Laura, Author at | Page 76 of 101

For All Mothers…

May 9, 2009 By Laura 2 Comments

~A MOTHER’S LOVE~

A Mother’s love is something
that no one can explain,
It is made of deep devotion
and of sacrifice and pain,
It is endless and unselfish
and enduring come what may
For nothing can destroy it
or take that love away . . .
It is patient and forgiving
when all others are forsaking,
And it never fails or falters
even though the heart is breaking . . .
It believes beyond believing
when the world around condemns,
And it glows with all the beauty
of the rarest, brightest gems . . .
It is far beyond defining,
it defies all explanation,
And it still remains a secret
like the mysteries of creation . . .
A many splendored miracle
man cannot understand
And another wondrous evidence
of God’s tender guiding hand.

~Helen Steiner Rice~

Save

May Basket Delivering! – SO FUN!

May 1, 2009 By Laura 6 Comments

Our May Basket Delivering Day was so fun! We wanted to share it all with you.

There was no schooling on our agenda today – just delivering our May baskets for May Day, and the kids could not have been more excited! But, first, I had to have some of my own fun, taking just a few more photos, as detailed memories.

Ok, now I was ready. So next the kids loudly debated about which May basket was ‘theirs’, based on the tag they made, and who was going to who’s door, ringing the doorbell, and running for their life. Once that was settled, they were very eagerly ready to go! But you know I’m getting a photo of them first, and they know it too.

I was so grateful that the light rain we had going on, went on hold for us once it was time to get down to business. I didn’t mind the gray overcast day—it’s actually better for the photo taking. : )

Our first stop was right at the end of our road……

This is the home of a lovely elderly couple who have nearly ancient history in our neighborhood. This home of their is new, but it is built right in front of the old and smaller home that they raised 11 children of their own in! They are so sweet. So {A} placed the basket on the porch, rang the doorbell and ran. We were ‘seen’…..their visiting daughter opened the door as she and I were climbing back into the van up the road some. Last year their visiting son saw us the same way. Now…our hopes are always that our intended receivers would come to open the door, because that would give us more ‘get-away’ time, if you know what I mean. ; )

Next stop was up the main road a bit……

{J} was up for his hit and run. lol. This is the home of Sr. Jeremy—the long time nun resident of our parish. She has done marvelous and wonderful things within our church family. We love her dearly…..and she loves children, DEARLY!! She is a HOOT, if you know what I mean, and she has no reservations about speaking her mind. Ever. My kind of Girl!

I was hiding behind a bush with my camera, and I couldn’t have been more tickled pink with getting this shot!! Look how his feet aren’t even touching the ground! He was hysterical, trying to run before the door opened. We got away in time, but did spy with our little eyes, Sister open the door, see the May basket, and look everywhere for the sneaky one. lol

Next stop was a little ride, and it was {S’s} turn…..

This is the home of a lovely older couple from church, who dig us. And we dig them. We always sit all together in 2 pews in front or behind each other. They adore our kids, and are smitten with their church behavior. They are probably in their late 70’s, and have great senses of humor.

Now, I have to tell you…THIS was a tricky one. And we got TOTALLY BUSTED! See, here’s the thing. We were pretty sure these Peeps were going to be home. The brick sidewalk leading to this door, is very windy. It actually does a zig, and then a zag. So sidewalk is actually shifted very much to the right side, walking towards the door, and then does a zig to straighten head on to the door. So as we are walking, we are looking RIGHT IN the big window door-right. And we see movement in there. Oh dear! So {S} puts the basket down, and tries to hurry ringing the door bell, which is of course door right….

…and as he rings, he finds himself face to face with Mrs. G….coming to the door. DAG NABBIT!! Do you see her? Need help?

Do you see her now?? No?? It’s ok…it’s ok…it happens to the best of us. (Well, not really….I just don’t want you to feel bad…)…look again…

Now?? Because that’s really all I can do to help you. lol

So anyway….she’s coming, {S} sees her, but he starts ringing the doorbell anyway, and again, and again, because really….he was NOT missing the opportunity to ring a doorbell like everyone else! (We don’t have one on our house…lol).

Mrs. G opened the door, and laughing she said “WHAT are you DOING?”…and {S} said “Happy May Day!“, and she replied with a big laugh, “Aren’t you just the sweetest thing!“….and he has been repeating that all day. I think he believes her! lol. No…he is. So anyway…I was laughing so hard, from the nerves and getting caught, I forgot to take photos of her standing there, pleased as punch with their surprise. Then we ran away, with her yelling after us…‘Thank youuuu!!!”

We had ONE more stop, and it was {O’s} turn……

This is the home of our friend, Dr. Ann. She is a veterinarian, and she has become quite attached to our kids too. (And us, her.) We also know her from church, and we also sit near her. (She saved a pew for us on Sunday morning, because we were running late, and it was JAM PACKED because it was a First Communion Mass….bless her soul!! We were so thankful!) Anyway, she calls the kids ‘The Children‘….and if you heard her voice. LOVE her voice. She’s a lector too…which is so lovely hearing her read Sunday readings to us…and she is also a singer. (She got us all tickets to her concert this Sunday!) Anyway….she knows all of he kids names, but she always says to the kids “So how are THE CHILDREN today??!! HmmMM??”….and they all giggle, and say, “Gooood.” She’s a doll.

We knew she wasn’t home, because her car was not there, and she works long hours at her business in town, her own Veterinary Hospital. But…the kids enjoyed the fact that her cats were in the window watching us. lol. So at least SOMEONE saw her in her cool hot pink slicker, even if they did have fur!

That was the last of our May basket deliveries! Met with BIG groans and sighs by ‘the children’.

As we all climbed out of the van in our driveway, they were still talking about how they wish we had more homes to go to. They had SO much fun. WE ALL did. We just LOVE doing these kinds of things. Especially for other people. The whole process….planning surprises for others, shopping, making and baking things, and just having fun making someone’s day.

Here they all with mission accomplished: Basket-less!

Later on tonight, we got a call from the old woman at the end of our road. She left the sweetest message on our machine, expressing how wonderful that May Day gift basket made her feel, and the memories it brought back to her of the May Pole at school when she was a little girl. If you heard her sweet, sincere and shaky little voice, well….

That’s what it’s all about.

We can hardly wait until next year. I’ve heard the kids talking, and I can see this getting WAY out of hand next time.

But who cares??!!

Hope you all had a wonderful May Day!

Save

Making May Baskets for May Day Deliveries

April 30, 2009 By Laura 6 Comments

Last year we spontaneously decided to throw some May Baskets together for May Day, secretly deliver them, and hope they make someone feel thought of, and smile. The kids had fun putting them together, and even MORE fun delivering them. We only did 2 baskets last year, but this year we thought of 4 recipients that would be more than delighted with such an unexpected surprise, on a seemingly ordinary Friday. Now that the kids learned last year what fun it is, <click link see last year) they’ve been VERY excited this year/week to do it again.

So all week we’ve been picking up the little things we needed, and today we got it all together and made our May Baskets, to deliver for May Day.

I stamped 4 tags, and each of the kids colored them, and wrote Happy May Day! on them. That’s {J} trying to write slowly and neatly. (He prefers to ‘whip it out’.)

On the inside, I did have them sign them the R Children….because in this day and age, I fear no one would dare eat goods left on their doorstep from ‘Lord knows who’. Especially older folks, who have especially truly witnessed the deterioration of society. But this is a CHEERY HAPPY post, so I won’t even bring that up. lol

We baked some blueberry bread loaves, and wrapped those up once they were cooled enough. The house smelled so darned good, it was hard not to eat them ourselves! But, then we’d have to start all over baking again, and there was no time for that! (And who knows if we’d give in again! lol) We also picked up some tea cookies.

{A} got the tags tied on with a pretty little bowed ribbon.

They all made some baggies of sugar free candies, and {O} matched nicely. (This pleases her.) We know at least one of our recipients is a diabetic, and as far as the rest….well, sugar-free candy never hurt anybody. : ) Right? They are pretty good too. Yes, I tried them. One of each color, just to be sure. Got it covered.

{S} got a bunch of decaf tea bags out of our kitchen jar, to throw a handful of those in too.

This year it occurred to me that, perhaps it would be a good idea to include a little history on May Day Baskets. I assume most people know about this age-old tradition, but, you know….maybe not. We don’t want to look crazy or anything. I mean, that’s our little secret. lol

The kids packed up the baskets with all of the goods, and everything fit just right. Huh. We’ve got fresh flowers to stick in in the morning, and we’ll be good to go! With 4 houses to go to, we’ve got some driving around town to do, and each of the kids will take a house. Let us all pray (that means you, too) that no one gets injured trying to boogie back to the van after ringing the doorbell, before they get caught! That’s my fear. Seriously. (That’s normal for a Mama, right?) Weather said this morning that there was a 70% chance of rain tomorrow. But later this evening it’s down to a 50% chance. Maybe SOMEONE is pulling for us. Huh huh? But if not, {O} has got her hot pink raincoat ready, and since the boys do not have one, they are deciding if they want to wear one bad enough to wear {O’s} pink one, when it is their turn to deliver a basket. Because wearing a raincoat is a VERY exciting thing, you know. Just ask our 6 year olds! I can only imagine how they would contain themselves if they knew about the galoshes out there in the world, in all colors! (Please….we can’t keep up with the shoes and boots as it is! Footwear is sucking up our $ and our floor space.)

Soooo….Wish us luck! Wish us SUN! Wish us a band-aid free day!!

We’ll be reporting back to the blog about it all.

Save

Elementary Writing Skills Development- Homeschooling

April 27, 2009 By Laura 4 Comments

Today’s topic of thoughts. WRITING. More specifically, children’s elementary writing skills development. If we need to take it one step further in this case…MY children’s writing. : )

As a home schooling Mama, I have to say that this vocation is one amazing journey. Daily, really. Although some days are less smooth than others, they most always are very enjoyable for all of us, and collectively, absolutely REWARDING. I feel so blessed to not only teach my children, but witness them learning!

In the span of given time, they learn to write their name, and then little words, and then bigger words and then sentences. They learn to read little words, and then bigger words, ……. little books and then bigger books. They learn to spell little words and then bigger words. They learn about compound words, contractions, capitalization and punctuation, and a host of other little important things, and the proper times and places for them all.

And then one day, you witness all of these components come together, and it’s a beautiful day! The angel choirs sing. The birds are all chirping in harmony. The sun gets brighter. Flowers dance. They are WRITING! Really writing! Telling stories of their own, peppered with their personality, on paper, with seemingly magic pencils. And to Mama Teacher….they are beautiful, heart-warming, hilarious, brilliant little pieces of work………..

For context, these writing samples are my triplets, who are 6 years old. Also, please note that they are required to write their whole first name. I just edited out because I don’t use their full names on this blog, while they are still this young.

The month before, they worked REALLY hard, for 2 or 3 days, writing their first animal report. Honestly, when that assignment came up in their lessons, I thought “Oh dear.” I knew it was going to be a task, for 6 year old first graders. I wondered if they’d really be able to to do it, after only having written single sentences. But I wanted to be encouraging! And it was a great opportunity to evaluate their capabilities and work ethic, at this point.

So they all chose their animals, and we got to researching some basic information on the computer, for each of them: {J} chose dolphins, {O} yellow lab puppies (lol), and {S}humpback whales. I printed out the information we found, and spent lots of time with each of them, reading and underlining the most important tidbits of information they may want to include in their reports. And then, before they got to writing their report, we talked about that all-important P word: Plagiarism. : )

What I really loved, was that they were enthusiastic about it, once they got going. They insisted on cutting out the images that were part of the info we printed out, and including them in their reports, by cutting and pasting them. I thought this was an idea of their own….but turns out they were inspired by someone else-which I’ll talk about in a minute.

I have to admit; I have high standards and expectations – and I don’t think I could wrap my brain around just what a simple, simple animal report the lesson was probably really calling for them to do….as 6 year old first graders. Perhaps they were only expected to write a few sentences. But if you are reporting about the important factors of a particular animal, there are many facts that are equally as important about that animal, and therefore, omitting any of those facts could result in what appears to be an incomplete report. Right? That would have been a lesson that did not serve the children well, come the next time they are expected to write report. So, I may have ultimately pushed it a little. But in the end, they rose to the occasion, as they always do, when they are clear on the expectations of them. : ) And oh-how-proud they were of their papers.

Front sides…..

back sides….

Some days later, I realized where they got the incentive to paste these little images into their report. Granted, as already educated adults, we know that many times in-depth reports DO include photos or labeled diagrams of some kind. But I just wasn’t expecting them to do that yet, or to even know about that. But, turns out, they had been paying close attention to their older sister (11), who had recently worked very hard for many days, on this report she voluntarily did on her favorite presidents.

She did it and submitted it to me as extra credit, because she had gotten a poor grade on a recent History test, and she was afraid it would really effect her overall grade. It was an excellent, and interesting, 7 page report. The information she included for each of her favorite presidents were facts about them as a person, such as: the dates of their term of presidency, their political party, how many children they had, interesting tidbits events/actions they were known for, their former or latter occupations, and (something she always wants to know about people)….their religion denomination, if any, etc.

Back to the little ones, here’s another pay-off to these milestone days. Once they realize they are capable of these things, they want to do them all of the time!! After {J, O & S} wrote their first story that day, that’s what they CHOSE to do right after school, for weeks, when their formal school day ended. They would ask for paper, and write stories, filled with their imagination, or re-telling true stories they have lived. They still do this, although more randomly. They continue to do it as an activity, because they find it FUN to express themselves. To BE the story-teller. To make up characters, name them, make them look like anything they want, and have control over just what happens next in their story. And the best part….how the story ends. It’s a downright exciting, being a story teller. Just ask my kids. This is what happens, when you teach in a fun and encouraging way.

And for what it’s worth, I DO teach them that it’s “just not proper English to ever begin a sentence with the word AND.”

And they listen! ; ) (I am personally of the mind-set, that once you know the rules, you can take creative liberty to break them! )

So, who knows, we may just be raising a bunch of authors over here. Among a zillion other possibilities we’ve seen glimpses of, in the course of their little lives. I guess we’ll have to see how that story ends, too.

The End. : )

Save

We Rock! – Painted Rock Family – Kids Craft

April 24, 2009 By Laura 7 Comments

I was wondering what my oldest daughter was doing out there in the driveway.

She was getting rocks together, to surprise us with our very own Rock Family. Ourselves, actually.

Left to right: Mama, Daddy, {A}, {J}, {O} and {S}.

I was taking photos before the glue even dried, and became transparent. Sorry ’bout that.

It’s a little (well known) craft she saw in my very favorite magazine subscription: Faith & Family; The Magazine of Catholic Living.

It ROCKS, too.

For those who get this magazine, and are interested, it’s the May/June issue 2009. Page 94.

Just thought I’d share how cute we are. : )

Save

Hope you all had a wonderful May Day!

Amazon Affiliates