Deirdre, Author at JDaniel4s Mom

Deirdre Smith writes/owns JDaniel4’s Mom. After twenty years as a elementary school and technology resource teacher in Northern Virginia, she became a stay at home mom in upstate South Carolina. Her blog features ways she and her 5 year old are exploring learning, crafting, creating healthy meals and living life to its fullest. Deirdre can also be found on twitter as @jdaniel4smom and on her blog's FB page. You can also check her out on Google+.

A Heart Shaped Shadow with a Promise- Valentine’s Day Gift

February 12, 2011 By Deirdre

I found this wonderful idea in part of my Sunday paper. It suggested taking a picture of a special ring in between pages of a special passage in the book to create a heart-shaped shadow. I thought this would be a wonderful gift for my husband

I tried my wedding band first, but I couldn’t get it to balance. After many attempts, I switched to my engagement ring. It would balance but, only with the diamond side down.

The verse I selected as my special passage comes from the book of Ruth chapter 1 verses 16-17a. This is one of the bible passages that were read on my wedding day. I love it for so many reasons. The biggest reason is that Ruth chooses to follow her mother-in-law back to her native land rather than stay in the place she was born and raised in. She left behind all she knew to follow someone she loved.

Here is the verse:

¹⁶ But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.

¹⁷ Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried.

When I got married, I left Virginia and move to South Carolina where my husband lived. It meant living behind all that I had ever known. I left behind my job of nineteen years, my friends, my house, my church, my bible study, and prayer group. It seemed like I was leaving behind everything I knew and loved to follow the man of love.

He is very much worth it!

What verse would you select for this project?

Read.Explore.Learn- The Kiss That Missed

February 11, 2011 By Deirdre

Welcome to Read. Explore. Learn! This meme was designed to be a place for you to share the learning opportunities, crafts, field trips, and other activities you have done this week that tie-in to children’s books. I look forward to seeing ways you have learned with and explored books.

Steps:

Link your activity below.

Please place the Read.Explore.Learn. the badge on your post or create a link back to this meme.

Please try to visit at least three of the other people that have placed links below and leave a comment. I will visit each of you and leave a kind comment and Stumble your post.

If you are not linking up an activity and are just visiting, please try to stop by a few of the links below.

My Book Tie-Ins of the Week:

A very busy king/father tosses a quick kiss good night to his son as he heads to the bath to clean off the grime of the day. The kiss he throws misses his son and heads out across the kingdom. A brave knight is sent to retrieve the kiss and bring it back to the palace. The kiss flies around the kingdom settling bear, wolves, and dragons down for the night as it travels. When it is finally caught and brought home, the king reads all who were touched by the kiss a good night story.

What did we do with the book?
Created Cards to Send to Exchange Partners

We are participating in the Fantastic Five’s Valentine’s Day Card Exchange. I had JDaniel decorate puzzle cards I found at Hobby Lobby. Yes, I took the easy way out having him put these together. I thought the children receiving them would like them better than one covered with our artwork.

Letter Recognition

I attached a magnet to the end of an old fishing pole my sister Michelle gave to JDaniel. He had fun fishing for the letters of the alphabet on hearts with paperclips attached to them.

I Crumbled While Making Cookies

February 10, 2011 By Deirdre

Last Monday I invited my friend Bridget and her daughter over for a play date and to decorate Valentine’s Day cookies. Before they arrived I decided to make the cookies and have them ready to decorate. JDaniel was watching The Cat in the Hat on television this meant I could make them without “help.”

As soon as I had the cookie ingredients mixed in the bowl, a patter of feet headed toward the kitchen. Before I could rush the dough out of the bowl and start rolling it out, I felt a plastic stepstool being knocked against my leg. “Move over Mom! I want to help you,” JDaniel announced. Apparently the Cat in the Hat had lost his attention.

I moved over and showed him what I was doing.

“I am trying to roll this dough out and cut it into hearts,” I explained.

“I need to taste!” he replied. I pinched off some of the dough and gave him a little bit.

“I will need more, please,” he told me. I gave him a little more and then started to roll the dough again.

Giving him little bits seemed like a good idea. It wasn’t a good idea. He kept trying to reach in the bowl and get more as I rolled out the dough and cut out the cookies.

I got more and more frustrated. He got more and more indignant about wanting the dough.

Thankfully my friend Bridget arrived on the scene with her daughter before the battle had really escalated.

When she saw the battle over the dough, she calmly picked up a spoon I had laying on the counter and filled it with dough.

“If you want this, you will need to go sit in your chair at the table,” she told JDaniel.

He walked right over to the table and climbed up in his chair. Once he had taken his seat, she handed JDaniel the spoon. He sat silently he licked the dough off the spoon while I finished getting the next batch of cookies in the oven.

“This happens at my house all the time,” Bridget said. “Really the best thing to do is give him his own ball of dough and let him play with it at the table.”

Why didn’t I think of that?

Why did I turn it into a battle?

Thankfully Bridget bakes often and she has gained experience on how to entertain her daughter while she cooks.

I don’t bake often, but I still should have known better.

I wish I hadn’t made a rookie baking mistake in front of her, but know what I will do next time I bake.

We did have fun decorating the cookies though.

If you were a groundhog would you want to have to wake up from a long winter’s nap to check out your shadow?

While Phil has loved to wake up and take part in the spectacle in Punxsutaney, PA for many years. Last summer he started making plans to do something different this year. It took him a little bit of soul searching before ultimately made his decision. He really struggled with whether it would be letting down the people of Punxsutaney if he didn’t show up. He was also concerned about the effect his plan might have on the local economy. Would people return to Punxsutaney if they weren’t sure he would make an appearance?

He continued to wrestle with his decision most of the fall. The other animals in his neighborhood noticed that he was a little distant with them. Phil would walk past them and barely notice they were there. Even when his friends stopped by his burrow to visit he appeared to be distracted.

Phil really wanted to share his plans with his friends. Maybe they could help him work on the clinks in his plan, but if he told anyone what he was thinking of doing would they understand. Some of the traditionalist would say it was important to keep things the same, but they never liked change. A few of his more radical animal pals would cheer him on, but might try to put their two cents in on how the plans should be carried out.

Despite his misgiving in sharing his idea, Phil was dying to tell someone. One afternoon he scurried to his friend porcupine’s house to ask him what he thought about his decision after all it was while flipping through one of porcupine’s old calendars that the he had first noticed that there was a second holiday celebrated during the week on Groundhog’s Day. When he arrived he noticed a small sign hanging from porcupine’s door knob. The sign read Gone to Visit Mom!

Phil took this as sign that he should keep his plans to himself and returned home.

Just before tucking himself in for the winter Phil made the phone call he had been planning to make all fall. He placed his order and let the person on the other end know that he would be placing the money he owed in his mailbox.

When February 2nd arrived, a crowd gathered just outside Phil’s home. Some in the front row closest to the door noticed a note tacked on to the door and a small bag from the local Chinese restaurant.

Dear Groundhog’s Day Followers,

I know that each year you look forward to my telling you whether winter will be ending soon or continuing for a few more weeks. I have decided to enjoy a complete winter’s nap without a break this year.

While I have enjoyed seeing you in the winter year after year, this past summer and fall were extreme exhausting for me. This spring will be super busy too. More rest will be needed so I can gain the strength and stamina I will need to work on all the tasks I will need to complete.

I hope you will find the predictions you seek in the fortune cookies contained in the bag by my door. Happy Groundhog’s Day !

See you next year!
Phil