May Day Baskets / Delivering

Putting together, and delivering surprise baskets on May Day (May 1st), has become yet another annual tradition we have embraced.  This year, it happened to fall on the day before our kids First Holy Communion, so it was a packed weekend with much to accomplish, for sure!  But we just HAD to do it anyway.  The smiles we know they inspire, makes it so worth doing, and it’s truly so much fun.

This year, I thought I would whip out some pretty little water-colored tags for the baskets.  I used the kids paints this time, and it was as fun and enjoyable as painting always is to me.

Here are most of the goodies we put in the baskets this year:  a ceramic little bird, raspberry teas, little jellies, sugar-free candies, tissue packs, and fresh-baked blueberry muffins.   It seems to be older folks like little tissue packs, and sugar-free candy especially.   And I mean that in the sweetest way. Hey, I am using more tissues, and enjoying more sugar-free candy myself these days!

We packed everything nicely in each basket, all wrapped in a little bright spring green kitchen towel.  I was really looking for nice linen napkins, as these towels just felt ‘catchy’ to me.  But, with all we have had going on this week, I….of all people….settled.   I really wanted to include a little note that said, “Please wash the little towel before use!”.  But I think most people would do that anyway, of course.  They would, right?  Oh gosh…I hope they do.

We got up EARLY for a Saturday, to get these delivered before all the food prepping and house cleaning we had to do for our special mass, and celebrated Sacrament the next day! The kids didn’t even eat breakfast first, and breakfast is a big deal around here, to these kids.  They wake up famished, from all that….you know….sleeping?  I don’t get it.  Just give me some coffee for awhile. But they do get SO EXCITED to go out and do this.

We also picked up some fresh flowers to add to the baskets, for a nice cheery touch.  Although some were looking a notch down from ‘fresh’.  But again..it had to do this year.

I can’t tell you how much our kids get a kick out of ringing the doorbells, and running!  Michael and I joked, that we were glad we don’t live in ‘cow-tipping country’. lol

The 4 of them worked out pretty quickly, who was taking care of which house on our hit list.  Here’s a peek at out little hoodlums, up to (no) good.

{O}, at some friends from church.

{S} took Sr. Jeremy’s house, at our parish this year. They love doing hers, because it’s a long way back to run to the van.  In other words, an exciting and dangerous get-away adventure. ; )

This was another friend of ours from church.  We knew she wasn’t home, so it was a pretty ‘chill’ delivery.

{A} took our neighbors at the end of the street.  We were more clever this year, about house approach and escape.

No one got caught in the act this year either!  We’re getting good at this sneaky behavior!

If you’d like a peek at our past couple of years May Days, for some ideas or just interest, you can find them here:

May 2009

May 2008

Every year that we have done this, we have wished the kids had grandparents living nearby, to surprise with a basket too.  But instead, we have had to deliver, to other kids grandparents, I guess.  With the passing of their grandfather, that weighs on our hearts, it is our prayer that it is God’s will, that next year, the kids will have their Grandma nearby, to deliver to, too.

Coming up in this section next, is a couple of posts we are really looking forward to sharing:

1)   Our kid’s Holy First Communion Day      2)  A new and unusual pet, we can’t wait to surprise you with! (If we told you, or you saw her, don’t give it away!)

I also took ‘formal’ Holy First Communion portraits of our 3 kiddos a couple of days prior to their special day, and so that will be coming up in Photography & Lettering, when they are ready too.   So come back around if you can! (Or subscribe to be alerted of new posts!)

We hope you had a beautiful May Day!