Friday

Friday is my day for creative thinking and doing; as Grandma Earth Teacher I am led to make things that are a gift to the Earth in some way, sustainable, and with a message. Also, I need to prepare for the next week of after-school time: A calm flow with some repeatable fun learning and ongoing fall projects.

We are in the yin time of the waning gibbous moon - a time to receive the fruits of our labors, a time of quiet, internal, heart-driven, intentional Being-ness.

Agenda:

1. Priority projects plan

2. Grandson plans

3. Project steps and preparedness

4. Family teamwork

5. Love Meditation

1. Priority projects brainstorm:

My Priority Projects include nature crafts and craftivism, gifts, home projects and useful things, things that inspire and teach, and illustrations for my Nature-Culture writing.

This week I have a very clear morning schedule, and I want to really start my Christmas workshop. My focus is on: 

• Out-of town gifts - some things for my three siblings that I can make that are useful and beautiful - maybe painted and/or crazy quilt-covered boxes? And fill them with food or collectables?
• Mantra signs
• Also, photos of the farmer's market
• My hall door project.

2. Grandson brainstorm:

The second kind of creativity I want is to Make Things with my Grandsons - fun things, exploring basic skills, seasonal materials, and folk crafts. Today I will choose next themes, brainstorm projects, and define the nature and skills goals.

This week the focus was on Halloween! Yesterday we made cookies, and today we are going to make flappy paper bats.

Next week is Leaf Week: Ideas-

• A leaf collecting walk - explore colors, shapes, (name the trees) crunchy textures, and earthy scents.
• Press and coat with mod-podge to preserve colors
• Make leaf luminaries (glueing)
• Make a leaf garland (sewing)
• Make leaf rubbings (color)
• Play the leaf catching game.
• Draw patterns on leaves with metallic markers (pre-writing skills)
• Need fall leaf and tree books.

3. Project steps and preparedness:

• F: Research a box idea
• Sat: Get orange paper + photos of the farmer's market + collect wooden boxes at MECCA?
• Sun: Door project - orange
• M: Door project + chip carving
• T: Door project + Mantra signs
• W: Door project + sewing
• Th: Door project + Mantra signs

Kid Projects:

• F: Aldo day: Drawing pumpkin faces + bats + legos
• T: Artie Day: Leaf walk (look up names of trees) + leaf rubbings + bats
• W: Aldo Day: Set sacred time for drawing, and draw with Aldo + Sort legos + Reading cards + $ chores
• Th: Artie Day: Trip to ? + Leaf luminaries + decorate and paint leaves with mod-podge
• F: Aldo day: (No school) Explore St. Vinnie's + Batcave + Legos

First steps:   

• Sat: Set up for crafting in the house
• Sun: Make a chore chart? + Set up for carving
• M: Cut paper strips for width (bathroom inside) + Study and share more stories with Wade about PDF
• T: Make tree cards + sand a wood block
• W: Make a drawing challenge booklet with samples + bring legos inside? + sewing prep?
• Th: Gesso some old canvases for Aldo; 
• F: Iron new wing cloth + Find a bigger terrarium (with Aldo)

4. Family teamwork:

Once a week I consider how to develop trust relationships, create synergy, and embrace teamwork with my family. Today I will design a plan for how to communicate my vision for kid projects and chore expectations, what to delegate, and how to upgrade our communication skills.

• Sun: Talk about Thanksgiving and gift wish list with family
• M: Study and share more stories with Wade about PDF
• T: Bring binoculars every Tuesday and a bird book - take time to look for names of birds and write them down.
• W: Set sacred time for drawing, and draw with Aldo; Make a drawing challenge booklet with samples.
• Set a date to have lunch with Carrie.

5. Love Meditation:

Every month after the full moon, in the quiet-energy yin time of the waning moon, I practice a love meditation that progresses from receptivity, to gratitude, to generosity. Today I look again at what I want to receive and open myself to receive it. Practice a love meditation, and open to receive blessings - send a prayer to the universe asking to be showered with love, kindness, health, and happiness.

1. 1 minute - Relax your body, and focus on the tender emotion of generous love. Allow a smile to settle on your face and in your heart.
2. 1 minute - Visualize love as soft, tingly, warm, pink light, and see it move from your heart to every part of your body so that every cell is glowing and vibrating.
3. 1 minute - Now see the pink light of love radiating to fill the whole room, then the whole city, and the whole planet earth.
4. 1 minute - See that all people, plants, and animals feel warm and happy.
5. 1 minute - Send an extra dose of love light to those people you want to have a better connection to.