Mother's Day Scapbook and Marine Homecoming!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO ALL

Our Mother's Day 2011 celebration has proven to be one of the best days of my life.  I finally got to see my grandson, Michael, after his time stationed in Afghanistan.  He looked fantastic with his new muscular body and sun tan.  He has matured into a man who thinks of others first!  Thank you United States Marine Corps!

My daughter, Stephanie, presented me with a beautiful Mother's Day Tribute in the form of a scrapbook.  As you can see by the photos of just some of the pages, it is full of great family photos and beautiful seniments.  I cried.

I was a single parent most of my life and always worried that my daughter wouldn't get all she needed to grow up properly.  She has grown into an amazing woman, wife, and mother.







We used to sing, "You and Me Against
the World," and dance around the living room. 

So much changed when my daughter became a mother herself.  She's a fantastic mother!

Here's my daughter with each of her children.

My beautiful granddaughter, Tori, wrote me a poem. I'll post it in the next post.

On the left is my other daughter, Chali and her husband Doug, then Jeff, Stephanie's husband, my husband, me, and my granddaughter Tori.

             At times our family is a little silly as you can see by these photos.

My grandson graduating from Marine boot camp. 



Here he is showing off his muscles.

This is the part that made me cry!

This is my terrific dog, Lucy.   

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Great Writing Activity for Father's Day!

So many of the crafts we make for Father's Day are cute, but useless! Here's an idea that will be appreciated and treasured for years and years.

Every family has favorite memories of trips, birthday parties, or visits to the zoo or aquarium. Why not ceate a Dad's Memories Book? It will take some organizing, but it will be worth the trouble. Let photos tell the story! Follow these easy steps to success.

1. Ask the children to bring in four or five photos from home that show fun times with their dad. Include things like pictures of the day they were born, trips, holidays, birthdays, silly times, dad's activities like bowling, gardening, or fishing, dad teaching them something, the first day in a new house, getting a new pet, or dad's super qualities like his strength, woodworking abilities, or cooking abilities.

2. Glue each picture to a piece of construction paper. Write a sentence or two about each picture on lined paper. Cut and paste the sentence under the photo. You can do one page a day for a week, or space them out through a couple of weeks.

3. Have each child draw a picture of their dad for the book cover. Add a title like Dad's the Best, or Thank You Dad.

4. Arrange the photos in order. You might choose to use them in chronological order or by themes.

5. Be creative as you put the Dad's Memories Book together. Fasten pages together with staples, ribbon, rafia, or stitching. Try cutting the book pages in the shape of dad's head, golf clubs, or his fishing boat. Decorate the pages with stickers, rubber stamps, finger prints, magazine pictures or stencils. Use gel pens or glitter pens for sparkle.

This great writing activity will allow the children to practice their printing skills, inspire creative writing, teach them how to put a book together, and give them the opportunity to have fun.

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