Mother's Day

I collect watercolor prints called StoryPeople by Brian Andreas. 
Several years ago my son gave me one this for Mother's Day. 
It is called "Hindsight".

I love it because he came from him.
Now, he was much older and wiser
with kids of his own who don't always listen to him!

                  A Mother's Day project that Moms will love!



This project begins with a little book from CTP called
 Celebrating Mother's Day...Mom's Memory Box.
This is the story:

It's almost Mother's Day.
I want to show my mom I love her in a special way.
I'll paint a little box.
I'll put in a teddy bear.
It shows how we love to bear hug.
I'll put in a piece of gum.
It shows how we always stick together.
I'll put in some nuts.
They show how silly we like to be.
I'll put in a bandage.
It shows how she always comes to my rescue.
I'll put in a chocolate kiss.
It shows how good it feels to be loved.
And, Mom, don't forget...
I'll love you forever!

The story tells you all you need to do. 
Trevor helped me do this for his mom.
 We just followed the directions! 
We used a paper heart box from a craft store. 
Trevor painted it with a red Do-A-Dot stamper
and topped it with 1" heart cut-outs from CTP.
Then, we collected the things mentioned in the story and added them to the box. 
(You might include a note telling the significance of each item in the box.)

His Mom loved it!



A Card for Mom



This card shows how love grows and grows.
Start with a piece of paper about 18" X 9".

For the card you need three 6" flower cut-outs from CTP. 
You also need some construction paper to make a pot for the flowers
and the stem and leaves for the flowers.   



  Fold the paper in half lengthwise. (9" X 9") 
Then fold the top half back toward the top.



Make a pot for the flower and glue it to the bottom of the page.

Make stem and place it so that it is growing from the flower pot.

Add a flower to each section of the card. 
Decorate with leaves around the flowers.

Along the side of the card put the caption:
My love for you grows and grows...
Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day!

Springtime

I love spring when the earth seems to be waking up from a long sleep.

Every morning I walk through my garden to see what is new!

The following is from one of my favorite books.  It reminds me that every day is a good day to sing and do a little dance.  Springtime is an especially good time for singing and dancing.

THE LIFE YOU ALWAYS WANTED by John Ortberg



In the beginning, it was nine o’clock; so God had to go to work. He filled out a requisition to separate light from darkness. He considered making stars to beautify the night, and planets to fill the skies, but thought it sounded like too much work; and besides, thought God, “That’s not my job.” So he decided to knock off early and call it a day. And he looked at what he had done and he said, “It’ll have to do.”


On the second day God separated the waters from the dry land. And he made all the dry land flat, plain, and functional, so that –BEHOLD- the whole earth looked like Idaho. He thought about making mountains and valleys and glaciers and jungles and forest, but he decided it wouldn’t be worth the effort. And God looked at what he had done that day and said, “It’ll have to do.”

And God made a pigeon to fly in the air, and carp to swim in the waters, and a cat to creep upon dry ground. And God thought about making millions of other species of all sizes and shapes and colors, but he couldn’t drum up any enthusiasm for any other animals-in fact, he wasn’t too crazy about the cat. Besides, it was almost time for the Late Show. So God looked at all he had done, and God said, “It’ll have to do.”


And at the end of the week, God was seriously burned out. So he breathed a big sigh of relief and said, “Thank Me, it’s Friday!”


Thankfully, that is not how it was.


On the first day, “God said, ‘Let there be light’, and there was light.
And God saw that the light was good.”
That was the first zip a dee doo dah day.

And God did a little dance.
And the next day God said to the light, “Do it again.”
And the light did it again, and God did a zip a dee doo dah dance again.
And so it has gone every day down to this very day.


The lesson is…when we are satisfied with “It’ll have to do", we miss out on the zip a dee doo dah days.


Click on the link below for a treat.  You can sing along if you feel like it!

Enjoy!

Make today a zip-a-dee-doo-dah day!
Remember life is what you make it!



Celebrate Earth Day !

 Picnic for the Planet
                                                        
 Join the celebration!  

This Earth Day, celebrate the planet we live on with good food and great people. Choose a favorite outdoor location, round up some friends and take the planet out to lunch! This idea combines two of my favorite things....
being outside in the springtime and eating with good friends!
 

Picnic for the Planet is a celebration of the planet we live on, the food it provides and the people we share it with. In short, the planet does a lot for us — we should take it out for lunch. On and around Earth Day 2011 (April 22), people all around the world will be stepping outside and heading to their favorite outdoor spot to enjoy good food in the company of great people.                                 For more information about Picnic for the Planet go to:                                     http://earthday.nature.org/picnic/ To check out all the CTP products for Earth Day go to: http://www.creativeteaching.com/ Click on "Go Green" to see them all. The charts are great teaching props with great pictures and information. Don't forget to turn them over.   They also have instructions for hands-on activities on the backside.  Here are some projects suggested on the back-side of ABCs of Green poster. See the patterns for each of the following projects!  Remember to turn on the lights when you leave the room. Design an Earth Day stamp.   Create an Earth Day quilt.   Each person designs a quilt square.   Connect the squares with "ring-its" to make the quilt. Our 4" Spirit letters are a perfect fit to send a message on the quilt. The ABCs of Green chart has lots of suggestions for taking care of our planet. Remember....