Late last week I spent some time looking at my milkweed patches for signs of monarch caterpillars. It is one of those activities that no matter how many times I do it, it is always filled with hopeful anticipation for me. I have three main patches. The first patch is common milkweed, next to my…
Yesterday, I had my “learning to drive adolescent” chauffeur me out to the Trempealeau Wildlife Refuge (TWR). He got an hour’s worth of driving experience and I got to walk through part of the prairie found near the loop trail at the TWR. The refuge is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. There…
There is no secret that I like to create. From a young age, I drew, learned to sew, and took pride in knowing how to make things. My grandmother made all my clothes for many years – Yes, all, except my underwear! From my swimsuits to my winter coats, and everything in between, it was…
I cannot exactly remember when Ben’s obsession with Origami began. It was sometime in fourth grade, or possibly the summer before. Origami is a great craft to learn. Summer is the perfect time to learn it. It is a craft that can be as simple as a crane or as complicated as a dodecahedron or…
Creativity feeds the soul! I am not sure where this phrase or expression came from but I absolutely believe in it. Last weekend, I spent Saturday at an art gallery in Northeast Iowa that carries my handcrafted jewelry for the tourist season. There, I showed children how to make beaded bookmarks, key rings, and bracelets….
Since participating this past March in the Slice of Life Challenge hosted by TwoWritingTeachers, I have continued to write daily, or pretty close to it. I think I have only missed writing a handful of days. This has been despite a busy schedule of taking graduate courses, attending three sports for two boys (Varsity Tennis,…
An earlier post of mine regarding ideas for summer learning drew some attention from online readers. It is still receiving regular views, despite not being published recently. This tells me that people, most likely parents, are looking for ways to enrich their children over the summer. Over the next few months, I will try to…