Thursday, March 24, 2011

playground fun














the other day we went with some friends to layla's.  i followed my intuition and brought ezra a sweater but forgot the one i intended to bring for myself.  it was blustery and super cool (for us island folks - probably about 70 degrees).  the moms and other ladies sat away from the playground but i stayed and watched the little ones have a blissful afternoon at one of the only playgrounds on the island.  i stayed warm running around after them trying to get some shots and making sure they didn't get clobbered by the older kids breaking all the proper etiquette of playground rules.  the teacher in me will always be there.  ezra and bianca had a great time and so did i.  

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

a lovely afternoon

after a long day at home where the hours seemed to stretch and we'd already done everything there was to do (including reciting and acting out nursery rhymes like "walking through the jungle," "one potato, two potato," "5 little monkeys," and more, bake spring flower cookies, trace and color in a favorite page from bernard most's book "if the dinosaurs came back" we headed down to our beach to blow bubbles.

 the conditions were just right and the wind blew them up toward the hotel villas on the beach.

ezra called out, "go higher bubbles, go higher!  come on wind!"

we drew in the sand.  i made numbers out of dots and ezra connected them.

we also walked all the way down the beach together over those rocks and to the white buildings you see in the distance and back.  when we returned our friend and neighbor amanda and her dog layla came walking by.

at first ezra was wary of layla, but amanda showed him what a friendly dog she is.

she is what they call a coconut retriever - an island dog that amanda and her husband jamie adopted since moving to st. maarten where jamie goes to school with michael.

amanda is a super friendly gal as you can see here.  i wish she had been my neighbor the whole time we've been living here.  it was just what i needed yesterday to have an afternoon chit chat with this other lady while ezra threw layla bits of coconut to retrieve,  (she really does retrieve coconuts!)

and dug a hole in the sand,

and barked at the cat that sailed by (hee hee)!

ezra had a good time too!
on our way back home we saw some of the hotel cats and said hello.
 "hi kitties! meow, meow, meow."

then ezra said, "look at those ants mama!"

can you see just above the blue tile's upper right corner there is a group of worker ants carrying something back to their queen at their nest.  science lesson for the day ✓.

we took in the beautiful sunset 

the bright, blooming bouganvilla, 
and this happy hibiscus.  
i love when your day can turn around by just stepping outside and finding what life has to offer.  

Monday, March 21, 2011

colorful philipsburg

we went to old street in philipsburg on friday.  it was probably our last trip to the port town and capital of the dutch side.  we tied in a little site seeing with a necessary trip to the health food store.  

 ezra and i sat on a bench and looked at this old yellow car.

  "look mama, a castle!"

 all of the buildings are colorful on this tiny street.

 our friends stopped for a sandwich at this little cafe,

 while we got a little closer to the castle

 and colorful buildings of this story book setting.


Thursday, March 17, 2011

my creative space...

 a butterfly for bee on her birthday

 ezra stuck it to the kitchen slider all by himself

ezra drew this the other day without me.  it is his first drawing of so many stick figures with arms, legs, smiley faces including noses, and hair.  we were so excited to see this!


 sleeves for stella's cardi

 capturing the cruise ship's ride into the sunset

 and the boats that i see when i wake up and look out the living room window (notice how turquoise and clear the waters have become again?)

four granny squares that i happily finished in one night after my fourth attempt at learning how to do them properly.  i am going to use these to make these granny square slippers from the purlbee blog.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

right now i am...

 grateful for delicious treats that are packed in cute boxes

 new friends to go places with
bright gingerbread houses, blue skies, and big puffy clouds

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

gray day



it was a gray day today.  my mood matched the color of the ocean and sky.  i woke up with a migraine.  the disaster isn't over yet in japan. it's time for bed now.  hopefully tomorrow will be a better day across the world.