She's Electric!

She's covered in berries, and more than a tad dirty, but I love these photos of the poppet.
The kids have been playing a heap in the garden, playing together, playing by themselves, imagining.
It brings back so many memories of being their age and just lying and staring at ants for what seemed like hours. Of sitting on top of the fairy hill (a mound of grey stone rocks and soil covered in marigolds and periwinkles) and imagining up fantastic stories.
Of throwing big plastic balls up in the sky again and again, just to see them go up into the blue and descend.
"Abracadaba - you're a frog!" the kids tell me.
Rivvet.
"Abracadabra - you're a monster!"
Roarrrr!
The Sprocket tells long, involved stories of the big, big, BIG monster who bit his toe. The Poppet tells me she is Doctor-Captain-Princess Poppet and she will steer the ship and 'check' everyone, dispensing bandaids where neccessary. And always in pink.
Today I'm linking up with 52 Weeks of Grateful to say thanks for the warmer weather, for grubby kids and long days in the garden and for imagination.

'Hi-ya-hi-ya!' Grateful for Imagination

"Hi-ya! Hi-ya!" My Poppet is in her car seat holding one of her little feet up to her ear. She has carefully de-socked and de-shoed it.
"Hi-ya!" she says again. She is very impressed with how clever she is, and so she should be. She is using her imagination to pretend that her foot is her very favourite toy - a telephone. Me, (obviously I'm not biased at all) I  think she shows initiative and innovation as well as imagination.
I am so grateful to be able to see my children's imagination develop.
Right now they are pottering in the garden, each keeping up a running commentary on their findings and imaginings.
The Sproket is being Fire-Sam-Man (as he calls Fire Man Sam) and unravelling the garden hose and waving it around- "Fire! Fire!"
 He pauses in his lifesaving endeavours to check out a waterlogged hole that I think was part of the previous owners hills hoist and poke a few sticks down to gauge the depth. The mummy from the dolls house family is nearly sent on a similar exploratory mission but I manage to rescue her in time.
The Poppet sings as she walks various little trucks around the garden, keeping a wary eye on her big brother. Soon they both end up jammed inside the red car, both of them happy to be pretending to be big people.
"Bye-bye!" calls the Sprocket as they drive off, squabbling about who gets to wear the sunglasses.
"A-ya-ya!" calls the Poppet, waving out the back window.
Their play is interspersed with pushing and grabbing and tears but also with stories and songs and sharing and I am so grateful to see their minds expand and develop.
Without imagination you cannot see a better way, possible outcomes, or empathise with others. And this give and take, painful as it often is for me to watch and adjudicate over is very possibly where they will learn the skills of compromise and negotiation they will need in later life.
Watching the building stones is fun, exciting and very very precious.
So this week for Maxabella Loves wonderful grateful posts (beautifully hosted this week at Mira Narnie I'm grateful for imagination and pretending!