Celebrate

Another year, another spring. Time to begin thinking how your garden will grow. Sharing this with your mini farmer couldn't be more rewarding. Think of all the goodness that comes from teaching kids to garden. From the care and attention paid to planting the seeds to the overwhelming excitement over the first sprouts there's so much to be experienced.

In honor of Dr. Seuss' birthday and NEA's National Read Across America Day One Pretty thing has put together a roundup of Seuss related projects. It's a nice mix of how-to's, printables and recipes. Most ideas are easy and require very basic materials, most of which you probably already have on hand.

We've got Olympic fever in my house and as to be expected my teeny Peggy Fleming has been sporting her best pair of ice skates (socks) and tutu joining in on the ice dancing competition with her own special living room routine. And the front page of today's sports illustrating a very psyched Yu-Na Kim?...Already been taped to my daughter's bedroom door...That's after she was finally convinced she might want to hang it up before it rips from being over handled.

Johanna Waisley of Create Town has shared this cool idea for creating Olympic masterpieces. I can't believe how easy this project is for kids to whip up and just look at the results...Oh so beautiful...Go watercolors...I love how she's using this art project along with other planned Olympic themed activities to enhance the experience of the Winter Games for her young children.

Johanna:

Those in the know, know that Purim, with all it's colorful costumes, food and merry-making, wouldn't be complete without a few really loud groggers (aka noise makers). Sara of Creative Jewish Mom has posted a tutorial for making groggers from recycled materials.

Sara:

Yup, the Vancouver Olympic Games open this Friday with promises of a spectacular ceremony. We've made it a tradition to gear up for the games by having a small-scale opening ceremonies watching party. As the event unfolds we wait and watch with excitement for our favorite parts, the parade of athletes (my son hopes to spy Shaun White) and lighting of the torch.

I never know what to do with all the Valentine's Day cards my kids, 3 and 10 years old, bring home from school each year. I don't have the heart to toss them out a few days after the holiday...A week later I'm cursing at damn cards which are now scattered all over the house. And I usually don't have the patience to do anything special with them. The most we've ever done has been to repurpose the cards into place mats. I just feel there should be more to do with the cards.

I heart this handprint valentine tutorial from Rebecca of Roots & Wings Co.. The project is simple to make (barring a paint phobia) and is a sweet idea sure to tickle the hearts of the grandparents or jazz up a bare wall. Plus it's super-fast so you can bring on the homemade goodness in no time flat. What's not to love about little hearts made with little hands?

(via Crafty Crow)

J Otto Seibold's Olive, My Love contains all the best things about the holiday... Love, hearts, friendship, adventure, chocolates and dogs. Such a fun Valentine's Day book we had to mention it twice!

Read more about this fun Valentine's Day story here. Happy Valentine's Day!

Being the mom of a 10 year old Guitar Hero World Tour rock god I really appreciate and love this guitar-shaped Valentine's Day card tutorial from Zakka Life's Kawaii Crafter. Nothing could be cooler and easier to put together thanks to the directions and printable template. Grab a bag of heart lollipops, turn up the iPod, print and rock out a batch of these babies.