Correction to Recent Post: Local Moms Co-Author St. Patrick's Day Children's Book

So sorry.  I made a mistake.   The book "Lucky The Leprechaun" can NOT be downloaded from luckytheleprechaun.com.  The printable activites, however, can be downloaded.  I have made the correction in the original post.
Sorry for the confusion.

Local Moms Co-Author St. Patrick's Day Children's Book

Find him at luckytheleprechaun.com

There is a smell of spring in the air and the twinkle of leprechaun magic happening all around Alpharetta, GA these days.  And it's all thanks to a little, pointy eared leprechaun in a green coat and his creators, Samantha Strum Brown and Risa Rae Ramji, who released their first book titled, “Lucky The Leprechaun” in early January.  The fun is just beginning for the local co-authors as “Lucky” has been out and about creating lots of St. Patrick’s Day fun for children of all ages!  It was over a quick cup of coffee at a local Starbuck’s recently that I was thrilled to meet the two authors who shared a little bit about themselves and how “Lucky” came to be.

Samantha Strum Brown and Risa Rae Ramji

Brown and Ramji have been friends for quite a while and met at a local fitness center.  In addition to raising young children, both share a passion for writing and also come from Irish backgrounds.  One year ago while on a girl’s trip together, they talked about co-writing a book.  Eleven months later, on December 23, 2011, they contracted with local illustrator, David Bride and “Lucky The Leprechaun” was born.  The book was self published and became available to the public in early 2012.

The main character in their book is Lucky.  He is a leprechaun who Ramji described as, “fun, mischievous, quick, and clever.”  And while he may be mischievous, Lucky's message to the children is to be respectful and kind to one another, “behave and listen well” because like other fairy tale characters, he is magical and always watching.  Lucky is a lot of fun and can leave traces of where he’s been via “footprints on the ceiling,”  and by leaving “shamrock confetti trails."  “He may even turn your toilet water green,” Ramji said.  What’s even more fun for young readers is he rewards all well-behaved children with little gifts of dough and treats such as candy coins, rainbow lollipops, and crayons.  And, since Lucky is the only character in this first book, they hope to make it a series and may perhaps introduce additional characters and storylines. 

Leprechaun Trap Craft

While developing the book’s concept, a couple of factors determine its uniqueness and attraction.  Brown said St. Patrick’s Day is a niche market and unlike Christmas and Valentine’s Day, it gives the benefit of marketing in a less competitive environment.  In addition, the illustration of a buck tooth, red-headed leprechaun with turned-up toes on his shoes adds to its uniqueness.  Three to eight years old are their target reader group and they wanted to provide a visual element that would foster creativity and imagination.  So they came up with the idea of including a “leprechaun trap” craft with each book purchase.  Each craft packet contains all the necessary materials for a child to create a unique “trap” that can be used to try to catch Lucky. 

They offer a package deal that includes the book, one trap craft, and a CD with two read-a-longs narrated by the authors, music/movement activities and printables such as crossword puzzles, connect the dots, and coloring pages.  The CD is mp3 and PC compatible. 

All items can be purchased from their website at luckytheleprechaun.com.  "Like" them on Facebook at “The Lucky Leprechaun” and follow them on Twitter @follow1lucky. 

Fun and clever, this book is very entertaining and an enjoyable read for the whole family.  Let me know what “Lucky” has been up to at your home and what treats he's left behind!  Don’t forget to email pictures of your child’s craft to info@luckytheleprechaun.com.

Outdoor Classrooms--Where Nature & Learning Unite!

Our oldest son, Christopher, is a first grader at Abbotts Hill Elementary (AHE) in Johns Creek, GA.  This public school is among the highest rated schools in our state, with a rating of 9 out of 10 stars. But aside from the great school rating, what I’m really excited about is AHE has a school garden--an outdoor classroom where nature cultivates a new way for young children to learn! 

Since I’m a gardener, and a lover of all things garden, you can imagine my joy!  I was thrilled to become a volunteer for the outdoor classroom and it has been the best experience ever. 

Garden gazebo

Started just over one year ago by a parent volunteer and mother of three young children, Erin Barlag is AHE’s garden founder and resident miracle worker.  Through her vision and hard work, the garden has become aflutter with new growth and interest, but best of all it has become a living laboratory for our children to develop academically, socially and as participants in community enrichment.  Erin has opened doors to a new learning culture which inspires a love of science, math, language skills and geography.
 
It is completely befitting that it has been named, “The Jaguar Jungle” since the school’s mascot is the jaguar. The garden area includes a beautiful gazebo equipped with benches lining its perimeter with enough seating for an entire class, a butterfly garden bed that is in the shape of a jaguar paw print filled with plants that play host to valuable pollinators such as butterflies, bees and hummingbirds. 

It has two planting beds that in the past growing season produced vegetables and currently are growing cold tolerant flowers and ornamental greens.  Plans are in place to create additional planting beds in which one has been slated to become an herb garden. 

Planting beds and birdhouses to the right.

Our Jaguar Environmentalists, a group of 3^rd through 5^th graders, are the school recyclers and green planet stewards.  They generously donated and installed birdfeeders around the garden area to draw beneficial wildlife to the area and also provided birdhouses for shelter. It was noted that some bird families took residence, nested and hatch their young from them!  The kids loved watching and documenting the process.

In October, we hosted a fall workday event.  We relocated some bush hedges, replaced some plants that didn’t survive the hot summer, and added three blueberry bushes, rosemary, lavender, and purple coneflower plants for the butterfly garden.  Pansies and ornamental cabbages were planted for the winter season to add color and interest during the colder months.

November and December were amazing months for the Jaguar Jungle.  AHE was so fortunate to be the recipient of a generous donation from a local landscaping company, Picture Perfect Landscaping.  They provided material, time and labor to install a beautiful brick border around the jaguar paw print bed.  The results were simply amazing.  What started out as an overgrown, rough outline of a paw print that was difficult to see at ground level, turned out to be a literal work of art.  I never really understood the talent of a bricklayer until I saw two of them in action!  Frank and George made bricklaying look so easy, a stark contrast to the back-breaking labor involved in bricklaying.  Each brick was meticulously hand-laid with precision and craftsmanship and the result was astounding.  We are so grateful and thrilled!!

Jaguar paw print bed and pollinator garden.

2012 ushered in a flurry of activity around finalizing the curriculum that will be tied to what teachers have slated for the remainder of the school year.  Two meetings were held with the science vertical team teachers to discuss and review the lessons we have developed for use in the Jaguar Jungle.  The concept is to have all lesson plan materials available, printed and ready for teachers and volunteers to basically grab and go! 

Next up is the Spring Family Fun event, in April, that will be held around the garden area.  This event is great fun and with any luck, it will draw new volunteers and much needed attention to the improvements and beautification of the Jaguar Jungle. 

I look forward to posting our progress as we continue to grow and learn from our school garden.  Do your children’s schools have an outdoor classroom?  If so, feel free to comment and share pictures and information about what’s happening in your area schools.  We would love to hear about what other teachers, students and volunteers are doing!


This post is completely my opinion, and I was not compensated to write it.

Our Time Together

There is so much activity going on inside and outside our home these days.  School, Gymboree, swim lessons, CCD, and the latest is Kumon.  We rarely get a break from our day to day routine.  But last Sunday proved to be a beautiful day.  The sun was shining and we decided to hang up the routine and head over to Webb Bridge Park for a much needed breath of fresh air. As I stood taking photos of my kids, it hit me.  They seemed so big.  They both have grown so much.  Christopher will be seven in April and Nathaniel will be four in June.  Time flies...

As I stood there taking photos and a video of Christopher swinging on the monkey bars, I kept thinking back to the many, sunny days we spent at our playground in Tampa.  We would swing and sing silly songs, one of his favorites was Sesame Street's, "Sunny Days."  We would sing number and color songs we learned from a little stuffed worm.  I was always nervous when he would jump or dance across the little wooden bridge that linked the slide to the jungle gym. I thought he'd never grow up.  But here we are, four years and four months later.  Long and lean, he has started a new chapter now.  Gone are the days of singing on the swings.  Now it's about other things like, "Look how high I can go, mommy!"  "I'm beating you, Nathaniel!" and "You can't catch me!"  Gone are the days when we would swing and sing together our funny songs about numbers and colors.  This day gave me a chance to reflect on those special times together.   A mother's preogative I guess.  He is such a beautiful boy with a gentle, kind, and loving soul that is deeply hidden under what can only be described as a ferocious energy force!  He does not have a stop button.  It's only go, go, go.  Yes, he has grown in so many ways.  I want him to slow down.  But I know the truth.  Slow is not in our future.

Nathaniel has come a long way in the growing up game.  He has blossomed into a loving, stubborn (so stubborn!), but happy child.  And like Christopher and I, we also got to spend many, happy, sunny days at our playground.  Swinging, however, was not exactly his favorite thing to do. I would get him situated and just as I would begin to push him, he would cringe with the most petrified look on his face.  I would slow him down to take him off and he would say his most favorite word, "No!"  As I watched him play last Sunday, it was clear to me his relationship with the swings had changed.  He seemed to really enjoy it now.  The picture I took of him reflects his tenacious free spirit, and captured joy that can only be seen through the eyes of a child.  The three years he has been ours have flown by.  It's clear, he has grown not only in size but in mighty personality.  Gone is the small, pale little baby who could barely sit up on his own.  Here now is a big boy.  A big boy with enormous conviction!

Then there is my husband.  Dedicated.  Loving.  My soul mate.  He is the best father, husband, son and son-in-law ever. He's alpha cat to our beloved furry family members.   The boys adore him.  My parents and his mother adore him.  I adore him.  He is the glue that holds our family together.  He is the holder of all things--toys, hands and hearts.

I will cherish the time we took for ourselves last Sunday.  Even though these photos are part of the past now, they captured in a few very brief moments the essence of our family time, reflective time and growing together time.  Our family has grown--very fast, so big and deeply close.

Aaahh...The Power of a Great Manicure...

Can be summed up in three words. Natural Body Spa. I had the privilege of going (again!) for yet another one of their services thanks totally to my beloved's generous Christmas gift. (XOXO--love you, Schmoop!)  This time I opted to try out their "Signature Manicure."

Let me first start with what I love about this place.  You walk in the door and they greet you by name.  Makes you feel like someone really gets it. They know what you're there for and best of all, they give you time to take a breath and decompress before you meet your therapist.  It's great because I'm a stickler about time.  Time is precious when you have a small window of sanity before your life returns to the bus stop and has to be be picked up from preschool!  I know a lot of spa places do this with their clients, but here you never feel rushed or held to a tight schedule.
 
Next, I was thrilled to see Paula again for my manicure.  I had probably one of the best pedicures ever with her last week.  I love her because she really makes me feel pampered (you too, Sharmaine!).  She took my coat, hung up my purse, showed me where to sit and asked if I needed anything before she got started.  She was great at educating me about various pressure points in the hands that when massaged, help alleviate stomach aches, headaches, and back aches, all of which I had when I walked in the door. My youngest has been complaining about his stomach hurting, so I'm looking forward to trying it out on his hands the next time he complains.

Finally, my tired, overwashed, oversanitized, mommy hands actually look alive again.  No more broken, split nails.  Just pink, healthy, rejuvenated, happy hands.  They look like they are attached to a 'living' body and not, well, you know.  If you live in the Atlanta area or are just passing through on business (Lauren!) you owe it to yourself to be pampered by the professionsals at Natural Body Spa naturalbody.com.

PS:  I was not paid to write this opinion or sponsor this company.  Just happy to spread a little love for the people and services I enjoy.