A Flower from Oscar

Today Oscar picked this flower for me.  He was walking a little bit behind me on the sidewalk, and I thought he was just jumping around all over the place and generally not keeping up as per his usual, but when he finally caught back up to me he said "Mommy!  I picked this flower for you...if you want it."  Now I'm not normally a flower type of girl, but this little gesture stole my heart.  You always hear about kids picking flowers for their mommies, and I guess I hadn't put that much thought into it up until I had my first flower given to me.  It's a moment & a flower that I don't want to forget.

When we got home that afternoon, with Oscar's flower still in my mind and everyone else in our house gone until the weekend, I thought it might be nice to make flowers for everyone in our family.  We chose to make these egg carton tulips, 7 in total, one for each member of our family.

They're from a kit and were fairly easy for a 3 year old to help his mom assemble.  Pipecleaner stems, egg carton petals, and a cute little button center.  We added initials to the cut-out leafs to personalize them for Brendan, Allie, Emma, Gabby, Oscar, Jessica, & even Finley.  

Oscar can't wait for everyone to get home so that he can show them their flower.  Today was chilly and rainy, but I still think this was a sweet way to kick off Springtime and now we have a colorful bouquet of tulips that will last for years.  My first flower from Oscar won't always be around, but our little vase of cardboard flowers will surely help me remember his gift.  And I'm certain he'll feel special every time he sees these flowers too, knowing that he made them with his mommy and for the people we love.

I asked Oscar where we should put our flowers and he answered without a second of hesitation "By the kitchen sink!"  It ended up being the most perfect spot.  I think this is where we'll always keep them.  Even though I absolutely love our kitchen, the window above our sink looks out upon the siding of our neighbor's house -- not exactly my first choice for a view.  Now I'll focus on these bright and colorful tulips instead.  

xo