Sunday, June 22, 2008

Dirt and garbage bags

Many of you know that I really enjoy shopping for Claire and dressing her up in a manner befitting her beauty. Well, let me warn you: you're about to see the other extreme.

Yesterday, we spent most of the day working on an area of our yard that has been sadly ignored for some time. Paul and my brother Stu removed sod and moved dirt around (strategically, not just throwing it around for fun) while Claire and I weeded and yes, moved dirt around for fun (truly). I knew from planting our bedding plants in pots a couple of weeks ago that Claire enjoyed digging around a bit, but wow, does she love playing in dirt. At one point, she actually exclaimed, "I love you, dirt!". She got right in there and helped me weed too. She's really good at it; she pulls from near the bottom and pulls up the whole weed, root and all.

When she finally got tired of weeding, I gave her a couple of orange poppies to play with. I couldn't believe my eyes when she showed me a few minutes later that she had "planted" them in the dirt. Those little flowers looked so cute sticking up from the ground. I should have taken a picture.

Anyway, as I mentioned before, I really do enjoy seeing Claire all dolled up. But I also don't mind seeing her dirty if it means she's having a blast. Here she is, moments after we came inside from our gardening adventures:
In case you're wondering why she was wearing a dress, well, it's because that's ALL she wants to wear these days. Seriously.

Lest you think these pictures are all I have to offer in regard to the "other extreme", I also have some photos from today for you. We attended the Big Comfy Couch and Franklin the Turtle shows at the zoo today. Unfortunately, it was pouring rain and the show was outside, with no tent or anything. So what did I dress Claire in for the occasion? A lovely coat, jeans, rubber boots ... and a garbage bag. Yes. A garbage bag. And since I just got it from someone at the zoo handing them out, I didn't really get the chance to fashion it into a stylin' little dress or anything. I'm sorry, Claire-bear.
Paul and Claire next to Beth, Ava and Helena.
(In case you're wondering if I sat comfortably under an umbrella the entire time, the answer is no, I also took my turns holding Claire but we just didn't get pics.)

Claire didn't respond much to the show but she did say after it was over that she liked it. I do think she would have liked it more if it had been nice outside and if umbrellas had not been obscuring our view of the stage. Hmmm. And perhaps the garbage bag had something to do with it ...

5 comments:

Kim said...

Claire is the cutest dirty or clean...
Love the pictures..
Have a Great Week..
HUGS..

Rae said...

The beauty shines right thru the dirt. Good for you for being such a great helper, Claire!

And what a trooper she was to not only sit through all the rain but to wear a garbage bag, too! It actually looks like great fun, wish we could have joined you guys.

Kennedy and Jaida's mom said...

Love seeing Claire getting all dirty in the flower beds!! She'll be a talented gardener, like her mom, in no time!

Looks like you had a great time at the concert despite the rain! Love the pics with daddy.

xo

Shea said...

Good improvising on the garbage bag wetsuit! Too bad it was that wet. I hope it was a great show!

That's funny that Claire only wants to wear dresses b/c my child is a pajama-loving girl. I wish Claire's fashion sense would rub off on Caia.

Once again Claire is the perfect child for you and Paul with her love of gardening. She was truly up to her elbows in dirt, wasn't she?

Unknown said...

If you need a garbage bag for utility purposes, it's better that fashion steps aside! Better to protect your nice clothes anyways -- so fashion wins out really :P

Sounds like it was a fun show to see despite the rain. It is so neat that you could go as a family and share in all the fun. I'm sure when Claire looks back at these pics, she will truly appreciate all the love and attention she got from her Mom and Dad. She's a lucky little girl to be with you both!