Favorite things

Favorite games:

Playing with her animal figurines, playdough, this Pengoloo game pictured above or a memory game with the pieces, being an imaginary animal, being a boat or truck, being someone who drives or works with boats or trucks, using chalk as an ingredient for pretend soups, smoothies, lotions, etc., pretend cooking at her outdoor kitchen (which is a large stump behind the house that's breaking down), play based on the Laura Ingalls-Wilder book series. "Cat training"

Favorite foods: 

Just about anything we make. Sandwiches, pastas, fresh fruits, berries, vegetables. Homemade fruit popsicles, and banana "icecream", frozen peas and corn, or anything else she can grab from my prep area such as carrot slices or raw diced sweet potato. Cheeses cheeses and more cheeses. Seafood; fish, lobster, scallops, sushi. Anything sweet. 

Favorite places: 

The deck, her dirt kitchen, or anywhere in the yard. Streams at the park, the woods behind our home, Depew/Blue mountain area, Sunnyside playground, anywhere she can go in water or dirt or mud, her friend Ada's home. 

Favorite things: 

'Things that go', her animal toys, things to climb or hang from, books and story time, chase games, foraging, meeting or catching bugs and animals, snacks, sweets, samples, nature, birdwatching, treasures, flowers, building.

A fine spring

  We have had such a lovely, full spring time. Weather has been perfect the last week but similar throughout, cool nights and mornings and warm during the day. We've been enjoying the outdoors so much and using every ounce of energy we've got from the time we wake until bed. 

  Emma finished her Little Bird preschool program last week with a sweet ceremony for the girls to share with their parents. We brought home a basket with some art from over the year, pictures, and a rolled beeswax candle which we made together. I'm so happy that she was a part of this program and with how much she has grown the last year. For us, the 2x mornings a week class was just right. Not too busy a week and just enough time apart. Emma is so much more interested in joining in games and activities with other kids or starting up new ones, and finding someone around her age to run around with at parks is easy and rewarding for her. She's also more focused, more verbal, amazingly bright. I believe all the reading aloud, discussing, and truly engaging is a huge part of it. Oh, I should add here, that after reading Charlotte's Web front to back between 15 and 20 times, we were able to go as a family to se a live performance of it at the Emelin theater in Mamaroneck. Patrick and I so enjoyed her enjoyment of the play! Bright eyes, big smile, and laughing out at the silly parts. Some times she couldn't contain her outbursts- she was really into it! She did notice some parts that differed from the novel, but still was totally engrossed by the performance. Also we've been reading aloud the Ingalls-Wilder series with Little House, and Laura and her families other adventures. We're on the 7th in the series and she has gained so much in inspiration for imaginary play and we've siezed so many opportunities to discuss different topics or vocabulary. It's so rewarding to us both. 

Anyway, Emma is looking forward to the week of camp she will be a part of next month, same place and time as her preschool and with some familiar faces.  I'm excited for her!

  Around the house it feels like I've got some free time, now that we've finished our kitchen renovation. Five months in the process but we can finally sit back and look at all the work we've done, no unpainted walls, uninstalled fixtures, or exposed wires staring us in the face. Emma and I spend a great deal in the kitchen between preparing meals and eating meals and cleaning up after meals,  or just having some quiet time at our new favorite table by the window. It's such a nice place to be. 

  And with that I'm being interrupted again, happily, by Emma who has completed her games with chalk and water and is ready for us to do something together. On a nice day like today we might get into one of our chapter books on the deck or just let imagination run free and see where it takes us. It's never dull!