Long day

After a long day of working in the yard, I am sitting on the deck watching the chiminea burn. The hot tub is ready (I'm just waiting for the girls to settle in for the night). Those are my peonies cut from my front yard. And yes, Greg, there is a fire mat under the chiminea so as not to set the deck on fire.

There are Baltimore Oriole's singing from the top of the oak tree above me. The yard looks fantastic thanks to much hard work by Mike and me. We had to put chicken wire around the garden today. A rabbit is getting all my lettuce and tomato plants and the tops of Emma's carrots. We shall see if this helps.

I am not sure the girls really understand that the plants that will bear tomatoes, peppers and carrots are the same plants we started from seeds in the kitchen. It seems a stretch to them. They don't quite grasp the whole photosynthesis thing.

The other day in the "mini van", Emma Jane said to me, "Mom, there are five reasons I would not want to be a tree. One, the whole making oxygen all day would get tiresome. Two, you would have to stand outside all day in the heat or in the snow. Three, people pick your fruit you worked so hard to make. Four, you can't dance. And five, dogs pee on you."

Ah, the sun is going down and Lucy has not gotten out of bed in at least 10 minutes...hot tub time. Goodnight

We went to a wonderful wedding this weekend

Emma Jane, Playground Designer

About a week ago I got a call from the YMCA camp she went to last summer (the same camp that gave her an award at the zoo in January) asking if they could get her input on a new playground. They had been awarded a grant for a new playground and the engineers and designers from KaBoom (a playground company) were going to be in town to hear what the kids wanted.

So yesterday I picked her up from school and drove her out to the YMCA. I was a little frustrated with the timing as this could very well be the busiest week of the semester for me. But I thought it would be a memorable experience and I thought she might actually be just the kid to make real contributions to this "dream playground". So I left work early and drove across town and back to get her to a meeting/creative session with the YMCA camp director and the people from KaBoom.

I am so glad I did. It was a great experience for the children. They were told to create their dream playground on paper and then were asked to get up and present to the group. All these adults and all these engineers and all these camp employees were sitting in chairs listening intently to the children present their ideas. It was very powerful and very exciting to watch what kids can do when their imaginations are free.

This was the perfect project for Emma Jane as it involved art, leadership, creativity and public speaking.

And the next morning she was featured on the front page of the Local section in The Tulsa World. Pretty cool way to start your day, I think.

pretty girl...

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The puppet theater

Emma Jane made a puppet theater this weekend. From concept, to design, to construction, she did it all herself. She got a little help with the box knife to which she said "it's okay mommy if you didn't stay on my lines completely".




She made little "fingers" to hold the puppets. She made a script holder.


She made a backdrop and she got out her sewing machine to make a curtain.



The curtain opens by pulling on a ribbon that goes down the rod pocket and is stitched to the other end (her design).




Absolutely amazing...





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