Day of Doing

It' the day after a long weekend and I decided to dive right in to my list of 'to do's'. Normally I would gently ease myself into it, but since I've got quite the busy week... month... okay, year ahead of me, I opted to be responsible.
Today's tasks included some highly responsible ones - like finishing off T4s for the company I do bookkeeping for - and some less responsible but still highly important ones - like building a cardboard box car for my little man.
Funnily enough, I'd never made a cardboard box car before today. At least, not the kind that involved any sort of cutting and reshaping. Today's model most closely resembles a jeep. I've actually dubbed it the "chef mobile" due to the unintentional placement of the Pampered Chef name and logo on the box I used to make the car with.
The biggest thing I learned from my first time box-building is that I need better cardboard-cutting knives. My 'Housewife Tool Kit' does not include utility knives, which I'm finally seeing as a shortcoming. Real homemakers need real tools; the very name 'homemaker' implies some form of construction, and using the right tool for the job certainly makes life easier. I was actually fondly recalling It's a Wonderful Life the other day, where Donna Reed's Mary is single handedly repairing her wreck of a home to make it into a gorgeous dream-home of sorts. That's a real homemaker. So again, I state, real homemakers need real tools, even if said tools are not always used for home repairs. Kid's crafts, seasonal decorating, organization and home decor projects can all require tools. For example, the other day I was setting up a mini home office in our basement by hanging mail organizers and white boards - power drill, hammer, screws, wall anchors and level all required. And during today's cardboard building exercise, I would have greatly benefitted from some utility knives for sure!
Another big thing I accomplished today was a huge portion of my seed starting! For three years running I have vowed to get my seeds started in good time so that I could have actual vegetables in my garden. And for three years running, I have failed. But this year I finally did it! Granted, I didn't get everything done today; it's still a touch early to plant some things, but I did get some peas started, some herbs and some force-start bulbs I received last year.
One other motivating factor for finally doing my seed starting, besides shame at my lack of doing so prior to this year, was the need for a Sunday School object lesson a few weeks off. I've recently taken over the role of Sunday School coordinator at our church and was asked to make up a curriculum. Since I wasn't sure where to start, I decided to start at the beginning - literally. So our Sunday School class will be doing a study off Creation. Each week of Sunday School will feature a new day of Creation. This past week was Day 1 - "Let there be Light". We had fun with a light box that I made and we used up all of those under-used white crayons while we drew on black paper. Next week is the separation of waters to create sky, which will feature some fun little experiments with water, and the week after that is land and vegetation. That week is the one I'm most looking forward to! I'm planning on bringing in an array of herbs for the kids to smell, some fruit and veggies for them to taste, a soft cactus to touch and perhaps even some succulents to show variety. I also plan to give each child a seedling to take home. Since I started late (I ought to have planted a couple of weeks ago already!) I bought some dill seeds (dill seems to be the only thing I can't kill... and lettuce, my husband cheekily pointed out, but that's a different story...) and hopefully they'll pop up soon enough. They don't need to be big - just there.
In planning this curriculum my biggest resource has been (drum roll please...) Pinterest! With so many smart and creative people sharing things they've made themselves or stumbled upon in their browsing, it makes my job as easy as typing in "Star activity" or "animal craft" and picking an activity! Granted, I do a bit more than that, but I never would have thought to make cardboard elephants on my own for Day 6 of Creation, or to make a Starry Cave for Day 4 of Creation.
And my lucky little boys get to be my guinea pigs as I test out all of these activities at home before showing them off in front of a group of inpatient two to five year olds. The cardboard car today was actually practice for the next portion of my curriculum: the flood. I hope to make a cardboard ark for the kids to play with! I'll have to make sure I get my utility knife before then!

Mrs. VanderLeek ;)