Some Spring Gardening

Today was a big day for Miss Moira.  She learned how to plant seeds.

It all started because I thought she would enjoy having a little garden of her own.  She loves to water plants and has a wonderful fixation on sticking her hands in the potted plants in my house and dumping dirt all over the floor.   She also loves picking dandelions, as well as the little white flowers off of my shamrock plant.  And she is a little bit of a nature girl.  Between 17 and 18 months she would walk around my mother's gardens and sniff the flowers.

When we went camping last Labor Day, she did this...

Yeah, she hugged a tree.  In the middle of the woods.  In nothing but a diaper.

Hippie?  Naturist?  Arborist?  Who knows.

What better way to foster Moira's green thumb than to help her grow her very own garden.  Maybe she'll stop picking the house plants and dumping dirt on the floor...I doubt it.

Today, she planted sunflower seeds, cucumbers, and green beans.  The sunflowers because I thought she would love to see how big they get; the cucumbers and beans because she loves them.  Once the risk of frost is gone here in Buffalo (hopefully sometime before July), we will transfer her plants to some large pots to put along our sunny fence.

She was thrilled to be outside (finally after days of rain) and to use her new gardening tools from the Easter Bunny (she especially loves having her own watering can).

First, put on the garden gloves...

Open the soil...

Put the soil in the starter pots...

Repeat...

Get all of your seeds planted...

 

Cover the seeds with soil...

Put in your garden tags...

The last and best part:  water the seeds with your cool new watering can!

Admire your work...

And wait for those sprouts to come up!

:)
Anne

Bunny Pretzel Pops

Happy Monday.  It finally feels like Spring these past couple of days and even though I am exhausted, it puts a little bit of pep into my step.  It is a windy day today (I am reminded of "Pooh's Blustery Day"...we have seen that movie quite often), but we still went outside, walked a couple of blocks, and played on the slide.  It was just good to be out of the house.  

Also made these today with Moira.  Salty & sweet...mmmm

And they are covered in coconut...double mmmm

Here is what you need:

We used mini chocolate chips, white chips, pretzel rods, 'regular-sized' marshmallows, and flaked coconut.  Most of it probably looks self-explanatory, but here is what to do:

Get your little work station set up...white chocolate chips melted; mini-chips ready; coconut in a shallow dish; marshmallow ears (by the way, the marshmallows were cut down the long way, then each 'slice' was cut in the middle to make 2 half-circles); pretzel rods; and wax paper for the finished product.

Dip the pretzel rod in the melted white chocolate chips.

Immediately roll it in the coconut.

Put the mini-chip eyes and nose on.  Use some of the melted chocolate as glue if needed.

(Moira is in the, "NO, I do it" phase so things got a little messy.)

 

Use some of the melted chocolate to put on the bunny ears.

Sneak a pretzel rod, and when someone asks you what you are doing, tell them "I'm eating a pretzel!" in your best matter-of-fact voice.

Enjoy your treat (after you eat your dinner, of course!)

And if you have left-over marshmallows and melted chocolate, make these little fellas...roll your marshmallow in melted white chocolate chips, roll it in coconut, and add some bunny, eyes, and nose (using some of that melted stuff for your glue).

:)
Anne