Creation Station

Good morning everyone,

I hope everyone has been staying warm through out this crazy winter weeks. This week is one of my favorite weeks in the entire year. Dr. Seuss week happens this week and it promotes National Read Across America week.

Dr. Seuss's birthday is celebrated on March 2nd and it celebrates both the birthday of Theodor Seuss Geisel and the National Education Association to endorse the importance of reading. National Read Across America day/week happens this week in all schools across America. Students read the books that were written by him and hear the lessons that they provide by also dressing up in fun and wacky ways. Dr. Seuss is probably best known for his books to help children learn to read, such as One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish, Green Eggs and Ham, and Hop on Pop, his cautionary tales including The Lorax, and the inspirational Oh, the Places You'll Go!  A lesser-known fact about Dr. Seuss is that he created the word nerd.

The reason why Dr. Seuss week is so important to me is because, his book the Lorax saved my life. A few years back I was going through the hardest time in my life. Everything was crashing around me and I didn’t see a way out. I was working at a camp at the time and needed to talk to my boss about something important. Crying in her office, she sat me down and loved me and encouraged me with not only words from her heart, but one single word. UNLESS!!! I had asked her several times before why she had the word all over her office and tattooed on her wrist. She told me it was from the Lorax by Dr. Seuss. Little did I know how much it would not only save my life but, change it for the better.

If you are not familiar with the book I encourage you to go read it. The Lorax is a cautionary tale primarily about a person's responsibilities to the environment. The Once-ler comes in and takes all of the truffla trees and destroys the environment for his own selfish profit. The Lorax comes in and tells him to stop and that he advocates for the trees. Ignoring the advice of the Lorax, the greed blinds the Once-ler and he destroys the forest causing everything that was once beautiful to be destroyed. At the end of the book the Lorax gives a single truffla tree seed to the Once-ler and says his famous line. “ Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot; nothing is going to get better it’s not”.  Those words are left to encourage the Once-ler to care about what happened and make a change.  My boss read this book to us during our staff training and explained it this way. 

The world is like the Once-ler. It comes at us telling us all kinds of things that destroy us personal. “You need to look like this,” or “you can’t do that”.  Whatever or whoever is dragging you down in your life is like the Once-ler. Now the truffla trees were the campers, growing and trying to thrive in their element and we were the Lorax. We were there to encourage those kids no matter what they had going on in there lives. Help them grow to be the amazing people that they wanted to be.  Not be a Once-ler by dragging them down and destroy them like so many of them already had in their lives. My boss said with pride, “ I am your Lorax and you are my truffla trees. I am here to help you grow and be the best versions of yourself so you can become a Lorax in your campers life or anyone else”.  She gave us seeds just like the Lorax did that summer to remind us about the power of unless. Unless I care, it’s not going to get better in any situation. I have to care to make that positive change in my own life, my families, my work, in nature, in everything!!  Because my boss became my Unless, I was able to heal and become a better version of myself and a Lorax in so many peoples lives.  I do my best everyday to be a Unless in someones life wether they know me or not. I still have that seed and it sits in the hands of a little Lorax that sits on my desk in my office. 

Dr. Seuss in so many of his books teaches so many amazing lessons. So many are about equality or reaching for your dreams. He’s words are such a powerful tool to not only encourage us to read and use our imagination, but to grow as individuals and open our eyes to whats going on around us. 

I wanted to encourage you to have a fun and wacky week this week. Read his books as a family and talk about the amazing lessons that can be applied in your lives. Make sure you also have so fun this week. Do wacky things like cook green eggs and ham or wear silly cloths. Be someones unless and encourage them. You never know how it will effect their life.  This week is such a fun week celebrating the the man who encouraged us to grow and read more. Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss and thank you Kim(my boss) for teaching me about Unless and being that for me even still. 

Tiffany

Program Supervisor 

“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot; nothing is going to get better it’s not”

Good morning everyone,

What a cold week we are having. My little Texas heart will never get use to this kinda weather. Surprisingly enough, I do like the snow. For someone who has never really seen much snow growing up, I enjoy when we have it. It was only just a few years ago that I went sledding for the very first time. Imagine me sitting in a plastic laundry basket, because there were no more sleds, sliding down the hill. It’s one of my favorite memories and I love watching everyone in town find spots to go sledding when it does snow. 

There is are so many amazing things you can do with snow. Since its going to be here a while, I thought Id share some of my favorite things you can do beside build a snow man.

Water Color Fun:

Want to make your snow man more unique? Just add some food color with some water and color away. This fun and easy project can make your white yard full of fun colors. Just take a few drops of water color to a bottle of water and let your imagination take off. You could make a small hole in the lid of a plastic water bottle and use that to spray your colored water on your snow. You could make different designs in your yard or make your snowman full of color. The possibilities are endless. 

Snow Mold Toys:

I don’t know if you have seen the latest trend with the snow mold toys. They are plastic molds that you can place your snow in and make amazing shapes like hearts, snowmen, penguins, and even snowballs. These fun molds are on Amazon and are a fun way to make your snow day even more exciting.  

Snow Ice cream:

I remember one day in Texas where it snowed my mom made my sister and I a special ice cream treat. We were so excited to not only have the day off of school, but now eating snow ice cream. This fun treat is easy and is fun for the whole family.  Here is a recipe for you to enjoy with your family.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup milk (any kind)
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 pinch salt
• 8 cups clean snow or shaved ice (more or less, depending on the density of the snow)

INSTRUCTIONS

• In a large bowl, whisk milk, sugar, vanilla and salt together until combined. Go scoop up some fresh (clean!) snow, and immediately stir it into the milk mixture until you reach your desired consistency.  (The ice cream should be fluffy, not runny.  But it melts quickly, so dive in quickly.)
• Top with sprinkles or other ice cream toppings if desired, and enjoy!

Snow days are a fun way to hang out with the family spend time together making memories. If playing outside is not your thing, have a movie marathon with fun treats to enjoy. Moments like these are something your family will never forget and is a great time to just spend together. This is the perfect opportunity to really go build a snowman when your little one runs in signing those famous lyrics. Have a great week everyone.

Tiffany

Program Supervisor

Good morning everyone,

I hope everyone is having a awesome week. January 26th was National Spouse/Partner Day. Other than Valentine’s Day, this is the only worldwide holiday that gives couples a chance to spoil each other, to take time out of their busy schedules, and to tend to their love ones. It’s a chance to celebrate your spouse and show your better half that they are indeed appreciated. Let’s admit, sometimes married couples and partners need reminders to leave the hamster wheel that is everyday life. 

I was beyond excited and wanted to do something special for my spouse.  They do so much for me and our twins and this was a perfect way to celebrate them and surprise them. I went to Walmart and found a card that made noise and light up that had two smores sitting next to a camp fire that said “love you smore”. I then went and got all the different types of smore goodies including different chocolates and different flavored marshmallows. I went home and set up the living like a camp sight with my little camping stove to cook the smores with.  I received a bluetooth, dvd projector for Christmas and set it up to watch a movie with lights surrounding us so we could watch a movie and cook our smores. 

My Spouse walked in totally surprised at the sight and was excited for our date night. We watched a movie and had smores and just spent time together. Our lives are busy with work, twin six month olds, and the up’s and down’s of everyday life. It was really nice to just spend time together and laugh and talk during the movie and just feel like we were “away” even though we were in the comfort of our own home. 

Even though National Spouse/Partner day was the 26th, it’s never to late to spend time with your loved one. We often get caught up in the craziness of everything that’s going on around us, that we forget about our teammate that helps us get through it all the most. They deserve a day were we make them feel appreciated and loved and don’t expect anything in return. After-all, they are the ones that hear us complain and vent, see us stressed and over tired, manage the house when we are gone and help with the kids.

There are lots of amazing ways to honor your significant other. You can buy their favorite dinner or make their favorite. Make sure that everything is done around the house and the kids are good to go, so they can have a night off. Do Saturday morning with the kids so they can sleep in. Have a campfire while having your favorite beverage and enjoying each others company. You know your partner the most, so do something they would enjoy the most. Honoring our loved ones is a great way to give back and also feel good doing it. There is nothing better than seeing your partner smile and look happy. I encourage you to think of a creative way to love on them and make them feel special sometime this week. They deserve it and you will have fun doing it. Have a great week everyone.

Tiffany

Program Supervisor