Bunny Details for Kari and the Rest of You Wonderful Readers

Here are some more photos of the papers/shapes my Stars used to make their construction paper "egg" bunnies:



I traced around an egg-shaped wall decoration on a piece of light brown construction paper (9X12 inches) and had enough scrap left over to cut out the bottom foot/feet piece. You'll also need two long rectangles in brown and two thin strips of pink...I had my students "round" the corners of those pieces as they assembled their bunnies. The "coveralls" were cut out as a template from another egg shape so they'd fit perfectly, but you'll want to help your students fit them over the bunny's body-they *can* get lopsided. Pretty scraps of printed paper were used as the patch on the coveralls, and students used a black marker or crayon for the face details and "stitching lines" on each side of the patch.





Hoppy (er, Happy) Easter!
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Many thanks to Sheryl over at Teaching 2 and 3 Year Olds~ she made my day today when she shared the following Friendship Award with me:



"These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbon of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to those bloggers who must choose at least five more and include this cleverly written text into the body of their award."

Sheryl's blog makes me smile every time she posts! As a fan of developmentally appropriate practice and the teachers who make early childhood education the experience it *should be*, I was thrilled to discover her blog. One of her favorite quotes? "Teach what you know and continue to grow." Please visit Sheryl often (and remember she's over in my blogroll under Early Childhood)!

I'll be passing the award on this weekend-check back!

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Hooked on Blog Giveaways and Cartolina Cards

Thanks to Fiona Richards of Cartolina Cards, these arrived in the mail just in time to beat today's rainy weather:













Fiona hosted a wonderful card/stationery giveaway not too long ago. Seeing these cards up close and in person, I have to tell you, I am *hooked*! Visit her blog, Cafe Cartolina pronto to see what beautiful things have caught her eye-

What I've Been Flagging

My blog writing and blog reading schedule has been topsy-turvyfied for the past two weeks thanks to the start of the school year. My weekends are spent playing catch up, posting blogs to the queue and reading through NetNewsWire, flagging posts left and right that I want to return to or share. After yesterday's parent teacher conferences, Dear Daughter's last morning practice session for Freshman Volleyball (she made the team!), and another week under our belts dealing with the Toddler's transition to a babysitter, I'm hopeful that the family and I can settle into a somewhat regular and predictable routine so that I find time for the regular reading, regular posting, and regular commenting I've enjoyed for the past year. Coffee, blogs, exploration and discovery. Coffee, blogs, exploration and discovery. Coffee, blogs, inspiration(!) and discovery!
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* Pulling at my heartstrings again, Poppytalk shares photos and links to an Old School Exhibition that has me wishing I had a collection of globes with which to decorate.

* The Red Bee Creativity Blog shares how to's for two Halloween make-and-take booklets here and here...

* Cakespy has me hoping a classroom mom will make ice cream cone cupcakes as a birthday treat this year...

* Hostess With the Mostess has added nummy new recipes to The Recipe Box (grown up s'mores, bread pudding with chocolate chunks and bananas, caramel nut popcorn, seared scallops with chili pepper dressing, and many more)...

* The Purl Bee shares a wonderful tutorial on how to make a fabric party banner/garland (I know, I've become banner-addicted!)

* And just in time for today's rainy day weather, The Secret Recipe Blog shares a copycat recipe for Olive Garden's Angel Hair and Three Onion Soup

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Back to reading!

This Could Be the Year of "Good Mondays..."

Which would be a change for me, frankly! Not that all of my Mondays have been miserable in the past, but they've been, well...Mondaaaaaaaays.

Until this year. Since January 1, 2008, I've had some pretty terrific day-after-Sundays. I was contacted for an initial interview with my new school district on a Monday. The interview itself was on a Monday, and I was offered a job that very afternoon! Humorous emails have been sent my way, I've had great timing at the grocery store on early Monday mornings, and the toddler has even slept in occasionally...all on Mondays.

And then there was today, THIS Monday. When I checked my email I found a message from GoodyBlog, notifying me that I had won this:



A wonderful Father's Day Giveaway was hosted at their site, so I entered. Once we get to our new home in Oz, a fifty inch plasma t.v. and surround sound system will be on its way to us, belated perhaps, but still very much appreciated by my husband. GoodyBlog and Shop.com, you are AWESOME!

See what I mean about Mondays?

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Check out the temp in my truck:



No matter! Inside, where the air conditioner is working just fine, it's cool enough for me to crochet a scarf with left over baby yarn:



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I've enjoyed checking on my blog visitor information provided by Lijit and have to laugh at some of the searches that seem to bring people to my site..."freakyoldwoman" (huh?), "weird crafts" (hey, I think they're pretty!), and "wanna-be-decorator" (nope, I'm not a professional!). A big *shout out* to Winter Park, Florida...Hays, Kansas...and most especially, Germantown, Maryland. You've been searching for ME, point-blank! Feel free to say hello sometime! It's wonderful seeing that I've been visited by readers in Great Britain, Mexico, Canada, Australia~ welcome All!

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Selfishly, I've been feeling a bit bummed though. Some of my favorite writers/bloggers have chosen to move on to greener non-blogging pastures. Understandable, yes. We all grow, change, move on. But sad too, like when the last episodes of Mary Tyler Moore or M*A*S*H were broadcast. There I go dating myself again. Hopefully their archives will be left up so I can revisit from time to time. Recipes, crafting, altered artistry, poetry, criticism, edu-blogging. I've been an appreciative lurker. I'll miss you.

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Thankfully...



* A Fanciful Twist (full of happy, vibrant creatures and wonderful photography~ I can't wait to visit Vanessa's Etsy shop to choose a favorite little magical tree or creature to purchase!)

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I hope you had a wonderful weekend!

Seeing Red

I've been learning about my digital camera (okay, "fiddling with it" might be a better choice of words) this year as a stay-at-home-mommy...three years after my darling husband gave it to me.

With thanks to Artsy Mama for sharing the link, I think I'll participate in Sadie Olive's upcoming photo inspiration project:



Care to participate? Check out the link.

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Sweet Paul had no problem catching my attention with "Breakfast Polenta with Pear, Blueberries and Honey," (May 2008) and "Snowglobe Cookies" in the December 2007 archives. If I were a dog person, I'd certainly make his Parsley Breath-Bits! Oooh...more Christmas Cookies! I know, I know, it's still only May! Sigh.

How I love the internet.

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Mr. Three-Year-Old chose this worm/water/squirty/attatch-it-to-the-hose-thingie with his G.G.'s birthday money (he also picked out some new books, but thankfully he doesn't try to combine the two):



This...is...THE...life.

Wonderful Stuff Wednesday

Click away my dears, click away:

The 167th Carnival of Education is up and running at The CEA Blog (Columbus Education Association), and heh heh, they saved the best for last (KIDDING!), "Flipping a card…it’s on this blogger’s pet peeve list." Yep, that would be my Popsicle Stick post! I'm looking forward to reading the other entries this week!

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Num. Num. Oh my goodness.... *****NUM*****

• Copycat Macaroni Grill's Reeses Peanut Butter Cake, thanks to The Secret Recipe Blog


• Cream Puffs in Venice makes us an offer (a recipe) we can't refuse: Cannoli Cake


• Scribbit reminded me of a cake an old friend used to make for me when I was down in the dumps, "Dump Cake"

Cakespy took inspiration from dessert-favorite Carrot Cake and created broccoli, sugar snap pea, radish, parsnip, and even brussel sprout cupcakes!

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Crafting and Creativity

• I'm inspired to take a Trip Around the World while crafting in my own home, thanks to Lisa at Celebrate Creativity In All Its Forms, and all I need is fabric, thread, a sewing machine, and a rotary cutter!


• Inspired Ideas, volume 1, number 2 offers a tutorial on how to make Friendship Pins

CasaSugar shows us how to make a self watering recycled vase (these would be terrific for classrooms as well!)

Vicki at This Art That Makes Me Happy teaches us how to make a paper ruffle

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Several!

• Laurie makes the old new again (with the help of hand-crafted fine-feathered-friends) at Laurie's Charming Designs


• Visual Voice offers terrific photos documenting the fine art of bell pulling...


• Have you checked out Blogtations yet? Quotes from blogs, and today my favorite is this: "Everyone knows that, if you want to give a child an exciting horticultural experience, have them plant a bean seed—because they sprout in a week and are a hardy plant. Not here. My garden is the kiss of death to a seed which millions of kindergartners have successfully sprouted before they ever learned how to read." Whine Country