To My Favorite Mothers

Some of my favorite mothers, from the left back row: My Aunt Donna, my grandmother Marilyn, my Great-Mother and Father, my mom Paula. In the foreground, starting from the left, my cousin Angie, my Aunt Judy and me, as Batwoman

Happy Mother's Day to you all! I wanted to take this time to thank all of the moms in my life for all of the gifts that they have given to me. I don't show my sappy-side too often, so thanks for indulging me.

My Grandma Marilyn with her mother and sisters. My grandma is the tall one second from the right.

To my Grandma Maryilyn, who gave to me the gift of gifts. My grandma was forever spoiling her grandchildren with week-long trips to Florida and Myrtle Beach. She loved giving us a vacation-like childhood. I believe she took great pleasure in watching us enjoy ourselves, knowing that her hard work as a nurse practitioner could provide that for us. She and my grandpa Eddy even had the first pool in all of Roann, Indiana put in their backyard so the fun in the sun never had to end. She is missed by all that knew her.

My Grandma Marilyn and my Grandpa John with their children, starting in the middle going clockwise: my Aunt Lottie, my Uncle Keith, my Aunt Donna, my mom

 My Aunt Donna is a mother to four incredible children who all happen to look just like her. There she is on the bottom right. My Aunt Donna give me the gift of gregariousness. She is the most social person I know and people are drawn to her friendliness and humor. Such a sweet gift.

My mom, circa early '60's. After she got this pixie cut, her older sister Lottie was so embarrassed that she told people mom had her hair cut this way because she was joining a nunnery.

 Oh, my mom. She has given me so many gifts they are countless. So I thought I'd share some of my faves. My mom has given me the gift of humor. I think my mom is one of the silliest and funny people I know. I remember as a kid all of my girlfriends loved my mom the best, which drove me nuts! They always wanted to be around her and her goofiness.

Mom and company.

 One of my favorite gifts my mom have given is the gift of encouragement. My mom is my biggest cheerleader. She is always encouraging my choices without question. When I began discovering my own style in high school, she always applauded my uniqueness. I have never felt my mom be anything but beyond proud of me. And what more could a person ask for but a mom that loves ya unconditionally?

My mom in the early 80's graduating with her nursing degree.

My mom has also shown me her gift of perseverance. She had me at an early age but still graduated with a nursing degree. She's had some curve balls thrown her way but has always come out much happier and stronger. She goes on these 30 mile plus bike races at the drop of a hat. She is someone that I admire and love so much.

My mom's older sister, my Aunt Lottie, circa mid-80's

 My Aunt Lottie has given so many the gift of reading. My Aunt Lottie is an English teacher and was mine twice when I was in high school. It's a rare occasion to actually see her face as it is usually behind a book. I remember writing stories as a kid and she would read them to the family with such enthusiasm, always encouraging me to write more. She still encourages young writers today.

My Grandma Rosie, my dad's mom, playing the slide guitar.

My Grandma Rose gave me the gift of craft. More than anyone else, I believe I have her to thank for my desire to create. She showed me how to embroider and cross-stitch. We spent summers days on her porch working on our needlepoint and summer nights in front of the telly doing the same. I even remember us taking our work out on the boat when her husband, my Grandpa Hobe, took us fishing. I think of those times often when I am in my sewing room.

My Grandma Rosie with her mom.

 A silly memory I have of my grandma was when I was a kid and she decided to dye her hair Marilyn Monroe blonde. When we came over to visit, I cried and cried, not recognizing her and wondering where my brown-haired grandma had gone off to.

My hubs Mitch with his mom, circa early 80's

 My mother-in-law has given me countless gifts. Her biggest gift to me is the gift of faith. I also love our shared interests, like our love of all things antique, crafty and artsy. She is so considerate of her family and tries so hard to make us all feel welcome and at home whenever we come to visit. I love spending time with her...she's been one of the many perks of marrying that freckly kid on the right.

Me, my brother Kris and mom
I hope you all have a wonderful Mother's Day. Don't forget to thank all of your mother's for their gifts to you.

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In the Art Room: Mother's Day Flower Pots

Our kindergarten students have changed so much this year that their growth reminds me of their blooming flower collages.

There are some folks that just don't get paid enough. These people include egg-inspection factory workers (speaking from experience, thank you very much), corn-detasselers (another item on my resume) and kindergarten teachers. Now, don't get me wrong, I enjoy teaching the littles but I only see them in half an hour intervals. And, sometimes, in that half an hour, I can have one empty his bladder, one start to cry for her mama, one step in said bladder-empty-outter's puddle and one decide to smack me on the tooshie on his way out the door with a "bye-bye, Mrs. Stephens!"

Overheard kindergarten convo: "I got a man's haircut yesterday but I'm still a little boy." Such sweetness, sigh.

Despite all of that, I can see why the kindergarten teachers keep coming back for more. No other group of kids is as enthusiastic about everything under the sun as kindergarten. Every new skill taught is met with an "ohhhh" and an "ahhhh" and often awarded an applause.

Take this Flowery Collage, for instance. We used the left over scraps of textured paper we had created for our Mammoth Monet Mural. For the background, we learned all about creating a tint with primary blue and white when sponge printing. Once that was dry, we chatted about our French friends Claude Monet and Henri Matisse and their love of nature and collage, respectively. And their flowers are simply tres magnifique, no?

Pretty as a petunia.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. You see, the wee ones actually painted these here flower pots before creating their collages. Every year our awesome kindergarten teachers help their students celebrate Mother's Day with a Mother's Day Tea. At the tea, each mom is presented with a handpainted terracotta with a lovely little flower inside.

We only used one 1/2 hour class to complete these. It was a whirlwind of painting fun but next year I think two art classes would be better.

I offered to help the kids paint their pots in the art room this year. I demonstrated on a couple of broken pots how to paint the middle of the flower, or stigma. We chatted about pollen (which is why we are all so sneezy) and nectar. I then showed the kids how to add the petals, stem and leaves and grass. We topped it off with some line designs around the rim.

Remember these? I guess you can see where my idea of having them paint flowers on their flower pots came from...

"My mama is going to love my pot. She's gonna say 'Did you really make it?' " ...adorable

Once the pots were painted, the kids had a big time with the collages because they could see the connection. And because we learned the word "collage" and said it in our funniest French accents complete with a "viola!" after every simple task completed. You see, I told you, it's the little things when it comes to the little ones. As long as we're not peein', cryin' or nose-a-pickin', it's a pretty fun group to hang with.

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