Flora and Fun

On a beautiful afternoon last week, the boys and me wandered around the yard. This is what we found. The white flowers are from a Rose of Sharon, the berries from the Nandina, the stems from the Butterfly Bush, and the burgundy leaves are from the flowering Dogwood.

The daisies are left over from floral arrangements I put together for the ladies who worked in the nursery during our fall bible study at church. Everyone went together to get the supplies, and I arranged them. It was glorious fun!

SK especially enjoyed the part where he got to fill in the vase with the glass marbles. He also got to carry the cup around to hold the clippings after I cut them. He is getting to a stage now where he can really be a big helper. He'll fetch me things or pick up what I drop. He also likes to entertain his little brother!

I've always tried to involved him in housekeeping tasks, but lately he's been able to actually master them. He can fold towels, napkins (like the ones he tossed out of the drawer in the video above) and other square things, he can put his own clothes away in his dresser, and he really enjoys scrubbing the toilets. We picked up leaves together the other day. Perhaps if I don't tell him most people consider these things drudgery, he'll never know!

There are still responsibilities he's not ready for, of course. For example, it is just tooooo tempting to spray me with the water hose when we're supposed to be watering the garden. I guess it sounds funny when I squeal. And washing his hands unsupervised often involves unauthorized washing of all of his bathtub toys, then rising them repeatedly, then using most of the clean towels in the bathroom to dry up the gargantuan mess. Yes, there are still things we are working on.

Yet, he reminds me, "Mom, I'm just learnin'. It's okay, honey, so am I.
So am I.