Emily built a nest #firstgrade #kids

This is my first grader.

She is so many things, too many to list, but foremost she is creative when left to play.

With the weather warming up around here and me not remembering to reset our sprinkler system, our backyard grass got a little... err, crispy in spots. Emily found one of these crispy patches and asked if she could pick it. She's normally not allowed to pull up the grass.

I said "sure" assuming she would just throwing it around like confetti.

Chasing after Nolan that day, I lost track of Emily for about an hour until I saw her from the play room window under our lemon tree.

When I asked what she was doing (there are thorns and ants and other unpleasantries and it's generally just not a place to hang out) she cried out "I'm putting my nest in the tree, for the hummingbirds to have their babies this Spring".

With a "what the...?!?" I carried Nolan outside to have a look at this nest she was talking about.

And I was blown away. She had twisted and curled and tied and molded that crispy grass into a little cup-shaped nest. And she put it on a little branch with great pride. And she called out to the swarms of hummingbirds we have in our neighborhood to come visit her nest. And she waited. She checked on it all day, for several days, anxiously waiting a mama hummingbird to make it her home for her eggs.

She's gotten busy and come down with strep since then so, it's possible she's forgotten the nest but I can tell you it's still out there. Empty. For now.