A Day with Lily, pg. 1

All is dark and quiet in the very early hours,
But soon little ones will awake and show their powers
Against stillness blandness and plain,
And show us the small joys of life that we gain,
When we look closer at the things of each day,
Rather than worrying about tomorrow and letting today drift away.

I hear little foot steps in the hall,
Here comes the beginning of all the small
Little things that will make today,
The next best day of all...




Good Morning! Good Morning! Can I cuddle with you?
There's plenty of room, here I come! The bed can hold more than two!
I know you're awake- stop pretending to sleep,
My tummy's rumbling get up or I'll leap
On your tummy and... ugggghhhhh
By Lori

The Swordfighter

EN GARDE!!!!!

Slashing, Stabbing
Crashing, Grabbing
Flashing, Jabbing
Smashing, Nabbing

Hitting, Fighting
Slitting, Smiting
Spitting, Biting
Splitting, Exciting

OUCH!!!!!!!!



Crying
Sighing
Whining
Dying

Comforting, Hugging
Kissing, Snuggling

EN GARDE!!!!!

By Corey Magstadt

the Snowman

A broken umbrella keeps off the sun.
An oblong head that won't be outdone.
Snow pea eyes and a carrot nose
That leaves orange streaks whenever it blows.

A little too short and a little too fat.
No need for ears or a mouth or a hat.
Beauty is found in the eye that beholds it
And maybe in the hands that rolled it.

By Corey Magstadt

The Books

So last year for Christmas I made Jaron and Lily each a book for Christmas. I wrote a little story about each of them and used pictures of them as illustrations. It was a huge hit and they still read them at least once a day. There is so much psychology and child development about why a child would love this and why its so good for them- motivating them to read, making them feel unique and loved, secure in who they are, etc. but really, it was just plain fun to do and and even more fun to see how much they value them. I've been reading (well, more like skimming) quite a few self-help books and am totally overwhelmed by all the five steps and little phrases I'm supposed to run through my head when I can look at life, relationships, conversations, activities, and see how the right things naturally form when the core issues of my heart are dealt with. These books are a great example. I realized that all of my kids' photos were on the computer and I didn't have pictures albums of them for the year and thought that these books would be a creative way to do it and wanted to make them Christmas gifts that were personal rather than generic. I didn't read about child's self esteem, I just knew. Enough of that tangent.

Since they were such a big hit Corey and I thought we would do it again. This year Jaron's will be a book of separate poems- that's what he's really into right now. He and Corey read two huge Shel Silverstein books in about a week so Corey is using his poems as a model.

Lily's will be about a busy day in her life- full of dancing, reading, singing, playing, whining, eating, not eating, going potty, spending time with family and friends, and finally sleeping.

I'll be posting pages here and there since getting these put together will be a pretty big part of my life for the next three weeks... after I get Lily Halloween costume made.