Allison - Playground Warrior

A few weeks ago I received a call from school that Allison fell on the playground and scrapped up her nose pretty good. When I picked her up from school, I expected her to be quite dramatic about her injury, as scrapes are a pretty big deal around here; however, Allison really didn't make a big deal about it.  Her nose was quite red. I felt bad for her, but I didn't make a big deal out of it either.

A few days later, I tried taking Allison's picture and she said no because her "nose looked bad." Later on, she asked me to pick her up so that she could look at herself in the mirror. As Allison looked in the mirror she said, "I look beautiful" and then she scrunched her nose and said, "Well, not my nose - that doesn't look beautiful." My heart broke. I told her that she did look beautiful and that her nose was a badge of being a playground warrior. She asked what that meant and I explained to her that being a playground warrior meant that she gets outdoors and plays - that she isn't afraid to fall and get right back up. I told Allison that it lets the world know that she doesn't just sit there on the sidelines watching others play. I want my girls to be playground warriors; to be proud of their bruises and not to be content with sitting on the bench during recess. I simply want them to know that they are beautiful - no matter what. 

So, now at bath time, the girls proudly count their bruises and compare notes. So, I can take one little sigh of relief and know that this latest crisis has been adverted for now and feel confident that my girls still know that they rock.

Carrots, Peppers and Cotton Candy?

We are trying a new adventure this summer - vegetable gardening. We rented a plot from our neighborhood community garden. I figured a $10 plot fee was a whole lot cheaper than attempting to make our own garden bed at home.

With the help of a friend who drew up a garden plan for me, I wrote up my shopping list and we visited a large nursery to buy our plants. This nursery is very well-known in the area and recently moved to a new location. It is like the Disneyland of nurseries - they even have a carnival concession trailer located inside their store. Upon entering the store, Allison spotted the cotton candy at the concession stand and said "ohhh..cotton candy."  Amelia quickly responded with "Cotton candy plant!! Where???" She was a little embarrassed when she realized her mistake; however, she then thought that was the funniest thing and quickly came up with all these stories about how she would sneak out of the house to eat treats from her "cotton candy plant."

For now, the girls will have to make due with peppers, peas, spinach, etc. from our garden (if anything actually grows that is) and cotton candy from the cotton candy machine from my childhood that we are still using.