A Gift From The Heart

The week before Christmas break I had my students color
"fuzzy" cards with envelopes to share with family and friends.
Thomas, a quiet third grader who rarely says anything
commenced to coloring his cards along with classmates.

Upon dismissal and to my surprise Thomas had made a card
for "miss Robinson." He didn't say anything as he handed it to
me. I opened the envelope to see a beautiful penquin
that Thomas had colored blue. On the back he wrote,
"I love my family and you miss robinson."

How precious is that? A gift from the heart with the
message of Christmas wrapped inside...LOVE!

I love you too...Thomas. Merry Christmas!

miss robinson

What's Cookin' at Granny's?

My mom crocheted this hat & scarf for a friend's grand-daughter who loves Elmo! Eagar to share, I snapped a pic before she added the "grin" on the hat! A two-piece one-of-a-kind set soon to be sold on Ebay along with other exclusive creations. Big Bird, Oscar and Cookie Monster will make their "crochet" appearance in an upcoming post entitled, Look What's Cookin' at Granny's - stay tuned!

The perfect Gift for The MJ Fan

I ran across this MJ bag and thought, "These are hot!" I loved and still do love Michael Jackson. Although I must admit my admiration goes back to my childhood, when he was my idol and the lead singer of the Jackson 5. That admiration carried on into my first year of college when the Off The Wall single "I want to rock with you" hit the airwaves! Was he sexy or what???

As a young adult and into adulthood I enjoyed his music but rarely bought any. No offense to Michael, I didn't buy music period and rarely listened to the radio. Now that he's passed away, it seems I can't get enough of any item that reflects him. These bags are $20. I have a "one of a kind" that came from New York that is taupe in color for$65. Well, it's not exactly "one of a kind" because I have two but believe me...you won't find it anywhere else. If you'd like to see it look up MJ Bagged on a previous post - it's HOT!

The Coloring Book Oven would not be complete without the wonderful illustrations of two gifted Michigan artists, John Rios and J. Opoku Ofei. Both gentlemen "graciously" shared their talent to help bring my dream into fruition. Although gifted with a "conceptual" mind, I lack drawing ability. I "create" in my head and "craft" with my hands. I visualized the original items "baking" in the oven and John drew them. I viewed children interacting with foods and Opoku drew them. I am grateful we have a God that gifts each of us with different talents to be used by others. Now if I can just find someone who has a talent for buying coloring books that look like ovens??? :-)

"Coloring...An Activity in Diligence"

The weeks leading up to Thanksgiving I worked on "Diligence" with my students. Specifically, we learned that diligent people, 1. Work hard 2. Finish what they start, 3. Don't leave things unfinished and 4. Never quit (especially when it's hard!). These 4 major characteristics were drilled into their "little" heads through song and dance. For the week of Thanksgiving I incorporated The Coloring Book Oven as an activity wherein my little "peeps" could "demonstrate" what they learned!

The activity involved coloring a complete Thanksgiving Dinner from start to finish! We started with the Turkey, then Mac & Cheese, Aspargus and Baked Potato, Green Beans in the Can, and Cake or Pie and Chocolate Chip Cookies! Each little coloring cook was rewarded with a Coloring Book Oven to take home! Although the photos aren't the best (i.e. they were taken with my cell ), it was certainly a "Kodak" moment!

Coloring Book Oven Debuts at America's Thanksgiving Parade

Well my Coloring Book Oven debuted at America's Thanksgiving Parade on Thanksgiving Day! We gave away (I don't know how many books!) to a bunch of smiling parade goers. Some even took the time to color with us! Maiah and her friend Bridget wore oven & crayon box costumes...that were a-b-s-o-l-u-t-e-l-y perfect for the ocassion! The day started off cold and rainy but turned out nice; the floats were amazing as usual; and Santa rolled in as scheduled with the traditional "ho ho ho!" My blow-up turkey got lots of laughs; Mrs. Michigan and Mrs. Claus were my "tent-mates and Parade Company volunteers helped make the event a HUGE success! Stay tuned...!