Monday, April 23, 2012

Celebrating Mama Earth



For us, every day is earth day, but on April 22 we take time to celebrate Mama Earth as a family in a few special ways.

We started our day singing our Good Morning song. We were introduced to this song at Oaks and Acorns and we really love it. 

Good Morning
Good morning earth
Good morning sun
Good morning trees
And the flowers underneath
Good morning bees
And the birds in the trees
Good morning you
Good morning me

We thought it was the perfect song to start a day of celebrating Mama Earth.  From there we headed straight outside to take a deep breath and soak up the fresh cool morning.

After breakfast (local eggs, homemade bagels and smoothies) we grabbed paper and pen to draft our little promise note to Mama Earth. This is a family list of a few things we will work on this year to show our appreciation and gratitude for all the beauty that surrounds us.

Here’s our list:
  • Take time each week to pick up some of the garbage on the roads we walk daily.
  • Add to our current rain barrels, we have some around the house, but really need to get the garage done.
  • Put up a new clothes line. Ours didn’t make it through the winter, it was quite a few years old and we kind of figured it was on its way out, so a new one should be up by the end of the week.
  • Reconfigure our compost bin set up so it is a more efficient process.

We then headed out to begin working on our first promise, to pick up some garbage from the quiet country roads we live on. It truly amazes me how much garbage collects out here in the country. I have never quite figured out why people think a country road is their garbage can. Reece keep asking "why so much garbage?" So wish I didn't have to answer that question. We gathered up a large bag of garbage, mostly beer cans, pop cans, water bottles and lots of food containers.  We are quite pleased with how much better it looked when we were finished. Let’s hope it stays that way, and if not we will be back next week to pick up some more.


It was then time to work on a little project to feed our little friends the birds. Justin and Reece got to work building a little bird feeder to hang in our yard.





After lunch, we headed over to one of our favourite outdoor spots, Lynde Shore Conservation Area. This is a lovely little spot with hiking trails which take you right down to Lake Ontario.  The best part though is feeding the birds and the chipmunks...they come right up and feed out of your hand. 





















A little stop for tea and then home for dinner, vegetarian of course, with our usual dinner time blessing.

We finished our day as it began, by going outside before bed and breathing in a deep, grateful breath of fresh air.

Happy Earth Day!!! We love and appreciate you, Mama Earth.

How did you celebrate and give thanks to Mama Earth?

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Linking up with Naturally Crafted Mama for {into nature}

Linking up with Happy Whimsical Hearts for Happy Family Times



34 comments:

  1. What a lovely time you had! And how super cute are chipmunks!!! What fun to feed them :-) And I love your promise to mother nature - what an inspired idea. And funnily enough, today we took a bag to pick up rubbish along our walk too. Master D had asked if we could do this following our last walk, he had gotten a bit upset seeing rubbish along the way. Little things to help make the world a nicer place.

    And thank you for sharing at Happy Family Times (which I will publish tomorrow morning ;-))

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    1. It really was! Love that Master D wanted to pick up garbage, such a little thing we can do to tidy up our little parts of the world.

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  2. Happy earth day! Lovely outing for a perfect weekend! I am amazed at how tame those chipmunks are (were)!!

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    1. It is a pretty special place. The chipmunks actually followed us as soon as they saw the food :)

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  3. Such a wonderful day to celebrate Mama Earth! I can't imagine Reece's excitement over the animals eating from his hand! I was doing a little dance and I wasn't even there?!?!

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    1. It was! And yes he was really excited. We have been there before, but every time is like the first time for him...well really for all of us, it never gets old.

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  4. A beautiful celebration for a beautiful earth:))

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  5. What a great day! I love that bird feeder as well. We spent the morning taking a long walk by the "river". No water except for monsoon season! Then it got to hot to go outside much. The girls are sick to so next year will be more involved for Earth Day.

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    1. We had a great time KC! The bird feeder was all Justin, I just told him I wanted him and Reece to make something to feed the birds with and in he came with the pieces of wood. It was a lot of fun for them.

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  6. How fun Kim. We had rain yesterday so our big Earth Day plans have been moved to next weekend. We will head to the beach and pick up litter that others have left behind. {Littering is on of my pet peaves]. After a few hours of working at the beach we will head for the woods for a picnic and some hiking. I can't wait!

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    1. Huge pet peeve of mine too Tracey. I honestly can't believe what people leave on the side of the road in the country, makes me sad.

      Hope you have a lovely Earth Day celebration next weekend, it sounds like it will be lovely.

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  7. What a great celebration. You chose such meaningful activities to recognize the day and appreciate the earth.

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  8. what a great idea to pick up trash! i wish i had an answer for the question...why so much trash. it's really sad that people litter :(

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  9. What a wonderful day! I love the photos of the chipmunks and birds eating right out of your hands - beautiful!

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  10. Kim, I just love your blog. What a wonderful day your created and your family is just precious.

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    1. Oh, thanks so much Priscilla :) It was a great day, and we had a ton of fun together.

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  11. What a lovely day full of celebration! The birdhouse is great~ Reece looks adorable helping! I'm going to share these photos with my boys.. they'll love the squirrels and birds eating from the hands! Beautiful!

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    1. Thanks, Reece is really proud of his birdhouse, he has been watching the birds feed from it all day. Hope your boys like the photos.

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  12. What a lovely way to cerebrate and bring mindfulness to Reece. We used the Good Morning Earth song to start our circle time every day. I love it. And I am not sure why our country roads are so full of trash, it is the same here. Who puts it there???

    Did you enjoy our snowy surprise this morning? Snowsuits in April are just wrong!
    Enjoy the rest of your week.

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    1. Thanks! I love that song, it is so special in so many ways. I am not sure, but if I ever find out I will have a few words for them :)

      We didn't have any snow on the ground this morning, just wet stuff falling all day. It has finally started to accumulate a little bit. I am sure tomorrow morning will bring some happiness as Reece wants to build a snowman :)

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  13. So many things to love about this post! The bird feeder! The chipmunks! The happy little boy! Are the homemade bagels hard to make? I've never tried.

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    1. Awe, thanks Amber. It was really an amazing day. We are very blessed to be able to experience it all. Homemade bagels are easy, here's the recipe I use, really delish!!! http://www.thespunkycoconut.com/2010/01/onion-poppy-seed-bagels-cinnamon-raisin.html

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  14. What a wonderful way of celebrating Mama Earth. Thank you so much for sharing at Happy Family Times. There are so many wonderful things you are doing with your children and for the earth.

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    1. Thanks Carrie. So happy to share at Happy Family Times :)

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  15. Looks like a great day Kim! And we live the Earth day every day principle here, too. We have to, right? Thanks for sharing your morning ritual - a sweet way to connect and give back. Now enjoy that snow you're getting now! Stay warm.

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    1. Yes, Lisa, so important to live the Earth day is every day principle.

      I am not sure I will enjoy the snow, but I know Reece will :)

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  16. good job on the bird feeder reece! i've been wanting to hang one in our yard but pat always teases me saying i'm offering a death trap for the birds (we have a huntress of a kitty). looks like you had a beautiful trip to the conservation area, love those pictures of reece feeding the chipmunk. and those shoes, oh lady those shoes! love them!!

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    1. Oh yes, not a good idea with a kitty around. Our dog watches the feeders when the chipmunks and squirrels visit, but she doesn't bother much with the birds. I was a lovely day, and Reece was thrilled to feed the chipmunks again.

      You like the shoes, me too :) They are actually a few years old, have not worn them much, which is a surprise because they are soooo comfortable.

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  17. What a fun face your son has - so full of glee! And those photos of the chipmunk and chickadee(!) eating from your hand? Great!

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