JEAN TELLS OF SCHOOL CHILDREN

Susan and Katie came home from school with empty coffee container - the plastic ones.  I asked them why they brought them home as I could have provided them with those.  It seems someone gave a lot of them to the teacher.  So she decided to give one to each student.  The idea was you were to make something out of it and bring it to school the next week. Which means each student got one, from Katie's first graders right up to the eighth graders.

Katie decided she wanted to plant something in hers. That was no problem.  But Susan advised us that teacher also said she wanted it decorated or so it would look like a gift or pretty in your home.  You were to use items in your home not to have to buy extra things.  Now that made it a bit harder.  Also, the grades one to four were allowed to have help, but grades five thru eight were suppose to do it on their own.

For Katie, I found some plain white shelf paper that I didn't need on it.  She wanted flower pictures on it.  We searched for flower stickers, but didn't have any.  We did find some in a magazine, but for some reason Katie didn't want to ruin the magazine by cutting it up.  So she went to Edward, our family artist, and asked him if he could draw some flower pictures on the shelf paper.  He agreed to draw the pictures, but she would have to color them with her crayons.  She agreed.  So Edward drew some flowers in pencil and Katie colored them.  I helped Katie glue the shelf paper on to the coffee container.  We then went out into one of my greenhouses and selected a plant, used some soil I had there and planted the plant.  She wanted one with flowers, which she got.  Then she decided that the paper around the container should match the flowers.  I guess we should have selected the flower first.  Again, she went to Edward, but he told her that contrast is beautiful and he wasn't drawing anymore flowers.  He had to explain to her what contrast meant.  Katie agreed with Edward.

Susan decided to make a sewing kit out of hers.  She also used the shelf paper.  For Christmas, she had gotten some stickers, from a friend of ours.  Susan looked through them and found one of a lady sewing which she stuck to the paper and printed sewing above it.  Inside she put scissors, pin cushion, needles, sewing measuring tape, and more.  I think they both did really good jobs.

The day they were due, I brought the girls to school as I wanted to see what the other children brought. They had some very good ideas.  Let me see what I can remember they had.  There was a First Aide Kit, fish bate holder, nails holder, starting plants for spring, and much more.  Everyone thought, especially his sister, was the eighth grader than made his sister a doll buggy.  His sister liked smaller dolls, but they didn't have a buggy.  So her brother cut the side of the handle, painted it all, and attached the handle on another side, put wheels on it and said his Mother did help by sewing the little cushion to put inside.  He had two of his sister's dolls in it, lying on the cushion.  His sister was in second grade and was showing all the girls what her brother made for her.  My description doesn't tell all he had to do to make it.  This was not a contest, but even the teacher thought that was the best of them all.  He didn't feel it was as his Mother had to make the cushion.  Teacher asked him if he made the buggy by himself.  He said yes.  Then he did the hard part, his Mother just added the cushion and his sister just added the dolls - he did the coffee container part.

Now they are collecting the coffee containers again.   They are also asking Mother's to make candy and cookies closer to Easter.  The children will decorate the containers and then they will be filled with candy and cookies to give to elder, ill, widowed, widowers, and singles of ours.  Some of the candy and cookies must be sugarless for those that are diabetic.  Teacher has purchased some paper and religious stickers to put on the containers.  There is a purpose for those coffee containers when they are empty.

Grandmother and Grandfather are still encouraging us to come down and visit, so we are considering it.  We don't want to go in the summer, planting season or harvesting season, so we are thinking to come around Easter.  We will be taking the girls out of school for at least a week, maybe two.  So David and I are considering it.

Be With God,
Jean