Have a HOLLY Jolly Christmas

My dog HOLLY couldn't wait to share her adventures with you.

Yes, as you can see from the photo on the right,

she's taken the Snowflake Express to the North Pole and joined Santa's elves. 

And she's not just any old elf. No. She is the Head Elf's Chief Executive Assistant. With her uncanny herding abilities and her very hard, cold nose, she pokes and prods any wayward

elves into action. Santa has to keep the toy assembly line going.

The countdown is on....only 7 more days until Christmas Eve.

I'm very proud of her, of course. But with a name like HOLLY, how could she not be a wonderful elf?

Children's Poetry Day

Although today is the first day of SPRING, it has been rather rainy around these parts--as you can tell from Holly's attire.






Today is also CHILDREN'S POETRY DAY. So I've found a spring poem and activity to accompany it. Since we've seen more rain than sunshine this spring, the poem I' ve selected is A RAIN SONG by Evaleen Stein (1863-1923), a poet from Indiana. To learn more about Ms. Stein, click on this link sponsored by Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana: http://www.bsu.edu/ourlandourlit/Literature/Authors/authors_rd3/steine.html


A RAIN SONG
by Evaleen Stein

Tinkle, tinkle,
Lightly fall
On the peach buds, pink and small;
Tip the tiny grass, and twinkle
On the clover, green and tall.

Tinkle, tinkle,--
Faster now,
Little rain-drops, smite and sprinkle
Cherry-bloom and apple-bough!
Pelt the elms, and show them how
You can dash!
And splash! splash! splash!
While the thunder rolls and mutters,
And the lightnings flash and flash!
Then eddy into curls
Of a million misty swirls,
And thread the air with silver, and embroider it with pearls!


To read the entire poem, click on this link at DLTK’S CRAFTS FOR KIDS: http://www.dltk-holidays.com/spring/poem/mstein-rainsong.htm

And for a fun craft, try this bunny all dressed for the rainy spring weather--also from DLTK: http://www.dltk-kids.com/animals/bunny/mbunny-spring.htm

For more rainy day poems, I suggest Candice Leby's book, SPLASH!: POEMS OF OUR WATERY WORLD. She has a great poem using the same theme as Ms. Stein's above but with a very different feel called RAIN, DANCE!

Happy Spring!