her preschool graduation is May 20th, which is a Monday, in the evening.

 Provider beans coming up next to the pea fence

 Yellow scallop squash is getting big now.  And, the mint is getting HUGE.

bits of calligraphy and cotton seeds

This is a handwritten envelope with an invitation to the preschool graduation.  Very beautiful work by someone who seemed to enjoy our choice of such a long name!  I have the night off already so we should all be able to attend.  I described what graduation was to her, a time for teachers to say goodbye to all the kids going to the big school -- so she is accepting of still going to the little school until then...the 30 days+ until her 'big school' though... that will be difficult!

The cotton seeds are starting to come up in our pots indoors.  I'm preparing to work the area for the glass gem corn and a few other things.  The Indian corn (striped red pericarp/blue aleurone mixed with Mandan bride) is coming up in the back of the garden. If I had known I would get the glass gem so soon, I might have waited...  The glass gem is a popcorn, and I'm not sure how much separation I should make or if my little garden is even capable of enough separation to keep the popcorn genes out of my Indian Corn (much less the sweet corn, which we are growing only for eating purpose). 

My provider beans are coming up well - but the wax beans and the Good Mother Stallard are still dormant.  I am hoping for more stable weather soon!

bits

I was trying on a pair of jeans and Esme said 'You are another people!' (You look like a different person).  And there were other sentences she usually uses - like 'I want to watching the cakes', for 'I want to look at the cakes' at the grocery store.  I tried to get her to buy another t-shirt for school coming up but she talked me into bracelets with tags on them that she said were her puppy tags.  She had focused on a t-shirt in the adult section that was barely there fabric wise and way too big even for me - so I could not get her to find a girl size one... try again another day.  She wanted to play with a fishing lure Mark bought that looks like a frog  and/or a squid.. she kept flipping it upside down and saying 'ribbit ribbit now I have a dress!' because there were fringy bits that hung off the top.  I looked at Mark and said 'we have a little girl... undoubtedly, how did that happen?'  He replied 'Cane that way from the factory.'  We went to fish at the lake and Esme said a lot to us about the fish we caught and the fishing poles and about the mess of mud she had gotten herself into.  Esme had to touch a fish - out of the three small largemouthed bass I caught.  She had a thorough bath after that before bed, washing her hair for school tomorrow.

Earlier this morning, Mark gave away two puppies at the flea market and now we have eight.   Mark also picked up two large oak dressers with butcher block type tops.  They had some marks inside the drawers and I was glueing down some kraft paper inside of them.  There is also a mirror that we are thinking to put in Esme's room above one of the dresser banks and the other one up in our area of the house.

Esme this morning: I am not a good fish catcher one. (I am not a good fisherman). But Mom is a good fish catcher one.  And I screwed up Daddy's fishing rod.. I am not a good fish catcher one.  It takes a long time.

As we get ready for school:  The little school is for little kids and the big school is for little girls and BIG humans, too (the ceiling was very tall).  This is the little school with the red bricks.  (I told her about graduation and all the teachers having to say goodbye in the next few weeks, and the teachers having to get ready at the big school for all the children.  She asked about her test, what it was.  I told her all the children had to pass the test - (little kids and big kids?)  Yes - all the children, and it takes a long time, and then the teachers will be ready for the big school to open for everyone.

In the car on the way to school:   Is the car in the water?  (What?) The car that got lost, in water, did the mans built it and could not get it?  (The Neon car last year that was lost in the Duluth flood).  Yes, we couldn't get it out and it was ruined.//  Did the mans build this car for us? (We had this car then, too.  Yes, people build cars and Daddy bought this one a long time ago at a store that sells cars.)  And they built this (hook in ceiling) for all of us to hang tight?  And toys can go in there, too? (The hanger hook in the back ceiling that dry cleaning can be hung on).  Um.. yes.  She has stuck her little figures up there often so she doesn't lose them.

garden bits

The beans are finally coming up - the Providers only, but that is a start.  Esme had a playdate today and it went fairly well - they always fight, but they are little girls, I guess.  Esme did wear herself out pretty well.. took a ten minute nap when she got home.

I spent some time out in the garden and Mark brought the camera.  I planted a few of many things - cosmos, marigolds, pansies, purple hulled peas, more providers (3), another zucchini, more basil, more radishes, some kale, a few more carrots, and the Daphne purple greasy beans from last year.  I need to invest in a few more bricks, as the beds are finally taking shape.  I had to reinforce the fencing some, too - as Daphne showed me she could jump right on top of it and mash it down.  Pictures by Mark :)

 cabbage

 flower garden

 watering with a bucket - my forte

 Esme in the tomato plastic playing some bakery doctor sand games

 A gorgeous blue cloud sky

pea fence

 

Bonnie or Clyde...

bits

Esme has used several 'big' words for her lately - 'cauldron', 'inspection', 'nervous'... remember these ones.  She has talked about fixing the engine on the mystery machine (which is imaginary).  The other day she drug a fifty lb bag of dog food from the garage to the stairs before complaining this was too hard of a job for her - she had only been asked to get a scoop, not a sack!  When we were at the playground I held her up as she crossed the monkey bars, and then when I was doing them myself she raced up to try to hold me up.. hilarious.  She said I was the guard and she was Aladdin and I should sword her *roll eyes* before she gets away.  We were playing IQball tonight and she was doing very well - a little encouragement needed, we got to level 22 before we could not continue.  She found another version of it and Daddy helped her through a few levels of that.  She said several things during that - 'What is happening here.  I have an idea.  I know what the problem is.  I don't know how to do it either.  etc.. very good.'

K test and puppy dirt lesson

 Giving the puppies a lesson in mixing dirt...apparently.

Esme's Kindergarten test was today, it did not take very long at all.  We filled out some forms, let them take some copies, and then they had her go into a room with the tester for about five minutes.  She scored 95% on her letters and sounds, missing just a few (h, y sounds, recognizing a lower case q by itself).  She scored 100% on numbers, counting and simple math.  She could not tie her shoes or skip through the room - but did hop on one foot and write her name (points taken off for bending her wrist over and gripping with a fist).  Overall she did very well - the tester had her IEP in hand and was duly impressed considering that.  They'll see her starting in July for the 'ease into school' program, which will be every single day for four days, then three days, then one day.. and the regular program will start in August.

We planted things out in the garden.  We have a genuine flower bed started in there now.

Planted bits and Novas Ten Puppies

Planted the Indian corn today, the Mandan Bride mixed with the special one from last year - the blue aleurone with the red pericarp.  It should take 85-90 days from now, and hopefully the other is similar.  The other sweet corn is just now poking its head through the ground, and it is 75-80 days.  We'll see how all that goes when it comes time for tasselling and pollination.  I want to find a place to put the Japonica striped corn out that is not too close.. but still protected.  Will think on that, maybe along the front edge, maybe along the side edge? 

I also planted the Autumn beauty sunflowers, a watermelon hill, 2 Jarrahdale squash hills (all to mark the three rows of corn and vice versa), zucchini (genovese bush, early prolific straightneck and black beauty) in three hills, and a few marigolds.  I also planted a few Good Mother Stallard beans and a few others that were knocking around in a box - a Mayflower, a Bosnian, the last and only King of the Early from last year.  All of that started because I had planted the cottonseed inside in pots.  Mark is right - once I get on a roll it just goes and goes ... and then dinner was ready and I had to get Esme.

Now she is in a bad mood and we have sent her to bed, to be retrieved in a few hours to brush her teeth and get her sticker, then go to bed for the night.  I work late tomorrow - so I will be here when she wakes up.  She had wet a pair of pants again, and then told me not to talk about it - to be quiet, and not let anyone know until it dries.  Uh, no.  Sorry kid...  Mom won't play that way, ignoring the issue etc etc... but truthfully that problem is getting better.  With time and also waking up two hours after we put her to sleep - even if we have to lift her out of bed and put her on her feet -- it has become rare now during the day for us to have to yell at her.  But, there are still moments.  I think she came in from playing with the puppies outside and then forgot because she saw me playing a game... but still.

Sweetie and Cookie puppies talking with Esme outside.

Sweetie is the one most like Daphne, and it is a tossup whether to keep her or Spud.  

Clockwise from top Bill (black), Bonnie?, Cookie(blue eyes), Dolly (head hidden), Sweetie, Spud, Brunhilde, T-Bone (under Brunhilde), Ted, Clyde = 10, yes count them, ten, five girls and five boys.  Mark has installed them out of their penned area in our kitchen and outside into a dogloo with their mom. 

Weekend

We've had a weekend 'in'... except for a trip to the grocery store.  I embellished one of Esme's stuffed friends from last year, and made another at her request.  She was elated, and gave me 'instructions' as to the details she wanted.  I mended a stack of pants, but did not get to any other clothes sewing - instead being drawn into this pink figure above.  We also played in the mud some, making sluices and a pyramid with a hole through it to a pool down below... that is about the only way Mom can get into playing in the mud.  Esme is usually content just to plop globs of mud down over and over for an hour - but I need to get constructive in order to keep occuppied.  And, after we had completed our project and study of water swirling patterns and mud, I went for a bath.  I saved the water for her and traded places with her, letting her have raspberry bubbles and barbie dolls while I read some more.

Esme has made me laugh several times today.  She has been mentioning that often to me lately - I need to laugh, to be smiling, if I want her to be smiling and not be 'drama llama' - a term she is trying to understand and does NOT like...  The other day she came up to me with a medical kit and said she was going to take my heart out and inject it with PLAY because it was not a loving heart it was a working heart - as in going to work and typing on my computer type of work, and that needed to be fixed so I could laugh and play.  As I object she leans in and whispers 'it's like pretend Mama, okay?'  Sometimes I'm sure I'm supposed to respond but I just have no idea how to... that was one of those times.  I understand how deep that is.. and the ring of truth, but wait, what?  How does she come up with these things and if this is five... what will ten be like?

Today she woke me up pretending to be an alarm clock and put a plastic cup on her head saying it was the snooze button and to hit it but gently, because it was really an Esme.  She was reading over my shoulder on my computer and pointed out a picture of her friend on Facebook.  She said the picture was like a video phone, and where was the volume and the words, since the girl had her mouth open like she was talking.  Then she got another idea - and asked me if this was how I 'called' the tooth fairy on my computer, and that I should call her now, please?  She really wants to talk about this calendar thing and maybe find out how to get her toy quicker.  Ha.  She helped me clean up a table, and fetched all her painting supplies from the bathroom downstairs.  We talked about color some.. but then I got back to reading.  I finished the Hunger Games trilogy of books through all of that... and it was a tearjerker in the end... Buttercup was genuinely convincing towards the end... and the expected happy ending that makes you wonder how 'happy' anything can be....and how different it really is from anything before?

I ordered Glass Gem corn from the Native Seed savers website, as well as one of their interesting beans.  The corn out in the garden is starting to poke tiny spikelets out of the ground... most of the transplant plants are doing okay even after all that rain.