Author: Allie Zottola

Time To Retire It and Simple Things

It makes me so happy to see Sadie enjoy books and reading. Lately, she will just sit on her own and look through some of her books while I do things around the house or yard. 

Toddler reading

I can’t turn my back too long because one of her books ended up in her water table the other day 😉

We went to the park again and it was just as glorious as last time! 

Toddler in swing at park

We’ve even settled into a little routine where we play and then we walk back to the car and sit on the curb for a snack and drink. Sitting side-by-side on the curb is so simple, but it’s definietly one of my favorite things lately. 

Toddler eating baby food pouch from Aldi

Another simple but fun thing has been just playing outside! I got out our sidewalk chalk and made circles and squares for us to hop from shape to shape and then drew lines in some and we put sticks and rocks and leaves in them. 

I think she had more fun with that than she does with her toys. I guess that’s the way it goes! I took a video and had to laugh at her saying “no, no, no” to Niva’s #2 in the yard. Sadie knows not to go near that, haha. 

Toddler playing with sidewalk chalk

I did some grilling while we were outside. I guess it’s time to retire your grill when you can see straight through to the ground when you open it and only a few of the burners work, huh?

Gas grill with rusted out bottom

Niva will be so sad not to lick up all the tasty drippings when we get a new grill someday. It worked well enough to make pork, though! 

Grilled pork strips

I made up a super fancy recipe. I cut pork chops into strips, marinated them in garlic, lemon juice, ginger, and spices, and grilled them for a few minutes on each side. Totally gourmet 😉

Do you have any appliances that should be retired?

What’s your favorite simple thing lately?

A Glitter Volcano, Latest Sewing Project, and Garden Progress

I finished sewing a shirt for Sadie… and she hated it.

Toddler shirt made from button up shirt

I had an old button-up shirt that I cut, used the collar to make a little ribbon detail on the front, and sewed together to make her a shirt that buttons up in the back. I finished it, gave her a bath, and put it on her and she instantly cried and tried to take it off, LOL. It totally reminded me of the story I shared at the bottom of this post a few years ago.

Needless to say, she didn’t end up wearing it and I didn’t get any pictures of her in it. Maybe we’ll try having her put it on again today 😉

Our garden is making a lot of progress! Here’s what it looked like when we planted it in May.

Fruit and vegetable garden

Here’s what it looked like yesterday, June 17th. 

Vegetable and fruit garden

Everything is growing really well! I’ve harvested romaine lettuce twice, arugula and micro greens every few days, and we have tomatoes coming in. I think we will be seeing squash and zucchini very soon, too! 

Have you ever made the classic volcano science experiment with a combo of vinegar and baking soda? I decided to do it with Sadie with the addition of glitter! I took a video, so you can watch it as long as you ignore my lovely outfit of neon yellow shorts and a bright pink shirt. I also realized Sadie is hearing her infamous “mermaid” skort!

She seemed like she enjoyed our little experiment but I don’t think I would use glitter again. That was definitely the mess of the day. I think there will forever be glitter on our back patio and yard. Fun memories! 

Do you have any fun memories with science experiments?

If you have a garden, how is it doing?