Saturday, February 23, 2008

Grandpa used to clip our nails; I think it was his way of caring for his crazy grandkids that would cross over the Mexican border with half of Mexico's dirt under their fingernails. He would clip and say "snipp, snapp, snurr" as he went along; I wondered how it was possible to ALWAYS end on a perfectly rounded snurr. weird. how could my nails always need clipping in fractions of three?

I didn't clip any nails today. all three of my kids probably could have used a good nail clipping, but I didn't clip.

we did make butter though, and read about . . . well . . . Snipp, Snapp and Snurr (see, it does all fit together), and how they coaxed the sun to peak his head out from behind the clouds and smile his sunniest smile, so that the grass would grow, so that Uncle Freddie could feed it to Blossom the cow, so that Aunt Annie could milk her, so that mother could make butter to spread on the fresh baked bread.

It went off even better than I expected - - didn't take too long for my (less than dedicated) Malachai to shake that cream into buttery goodness, AND he was thrilled to eat bread and (he made it himself - - woo-hoo!) butter. We'll do it again. in fact, I think it would be a perfect thing to invite a four year old friend along to do it with us. maybe even two.

9 comments:

Jacquelyn said...

Is that from a book? What's the name of the book? It sounds fun, and who doesn't like butter :)

Anonymous said...

I just read that book to Amaleah-however I wasn't so creative as to make butter with her. My favorite "Snip,Snap,Snur" book is the one where the boys buy their mother a pair of RED shoes for her birthday!
Keep reading to your kids!
Mom

Naomi Smith said...

Jacquelyn - - it's from Snipp, Snapp, Snurr and the Buttered bread - - one in a series of books about three little Swedish boys; it's written by Maj Lindman.

Mom - - this book came from Debbie Robinson at my baby shower for Malachai; it has been well loved around our house.
I remember reading this as a girl.

Anonymous said...

A new collection of children's books to look into! Thanks! Love that you helped make butter while reading the stroy. Neat. Did you just use heavy whipping creme or something else?

Cat said...

I clip my kiddo's nails in three. Side, side, middle...

Naomi Smith said...

anonymous (Heather, is that you?) - - I did use heavy whipping cream; I can't find the original page, but there are a million trillion tutorials out there if you just google "making butter with kids" or something of the sort, you can find instructions

darcie said...

Naomi, I have only a vague recollection of the memory you shared about Grandpa. Perhaps grandparents and grandchildren share experiences unique to their own special relationship. I hope that will be true for Malachai, Josu and little Selma.
love, Mom

Lylah Ledner said...

enjoying your blog...been meaning to ask what kind of camera do you use? great photos...

Naomi Smith said...

hi Lylah!
a Nikon D40 - - and I love it!