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Recycled Gingerbread People

I usually remember to take my reusable bags to the market, but now and then I forget and had somehow accumulated a big enough stack of brown paper grocery bags to make gingerbread people. The children used white paint to make gingerbread people on the bags. Once the paint dried, the people were cut out and they used Silky Crayons to add faces, buttons, hair, etc. This was easy and inexpensive and, best of all, they loved it!

how leslie and eden create in the kitchen

No, it's not a cake! It's paper mache. Not sure what it will turn out to be. Even teens need a little process over product from time to time . . .

gingerbread houses

We've been learning about our 5 senses - and gingerbread seemed to tie in. We created these gingerbread houses at one of the art tables this week. Children were invited to paint a house. Some used brown paint and some mixed in a little white. When the houses were dry, the children used white paint (frosting) to outline the houses. Finally, they used sticky foam candy shapes to finish off the houses.

Parent Gift

Close-up photo of child printed in sepia ink on white cardstock and mounted on red construction paper. Topped with a sheet of velum printed with the child's dictated poem. Tied together with a green ribbon.

On the eve of your birthday

Dear Leslie,

Sixteen years ago today. I didn't know your face yet. I hadn't heard your voice. I loved you - yes. But I didn't know the depth of that love yet. How proud I'd be of all of your accomplishments. How protective I'd be of your heart.

Sixteen years ago today. I hoped you'd be beautiful. You are. I hoped you'd be kind. You are. I hoped you'd be smart and confident and brave and artistic. You are all of these things - and more. You hear music that no one else can hear. You see art in the every day. You have empathy for those around you and those you haven't met. You want to please - yet you also want to do things your way.

Sixteen years ago today. I prayed that I would be a good mother. That I'd know how to take care of you. Know how to teach you all I know about this wonderful and sometimes scary world. Know how to fill you up with love, and knowledge, and all of the things inside my heart. Know how to let you go out into the world when it was time.

Sixteen years ago today. The eve of your birth.

Happy Birthday, Beautiful Girl. I love you.

Mama

come to my house . . .

We've been talking about our families and where we live. This week we painted our houses and added a photo in the open doorway. Then each of the children dictated a sentence or two about what friends could do if they came over to play. It was an interesting view into what they like to do at home! I loved that one little boy said his friends could come over and play hide and seek with his grandma :)