Cabbage Patch

Normally when Penguin Girl comes home from school and you ask her about her day, her response is a very predictable, "Fine."  Today she was giddy over having a cabbage seedling to plant as part of her science homework.

Some months ago, I came across a program sponsored by Bonnie Plants that provides 3rd grade students with free cabbage seedlings so they can learn about growing plants.  I let her teacher know about it and she is incorporating it into their unit about soil.  The cabbage is a variety that can grow very big.  The materials provided to the children say it's possible to grow a 40-pound head.  Penguin Girl is very, very keen on growing a giant cabbage.

Luckily, I cleared out my garden squares last week so we have a place to plant the cabbage.  The instructions say it needs a lot of space so I guess we won't be planting anything else there.  And we'll need some recipes for cabbage.

Moving on Up!

Penguin Girl has been swimming in a recreational league since the beginning of the school year.  At the end of this last session, her coach said she's ready to move up to the competitive league!  I was pretty surprised.  The kids need 3 legal strokes before they can move up.  Penguin Girl's freestyle and backstroke are already there but her breast and butterfly have been stuck.  But I suppose Penguin Girl has really been paying attention because she made some really great progress on her breast stroke during the last 2 months.

Penguin Girl is not the most competitive child so when I asked her if she was interested in moving up, she gave her usual answer, "Ummmmm . . . I'll think about it."  They had a mini-meet over the weekend and I told her coach that she was mulling it over.  Her coach laughed and said she noticed that Penguin Girl is a kid who always seems pretty content with where she is.  Yep, that's my girl.