Look who’s joined our family! We adopted Layla, a three year-old collie, from a shelter last week. She’s absolutely wonderful, very well trained, and super loving and loyal.
Things are busy and mostly wonderful here. Fiona will turn 6 months old in a little over a week, and in a month Jack will turn 9, Alex will turn 5 and Victoria will turn 14 (Anna is the only child not celebrating in the next month!).
I’m working on getting back to more regular blogging and catching up in every other thing I’m perpetually behind in. We’ll see how it goes!
Here’s a few ways to make a little magic this week.
1. Go rock hunting together. Pick any spot with lots of stones and look for ones that are particularly beautiful, sparkly or cute. Compare rocks when you’re done and pick a few to bring home.
2. Make a garden sculpture. Scavenge at the garage or basement for assorted odd parts that nobody wants. Add some wire, electrical tape or anything else you fancy to hold your parts together and have the kids create something wild and wonderful.
3. Gather up old, stale spices and let the kids take them outside to “cook” with. Save empty containers to fill with sand, dirt or crushed leaves. Give them a couple of bowls to mix their creations in and spoons to stir.
4. Go puddle stomping.
5. Go for a bird walk to see how many different birds you can find and ID. Bring a bird guide if you like or start a journal to document how many kinds you’ve spotted.
6. Fill some squirt guns or spray bottles with water and have the kids spray designs on the side of the house or the driveway. Invite them to draw pictures with the water and see if they can write their names.
7. Lie on your backs in the grass and cloud watch.
8. Hold a carnival in the back yard. Rig up some easy contests (knock over pop bottles with bean bags, toss the ball into the bucket and so on) and get extra toys or stuffed animals that can be passed on. Invite friends and ask them to contribute their own games and prizes.
9. Make up your own super heroes and super villains and act out a scene together. Our girls were Butterfly Girl and Fashion Queen once when they were little and they attacked the Evil Messy Haired Daddy. (Snort) The campier the better!
10. Visit an ethnic grocery store together and find some new goodies to sample and collect.
And with that, I’m off to tackle the next 20 things on my to-do list and sneak a bit of chocolate. Have a magical week!
How can Anna not be celebrating when there are so many siblings having birthdays 😉