April was a nice month in our house! We enjoyed a fair bit of time outside, mostly healthy kids (new bug this week, sadly), and lots and lots of crafting, especially from Emma! I think her handmade birthday present for a kindergarten friend was my favorite creation this month, but I’m hoping to recreate spouting whales with friends outdoors once our weather warms up.
We enjoyed a nice, simple Easter this month, with perfect hard boiled eggs, which we decorated using our crayon shavings method (but somehow didn’t get photos of?) Emma also made a very sweet, spring-themed Easter book. We also did some fun experiments with our Easter candy.
We enjoyed a week off of school, and Emma’s reading took off – she read all eight Ramona books. We planted tomatoes, as well as peas, and all (or at least a large majority) seem to have survived, so far at least!
Johnny and Lily don’t appear in as many posts, because they’ve been doing what they love best – lots of free, imaginative play. Not the most exciting thing to blog about, but very rewarding to watch, and great for them, too! Emma joins in, when she isn’t busy reading or crafting! :)
Mike took the kids to see the Boston Marathon, and I took advantage of four hours on my own to sort through all the kids’ clothes, donating and saving those that were too small. Their drawers are so much more organized now, and I even have the baby clothes out (they will need laundering, but they are ready)! I made some progress organizing the house as a whole, but have a lot to do before this baby shows up, probably in a little over three months’ time (unless she shocks us all by being early for once!)
I didn’t finish writing up blog conference notes. Maybe next month, but it’s not getting written out as a specific goal. I have other things to do!
Here are the goals I do have for May:
- Sew the dresses I cut out for the girls last fall – I cut them on the larger side last fall, so hopefully they will fit! Target Areas: gratitude and education
- Make Emma an early-1800s-style dress (Old Sturbridge Village inspired request). Target Areas: education and peace (from requests that I work on it!)
- Help Emma finish a birthday gift for another friend. Target Areas: gratitude and education
- Organize the house more. Target Areas: peace and gratitude
- Finish putting together the very exciting Small Hands Creating Hope fundraiser for the American Cancer Society, and start the blog hop! Target Area: gratitude
- Start thinking about teacher gifts – any suggestions, for preschool and kindergarten teachers who are all fantastic? Target Area: gratitude
Are you setting goals for May? I’d love for you to link up, if so!
MaryAnne is a craft loving educator, musician, photographer, and writer who lives in Silicon Valley with her husband Mike and their four children.
Lily’s photo is great! She looks even more cherrful than her jammies!
Can’t wait to see those dresses! We’re busy working on teacher appreciation gifts this week, too. We like to give something small every day and then a bigger thing on Friday. This year our “bigger thing” is going to be a box of homemade chocolates. I bought plain brown boxes that the kids are going to decorate. So excited to see how they turn out! I did a roundup at http://dallas.todaysmama.com/2012/04/teacher-appreciation-crafts/ with a few ideas, too.
I love the monthly goals. I just wouldn’t know where to start. We have weekly goals but I always forget to include any for me and my me time activities that I want to do generally get pushed under the carpet.
You are so wonderfully organized! I just try to make it through one day at a time.
Sandy
Another bug? I hope this one is gone quickly!
Cute picture of Lily. I can’t wait to see the dress you make. For teacher idea’s, I’ve seen tons of cute ones on Pinterest.
Great post. I think we are going to go simple with teacher’s gifts and go for a card and a gift card. Good luck with your May goals!
I’m a preschool teacher, and the gifts I love most are the ones with a hand written note.
What a great month! Love the picture of Lily, and I’m so excited your garden is thriving, too!
The requests to work on it are always fun, what pattern are you thinking of using?
I haven’t figured that out yet. Do you have one you recommend?