Memorial Day

My cute Mama helped us all enjoy Memorial Day–year after year–for all the right reasons. This year, my babies and their babies found many of the sames things to love about the day…and we discovered a few new ones of our own.

On this Memorial Day 2011– I positively loved…

the ridiculous brand new snow on the foothills–one day before June…

the people who matter most to me–the ones right here, and the ones just a breath away….

the beautiful flowers…always, always–the beautiful flowers…

the ones who love this day along with me…

the sharing among friends…

the tender moments that help little ones know who they really are…

the rain that fell just as we were leaving…

the hail that fell just as the rain was leaving…

the beautiful idea that there is a day such as this, set aside…

to remember.

Your silent tents of green
We deck with fragrant flowers;
Yours has the suffering been,
The memory shall be ours.

~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

631

—–

Please come enter our EASY “Melissa & Doug Summer Toys”  giveaway! We need 200 entries by June 3rd. Please, please–spread the word!

This Day…

“I have never been able to think of the day as one of mourning; I have never quite been able to feel that half-masted flags were appropriate on Decoration Day.  I have rather felt that the flag should be at the peak, because those whose dying we commemorate rejoiced in seeing it where their valor placed it.  We honor them in a joyous, thankful, triumphant commemoration of what they did.”

~Benjamin Harrison

Happy Memorial Day my friends!

634

Please come enter our EASY “Melissa & Doug Summer Toys”  giveaway! We need 200 entries by June 3rd. Please, please–spread the word!

 

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.

 

659

 

659

 

Mama’s Flowers

I’ve been thinking of a line from a childhood song, that goes, “…dear Mother, all flowers remind me of you.” It’s been humming around in my head all day. Since my mom’s been gone for 10 years, it felt right and good to create something simple and pretty to remind me of her.

These simple little paper flowers did the trick. It may just make you feel good too–if you are a mom…or had a mom…or knew a mom–to make your very own little bouquet for the table. Especially if your sky is still trying to decide between sun and snow–like ours is. We need flowers I tell you!

Supplies needed:

1 inch paper strips–I used magazine covers because they were heavier than regular paper and shiny too.

Pipe cleaners

Random buttons

Small hole punch

Fold a pipe cleaner in half–like this.

Poke a button onto the pipe cleaner…

and slide it all the way to the top of the fold.

Loop a paper strip just like this…

and punch a small hole right through all three layers.

Now slide the paper loop onto the pipe cleaner and scoot it all the way up to the top.

Keep adding more and more loops until you love the way it looks—five or six were good for me, but go crazy if you like.

When you are finished adding “petals” slide another button up to the under side of the flower and twist the pipe cleaner to secure the button in place.

You now have the power to go forth and beautify the whole planet…or at least your corner of it! I’m expecting big things.

:}

661

{ Peace }

“World peace, though a lofty goal, is but an outgrowth of the personal peace each individual seeks to attain. I refer not to the peace promoted by man, but peace as promised of God. I speak of peace in our homes, peace in our hearts, even peace in our lives. Peace after the way of man is perishable. Peace after the manner of God will prevail.”

Thomas S. Monson

663