Little Ink Indian

One quiet evening at home Della decided she wanted to play with her stamps and ink. I re-directed her to her bedroom play station where she could safely play without any brotherly interference. 

Less than 5-minutes later she emerges shyly poking her head around a corner. 

As I hadn't yet spotted her, Stark simply looked at me and said "this one is your's to clean up" ... 

at which point I discovered my little painted Indian (or monster) ... 

who was promptly marched off to the bathtub. 

Della had managed to cover herself from head to toe in stamp ink. 

Surprisingly she did only minor damage to the bedroom carpet, hall walls, and the rest of the house. 

I should mention that our annual family picture shoot was scheduled for 2 days later. I managed to get most of the ink off but the top of her head was still just a bit pink for the pictures. 

 Pink hair

 When I told this story to our photographer she asked me what I'd done in response ... 

Although mischievous, no real harm came to anyone so my reaction was pretty mellow:

I tried not to laugh, 

I explained to Della that coating the house in ink wasn't a good idea,

I asked her not to do it again,

and I gave her a bath. 

(Side note: The ink pad has mysteriously disappeared.)

Garden Kids 2015

We doubled our garden space this year by expanding into the front yard. 

We've come a long ways from bare dirt to a productive garden. 

Although the organic home grown produce is a big perk, 

my primary goal was to introduce the kids to gardening. 

Although their 'help' is often questionable, 

both Huck and Della really enjoy hanging out in the garden with me in the evenings ... 

especially when there are berries to pick, bugs to watch, holes to dig, or plants to water with a hose. 

Early Spring 2015

July 2015

 Looking for the last huckleberry ... he already ate all the strawberries.

Note the flowers behind him ... Della picked them out and planted the seeds (with my help).

She is very proud of her 'flower garden'

 The fence is obviously not for the kids ... that darn hole digging dog.

Bug watching

 Silly girl who never wears clothes 

"BUG"  

  He loves to water and does know how to aim a hose ...watch out! 

 He promptly became extremely muddy

 I planted peas especially for the kids. 

One afternoon, while I was distracted in the garden, 

they disappeared with the freshly picked bowl of peas. 

I found them in the play house quietly munching away. 

A perfect moment!

Della would attempt to open the pea pod and eat each pea. 

Huck simply broke the pod in half, ate the 2 exposed peas, and threw away the rest. 

I'm guessing next year he'll have it figured out.

Garden 2015 is a success. 

Just you wait until I post pictures of our Fall pumpkin yield!

 I'm already working on Stark to let me expand a little farther into the front yard ...

we don't need that much grass!

Trampoline Bed

I think I forgot to mention that Huck now sleeps in his trampoline. 

We bought him a huge big boy bed that resembles a firehouse, 

we also put his crib mattress on the floor (small steps) ... 

but this boy prefers his trampoline. 

We've gotten a lot of good use out of that $70 mini-trampoline.

 

 Although, he's nearly outgrown it. 

I'm pretty sure a standard sized trampoline won't fit in his room.