I was looking through my photos from past Marches and Aprils (I’m working on filling in some Chatbooks) and came across this craft we did with our co-op a couple of years ago. Appropriate for Spring and all the things blooming (we actually did it on the first day of Spring 2024)!

The craft is so simple, but super customizable. It’s perfect for welcoming Spring, but also a great activity with any type of flower or foliage any time of year.

I made my own as an example, but forgot to take pictures. But my girl made a really nice one in class, so I get to highlight hers!

All the supplies you need are:

• 4 popsicle/craft sticks - You could really use any kind…regular ones, jumbo ones (like a tongue depressor), small ones (for a wee craft), or colored ones! You could also paint or draw on them or glue on gems!

• Shipping tape - You could also use regular tape in a pinch, but the wider shipping tape makes it easier. Additionally, but definitely not necessary, this dispenser also makes the job easier…and you might be surprised that you could come to love using shipping tape because you’ll never have to find the lost end again!

• A handful of wildflowers or other foliage - We just went outside and picked “weeds.”

• Hot glue - You could get by without this, but securing the 4 corners of the frame with hot glue first helped keep things from moving around while applying the tape. 

The directions are simple.

1. Make a frame with the popsicle sticks. As I mentioned, quickly hot glueing the corners makes putting the tape on easier.

2. Put tape sticky side up on the back of the frame.

3. Arrange your flowers or foliage however you like!

Again, I wish I had taken another picture of ours after they dried. I kept them for probably at least a month, and they still looked good! We didn’t try this, but you could even possibly preserve them better (and keep the tape from potentially sticking to something else) by putting another layer of tape (sticky side down) over the top.

Happy creating!  

My sweet girl made a bird hotel Wednesday. She built and painted this birdhouse probably close to a year ago. Finally decided to put it outside. Told her we could put it on a concrete block, and her brain immediately thought bird hotel. 🤍 She filled it all with seed and twigs, and it’s magical!

Wore some spring colors this week. (Even though it was pretty cool (to me) in Missouri.) Loved seeing the trees start to come back to life on the drive. 🌱

Oh, and me and my bud climbed 14 flights of stairs to our hotel room in Little Rock. Also, went down them twice, but that was nothing compared to the upward direction. 😅

Left Monday on a family trip to Branson, MO. Stayed a night in Little Rock, AR on the way. Did a little walking and exploring at the Arkansas State Capitol after dinner. Excellent way to stretch our legs after 6-ish hours in the truck.

Just powered up 14 flights of stairs with my bud. Will probably be sore tomorrow.

Pond pup

Soaked up some sun this afternoon ☀️💛

Spent Valentine’s Day at a Mardi Gras parade with friends. Gumbo and good times were had.

(Shifted plans last minute to do our tradition of homemade heart pizzas tonight instead of last night…and looking forward to it!)

Remembering to thaw meat from the freezer for dinner is a skill I’m still trying to improve.

About to start the next color on this querkle.

Headed to a king cake testing party 💛💚💜

A cup of wassail + Frozen ❄️

We’re going to see a friend in a junior play version of Frozen tomorrow. And my kids knew very little about it. So, here we are. Fitting on this cold Louisiana day.

Went to a church tea party with my girl on Saturday. A really sweet time. She won some prizes. And she happily helped me and others clean up for an hour after it was over. 💕✨

Cute company 🖤

Today has felt like Wednesday all day.

Getting ready for a big garage sale at our church. Several of us did a LOT of work today moving and organizing things. But my kids (and their friends while they were there) did the most! And this afternoon, my babies took it upon themselves to make the “toy section” look nice. They did just that! 🤍

There are soooo many birds in San Antonio.

Pig profile

11.12.25 | Zoosiana | Broussard, LA

Some people read one book at a time. I’m not always one of those types of people. Especially considering reading aloud to my kids (WHICH I LOVE). So, here’s a list of what I’m currently reading. For myself and to my children.

Pride and Prejudice

I recently watched the movie (2006 version) for the first time. Which made me want to read the book. So, that’s what I’m doing. It has taken some practice getting used to reading older English terms mixed in much more complex sentences, but I’ve improved at understanding it all as I’ve read. I like it a lot!

I’ve read it on Kindle, but love this pretty clothbound version.

Charlotte’s Web

I’ve had this on my read aloud list (even told my son not to read it to himself because I wanted it to be a read aloud) for a long time. I intended on reading it to both kids at the same time, but that had not worked out, so my son asked me to read it to him at bedtime. We actually just finished! (We were still reading it when I started typing this out several days ago, so that’s why I’m leaving it on this list.)

My Side of the Mountain

My son read this a year or so ago and recently suggested it to his sister for her next bedtime read aloud. I wasn’t sure if she would like it because it’s about a boy who learns to survive on his own in the mountains, but she likes it a lot! And so do I!

The Black Star of Kingston (Green Ember: Old Natalia Book 1)

My son read the entire Green Ember series over the Summer/early Fall, and his enthusiasm was contagious. So, I read the first book–The Green Ember–to both of my kids (because B couldn’t not sit down to listen :)) not long ago. And we’re now on this second book.

Side note: Many of the books in this series are frequently available for just $0.99 on Kindle, which I think is so awesome. Even at full price on Kindle, they’re around $3.99 (some are less). That’s how we purchased all of the books for my son to read, which worked out nicely cost-wise. And it was also great because I could just download the next book whenever he finished one. He ended up reading I think 3 of the books on a 5-day trip we took in July.

I did purchase a signed hard copy of the newest book (which releases in a couple of days) from the author’s website for my son for his birthday. He thought the signed copy was really cool and loved getting to read it as soon as he could!

Story of the World, Volume 2: The Middle Ages

We cruised through the first volume earlier this year and learned so much. We’ve slowed on this second one a good bit, but we still pick it up here and there (and the kids always remember where we leave off), and I expect we’ll get on a kick where we breeze through it soon. The Story of the World series is a fantastic history resource for all ages (even adults).