Pioneer Day Bonnet-Aprons

So for our stake Pioneer Day celebration I made Bonnet-Aprons for my girls to wear. They were inspired by and patterned after one my mom had purchased for me when I was little. I made 3 for a total of 4 with the original, so my two nieces who were visiting could each have one to wear too. The pattern is fairly simple, but really clever. Fold the top down and tie in the back around your waist and it's an apron. For a bonnet, button the sides down, pull the drawstring in the back and voila it's a bonnet!!! SO MUCH FUN!!!

Bonnet-Apron laid out flat and the cinched and buttoned bonnet.

Impromptu apron models and apron detail.

Starting Montessori at Home

I have been wanting to start some Montessori activities at home with the girls for quite a while, to supplement the couple of days Sugarplum goes to school and while she is out for the summer. I think it will be a good starting point for Lovebug too.  So the quest to turn the office into a Montessori work space began today and the girls immediately wanted to jump into the few activities I have been able to put together. Below are few pics of what they worked on.

Lovebug sliding clothespins onto a box. Hand-eye coordination.

Sugarplum doing a bean counting exercise.

Lovebug pouring beans from one jar to another. She really loved this once she figured out how to do it without spilling. This is going to be fun!!!

July 4th Fun!

This was probably the highlight of the Fourth of July for our girls. Our dear friends and neighbors, The Thomas', showed up in their decked out patriotic golf cart to take the girls for a spin. Excited would be an understatement, they flew out the door, climbed on and away they went. They returned 15 min later to ask about putting their feet in the pool, the swim lessons pool, and off they went.  When they returned about a half hour later, they bounded into the house, ring pops on their fingers, chattering all at once about their adventures. Sugarplum couldn't contain her excitement when she told us she got to go INTO the duck hut and pick a treat.  When she was taking swim lessons, we would get something from the duck hut after she was done, but her experience was outside talking to the employee inside, so to get a behind the scenes peek inside the duck hut when no one was there but the Thomas' just took the cake.  We love our friends!!!!

Strange Creatures

So far my blogging has been slow, and I have posted all things gardening, but hey it's what we are doing these days, so here comes another garden post. "If you build it, they will come." is not just true for baseball fields. As soon as you plant a garden, strange creatures you have never seen before suddenly appear, welcome or not. This morning I found one of these in my garden. It's called a planarian or shovel head worm.

It's creepy and evidently it's carnivorous, it's prey of choice being earthworms. They have been known to eradicate entire populations of earthworms. Not good!  It won't be staying in my garden, I just hope there aren't more. They aren't native here but often travel in potted plants. I think He/She (it's both) came from my nearby newly added potted plant. Let's hope it's a lone traveler!