Flower Power!

There is Power in that Flower!

July was hot hot hot (picture Michael Scott here playing the Jamaican steel drum and if you know what I am talking about I want to be friends with you). 

I know some of you may want to slap me for saying this but I am getting ready and excited for fall! It’s just around the corner and this is the last summer month before school starts again so let’s all embrace it and remember that Christmas is only 20 Fridays away (now you really want to slap me don’t you?).

I have always loved fresh picked flowers from around our yard in the summer time. From lilacs and peonies in the early spring to lilies and lavender in the summer…. I love it all. Towards the end of summer sweet sunflowers are in bloom and my black-eyed susans and daisies are so vibrant and alive that I swear I can hear them talking to me when I walk by! I will grab a pair of scissors and a mason jar and walk around our property filling it up to add some color and beauty indoors. I try to always have fresh flowers in our house at all times (even in the winter when I have to buy them) because I feel like it’s hard to have a bad day when there are beautiful flowers around.

 My friend Natalie and I would take walks all the time when we lived next door to each other back in Ypsilanti and I remember her son, Mason, would always ride his bike ahead of us and come racing back to give his mom a dandelion. It was one of the sweetest gestures ever, to see this big brown eyed 3 year old go off and pick a weed because he thought it was beautiful and he’d race in excitement to his mommy so he could put a smile on her face by offering her this freshly picked ray of sunshine. It always melted my heart and I remember Natalie would never toss it away. She always held onto it to show Mason that his kindness mattered to her.

Before the blooms of summer fade away it’s the perfect time to snip snip snip and give away some sunshine in a jar. Grab your scissors and a mason jar and take a walk around your yard and snip some beautiful stems to give away to someone. This is an easy and free way to spread some cheer to others and it’s a great way to involve your kiddos. Let’s pay it forward with bouquets of hope to others in our community and our lives. It's cheap. It's easy and it's a great way to spread kindness.... something our broken world needs so much right now. 

xoxoxo,

Brenda

Pay It Forward - Leaf Project

We are officially heading into fall now! You know what that means! Trips to Dexter Bakery, pumpkin patches, and fall camping! For us, fall camping is our favorite! We love taking hikes on trails with fallen leaves crunching under our feet and we love cozying up around a bonfire wrapped in a blanket and drinking hot cocoa as we tell stories of our childhood and have laughing fits about dumb stuff we’ve done throughout the years. 

Of course, because I am crazy, our house is already decorated for the fall. I started decorating weeks ago and my friends were freaking out telling me it was still summer. I can’t help it! I love the fall! Bring on the hot cider!

I was trying to think of a great fall pay it forward project and I have one for all my teacher friends out there! I try to be careful with giving teachers’ pay it forward projects because, let’s be honest, they are already under paid and over worked and have a huge responsibility with molding young minds and nurturing kiddos. But, I know that teachers love to invest in kids and this project is an easy way for them to show love to their kiddos this fall and you can even involve the kids in your class! This is a great project for elementary school teachers and aids as well as for Girl Scout or Boy Scout troop leaders, too!

Here is what you do:

Make a leaf stencil 

Have your kids use it to cut out paper leaves (make your leaf stencil at least the size of an adult hand). You can use colored paper (fall colors) or you can use plain white paper and have your students use water colors to paint their leaves or they can use crayons to decorate them. 

Make sure to have your students write their names on the back of their leaf. 

Then, teachers or troop leaders can write a positive message to each student on their leaf and then hang their leaves around the room, on your classroom door, or tape them to their desk!

Your students will be surprised with an encouraging message personally written to them by you! 

It’s an easy way to get your students involved and it’s a great way to pay it forward to your students or class this fall!

 Hope you have fun with this fun fall pay it forward project!!!!

xoxoxo,

Brenda