Quality

Last Saturday we went on a great outing with some great friends. Chad, Lucy, and I met my good friend Erin, and her three sweet little boys, Miles, Chase, and Isaac for lunch at Eat N Park and then a visit to Discovery Space, a little science center at Penn State. Lunch was great. Lu didn't use the menu I had made on her Tobii to order for herself, but from practicing for a few days beforehand, I knew she either wanted macaroni and cheese or a cheeseburger, so with yes and no she still got to choose what she wanted. She was very excited to see her friends and was too distracted to order. Miles, Erin's oldest son immediately planted himself beside Lucy's wheelchair, as close as he could get. All three boys just talk to her like they should, like she is just any other little girl. It is so very sweet. All three of them brought Lucy a card they had made for her:

The big one is from Miles, in case it's hard to see, he wrote, "I hope all your wishes come troo". That's obviously a portrait of Princess Lucy. I don't know how long ago it was that Erin started reading parts of my blog to the boys, but after hearing about Lucy, they just wanted to meet her and be her friend and I'm so grateful to them for that. 

Here we are at the science center. If you look closely on her Tobii, Lu had commented that the boys were silly. 

And here are Lucy and Miles digging for bones. 

I wish that we saw Lucy's friends more often, but life is busy for everyone and it is hard to get together. I'm just glad that she has several sets of friends and relatives in her life that value her and her friendship  just as they are. I'm happy for the quality of their friendship and will take that over quantity any day.

Lucy's 2015 Garden

*I thought I had already published this, but it looks like I didn't! Stay tuned for more to come about gardening, science, microscopes, and art! 

Here is tiny baby Lucy showing off the tomatoes in her 2010 garden, the year she was born. 

And here she is starting seeds for her very own 2015 garden!

And here is a handy diagram that was included in our little greenhouse that shows what we planted, so we can remember:

However, in the excitement and confusion of helping Lu dump the seeds in each tiny pod, we got it turned around and misplanted our tomatoes. For a week or two I thought they weren't growing, but then I realized they were all growing, just in the wrong places! Lucy chose to plant Brussels sprouts, because her and I both love them. And also onions, which is what we are working on in this picture:

We were also repotting her tomatoes and Brussels sprouts because they are getting so big! Look how happy she is:

I try to get her hands in the dirt and involved as much as possible, but I can also tell when she just wants to enjoy watching and having her hands left alone.  She doesn't often love having hand-over-hand assistance, and I try to figure out how she can do things without it, but sometimes, it just can't be done.

We have also been keeping a gardening journal, not daily, but when something of note happens, we have been writing it down in a little journal we made. Then we can look back at it next year to remember what we did and what did or didn't work. I just write in simple sentences and then we read it together. She is all about it! 

So in our garden project we are regularly learning about science, nature, and patience. We incorporate literacy, math, and hopefully in the end some cooking. The day after planting the onions, Lu said in her Tobii: "let's go, gardening, homeschool"! In comparison to all of the times I walked into her preschool classroom to find her crying, actual tears, I'll take the happy, relaxed Lucy any day, even if it means that I am responsible for making sure she learns about the world. This is a task I am more than happy to take on. 

P.S. For an fans of the book 'Chrysanthemum" by Kevin Henkes, you might notice on our diagram that we have planted Chrysanthemums and Delphiniums in honor of the book, which has been one of our favorites for a long time!