All Flowers

One Mother’s Day about 23 years ago, when all these little dudes looked like this—my sister and I had a brilliant idea. We lined most of our kids up by the hearth at mom’s house and had them sing. Oh, my did they sing! To my memory, they sang every Mother’s Day song ever written but ended with mom’s favorite–“I Often Go Walking.”

“I often go walking in meadows of clover,
And I gather armfuls of blossoms of blue.
I gather the blossoms the whole meadow over,
Dear Mother, all flowers remind me of you.

Oh Mother, I give you my love with each flower
To give forth sweet fragrance a whole lifetime through
For if I love blossoms and meadows and walking,
I learn how to love them, dear Mother, from you.”
–Phyllis Luch

At the end, all these little sweethearts handed her a tiny flower. It was beautiful and the best part about it was that…she cried. That always meant it was the perfect Mother’s Day gift.

 

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Happy May Day!

Back in the old days–when May 1st would come around, all the grade school kids would parade out on to the playground and each class would do a well rehearsed dance for all the parents. We practiced for weeks during our regular recess time so there was a ton of stress to do it perfectly…which of course, we did. The only hitch would be if the record–being played over the P.A. system would skip and no one would have a clue what to do. That was funny to watch…not so funny to be involved in.

Couple of things of note in this picture–

First: Being at the very end of the line means that I was officially the tallest girl in the fifth grade. Wowww–that was a big pain because it also meant, at that age that I was taller than all the boys too.  And those are some mighty big feet for a 10 year old. Again, I say wowww.

Second: Check out all those “bobby socks.” They were all the thing…you must trust me on this.

Third: I positively loved this skirt. It had cute little baskets with puppies on it. I was teased mercilessly whenever I wore it, because, well…you don’t see any other skirts with, you know…puppies, do you? Didn’t think so. But I liked it anyway, so when I was feeling particularly brave enough to be laughed at, I’d wear it.

Lastly, after all these years, I can still remember the names of the girls in line by me. Skeptical? Well, here goes:

Me, Peggy, Estelle, Lori Takiuchi, Gloria Estrada, Michi Jones, Donna Imigawa, and Valerie. Don’t you think I deserve a prize for that? I accept Cheetos and Symphony bars at the door…shamelessly.

Anyone besides me remember May Day dances at school? Tell me about it…please.

Happy May Day everyone!

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Stuff That Makes Me Smile

My very favorite “peeps.”

My silly boy immortalized in…cotton—so nobody forgets him. Isn’t he just so CUTE?

Pretty little barrettes on a pretty little ladybug.

The Springy-est colors on the face of earth.

A guy who can dance…anywhere…anytime…for any reason.

A table full of pure heaven. No, there aren’t any left. Sorry.

A girl with her priorities straightened out.

A sweet card from a boy down the road…who shall remain name-less.

Ok, ok–it’s from the artist-formerly-known-as-the-bald-kid.

And lastly–a tiny guy who is perfectly secure in his manliness–when he’s “bein’ the dad.”

What about you? What makes you smile?

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Things To Love…

at Easter time…

A couple of local crazies with a set of brand new maracas.

New Springy headband colors coming to the Shop very soon. :}

The prettiest little clothespins you’ve ever laid eyes on.

A page of the absolutely coolest postage stamps I’ve ever-ever seen.

Easter egg candy at my fingertips…as it should be.

Another storm rolling in for the third time today–it’s pretty soggy around here!

Strawberry Jam Squares instead of Birthday cake. Good idea Jillian.

Buttons that just holler “Springtime!” Now…where to use them. Hmmmm…

The perfect grown-up “sippy.” Hee hee…

A bitty girl who sees the world from exactly the right perspective.

So grateful for all of the lovely little things in my life–including you!

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Learning Styles and Approaches

A week and a half ago, our family got together to listen to General Conference–a two day, five session set of televised religious, faith promoting meetings that we look forward to every 6 months. This time, as we watched and listened, I got a kick out of the different ways each family member collected and absorbed the information. All of us in the same room–but everyone so unique and learning in their own way.

Some took notes on a pad of paper.

Some jotted down quotes and looked up scriptures on their Iphones.

Some collected good thoughts in their journals.

Some worked on their…ahem…72 hr. kits.

And some chose to…ummm…meditate…throughout…sort of.  :}

All my babies–nearly–and all their babies, bundled together in one room, makes it all work for me.

Well, that…and a ball of lilac yarn.

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