“With everything that has happened to you, you can either feel sorry for yourself or treat what has happened as a gift. Everything is either an opportunity to grow or an obstacle to keep you from growing. You get to choose.”
Wayne Dyer
Summer Bucket List for children
03 Jul 2019 Comments Off on Summer Bucket List for children
in Bucket List Tags: Bucket List, children, summer
Dear Fellow Journalers,
Mary Beth promised me she would send some posts about travelling with children for this month and so here is her first installment.
~Sallie
Each Spring the children ached to get outside after the snowy winter. Unfortunately, our spring weekends were rain-filled EVERY weekend! To keep their spirits up and get them motivated for summer I purchased 5 large mason jars and 1large wooden bucket at our local garden shop. Hey, we’re talking “Bucket List” right?
Anyway, one Friday night I had all the kids assemble at our large kitchen island. I then gave each of them a jar, some paper, pencils and scissors. Their instructions were to write out a summer wish list (even if impractical), cut the paper into strips and put them in the jar. I made labels for each of the jars with some different colored cardstock and die-cuts. My husband was in charge of painting the bucket.
The children came up with some great ideas and kept adding them to their jars over the next week. On June 14th, (the last day of the school year) we emptied the jars into the bucket. After a delicious cookout on the deck, we took turns taking 5 ideas out of the bucket. We voted on which ideas we would do and as you can imagine we had a delightful and interesting summer!
Here are some of the things we did on our summer vacation:
- Went to a local farm
- Saw a drive-in movie complete with popcorn and soda
- Went to the county fair and enjoyed the rides (yes, all of us!)
- Participated in the summer Reading Program
- Planted a garden
- Went berry picking
- Had a fun trolley ride
- Made paper boats (in case we had a rainy day) and had a race in the bathtub
- Made Sun prints
- Decorated white tennis shoes with fabric paint
- Made kites which we took to a local beach
- Made lemonade
- Learned how to make home-made ice cream
- Teamed up with some of the neighbors and had a water fight with sponges
That’s all folks – have a wonderful summer!
Mary Beth
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July Monthly Journal Prompts
01 Jul 2019 Comments Off on July Monthly Journal Prompts
in Monthly journal Tags: 4th of July, Monthly journal
Dear Fellow Journalers,
July is a mixed bag for this writer. It begins with the 4th of July. It’s typically travel month and it has a Christmas in July theme too. So here are a few prompts that I hope cover all of the above:
- What does the 4th of July mean to you? Do you feel a strong pull of patriotism or are you just happy to be with friends or family at a barbecue?
- Imagine that you woke up this morning on July 4th, 1776. How do you insert yourself on this historic day?
- Are you an adventurer? Write about a solo trip to another country. Where would you go and what would you do?
- You want to write a travel journal. How would you organize it?
- Imagine that you are one of Santa’s elves. Describe a typical day.
- What if you could write the lyrics of “The 12 Days of Christmas” what would be the new words?
~Sallie
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Wednesday words to live by
26 Jun 2019 Comments Off on Wednesday words to live by
in Wednesday words to live by Tags: Feelings
Be gentle with yourself and other people’s feelings.
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How often do you write in your journal?
26 Jun 2019 Comments Off on How often do you write in your journal?
in Paper Daydreams Tags: Journal writing
Dear Fellow Journalers,
This dilemma plagues New journal writers and often some of us too. Does it matter how often you write? Whether you write often depends on your purpose for writing. Is it to keep track of your garden or you journey through a different state? Are you experimenting with mindfulness? Are you trying new recipes? Are you tracking your goals or health symptoms?
If journal writing is pleasurable, then writing is its own reward. If it has become a chore then you are more likely to “forget” to write. Here are a few ways to keep writing consistently:
- Make your journal writing more upbeat. Remind yourself about the good things in your life.
- If an unpleasant issue comes up, remind yourself that ranting, venting, and reflection is a process just for you.
- Write at the same time every day, if possible.
- Think about what’s stopping you from writing and write about that.
- Write a one-word journal entry that captures your day. Once you’ve determined that word, writing about it takes no time at all.
Remember, it only matters that you write consistently so 1) you don’t stop keeping a journal and 2) when you ‘re-read your journal there are enough entries to retrain the continuity of your life.
~Sallie
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