Thirty-Two

Can it possibly be true?

Have I really turned Thirty-Two?



Man! I am getting OLD....(er)!



September 29th marked my 32nd year of life on this earth. I am completely amazed at how fast life flies by! 32 years....that is almost a third of a century! ~WOW~





I had such a NICE day!



~Lots of hugs and goodies from my preschool sweeties!

~Lunch and enjoyable visiting with WONDERFUL friends!

~SPECIAL dining with the loves of my life!!!



Oooh! Did I mention... a new lens for my camera, a fun fall pillow homemade by an awesome friend, a gift card to the mall, one to Dillard's, one for a pedicure, and one to my new favorite scrapbook store, a lovely silver necklace, AND a HEART truly overflowing with GRATITUDE!!!

Fall Fun!

I love this season...actually I love all the seasons. I enjoy them greatly and toward the end of each season, I am anxiously awaiting the next one. Each season has sweet offerings. But it is now FALL and I am loving it!



The weather is cooler...ahh! We spend lots of time outdoors. Being outside in the fall always makes me think of those enjoyable leaf hunts I would go on as a child. Leaves are pretty fascinating to me... may sound silly, but I have always found leaves so much fun. Watching them fall in the gentle breeze, seeing the colors change before our eyes, piling them all up and launching in!

What is great is that I have children of my own and I have worked with children for 12 years so I still get to enjoy leaves! My all-time favorite activity to do with children is to go on a nature walk and collect "treasures" Children gathering nature by the armful and finding excitement with each find is priceless!! Then returning, to turn our treasures into masterpieces!

Leaf rubbings, Leaf creatures, painting leaves, the possibilities are endless!

Marni has been posting some adorable preschool art she is doing with her precious boys. Through comments, we exchanged ideas and it inspired me to share some of my favorite FALL art. Just a few of them anyway....I would love to have more time to do more. These just happen to have been in my preschool activites the past couple weeks. I am sure most of you have seen all these before, they have been around. You can do so much with any of these and add to them or take away, add fun ribbon to hang them and deocrate or what I love is that these art pieces the kids get to take home make GREAT scrapbook material!! I adore using kids hands and feet, because to me they are precious and it is so personal, a piece of themselves to look back on...priceless and everlasting! I love to see children engage in our activity with wonder filled eyes and an imagination ready to explore. I have always been taught to let the child do their own work and I am a STICKLER about that! The activities I choose to do with children will be ones that they can create...it is not the finished product that is important it is the PROCESS in which they make it! (Now of course, I may paint their hands and feet, but they LOVE it and get excited when we do. I always make a big deal by talking to each child as I paint and that is my one-on-one time with them too) These are great to do with younger children because it is always so cute to see how they create and how each of their art is so different! I love it! Now these I had my own children do who are 5 and 9 so theirs look that way. My preschoolers looked alot different but ever so adorable!

I would love for you to share some of your favorite Fall Art!

*Paper plate mosaic pumpkin-children can tear or cut paper then glue to make a pumpkin

*Thumbprint Critters-let the children stamp their thumb several times wherever they would like on the paper, then ask what critters they would like.

*Fist pumpkins- use a thumbprint for the stem

*Footprint Ghost

*Marble Painting spider Webs and Fingerprint Spiders

*Paint Dropping with Halloween Colors

Words to LIVE by

I just LOVE these quotes. I am deeply
inspired
&
touched

Coming from who spoke them, these words went straight to my HEART!


"Find JOY in the journey!"

"Let Go of the little things that won't matter in 20 years!"

"The number of prayers we say may contribute to our happiness,but the number of prayers we answer may be of greater importance."


Then the famous quote from the musical, Music Man:

"You pile up enough tomorrows, and you'll find you're left with nothing but a lot of empty yesterdays."


I BELIEVE the message is clear!

Do YOU believe in

*MAGIC*

Oh, How I do!


M otivating
A mazing
G ifts
I n
C hildren


MAGIC was the theme of an Early Childhood Conference I just enjoyed... 2 full days! Ahhh!
I am so grateful that I have been blessed with a passion and a special love for children. I LOVE children and I LOVE learning! I love that I have been taught by an amazing mother who loved us dearly and let us know how important we were and that we mattered! Children are truly precious!


"We worry about what a child will become tomorrow, yet we forget that he is someone today."


Cherish today. Live in the moment! Even the moment you wish would just pass.
Join in with your child's silliness...
Share in their laughter...
Delight in their joys...
Listen to their words, even the hidden ones...
Let go of the little things that won't matter in 20 years...
Take time to teach and talk....
Try to see the world through their eyes!

Because while we are busy trying to teach our children, THEY teach us what life is all about!