We've been reading bunny books this week:
1. The Golden Egg Book by Margaret Wise Brown (Got this at a library sale, a few years back, for 10 cents. Very, very sweet story and illustrations by Lilian Obligado. The Golden Book, Obligado edition we have seems to be out of print, which is a shame.)
2. Little Cottontail by Carl Memling (This is from Doug and Lori's collection of Golden Books, also illustrated by Lillian Obligado. Sadly, this one seems completely out of print. I read this when I was a kid too and it is lovely, especially for budding naturalists.)
3. Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown (Between these two and goodnight moon, this woman clearly loved bunnies--and who can blame her?)
4. Marshmallow by Clare Newberry (1943 Caldecott Honor book. I haven't read it, but Doug described it as "Good, but LOOONG."
5. Guess How Much I Love You? by Sam McBratney (Most of you already know this is a great book, but Doug has ruined it for me by calling the main character Brown Nut Hair instead of Nut Brown Hare. And now, I've ruined it for you!)
Happy Bunny Reading!
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Monday, March 24, 2008
Easter Magic
Even though the temperature still felt like early February, Sunday was a good day. It felt like Easter, and despite the cold, I know that spring will soon be springing: the lilacs are showing signs of budding, the sun has at last been shining, and we even finally took the Christmas bulbs off of the wreath which has been languishing on the floor of the back porch since the end of January!
I am ready to get outside, get the kids outside, put on my flip flops, and stick my hands in the dirt.
The morning started around 7:30 with an extremely abbreviated Sunday family snuggle in bed and then we were off to confirm that the Easter bunny had visited in the night. We'd left a carrot on the kitchen table which Harrison verified had been knawed down to a small stump, and then he struck out to find the baskets.
Griffin's was more or less in plain sight on one of the dining room chairs. He scored a couple of jelly beans, a new book, and a little white chocolate "rubber" duckie.
Harrison had some trouble finding his own basket. He searched high and low in our room, the kitchen, living room, Griffin's room, the dining room. Finally the basket was found in the bathtub (silly wabbit!). The haul: a new birdfeeder and birdseed, several garden seed packets, watercolors and brushes, jelly beans, malted eggs, and three molded chocolates (dinosaur, rabbit, and train).
For dinner, I set a pretty spring table with linens, flowers, Gram's china and glass pitcher with the painted bluebirds, and the Easter eggs which we colored on Saturday. Even though, with my parents, we were only six, I also put out some placecards which I had stamped with our respective initials the afternoon before. We always made placecards for holiday dinners at Gram's, so I'm starting this tradition for Harrison and Griffin. [I'll definitely be getting washable-ink stamp pads so that Harrison can better manage this task next time! Harrison was quite baffled by my use of initials, rather than full names, to signify place settings---"but these are not the letters in my name!!!"]
All in all, it was a lovely day! It's been a rough couple of weeks, but there's much comfort in tradition. I am so appreciative of my Gram's desire to make magic for us, so I hope we were successful in making this weekend a little bit magical for Harrison as well.
I am ready to get outside, get the kids outside, put on my flip flops, and stick my hands in the dirt.
The morning started around 7:30 with an extremely abbreviated Sunday family snuggle in bed and then we were off to confirm that the Easter bunny had visited in the night. We'd left a carrot on the kitchen table which Harrison verified had been knawed down to a small stump, and then he struck out to find the baskets.
Griffin's was more or less in plain sight on one of the dining room chairs. He scored a couple of jelly beans, a new book, and a little white chocolate "rubber" duckie.
Harrison had some trouble finding his own basket. He searched high and low in our room, the kitchen, living room, Griffin's room, the dining room. Finally the basket was found in the bathtub (silly wabbit!). The haul: a new birdfeeder and birdseed, several garden seed packets, watercolors and brushes, jelly beans, malted eggs, and three molded chocolates (dinosaur, rabbit, and train).
For dinner, I set a pretty spring table with linens, flowers, Gram's china and glass pitcher with the painted bluebirds, and the Easter eggs which we colored on Saturday. Even though, with my parents, we were only six, I also put out some placecards which I had stamped with our respective initials the afternoon before. We always made placecards for holiday dinners at Gram's, so I'm starting this tradition for Harrison and Griffin. [I'll definitely be getting washable-ink stamp pads so that Harrison can better manage this task next time! Harrison was quite baffled by my use of initials, rather than full names, to signify place settings---"but these are not the letters in my name!!!"]
All in all, it was a lovely day! It's been a rough couple of weeks, but there's much comfort in tradition. I am so appreciative of my Gram's desire to make magic for us, so I hope we were successful in making this weekend a little bit magical for Harrison as well.
Mourning
Harrison has had an interesting reaction to my Gram passing away. The day she died, I told him I was very sad, and he hugged me and said in my ear, "I'm sorry, Great Grandma died, Mommy" which was incredibly comforting and sweet.
He hasn't been upset about it--he only knew her from visits to the nursing home, where she'd been since he was born--but he's been empathetic, and it has definitely been on his mind, especially since the funeral. At various points he's said: "Maybe she will come back soon." and "When I was a little boy [one of his favorite ways to start a sentence], I died too, but I came back." [Maybe he's a reincarnated Hindu?}
Last night in his nightly rundown of what he planned to dream about, he told Doug, "I'm going to dream about Great Grandma dying."
I guess he's mourning in his own way...
He hasn't been upset about it--he only knew her from visits to the nursing home, where she'd been since he was born--but he's been empathetic, and it has definitely been on his mind, especially since the funeral. At various points he's said: "Maybe she will come back soon." and "When I was a little boy [one of his favorite ways to start a sentence], I died too, but I came back." [Maybe he's a reincarnated Hindu?}
Last night in his nightly rundown of what he planned to dream about, he told Doug, "I'm going to dream about Great Grandma dying."
I guess he's mourning in his own way...
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