Snow in the Art Center

First snow of the year!!! And if there was any form of precipitation in the art center, I am positive that it would be snowing in here too! 2 sweaters + 2 pairs of socks and I'm still cold?
Yet another poem—I love the image this pulls up (and the memories...)

Sing a song of winter,
Of frosty clouds in air.
Sing a song of snowflakes
Falling everywhere.

Sing a song of winter.
Sing a song of sleds.
Sing a song of tumbling
Over heels and heads.

Up and down a hillside
When the moon is bright,
Sledding is a tiptop
Wintertime delight.

--Norman C. Schlichter

Trailblazer Hour

This poem has been on my mind all week, I think it's appropriate after a week with nine Trailblazers (7-9 year olds). I was blessed with another great group of beautiful girls. This age group was wonderful in the fact that they were willing to love me almost instantly--which made my job much easier! And we played a lot of games that required imagination and a sense of humor! It was so fun to have my pathetic ideas jumped on by these little girls who actually enjoyed them!
I love those girls and I have locked them up forever "in the round-tower of my heart"(read below). I miss them a lot, but I admit, I'm glad I don't have so many under my wing right now! It's not easy to be the instant mother of 9 little ones...

Anyway, this poem is called "The Children's Hour", and it was written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in the early 1800s.

Between the dark and the daylight,
When the night is beginning to lower,
Comes a pause in the day's occupations,
That is known as the Children's Hour.

I hear in the chamber above me
The patter of little feet,
The sound of a door that is opened,
And voices soft and sweet.

From my study I see in the lamplight,
Descending the broad hall stair,
Grave Alice, and laughing Allegra,
And Edith with golden hair.

A whisper, and then a silence:
Yet I know by their merry eyes
They are plotting and planning together
To take me by surprise.

A sudden rush from the stairway,
A sudden raid from the hall!
By three doors left unguarded
They enter my castle wall!

They climb up into my turret
O'er the arms and back of my chair;
If I try to escape, they surround me;
They seem to be everywhere.

They almost devour me with kisses,
Their arms about me entwine,
Till I think of the Bishop of Bingen
In his Mouse-Tower on the Rhine!

Do you think, o blue-eyed banditti,
Because you have scaled the wall,
Such an old mustache as I am
Is not a match for you all!

I have you fast in my fortress,
And will not let you depart,
But put you down into the dungeon
In the round-tower of my heart.

And there will I keep you forever,
Yes, forever and a day,
Till the walls shall crumble to ruin,
And moulder in dust away!

Little Red Riding Hood—Roald Dahl

This is a great for a laugh, my family read it aloud during the reading time. I had a WONDERFUL laugh within the last verse or so :) it's a great twist to a much loved tale:

As soon as Wolf began to feel
That he would like a decent meal,
He went and knocked on Grandma's door.
When Grandma opened it, she saw
The sharp white teeth, the horrid grin,
And Wolfie said, 'May I come in?'
Poor Grandmamma was terrified,
'He's going to eat me up!' she cried.
And she was absolutely right.
He ate her up in one big bite.
But Grandmamma was small and tough,
And Wolfie wailed, 'That's not enough!
'I haven't yet begun to feel
'That I have had a decent meal!'
He ran around the kitchen yelping,
'I've got to have another helping!'
Then added with a frightful leer,
'I'm therefore going to wait right here
'Till Little Miss Red Riding Hood
'Comes home from walking in the wood.'
He quickly put on Grandma's clothes,
(Of course he hadn't eaten those.)
He dressed himself in coat and hat.
He put on shoes and after that
He even brushed and curled his hair,
Then sat himself in Grandma's chair.
In came the little girl in red.
She stopped. She stared. And then she said,

'What great big ears you have, Grandma.'
'All the better to hear you with,' the Wolf replied.
'What great big eyes you have, Grandma,'
said Little Red Riding Hood.
'All the better to see you with,' the Wolf replied.

He sat there watching her and smiled.
He thought, I'm going to eat this child.
Compared with her old Grandmamma
She's going to taste like caviare.

Then Little Red Riding Hood said,
'But Grandma, what a lovely
great big furry coat you have on.'

'That's wrong!' cried Wolf. 'Have you forgot
'To tell me what big teeth I've got?
'Ah well, no matter what you say,
'I'm going to eat you anyway.'
The small girl smiles. One eyelid flickers.
She whips a pistol from her knickers.
She aims it at the creature's head
And bang, bang, bang, she shoots him dead.
A few weeks later, in the wood,
I came across Miss Riding Hood.
But what a change! No cloak of red,
No silly hood upon her head.
She said, 'Hello, and do please note
'My lovely furry wolf-skin coat.'

Out in the Fields with God

The little cares that fretted me,

I lost them yesterday,

Among the fields, above the sea,

Among the winds at play;

Among the lowing of the herds,

The rustling of the trees;

Among the singing of the birds,

The humming of the bees.

The foolish fears of what may happen,

I cast them all away,

Among the clover-scented grass,

Among the new-mown hay;

Among the rustling of the corn,

Where drowsy poppies nod,

Where ill thoughts die and good are born—

Out in the fields with God.

—Elizabeth Bennett Browning

My new favorite poem - I've been singing it to myself for the past few days as I walk across campus (not a good idea...)

The Mist and All - by Dixie Willson

I like the fall

The mist and all

I like the night owl’s lonely call

And wailing sound

Of wind around

I like the gray

November day

And dead, bare boughs that coldly sway

Against my pane

I like the rain

I like to sit

And laugh at it

And tend my cozy fire a bit

I like the fall

The mist and all

This is one of my favorite poems.  I do LOVE the fall - it is absolutely beautiful!  The colors - bright, cheerful, and crisp!  

I am constantly excited by God's beauty outside...  I love the fall, the mist and all...