Happy May Day

What a beautiful first day of May here in Alaska. It could not have been better.

The local public radio had a May Day celebration at the playground.  The day was sunny and beautiful, and for some reason the photo is dark (reason being photographer).

We played for hours at the playground.

It is so fun to see our son play differently this year.  He did some parallel play with a friend's daughter and did not run away once which was a big theme last year.

I think I might actually get to sit down and watch my son play with other children this summer.  I am so looking forward to it.

Fiddle Lessons

I am taking fiddle lessons.  So far I have one lesson under my belt and am in love!  Right now I sound like squeak, squeak, and my bow hand aches, but I am not discouraged at all.
It is so much fun!

Current Favorites

Here are some books that my son is currenly loving.  We read lots and lots of books in our house.  Some are winners, some are not.  I am starting a practice I use in my classroom of reading books on a theme.  This month we have read lots of books that include fish.  Here are some current favorites from my son.

The Deep Blue Sea by Audrey Wood (sorry not a link) is a definite hit in our house.  So much so that I now need to purchase it because I can not renew it any more.  I love this book because it is really easy for a young child to "read".  It is patterned and repetitive.  My son who is 3 is picking out the words "of" and "the" when he sees them due to this book.  He even saw the word asleep in another book and said "deep".

Another favorite is by the same author.  Ten Little Fish by Audrey Woods taught my son to count to 10.  Again, very repetitive and includes fish.  I don't know why the photo is so small.

My favorite of our fish books has been Hooray for Fish by Lucy Cousins.  I like this book because of the illustrations, which are very colorful and at time comical.  It really lends itself to an art tie in.

Lucy Cousins is of course the author of the Maisy books which are always a big hit with young children.
This book is a great book to develop language.  The fish in the book look like what they are called.  There is an eye fish that look like an eye, and hairy fish that look hairy.  Lots of fun inside this one.

Happy reading to all of you.

Amazingly Beautiful

Today was just plain beautiful.

I pulled over on the way home from work to this amazing view.

It was so peaceful.

Just happened to have my knitting in the car, and so I sat, knit, and dreamed.

Mother Nature's Tricks

Mother nature is playing some tricks on us here in Alaska.  I woke up to snow, not just a dusting, enough to make the ski mountain look good.  We also had icy roads and 60mph winds.  Crazy mother nature.  I would like to officially request Spring please.

Finished

 After a long day of time with the little guy, followed by time with an ever growing wood pile I managed to get in some quiet time.  I finally finished the cross stitch project I was working on.

Next up is the sweater I started knitting for my big brown eyed son. This is my first non-hat knitting project and it is slow because I am not confident in fixing mistakes.  Lots of mistakes so I have to put it aside and wait for my neighbor to help me unravel.  All in time.

It is nice to be beyond the stages in our families life where it was all about getting our son enough nutrition so that he could become stronger.  Now there are still speech appts 1 hour away, but there are glimmers of down time too.

No Time to Think

 I am feeling very ungrounded from to many work commitments.  April is just jam packed with obligation.  I long to be horizontal.

I Am Vertical by Sylvia Plath

But I would rather be horizontal.
I am not a tree with my root in the soil
Sucking up minerals and motherly love
So that each March I may gleam into leaf,
Nor am I the beauty of a garden bed
Attracting my share of Ahs and spectacularly painted,
Unknowing I must soon unpetal.
Compared with me, a tree is immortal
And a flower-head not tall, but more startling,
And I want the one's longevity and the other's daring.

Tonight, in the infinitesimal light of the stars,
The trees and flowers have been strewing their cool odors.
I walk among them, but none of them are noticing.
Sometimes I think that when I am sleeping
I must most perfectly resemble them--
Thoughts gone dim.
It is more natural to me, lying down.
Then the sky and I are in open conversation,
And I shall be useful when I lie down finally:
The the trees may touch me for once, and the flowers have time for me.

I saw this greenhouse when I drove South over Spring Break. It catches my eye whenever I go by it.  I think I want it