Give it to recieve it

Respect, caring, thoughtfullness, patience, empathy, kindness, responsability, just some of the qualities that we want our children to have. But how do they get it? Because we told them to behave that way? Not likely. Children need to be treated with respect, shown that THEY and their opinions matter. That what is important to them is important to you. Just because they are little don't forget that they are living creatures that matter too. Children are learning how the world works. We need to nurture that curiosity. We are not "the boss" of children. We should not order them around telling them to do things "because I am the Mom/Dad thats why." How will they truly learn those qualities if we are not setting a good example? We don't let Scout have everything she wants. We do however, let her do everything that is important to her. If it takes a little more of our time to wait for her to finish then so be it, she is learning about her world and we respect that.

Art day

We had our second art day. This time the kids collected items from the woods in small baskets they could carry. Then we had contact paper framed with some colored foam. It was easy for them to make a collage by sticking their treasures onto the paper.

Animal encounters

Recently we have had some fun animal encounters. The most fascinating aspect is learning how normal these are for Scout. Everyday she is surrounded by animals, walking freely around her. She is able to walk up and touch them at will. When these "wild" animals come close to us she doesn't act any differently then she does when it is a domestic animal. With both she enjoys observing them, very rarely moving quickly toward them or touching aggressively. She is never frightened, even when feeding wild baby ducks and they grab at her fingers when the food has run out. She looked at us with a questioning face while it was happening and when  we explained they were hungry her face softened as if she understood. She is so remarkable.

Feeding squirrels and pigeons in the park in Boston.

"Knuckles!!!"

Swimming with baby ducks in Snake Pond. We have decided to come here Wednesday night for the summer instead of going to the Y for swimming lessons. We all go together and bring a picnic dinner. W stayed last night for about 2 hours. We had a blast.

Scout feeding the baby ducks some of her pretzels.

Work out

Scout gets a clean bill of health back in Boston. In between follow up appointments we played in the park.

Climbing onto the bars.

"Let go Daddy! I can do it myself"

Hanging tough!

"This is getting harder but I'm still hanging on....don't look at Daddy's nails!"

She finally has to tap out...but not after a great work-out!!

Home from the hospital

Scout is home from the hospital. She had an infection, probably from a sinus infection, that spread into the skin around her eyes. They became so swollen that she was blind for 24 hours. She was such a trooper in the hospital. It was so scary for her and I can count at least 35 doctors, nurses and residents that worked on her.

It was very disturbing to encounter how they did NOT treat her like a person but their medical project. Even though Murph made a point to tell everyone her name when they walked in the room, during our 3 night stay, only 2 doctors referred to her by her name. Only 1 spoke with her about what he was about to do before touching her. Many said what they were doing didn't hurt when we knew it did. Most planned for what was most convenient for them, not what was in her best interest. We were very upset and advocating for her began when we first walked in the door and didn't end until we walked out 3 days later. It was mentally draining, even during the night the vigil would have to be kept up. I think most people just "do what they are told" never questioning the doctors or nurses. It is our job as parents to speak for our children (or any other loved ones) when they can not or when they are ignored. We are happy that we had the opportunity to tell our story to a few staff members at the hospital who are in the position to make changes.

Our little Scout shined above it all. She had both her parents at her side AT ALL TIMES and her brother was at home taking care of everything else. It was a great fathers day weekend with everyone home and healthy.

New boots!

A growing cowgirl needs new boots and a hat once in awhile!!

The end of the day...nice and dirty as usual!

A better view of the dirt!!

Stylin in her new Ropers!!

We had our first visit to the Cape Childrens Museum. We got free passes from the library and went on Sunday afternoon. Scout was so excited to be set loose in the building. There was so much to see that she ran about 5 feet in one direction and then stopped and ran 5 feet in another. She did this for the first 10 minutes, she was so overwhelmed by all the choices! She finally settled in and had a great time. The museum is one large room filled with lots of exhibits to play with. There were only 3 or 4 other families there so it was just perfect.

Abou to crawl through the train "tunnel" with a dinosaur.

Playing in the play kitchen was a favorite spot. She was pouring juice into a cup here. This is the first time we saw her doing this type of imaginative play.

The perfect spot to rest my little legs.

Having juice with Daddy.

A game of tug

Scout is very proud to show off her belly these days!!

"OOH, Ace,s ball. I think I will drag it around the yard"

"I just love draging things behind me lately"

"Here he is"

"Let's have a good game of tug!"

"You are always so gentle when you play tug with me, Ace"

"That was fun, you can have it now"

"I love that little girl! I hope nobody ever tries to hurt her...I would have to protect her"

"Let's see what else I can find out here to explore"

May garden

These pictures were taken a few days ago. Scout picked pea pods yesterday and snacked on them!!

Pea pods and romain lettuce.

More peas, mesculan lettuce (growing back for the third time), and a cucumber starting.

Peas and potatoes are in the trash cans.

Our garden cats.

First time painting

Yesterday we invited Lilly and AJ over for painting. We plan to get together a few times a month to do art with the kids. The plan is to give them different mediums to work with and let them create. When I think about art for kids it always seems so "instructed". They are shown what to do and how to do it...all individual creativity is absent. I want to foster Scout's individual creativity and artistic abilities by providing opportunity only and not much, if any, direction.

As you can see she mostly painted her face!!! She tried using brushes and her fingers.

Memorial Day

Memorial Day weekend was prom weekend for Amanda. Amanda is our good friend, babysitter for Scout and all the critters!! The streets in town were closed and all the families gathered at the Grist Mill for photos. 

Amanda and Scout

Amanda has been speaking French while caring for Scout.

Our cutie

"Wass that"

It's a goose family!

We finished off the night with dinner {a veggie buffet} and dancing at Connemesset Farm.

The turkey

The day after Seamus found the turtle he spotted a turkey up in a tree. Again, he alerted us with his barking.

The turkey flew from tree to tree but never really left the area. We think there must of been a nest and she was trying to lure Seamus away from it.

She walked down the "alphabet trail", only to return to the original tree.

Scout loved watching the turkey. Pointing and watching without ever loosing interest.