Friday, January 25, 2013

Happy Valentine's Day!


HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!
Roses are red.
Violets are blue.
Sugar is sweet...
and so are you!



Close your eyes.  See Valentine's Day when you were... let's say... 6 years old.  Keep your eyes closed tightly!  Really see it.  Valentine's cards and cookies.  Pink and purple and red.  Hearts galore, in every shape and size.  That's the easy part.  Now, smell Valentine's Day.   Try harder!  It had a smell - whether it was the sticky white paste used on your own ready-to-be-decorated shoe box from home or the handfuls of chalky candy Conversation Hearts, there's a definite Valentine's Day smell that can only be conjured up when you're made to think about it!  That's funny, but true.  Remember how fluttery you felt picking out and preparing your cards for friends (and...um...'kinda' friends......um...and 'I don't really like you, but my teacher says I have to give a card to EVERY-single-body' friends!) and how your hand was cramp-ridden when you were done writing your name and every-single-body's names on every store-bought (Holly Hobbie) card?  And what about the act of actually mailing each one of those cards in an albeit elementary, yet none-the-less oh-so-exciting fashion within your very own classroom?  Like it was all SO important that you couldn't possibly have imagined how any adult neglected to say anything about adding the valuable postage stamps (then .06cents each), so you found some on your mom's desk and you licked them, each one (total: $1.80= a lot of money WAY back then)?  Yep,... and, to this day, that's what Valentine's Day tastes like!  And, as my mother would agree, it was cheaper than when my very own offspring found stamps (.37cents each) on HIS mom's desk and licked them, each one (total: $11.10). Uh huh...And, when history repeats itself (as it usually does), he will likely spend about 100 bucks (the way the cost of stamps keeps rising) when HIS kid does it! 
What is it about stamps???  
ANYway, the point is that when you're 6, Valentine's Day is as important as it is exciting.  IT. JUST. IS.  
When you're ?6  (fill in the blank), it may or may not be as exciting as it once was. SIGH.  Truthfully,  the excitement of this particular day does eventually wear off.  Moral of the story? Close your eyes and re-live the magical memories of the day.  We all have them.  Go ahead and reminisce with your inner 
6-year-old self... It's probably time to check in anyway ;)  
 
By the way, here are some of our favorite Valentine's Day ideas to help you celebrate with any little sweethearts in your life ...      
                                       ENJOY!  
                    XO  M&J  XO   

Valentine's Day PHOTOS:  Snap individual shots and use to       make very special Valentines for families = Sweet Keepsake XO 

Identity protected by KBound ;)

Valentine's Day SPIN-the-BOTTLE Game:  Brainstorm a list of COMPLIMENTS that kids (and/or adults!) can give to each other ("You are nice to me", "I like your new hair cut", "You are good at cleaning up your toys", etc). Spin the bottle and compliment the person that it stops and points to = Be Kind XO

Spin-the-Bottle with Compliments 

SECRET MESSAGE Valentine Painting:  

1. Draw a heart







2. Write a SECRET MESSAGE with white crayon
3. Paint with festive watercolor








4. SURPRISE! 

Sunday, January 6, 2013

Happy New Year!


HaPpY  NeW yEaR!
~an original poem for our KB Friends:


January means vacation is done~
and a new year has begun!
The calendar's changed, the Shelf Elf has packed~
I've picked up some weight, and that's a fact!
Most of me longs for the good ole routine~
teaching and testing and noon Lean Cuisines!
While part of me begs to just stay home in bed~
watching and reading and covering my head!
But, it's onward and upward to 2013~
with promises of peace, love, and new skinny jeans!
Of well-behaved kiddos, an increase in pay (!!!)~
of laughter and kudos and many Snow Days!
Anything's possible this time of the year~
So, CHEERS and Have Fun... 
     because summer is near!!!
(Hey, it's all about perspective, right? ;)
M&J




Here's an original song, perfect to use as you return to your classroom 
to celebrate ANY new year! (we started singing it in 2002!)! 

Hello New Year!
(tune: "Frere Jacques")

Hello New Year
Hello New Year

Goodbye Old
Goodbye Old

It's 2013 now
It's 2013 now

Goodbye Old
Goodbye Old