A Tree for Emmy

Emmy's name is in a book!!!!!!!!!

How exciting to be given this book by a very special girl and her just as special nanny. Thank you Sydney and Lauren!

The book, A Tree for Emmy, couldn't be more perfect for my little Emmy. She has always loved trees and the little girl in this book does too.

"Emmy loved all kinds of trees. Oak trees with acorns. Pine trees with cones. Willows with long, swishy branches. But best of all, Emmy loved the mimosa tree in Gramma's pasture."

This story is told through the words of Mary Ann Rodman and the gorgeous illustrations of Tatjana Mai-Wyss. The two of them have created a book that showcases the beauty of nature all around and encourages us to cherish our special dreams.

Emmy's favorite character in the book is of course the little girl Emmy. She can be seen doing lots of things that my Emmy likes doing, for example, collecting pine cones, having a tea party, swinging on a tree branch, dancing in a tutu, playing on a hippity-hop ball, and eating cupcakes on her birthday. When the Gramma declares, "That ol' tree is a lot like you. Stubborn and strong and a little bit wild." I also knew that my Emmy had much in common with this delightful character.

In the story, Emmy wanted a mimosa tree for her birthday, but no one sold the wild trees with fuzzy pink blossoms and seed pods that sounded like maracas when shaken. Emmy was about to give up when she discovers a small mimosa sapling growing in Gramma's yard. With Gramma's help, she carefully digs up the tiny tree, wraps the roots in wet newspaper and puts the mimosa in a big tomato can. Once home, Emmy plants the tree right under her bedroom window, but then realizes that this little tree won't have pink blossoms and seed pods for quite some time. This is disappointing until she realizes that if she keeps it safe, loves it and waters it, the tiny tree will grow up tall one day.

My Emmy wishes that she could see a Mimosa Tree, but the best that I can do for her are photographs of these beautiful trees like this one showing the fuzzy pink blossoms.

Let's Plant a Tree

Eileen Fisher

It's time to plant a tree, a tree

What shall it be? What shall it be?

Let's plant a pine - we can't go wrong:

A pine is green the whole year long.

Let's plant a maple - more than one,

To shade us from the morning sun.

Let's plant a cherry - you know why:

There's nothing like a cherry pie!

Let's plant an elm - the tree of grace,

Where robins find a nesting place.

Let's plant an apple - not too small,

With flowers in spring and fruit in fall.

Let's plant a fir - so it can be,

A lighted outdoor Christmas tree.

Let's plant a birch, an oak, a beech,

There's something extra nice in each...

In winter, summer, spring or fall.

Let's plant a...

Why not plant them ALL?

(Prescott Park - Portsmouth, NH 2011)

Polly's Pink Pajamas

Emmy became her own event planner for her fifth birthday. The one thing she was absolutely sure of was that she wanted a Pajama Party! We have always held a birthday party for her in our own home, so when I agreed that a pajama party would be a lot of fun and started telling her what we could do at home, Little Miss Party Planner informed me that the party would be held at Play Makers Family Enrichment Center (check it out here) where I have been working a few mornings a week. Emmy enjoys coming with me when I teach a play group at Play Makers. This really is the perfect place for a party...room to play, cook and do art projects.

The first thing Emmy looks for when she gets to Play Makers is which swing is hanging in the Mobility Studio. Luckily on the day of her party the boat swing was hanging, which is her favorite swing. Here she is swinging with a few of her friends.

In addition to playing, Emmy and her friends did some cooking during her party. They made chocolate chip pancakes and banana milkshakes. Both were delicious. Seeing her number five candle sitting on top of a stack of pancakes was a great surprise. It was such fun to see Emmy surrounded by her friends and all of them really enjoying themselves.

After cooking, Emmy and I shared the book that inspired her pajama party - Polly's Pink Pajamas by Vivian French with illustrations by Sue Heap.

"Polly loved her pink pajamas.
What did she wear when she went to bed?
PINK PAJAMAS!
What did she wear when she got up?
PINK PAJAMAS!
What did she wear when she ate her breakfast?
PINK PAJAMAS!
What did Polly wear all day long?
PINK PAJAMAS!"

Emmy LOVES wearing pajamas and would much prefer wearing
them everyday/everywhere than anything else in her closet. She also loves the color pink so this book was a great match for her. Emmy laughs as Polly enlists the help of her friends to find an outfit to wear to Fred's party. When Polly takes a look in the mirror and sees her mismatched outfit, she becomes sad, but not for long. Fred calls to find out why Polly is not at his party and quickly informs her that it is a PAJAMA PARTY!

"And what do you think Polly wore to Fred's party?
PINK PAJAMAS!"

After the story, Emmy and her friends each decorated a pillowcase with fabric markers. Emmy thought this would be a great project because then she could share her sweet dreams with all of her friends. Here is Emmy's pillow front and center on her bed. She decorated it with shooting stars!



All in all having a party at a location other than home was wonderful. There was lots of room to move and play and absolutely no set up or clean up. I actually got to engage in the activities and feel a part of the party rather than worrying about each little detail.

Turning five certainly is extraordinary!

Birthday Traditions in the Classroom

My previous post was all about Emmy turning five and the traditions that we are building in our family to help celebrate her birthday. When I was teaching, I also worked hard on building traditions in the classroom in order to create a community of learners who truly cared for one another. A child's birthday is such a special day and as such should be recognized and honored.

At the beginning of each school year, the children and I would spend time working with two things that meant a lot to them...their names and their birth dates. We would write and build our names with different materials (pencil, marker, yarn, glitter, letter magnets, letter tiles, block letters, etc.) and compare our names to each other. For example, Who had the longest name? The shortest? Which names started the same? Did any of the names rhyme? We would also compare our birth dates by creating a Birthday Graph. Here are three examples:

Using cake die-cuts,
the children wrote
their name and birth
date and decorated
their cake.

Using colored chips,
the children placed
a chip next to their
birth month.

Using Unifix cubes, the children would count out
the number of their birth date by placing the cubes
in pairs to see if the number was odd or even. They
would then add their number in the correct
place on the graph.

The resulting graphs would be used to answer questions such as, Does anyone have the same birthday as someone else? How about the same number or the same month? How many birthdays are in January, February, etc.? Which month has the most birthdays? The least? Are there any months with the same number of birthdays? Do we have more odd numbered birthdays or even? How many more?

Once we established when our birthdays were, we moved on to setting up our birthday traditions. My birthday is at the beginning of the school year so I used my own birthday to show the children what our classroom birthday traditions would be like.

Here is a list of the birthday traditions used in my classroom:

*The birthday child's chair and table top would be decorated for the occasion. The back of the child's chair would be covered with felt. The child would be provided with felt cut out pieces (birthday cakes, candles, crowns, party hats, confetti, balloons) that he or she could use to decorate the chair. We kept our felt pieces in a wrapped birthday box. (Sadly, I couldn't find a photo of this!) The table top had a birthday "place mat" and a birthday sign as well as a cape and a fun hat or crown to wear for the day.

*A birthday gift bag would also be at the child's spot. Inside would be a Birthday Journal, a birthday bear, a fancy pen and a few fun surprises to keep (bottle of bubbles, stickers, colored pencils and pencil sharpener, etc.) This bag would go home with the child and be returned at his or her earliest convenience. The first page of the journal provided directions for the family. The idea was for the birthday child to add photos or drawings and write about his or her special celebration. The bag would be returned and the child would share her page in the journal.

*My classroom had baskets of books sorted by subject, character, or author. One of these baskets was filled with birthday books. The birthday child got to choose one book to borrow from this basket and placed it in the birthday gift bag. Some years I gave a book to the birthday child to keep and other years I asked for parents to donate a book to our library in honor of their child. I attached a book plate to the inside front cover with the child's name and birth date. When not in use, the Birthday Journal would be kept in this basket. It was always a favorite book to read. (See below for a few of our favorite birthday books).

*A large piece of paper would be placed in the Art Center where the children could go throughout the day to draw and write birthday messages to the child. This paper would be rolled up, tied with a bow and presented to the birthday child at the end of the day.

*Our Writing Center was always stocked with a variety of paper and card making was always a favorite activity. Another idea is to create a birthday book full of letters to the birthday child. We always began with a brainstorming session where we created a web of ideas about the birthday child. Each child would then write a letter filled with good wishes. The birthday child decorated the front cover and then the pages were stapled together and presented, along with the "web," at the end of the day.

*Our day always began with Morning Meeting. I had a collection of birthday songs that I slowly introduced to the children so that the birthday child could choose the song sung during the meeting.

*Our day always ended with a Closing Circle. This was the time to present the birthday child with the projects worked on during the day. We also had a variety of birthday poems and the birthday child chose one for us to recite to end the day.

Today
by John Archambault

Glory may
I like today.
Today, today
I like today.

No other day's
quite like today,
Not tomorrow
or yesterday.
I like today
in every way.
Today, today,
Today
My birthday!

All of these traditions were looked forward to by the children as well as by me. It may seem like a lot, but the materials were always prepared ahead of time and the children knew just what to do. I hope these ideas will inspire some fun birthday traditions in your classroom or in your home!

Go Tell it to the Toucan by Colin West (Emmy's favorite!!!)

The Secret Birthday Message by Eric Carle

Little Gorilla by Ruth Bornstein






Happy Birthday, Moon by Frank Asch







The Birthday Box by Leslie Patricelli







Happy Birthday to You! by Dr. Seuss





And so many, many more!!!!

For previous posts about birthdays, click here and here and here.

Happy Birthday Emmy!

Happy Fifth Birthday to the most amazing little girl - my sweet Emmy!

She is my love, my light, my inspiration, my passion, my devotion, my life.

Turning five is HUGE! My emotions are all over the place. She is my baby girl, yet she is growing into a little girl who wants to be BIG. Emmy likes to say that she is a 'whole hand old.' I just want to hold onto that sweet hand and never let it go. She also likes to tell me, "You know Mommy, I'm five now." then there is this pause as if she is trying to figure out exactly what that means. I hope she doesn't remember things I've said in the past to answer questions like "When can I watch Spider Man?" because they seemed to always be..."Well, maybe when you are five." Turning five comes with a lot of expectations especially with Kindergarten coming up. I say there is plenty of time for these expectations. Let's just slow it down and PLAY!

We are big fans of Tom Chapin in this household with our favorite song being This Pretty Planet featuring Joni Mitchell. It is from him, as well as from the Montessori school that Emmy attends, that we sing this beautiful birthday song:

Happy birthday.

Happy birthday.

We love you!

Happy birthday and may all your dreams come true.

When you blow out the candles

One light stays aglow

It's the love-light in your eyes

Where-ever you go.

This song makes me weep every time I hear it, let alone sing it. It is simply so very sweet!!!! I was visiting a Montessori classroom once and was blown away by the teacher who was demonstrating what our love-light was. She held up a piece of paper with a cut out shape of a person. The cut out was filled in with tissue paper and she was using a flashlight held behind the tissue paper to demonstrate the glow that comes from within our heart. She talked about how this light connected each of us to each other. The children were mesmerized and I realized that many of us walk around without the glow of this light. I've never forgotten this demonstration and wish everyday for Emmy's love-light to stay strong, to bring her warmth even in the harshest of conditions.

"From within or behind, a light shines through us upon things,

and makes us aware that we are nothing, but the light is all."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Building traditions is something that I feel very strongly about. When you consciously create an atmosphere with special meanings, it will stay with your child throughout his or her lifetime and is then often included in his or her family life. I would like to share some of the birthday traditions that Emmy enjoys and now looks forward to each year.

*New this year...a countdown chain begun when I was tired of answering "How many days until my birthday?"

*Waking up to balloons in her room. Five years old = five balloons.

*Streamers hanging in the bedroom doorway. Five years old = five streamers.

*The house decorated for the big day with streamers, balloons, and whatever special thing is delighting Emmy at that time - flowers or butterflies or fairies, etc.

*The dining room table decked out for the festivities - pretty tablecloth, napkins, birthday plate and bowl, fresh flowers, birthday cake (waiting for the cake doesn't happen with us), a special book (more information here and here), numbered birthday candle and birthday ring *details below.

*Decorating her birthday cake made by Daddy usually with chocolate chips.

*Wearing her special birthday dress that she chooses at the store.

*Sharing her birthday poster made by Mommy with her friends at school during her Birthday Circle.

*Birthday Ring

We celebrate each year of Emmy's life using a Birthday Ring, a tradition that begun in Germany and is popular with families following a Waldorf Education. This is such a beautiful tradition that reminds the child just how very special he or she is.

At every birthday celebration, we gather around and light Emmy's numbered candle in the center of the ring to symbolize Emmy's birth. We then tell the story of her birth beginning with, "On Tuesday, February 28, 2006, Emerson Elizabeth Clark was born to Chatrick and Amy Clark in Austin, Texas." As the story moves on, we go into a couple of details of her first year ending with, "And then Emmy was one." We light one candle on the ring. The story then goes on to tell things that happened after she was one ending with "And then Emmy was two." We then light the second candle. We continue the story lighting each additional candle, "And then Emmy was three (four, five)" After the last candle is lit, we ask Emmy what she is looking forward to doing/learning in the next year. Her answer this year was "I would like to learn how to snap my fingers and whistle." Seeing her life represented by such beautiful light brings my husband and me such joy and the look in Emmy's eyes shows us that she feels the same way.

In honor of Emmy's first birthday, we had a book made that tells the story of her first year. It's called The Rainbow Bridge Story of Emerson Elizabeth Clark.

Crossing the Bridge Books created this very special book with beautiful watercolor paintings, a personalized story and photographs. This site has changed 'webmasters' and now offers audio books to go along with the rainbow bridge stories as well as other personalized stories. What a wonderful keepsake! We read this book to Emmy right before bedtime on her birthday and hope she dreams of rainbows and angels!

These traditions will continue and more will come as Emmy, her Daddy and I continue to live our very best lives together.

Another Year

(Joanna Fuchs)

I'm wishing you another year

Of laughter, joy and fun,

Surprises, love and happiness,

And when your birthday's done,

I hope you feel deep in your heart,

As your birthdays come and go,

How very much you mean to me,

More than you can know.

XXOO

Happy Birthday

We recently celebrated Emmy's fourth birthday! Four years seems so surreal. I waited so long to be a Mommy and now my baby girl is growing way too fast.

As we begin another year, we celebrate Emmy's wonder at the world, her insatiable curiosity, her kindness to others, her creative spirit, her tight embraces and her warm smile. I celebrate four years of becoming the best Mommy possible thanks to the support of my family and friends.

Speaking of becoming the best Mommy...I must share two pieces of parenting advice that have made my journey so much easier. The first is to take a thoughtful pause when bombarded with what seems like endless questions. Rather than a quick yes or no, a thoughtful pause gives you a second to make a decision that you feel good about. This statement is heard often in our household..."Hmm. Let me think about that." The second is to remember that when things are falling apart, ALWAYS go back to loving connection. (Thanks to Bethany Prescott for these wonderful tips.)

I mentioned in a previous post that a book is given to Emmy on each of her birthdays. For her four year old birthday, the book A Birthday Cake Is No Ordinary Cake by Debra Frasier was presented to Emmy. Ms. Frasier combines earth science and baking and creates a birthday book unlike any other. A wonderful connection is made between the celebration of a birthday and the progression of a calendar year. I LOVE the way the author portrays a birthday cake as a symbolic product of a physical year. Ms. Frasier's illustrations pop off the page with vibrant colors that create beautiful collages which capture the fanciful and factual concepts contained in this book. The idea for the story came after Debra celebrated her daughter's first birthday. Frasier wrote, "She's finished her first circle around the Sun, and now she's one."

This book is extremely special to Emmy and me as it reminds us of celebrating a Birthday Circle in our Montessori school. The birthday circle is a wonderful ritual and so meaningful to the child and her parents. The Birthday Circle may look a bit different depending on the teacher, but certain elements remain the same. The birthday child holds a globe and circles the sun symbolized by a candle or a yellow sphere. As she walks around the sun, once for each year of her life, the teacher or parent tells the story of the child's life through photographs and words. Debra's book A Birthday Cake Is No Ordinary Cake is a wonderful complement to the Birthday Circle.

"At last, your cake is done! Let's light a candle for each time

you've circled the sun. We'll sing. You'll wish.

Then...we'll cut the cake!"

Books for New Babies and Parents, too!

The birth of a baby is such magic. This is my precious Emmy just a day old. What I remember most is the warmth - her body and my body so close that we were magically one in the same. I thought this feeling would be lost when she entered the world, but instead it only intensified. This post is to celebrate the birth of our babies... yesterday, today and tomorrow!

Let's begin our celebration by acknowledging the first nine months with a delightful book titled Ma! There's Nothing to Do Here: A Word From Your Baby-in-Waiting written by Barbara Park (of Junie B.Jones fame) and illustrated by Viviana Garofoli. If a baby in utero were to write a letter to his "Ma," he might say something like this:

"There's nothing to see here! Not one scrawny tree here! No puppies. N0 toys. No girls and zero boys. Not a sandbox or swings. Or those monkey bar things. Not a park or a zoo. Ma! There's nothing to do here!"

Ms. Park came up with the idea for this book when her daughter-in-law invited her to her first sonogram (sonograms were not used at the time of Barbara's pregnancies). As she watched the baby on the screen, she realized that the baby wasn't doing much. Perhaps he had nothing to do in there! This sparked Barbara to write a poem, cleverly narrated in the voice of the unborn child, to give to her daughter-in-law and later made into a book.

This sweet story would be the perfect gift for expectant mothers and the perfect read aloud at a baby shower with the guests then writing their own "notes from utero" to be collected and presented to the Mommy to be!

My favorite book to welcome a new baby is On the Day You Were Born by Debra Frasier.

On the day you were born the Earth turned, the Moon pulled, the Sun flared, and, then, with a push, you slipped out of the dark quiet where suddenly you could hear...a circle of people singing with voices familiar and clear.

In Debra's words, "I have always liked to write letters, and people often would say to me, 'Why don't you write books?' My first one, On the Day You Were Born, came unexpectedly as the result of a difficult pregnancy with our only child, Calla. Early in the pregnancy, when things were at their darkest, I asked a nurse at the hospital to bring me some paper so I could write down all the things on earth that would welcome my daughter, if she would just get here. Later, after her safe arrival, I took this jumble of words and scribbled drawings and began to turn them into the book that became On the Day You Were Born."

As has become a tradition in our family, a book is presented to Emmy on each of her birthdays with a special letter written on the first page. The book On the Day You Were Born was given to Emmy on her second birthday with the following note,

"Happy Second Birthday Emerson. We are celebrating the day you were born. The day a circle of people sang with voices familiar and clear. 'Welcome to the spinning world. Welcome to the green Earth. We are so glad you've come!' We are forever grateful for your birth and your life with us. We love you forever and ever. Love, Mommy and Daddy."

Another favorite book to present to a newborn baby is On the Night You Were Born by Nancy Tillman.

Ms. Tillman created this book to convey to children at an early and impressionable age that they are "the one and only ever you." According to Nancy, "Too many children are unaware of their innate, immeasurable value. It is my dearest hope that this book will help give children a deep sense of their personal worth."

This enchanting tale begins,

On the night you were born, the moon smiled with such wonder that the stars peeked in to see you and the night wind whispered, "Life will never be the same." Because there had never been anyone like you...ever in the world.

Next on my list of favorite new baby books is Happy Birthday to Whooo? A Baby Animal Riddle Book

by Doris Fisher and illustrated by Lisa Downey. In baby announcement style, this book gives the reader riddles to solve through informative facts and clues in the partially hidden illustrations. Such as:

The Latest Word In Our Herd! Born September 23 and tipping the scale at 250 pounds, my baby stands 3 feet high at the shoulders. New Mother: Ms. Ivor E. Tusks

Included at the end of the book are Animal Fun Fact pages and a numbers game as well as a creative writing page where a child could create a birth announcement for himself or a baby brother or sister. Of all the books mentioned in this post, this is Emmy's favorite.

Another favorite book to present to a new baby is If You Were Born a Kitten by Marion Dane Bauer and illustrated by JoEllen McAllister Stammen. It is the sweetest story showing, through pictures and rhyme, twelve different types of animal babies

entering the world including a human baby.

If you were born a kitten, you'd slip into the world in a silvery sac, and your mother would lick, lick, lick you free.

And another wonderful book for a newborn is Fiddle-I-Fee by Will Hillenbrand. This is a delightful story based on the folk song titled 'Bought Me a Cat.'

Hillebrand's illustrations cleverly show a farmer and his wife preparing for a new baby as their animals secretly meet at night to plan a surprise of their own. The sheet music is included at the beginning of the book, but if you're anything like me, you might like to hear the tune so click here to listen.

And finally...on the day Emmy was born we gave her the book Before You Were Born retold by Howard Schwartz and illustrated by Kristina Swarner. This book retells

a folktale where the indentation that everyone has on their upper lip is explained.

But the moment you were born, Lailah put her finger to your lips, reminding you to keep everything that she had taught you a secret. That is how you got the indentation on your upper lip. It is your reminder of all that Lailah taught you before you were born...and all that you have forgotten.

Lailah, according to Jewish legend, is the angel of conception who brings together the soul and the seed in the womb and stays with the unborn infant sharing the mysteries of heaven and all the secrets of the world. The instant the child emerges, the angel lightly places its finger to the child's lip, as if to say "Shh," which causes the child to forget everything learned in the womb and places an indentation above the upper lip. The story implies that the knowledge is present just merely forgotten and the child has the rest of her life to learn all of the wondrous secrets again.

As a mom, I can think of no better gift for a newborn baby and his or her parents than the gift of a book. I hope these recommendations are helpful to you as you think of your own home library or that of a friend's or relative's.

MY DEAR CHILD

You are the poem

I dreamed of writing

the masterpiece

I longed to paint.

You are the shining star

I reached for In my

ever hopeful quest

for life fulfilled..

You are my child.

Now with all things

I am blessed.

~Author Unknown~