These two and I took a day off to go do some college touring for Kaden, and found the right school for him. :)

On the way home we took a short detour to one of our favorite "Old Florida" spots - a boat ramp and swimming area along the Peace River and one of the few places you can find sharks teeth inland in fresh water. 

We didn't sharks tooth hunt today - we weren't dressed for it and the water was FREEZING cold, but the boys had a great time swinging on a left-over rope swing. 

In the summer that sandy area is mostly underwater. Usually April and May is when the water is at it's lowest and we can search for shark's teeth, so we'll see how it looks in a month, but the water is much higher than it usually is in March due to a rainier winter than usual.

I just love these little off-the-grid spots ... they're getting harder and harder to find as Florida grows and grows, but we'll keep searching for them.

 

Salad and a craft. What a win!

When Chick-Fil-A asked me and some other moms to try their new Spicy Southwest Salad and create something from the container I got pretty excited.

First of all, the salad. It's really good. That "spicy" word at the beginning of the name? Yeah, they mean it. It's spicy. Like, "have a drink handy and plan to refill it" spicy. But it's oh so good that I couldn't stop enjoying it even as I guzzled my water. The chicken is delicious and the little chili lime pepitas are a real treat.


And then the craft. We have a little girl in our care during the weekdays. She's going on 9 months old and is a non-stop bundle of energy! I thought the container would make a great drum for her, since banging stuff is the best and playing with "real" stuff, not baby toys is the way to go (her favorite toys at my house are a set of measuring cups and a tin cup).


I began by spray painting the inside of the container a metallic silver that I had on hand from a home project. Then I filled the container with dried beans and a variety of pretty little things, so that as she moves the container she'll be able to spy new items. A little glue and tape and she's got a new drum.

Of course, right now she uses it more to bang than drum, but that works too.

Total cost: $0.00 because I was able to use materials I had in the house and the upcycled Chick-Fil-A container. The containers stack really nicely so I'm planning to add a few more to the collection to use to store her littler toys, and for use to use as a stacking toy.


Isn't she cute? She's crewing on a frozen cloth because she got 7, yes 7, teeth at once!

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The Purex brand provided me with a smaple of Purex Crystals Dryer Sheets in exchange for a product review. However, all the opinions expressed here are my own.

We were given, so very kindly, a live tree this year.

And what a treat it is! Our live tree smells wonderfully. It brightens the family room like nothing else could.

Silly as it is, I couldn't part with our fake tree in my front entry. I spent River's first and second Christmas seasons, when he was just a tiny little guy, walking, rocking, and singing in front of that tree, letting the lights and sparkle mesmerize him into tranquil slumber. I love spending evenings looking at the ornaments and lights. I know a different tree would have had the same ornaments and lights, but I've got a silly sentimentality thing going (even though that dang tree sat on the living room floor until April waiting for someone to take it apart - it was stuck - and swearing every day that it was going in the trash).

The fake tree is pre-lit and has all the many years worth of collected ornaments.


Pretty, scented new tree was naked. Mia found a spare tablecloth to use as a skirt. The kids and I took ribbon and my large collection of cookie cutters and began decorating. We then strung lots and lots of popcorn and red beads onto thread for garland. And so the decorating began, with a goal of having everything created from materials found in or around our house ... not one penny was spent decorating this tree.


The blue/ribbon/glitter/bead thing-a-ma-jig started as a wooden spool, intended years ago for some long-forgotten craft. It was painted with glue on the top and bottom and dipped in glitter. Ribbon was glue-gunned around the middle. The beads are threaded onto the hanging ribbon, which runs through the center of the spool.


Paper balls in blue and white. The ornament in the top left corner Kaden made from a cork, googly eyes, and some foam.


Pinecones from behind our house, rolled in glue and then glitter. This was a great project for River to do, all I had to help with was tying the hanging string on.


Birds from tan cotton, stuffed, and decorated.


The circular disk things are just sewn together with one long straight stitch in red, with beads added to the tops and bottoms and butcher's string to hang them with. The balls are mostly from bow and neck tie fabrics ... my "homage" to this season's work. (it's possible that I might have just been using whatever fabric was already on the sewing table)


The tree is topped, of course, with a star.

I bought this whale fabric months ago to make River some simple shorts. As is far too often the case, sewing for my own child took a back seat to sewing quilts, bow ties, and camera strap covers.


These shorts were on the "to do" list last week so it was time to tackle them head-on. I found this terrific pattern and tutorial at Growing Home and set out to make some shorts (and then some more).

In my head were longer surfer shorts, below the knee, so I lengthened the pattern by an inch.

I added topstitching to the side seams and hems and used french seams as I don't have a serger and wanted these to stand up to a year or two of everyday boy wearing and washing.

A pocket seemed like a nice idea for a three year old boy so I drafted a simple cargo pocket.  Once the pockets were discovered the hands went in and never came out. Huge success!  I will be posting the pocket pattern and a tutorial to go with it later this week.


Of course, one wasn't enough. I made River another pair, exactly the same way out of a great patchwork blue fabric I'd had for years. So long ago that I don't recall buying the fabric.


The pocket details don't show well on these, but those pockets are there. And loved.


The pictures were taken at Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve. 




 Here are all three pairs of shorts I've made so far:



Again, tutorial on the way this week.

I mentioned last week that we'd be going to the Naples Botanical Garden for National Garden Day, enjoying free admission. I mentioned that I was excited to be going.

And here I am back with my report.

It was worth being excited about. I cannot get over how magical, expansive, delightful this garden was. It's huge, for one thing. And busy. There's something new at every turn, it felt like no detail was spared, nothing forgotten in the creating of this special place.

The colors were divine. The plants were so special. There was an area devoted to gardening with special needs. There were herbs, the best smelling herbs I've ever encountered. Hammocks, steel drums, a labyrinth, walking paths. And a children's play area complete with water play, tree house, waterfall, scavenger hunt, butterfly house, and more.

So did we like it? A little. Just kidding, we loved it, all gave it two thumbs up, and can't wait to go back.

Warning: Far too many pictures below. I couldn't help myself. I hope you enjoy them.























.

Summer.












Welcome, summer.

Though I cannot remember my New Year's resolutions I am 86ing each and every one of them. They've all been tossed by the wayside and replaced with one:



Beach more.



Breathe that sea air deeply.



Memorize the sounds of the waves.



Touch, feel, explore the coastline.



Run. Play. Create.



Relax.



A resolution worth keeping.

.

Tomorrow the kids and I are going to the Naples Botanical Garden in Naples, Florida. For free. Yes, free.

If you go to bhg.com (Better Homes and Gardens) you too can get as many tickets as you want/need to visit a local public garden for free this Friday too.

Bok Tower Gardens in Lake Wales is also honoring this free day. I went last summer, for a free museum admission day. If you have the chance to visit there tomorrow, or ever, do it. It's a magical place.

If you happen to go to the Naples Botanical Garden with your free tickets look for me. I'll be the middle aged woman looking like a kid in a candy store - I'm pretty sure I'm more excited about this opportunity than the kids are (though one asked me at 8:00 this morning if it was time to go to the garden, so maybe we're all equally excited).