Mother’s Day weekend. It was lovely and it was challenging. (Kind of like motherhood).
We spent Saturday morning up in Carpinteria for their annual Art studio tour. It was really neat to meet this artists up close and personal and see their studios and art. It was a walking tour which made it a bit hard with our two-year old, but overall, it was a really nice day trip.
Sunday we spent the morning with my parents. My wonderful Mama, made a lovely breakfast/brunch for everyone. Our ride home was tough, with an epic meltdown and tantrum. But I guess that’s how Mother’s Day goes with a two-year old. 😉 I was surprised with TWO bouquets of flowers, which is always so very nice. And some wonderful handmade art from Ellie. We ended the night with books and a movie (Totoro has been the popular one lately).

Even with all the challenging moments and days, I am so thankful I am Ellie’s Mama and I am also so very thankful for my own Mama. A woman who taught me how to be a patient, gentle, loving parent by her own example.

Happy Mother’s Day to all of you Mama’s out there! You are doing hard, important work!

19/52

eloise: You are very particular about some things. One thing in particular is receiving stickers in dance class (or anywhere). You do not like them touching your skin. Since the first day, you’ve politely asked the dance instructor to put them on your shirt. Every time. Except for this past week. You some how forgot and so did Miss Codi and you came over to me beaming and showing me the little mouse sticker on your hand. “I got it on my hand Mama. It so cute.” You were so proud of yourself and wore that sticker till it fell off later that night. “Don’t take it off Mama”, you warned me. “I won’t. I promise.”

Funny enough, your Uncle Tyler sent you a package full of stickers that day. So you spent the afternoon pulling them off and sticking them onto paper. Your concentration in this photo shows you mean business. Stickers are serious business.
-joining jodi for the 52 project!

This weekend we finally got around to tidying up our garden spaces (however, I didn’t get a chance to take any photos yet). We had fun celebrating a bit for May Day with new peg dolls and flowers for the garden.
We took Ellie to her first live performance. A local bunch of travelling fairy tale performers. They did their own version of The Little Mermaid and to our surprise, Ellie sat through the whole hour! She really seemed to enjoy it. So we will definitely be going to their production of Peter Pan next month.
I was very busy washing and drying alpaca fiber. I was given a huge stash of alpaca seconds from a friend’s mother who owns an alpaca farm. It was the highlight of me weekend. What an incredibly fun fiber to work with! I’m excited to be able to stuff my softies now with this super soft and cuddly fiber.

18/52

eloise: You’re three months shy of 3. You go from loving me, to stomping away from me within seconds. You are joyful and frustrating. Your back molars are coming in and it’s made for some tough nights sleep. You are ridiculously silly and dramatic. You lay your head on my shoulder and tell me that I’m your favorite. And my goodness, you are mine as well.
-joining Jodi for The 52 project!

When I taught preschool, I always looked forward to April because of Poem in Your Pocket Day (April 30th) and the fact that the whole month is an excuse to read poetry with it being National Poetry Month. I’d drag out all of my childhood poetry books and I’d get my kids excited with verse after verse of my favorite poems and learning many new ones each year. So, naturally, I’ve been waiting to share more poetry with Ellie but didn’t think she was quite old enough to really delve into it. However, a couple months ago, Jeff asked me if I had Where The Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein. He wanted to read Ellie a couple poems while she took a bath. I thought why not, and brought him my tattered copy. Well, she was hooked from her first poem. Every night since, she requests poems in the bath. This week, I requested several poetry books from the library to add to my small collection. We’ve been reading all week and even listening to some.
I’ve listed some of my favorite children’s collections of poetry here. If you have any to add to my list, please let me know. I’d love to add to our collection.

Where The Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein
A Light In The Attic by Shel Silverstein
Zoo by Ogden Nash
The New Kid on The Block by jack Prelutsky
Caroline Kennedy’s Poems to Learn By Heart and Family of Poems
Poetry Speaks to Children (this one comes with a c.d.!)
Don’t Step on The Sky – A handful of Haiku by Miriam Chaikin
In Spring by Jane Belk Moncure
Here’s A Little Poem by Jane Yolen
(and I have to mention that Natalie Merchant has a fantastic c.d. , where she’s turned many old poems into beautiful songs. A favorite of ours here is The Adventures of Isabel).


And for a special surprise today, I made Ellie a “Poem in Her Pocket” set of her favorite poem, Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me too by Shel Silverstein.

Happy Poetry reading to you friends!!

Finally getting to posting about the weekend. A rainy, rather chilly weekend, but a fun weekend none the less. We headed up to the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History for the morning. It was neat to see the way Ellie interacted with the exhibits this time, wanting to know more, wanting to press buttons and explore different things. We met up with friends to have lunch and then headed home for the afternoon. Sunday we took a chilly, windy walk on the beach and discovered the beach littered in these strange papery things. Curious to figure out what the heck they were, I discovered they were sail jellyfish that had washed ashore. Very strange, stinky and interesting.















The end of the weekend ended with a very over-tired toddler. She’s dropping naps every so often and then seeming to need them very badly the next day. Our routines have been a bit off these days, but hoping this week, we will find our rhythm again.
Hoping your weekend was a lovely one.

16/52

eloise: Happiness is a strawberry popsicle on a warm spring day.

-joining jodi for the 52 project!