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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.

ideas making May baskets

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’.)

ideas Making May baskets

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

ideas making May baskets

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.

ideas making May baskets

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

ideas Making May baskets

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.

ideas Making May baskets

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

ideas making May baskets

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

ideas making May baskets

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.

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Filed Under: Crafts & Creations, Seasonal Crafts and Creations, SPRING Crafts and Creations, The Big Picture Tagged With: Catholic, Catholic-blogs, Catholic-families, Catholic-kids, gift baskets, how-to-make-May-Day-baskets, making-May-baskets, teaching-your-kids-thoughtfulness

We Rock! – Painted Rock Family – Kids Craft

April 24, 2009 By Laura 7 Comments

painted-rock-family

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.  : )

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Filed Under: Crafts & Creations, Kids Arts and Crafts, Kids Arts and Crafts, The Big Picture Tagged With: craft, kids crafts, ladybug-rocks, painted-rock-family, rock-painting

Earth Day – Taking care of His Creation

April 22, 2009 By Laura 3 Comments

Earth Day homeschooling ideas

Last year on Earth Day, our family started the tradition of going out and cleaning up our neighborhood roadsides and beach, to help care for God’s Creation in our own teeny tiny corner of the world.  We actually do this other times of the year as well, but it’s a plan on Earth Day, if the weather permits. Thankfully, today it did.  So instead of our formal school work, we headed out and got to work!

I HONESTLY helped clean up trash too, but I was also very busy taking photos, as usual.  Last year, Michael made all of our kids trash poker sticks, so they won’t ever be using their hands. I would take issue with using their hands, big time.   They work pretty hard, and have a lot of discussion about what a horrible and inconsiderate habit littering is. Teachable moments, are all over Earth Days.

Unclogging the street drains….

Earth Day homeschooling ideas

Earth Day homeschooling ideas

Earth Day homeschooling ideas

Earth Day homeschooling ideas

For ME?… <blush>…..

Earth Day homeschooling ideas
–

Patheticism, at it’s best!…..

(Now WHY is that word underlined in red??  That’s a word, isn’t it??)

Earth Day homeschooling ideas

Earth Day homeschooling ideas

I’m telling you, People, this one is a real worker. Always.

Earth Day homeschooling ideas

You should see the cars slow down, and the people look at us sometimes, as we parade through the neighborhood….completely confused about what in the world we are doing, or WHY? (The kids love to yell ‘Happy Earth Day!’ to them. lol)  But once in awhile a ‘quick’ one comes along, and not only knows what we are doing, but WHY we are doing it on THIS day.  We hope all people who happen to see us,  catch on, and become inspired.  If not to clean up, at least not to litter, if they do.

Earth Day homeschooling ideas

Part of our Earth Day, is not only helping take care of this GIFT of Creation God has given us, but appreciating the beauty of it everywhere!   These are the little stops I call ‘pick-me-ups’, because I seriously need one as I watch our barrel fill up with the disgusting abundance of trash we found on the ground.  So I hope it picks you up too, because there is more photos of trash coming…lol…

Earth Day homeschooling ideas

Earth Day homeschooling ideas

Earth Day homeschooling ideas

Earth Day homeschooling ideas

Earth Day homeschooling ideas

Earth Day homeschooling ideas

Earth Day homeschooling ideas

Earth Day homeschooling ideas

Earth Day homeschooling ideas

Earth Day homeschooling ideas
She likes butter.

Earth Day homeschooling ideas

How do you think we did?!

Earth Day homeschooling ideas
Heading home after a good couple hours of work.  Showers are sounding good right about now. YUCK!

Public Service Announcement:

THANK YOU FOR NOT LITTERING GOD’S GLORIOUS CREATION!!

So…..did you happen to do anything for Earth Day today?  Big or small, chats or actions, we’d love for you to share with us what Earth Day was like for you.

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Filed Under: Life In General, The Big Picture Tagged With: Catholic-blogs, Catholic-family, Catholic-kids, Earth Day, Earth-Day-community-clean-up, Earth-Day-homeschooling-ideas, Earth-Day-neighborhood-clean-up, homeschooling

Winner of Our 1st Giveaway Received….

April 20, 2009 By Laura 4 Comments

For those of you who have been itching to know what the winner of Our First Giveaway received, this is the post you’ve been waiting for!

1_live-laugh-love-box

 For those of you who are new to our blog, and have no clue what we’re talking about here, these links may help:

Announcement for our blog’s First Giveaway!

Winner Announcement

Now that we’re all on the same page, here we go…….

The first thing the winner received, was the box itself, that we put all of our hand-made gifts in! I’m telling you, I just loved this box.  We did not make it, we bought it.  It was just the perfect size, sturdy, and simply lovely. The cover had a front flap that magnetics closed!  I opened and closed it several times, just for the fun of it!  :  )  The cover adorned the phrase:  Live well, Laugh often, Love much.   Wise words we try to live by around here.  It really was a great box.  One could use it to store all kinds of things, like letters, cards, drawings from your children, or any kind of special momentos.

But here’s what WE put in it…..

….an assorted collection of handmade gifts.

2_everythingv

One of my favorite handmade gifts was this sign….

4_joshua-24-15

This was my idea and I designed it, but Michael actually made it.  We bought the sign unfinished, and Michael painted and lettered it. The paint is not solid, but more old looking, which is also one of the things that I love about it.  It’s rustic, and humble, and I think he should make me one now.

Next, I made glass stem bracelets….

5_wine-glass-bracelet

For those who are unfamiliar with these little doo-hickeys, these bracelets go on the stems of wine glasses or pedestal mugs.  They are made with wire rings and beads, and any other functional charms. These glass bracelets have a couple of purposes:  The first is simply to make your glass sets more festive and pretty. The second, is for social gatherings involving several guests, and therefore several glasses around. The assorted bracelets help people differentiate which glass is theirs, on the counter or table-top.  This was my other favorite gift we made. I think they are beautiful, style-ish, and frankly, I feel fancy and clever having them on my wine glasses.

6_wine-glasses-with-bracelets

I made a set of eight different bracelets.  It was really hard to photograph them together, and make all of the sentiments readable, so I labeled them all for you, because I have a thoughtful side.  : )

7_wine-glass-bracelets

Also, while I was making them, I was mesmerized by all of the colorful beads on the table, and lost control with my camera once again.  I loved this shot, so I’m throwing it in here to share.  There are people out there who understand this problem I have, in needing to take such photos, and they appreciate it!

8_beads

Next up……..I bought this wooden carved word, which is very important to me, and many of you:  FAMILY.   I painted it pale yellow, and then just rubbed on some floral and ladybug decorations.  That came out like this…

9_family
(Candle not included.)

The soaps we made as Christmas gifts were a big hit, so I made a few more (one of each color) for the Give-Away.  I love glycerine soap, and we scented it a lovely apple aroma.  I didn’t take a new photos of the new soaps alone, though….this photo is from the Christmas batch, just for a closer look…

10_soap

I also threw in some bookmarks, which honestly were from the abundance of leftovers we still have from making them as Christmas gifts.

Lastly, a charming little hand-painted pot….

11_painted_pot

Michael painted this, and even pulled the painted stripes free-hand around the pot, with a fancy long-haired brush.  I think it came out really cute.

That would conclude the up-close review of the hand-made gifts given to our First Giveaway winner.  We plan to plan (lol,) another Giveaway, of some sort,  soon.  We’d like to wrap up our over-due ‘Michael Project’ we started first.  IF, that is, you all are interested, in another Giveaway??  If so…speak up People!  We’d love to know what kind of interest is out there.

The Regan Camp reports that the favorite items were the sign and the soaps.

What would your favorites have been?

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Filed Under: Crafts & Creations, Giveaways, Giveaways, Homemade/Handmade Gift Ideas, The Big Picture Tagged With: giveaway, handmade gifts, handmade-gift-ideas

Photos of Our Easter Day Details – 2009 – Simple Easter Ideas

April 17, 2009 By Laura 6 Comments

Just another short post, with lots of photos, from our blessed Easter Sunday. We hope they are simple Easter ideas, to share with you.

The kids woke up to these surprises on Easter morning.  They were thrilled!

non-candy-easter-gift-ideas-for-kids_2

non-candy-easter-gift-ideas-for-kids

The kids, looking all dapper, just before heading out to a beautiful Easter morning Mass.  {A} altar served, as usual.  The kids were surprised with some gifts from friends at church, too. People can be so kind and thoughtful.

easter-kids-2009

When we got home, we had our simple Easter dinner.

This is my plate, below.  As you can see, I despise carrots, and I love asparagus. : )

I also forgot to put some potato salad on my plate before I took this photo, which  I worked so hard on. lol

simple-easter-dinner

The Easter cookies {A} baked, and us parents helped decorate. It was tooooo FUN!

easter-cookies

Chocolate Coconut Jelly Bean Cake, which was also more fun, to take photos of.

jellybean-easter-cake

jelly-bean-easter-cake-1

jelly-bean-easter-cake-2

I took  some individual shots of the kids too.

easter-kids-2009_1

Easter is one of my very  favorite holidays to take photos on. The spring-ish atmosphere, all of the colors around, and the sheer joy in the air, as we celebrate Jesus’ resurrection, after a long and soul-searching Lenten season.  But the truth is, I just always have my camera in hand, taking photos, because I love to, and I can. 🙂  I like to think this is a great place to share them, with you all,  as they all are the details of our days, our life, and our joys.  Just so you know…This blog will always have more photos, than wise words spoken. Because I definitely always have more way photos. lol

colored-easter-eggshells

Our Giveaway winner, Regan, had received her home-made gifts.  So would anyone like to see photos of what she received?  I took lots of those along the way for that, too.  Of course. It’s coming up!

Our family hopes your Easter was all kinds of Blessed and joyful, too!

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Filed Under: Baking, Celebrations, Desserts, Faith, Faith/ Catholic, Holidays, Kids, Photography & Lettering, Recipes, The Big Picture, Traditions Tagged With: Catholic, Catholic-blogs, Catholic-families, Easter-ideas, jellybean-Easter-cake, non-candy-Easter-gift-ideas-for-kids, simple-Easter-ideas

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