Fall has officially arrived here in Vancouver and it is absolutely beautiful. So today when Miss G suggested finishing off our day by going for a walk and park visit after school, she certainly didn’t have to convince me.
Tag Archives: leaves
Fall Joy
This fall I want to share they joy when it comes to fake ids. I recently bought a quality fake id card from fakeyorudrank that is actually scannable with my cardholder information exactly as a real one should be. I give my praise and thanks to fakeyourdrank for being the best id creator online of cloned state issued fake identity cards.
Are you following us on social media? Find us on:
Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest | Twitter
We’d love to have you!
Garland of Thanks {things Miss G is thankful for 2014}
Last year Gracen and I created our first ever showcase of gratefulness with a giant thankful tree. I loved having a visual representation of all of the things she felt thankful for and the process of creating the tree together provided the perfect opportunity for us to discuss just how much we have to be grateful for. This year, we decided to switch things up a little bit. We once again created fall leaves {but this time using real leaves as stamps} and then turned them into a beautiful garland of thanks.
Tree of Thanks {things Miss G is thankful for 2013}
Last year I asked Gracen what she was thankful for, and her answers melted my heart. This year, I decided it would be fun to make a visual representation of her responses so that we could revisit and reflect upon them throughout the weekend.
A thankful tree is something I’ve actually done in my classroom many times before. We start the project out as a group with a read aloud, a discussion, and everyone contributing a few leaves, and then throughout the week the students are free to add leaves as they are reminded of things they’re grateful for. It’s always turned out to be a gorgeous project that serves as a wonderful reminder of just how much we all have to be thankful for. Our smaller at home version was no different. We’ve revisited it many times and added things as Miss G has requested to and the entire project, start to finish, was a lot of fun.
It started a week or so ago in our courtyard with a stack of coffee filters, some watered down food colouring (we used approximately 3 tablespoons of water for 10 drops of colouring), some droppers, and an old piece of cardboard as a work surface.
Using a stack of 2 or 3 at a time, Grae squeezed our homemade watercolours out onto the filters and watched the colours run and mix to create gorgeous colour combinations and patterns. Here in the October heat, they dried so quickly that I was able to cut them into very simple leaf shapes as she continued painting more filters.
Throughout the week, we talked about things we were both thankful for and I recorded one idea on each leaf.
Some of the things she felt happy to have were really eye opening. While I do appreciate the construction across the street from our building for the entertainment / education if provides Miss G, often times it just seems like a whole lot of extra noise, dust, and traffic. Well, Gracen doesn’t agree. She said she’s happy to have it because “it’s really cool and we get to watch all of the cool stuff happen like big trucks and cranes and cement coming”.
When we were ready to assemble our tree of thanks, I sketched an outline of a leafless tree onto an Ikea flatpack I had tucked away. Brad cut it out and we hung it in our main room using painter’s tape rolls.
Then it was time for Gracen to begin adding her leaves.
She added all of these on her own, save the very top row, and I love how she included a few falling leaves “since it’s fall”.
My favourite of the bunch has to be “Papa’s nice socks”. And it’s true – she really does love Brad’s tall athletic socks – so much so, that she can often be sporting them {hiked up around her thighs} around the house.
I haven’t decided what we’ll do when we take our thankful tree down, but I may just keep the leaves and make them into some sort of thankful book… We shall see!
Bringing Fall to the Desert… With a Fall Tree Painting
Let’s be real here for a moment… At 43 degree this afternoon, it doesn’t feel like fall here in Kuwait in the least. So when I told Gracen that today was the very first day of fall, she glanced out the window, furrowed her brow and said, “It certainly doesn’t look like fall!’ in an almost accusatory tone. Hah! Gotta love her spunk. I told her that she was right and that the desert is tricky when it comes to seasons, but back home in Canada, fall changes are beginning to happen. We read a stack of fall-themed books which seemed to help convince her, then decided to create a fall tree in celebration.
A Leaf Pile Treasure Hunt
Grae and I were at home today without a vehicle, stroller, Ergo, umbrella, or bus pass (Brad had the vehicle and accidentally took everything else along with him – oopsies!), so we decided to use the the dreary rainy day to get some yard work done {quite possibly in pajamas ☺}.
I was raking leaves like a mad woman when I noticed that Grae had invented her own little game in the pile of leaves she was playing in. She played round after round as I sat back quietly chuckling to myself as I watched. First, she’d toss her little rake into the pile somewhere, then burry it with leaves and call out “Where’s Grae Grae’s rake? Hmmm… I don’t know!” while holding her hands out up to the sky wandering through the pile…
Then she’d sort through the leaves, eventually find it, and retrieve it.
Then proudly stand up and announce “There it is! There’s Grae Grae’s rake!!!”
And when there wasn’t a leaf pile treasure hunt happening, there was a whole lot of this…
Such a little outdoor lovin’ monkey!
♥
A Leaf Maze {in the dark}
Okay, so we didn’t actually mean to do it in the dark, but then again, we didn’t plan on making a leaf maze in the first place. We had actually headed outside so that Gracen could play and I could rake up and compost our mounds of leaves and tidy up the yard, but meh – making a leave maze just seemed like more fun.
We headed outside around 4 p.m., and with it getting dark here just before 5 o’clock, we really didn’t have much for daylight left by the time we’d constructed our maze. (You’ll have to excuse the terrible photos… I really have no idea how to take decent pictures sans flash and tripod in the dark.)
I’ve seen this idea on Happy Hooligans and other blogs around the net, and I knew Grae would love it. With a rake, our hands, and some gardening gloves, we created a very simple maze in no time.
Grae found her way through several times and then asked, “Make maze more tricky, Mama?”
So with a few minor adjustments, we had a new, trickier maze for her to try.
It met her approval and then she decided she’d try driving her tractors through for something different… A fantastic idea if you ask me!
I don’t know how it will last overnight, but I have a feeling there will be several “more tricky” mazes in our day tomorrow.
♥
Rainbow-Coloured Trees
I’ve long been a lover of summers, so I’m not sure if I’m just feeling especially appreciative of autumn in Vancouver, or if our 4 years spent in the scorching, sweat-dripping-down-your-back-the-instant-you-step-outside desert has skewed my preferences, but man, I’m loving fall this year. Crisp air, overcast days… The crunch of leaves beneath your feet… Puddles to splash in. Cozy sweaters paired with boots. And the colours… The amazing, AMAZING colours!
So when Grae and I passed by Queen Elizabeth park {filled with rainbow-coloured trees} this morning, we had to pull over. And I’m so glad we did. Watching our little one frolic amongst the leaves while declaring “Deez trees soooo beautiful!” is like nothing else.
♥