And the theme is...

Creative Every Day/Flickr Project 365 photo for 3/31/2010:

Awww!  Look at us!  So young!

It's a photo of a photo (original photo taken at Paul's sister's wedding).
(Spots on photo are from the glass in the frame, I didn't dare take it out.)


Have you guessed the theme yet?


It
is

Things That Go Together!

Huh? You ask?  
Things that go together?  
Check out this wordle of the subjects photographed if you just don't 
see it:

I really enjoyed this month and hope you did too.  

See you in April ~ bring your appetite!

someone bless these seeds...

Creative Every Day/Flickr Project 365 photo for 3/30/2010:

A photo story of the month's photos with clues 
to help you guess the theme.  

Got it yet?
Tomorrow, the big reveal!

inch by inch...row by row...

Creative Every Day/Flickr Project 365 photo for 3/29/2010:

Kids and gardening, eh?  Hmmm, what could the theme be?

These shots are from the first day of spring.

It was warm and sunny.  

Today it is cold and rainy.  And, really windy.

  

The beds remain covered.  Nice weather is predicted for later in the week.  

Fingers and toes are crossed round here.

Gratuitous shot of my man's legs!  Hunky!

Happy to help!

PB & K...

Creative Every Day/Flickr Project 365 photo for 3/28/2010:

PB&K(indness)

These are peanut butter and jelly heart shaped sandwiches 

Annie recently made for our much loved (and recently widowed) neighbor.  

Here she is delivering them.  

It was very sweet (and thematically appropriate)!

Annie had some help making this batch.  

A quote from her "helper" is running through my mind, making me smile...

"I was inside helping Annie longer than I expected, but I saved the bread from 

certain heart-shaped cookie cutter disaster."  

Priceless!

Tip-toe through the tulips...day six

Creative Every Day/Flickr Project 365 photo for 3/27/2010:

Stop and smell that flower.

Sigh...this bit of tip-toeing was fun, inspiring, and relaxing!


Among these tulip photos, do you have a favorite?


Excerpts from the trip collaged below and here are the links
Day One, Day Two, Day Three, Day Four, Day Five.

Tomorrow, we are back to the business of sorting out this month's theme.

I can't believe April is almost here!

Tip-toe through the tulips...day five

Creative Every Day/Flickr Project 365 photo for 3/26/2010:

Right?!

Tip-toe through the tulips...day four

Creative Every Day/Flickr Project 365 photo for 3/25/2010:

Seriously, right?  Look at that luscious color! Thank you, Mother Nature!

Tip-toe through the tulips...day three

Creative Every Day/Flickr Project 365 photo for 3/24/2010:

This is what I'm talking about!  I love how it pops!

Tip-toe through the tulips...day two

Creative Every Day/Flickr Project 365 photo for 3/23/2010:

Here the tulip stems meet the water...


UPDATE: Paul asked to see this better...

Tip-toe through the tulips...day one (Today's Flower)

Creative Every Day/Flickr Project 365 photo for 3/22/2010:

The above macro photo comes from the flowers below.  

It also follows the month's theme, which I'm still not telling you!

And, this is your last clue for awhile because this project is about me interacting creatively in my world and taking and working with photos each day.  I found these flowers have provided several interesting shots, so for the next several days I will be posting those.  I hope you'll bear with me and will enjoy the photos as much as I have enjoyed creating them!  

And, then...well...we'll be much closer to the "BIG THEME REVEAL," which I am sure you are desperately awaiting!

OK, so sit back for the next few days and come tip-toe through the tulips with me!


Participating in Today's Flower (thanks Coleen!)

Hope springs...

Creative Every Day/Flickr Project 365 photo for 3/21/2010:

Paul planted in the garden yesterday.  It's a brand new patch he's just starting off this year.   
This seed packet, marking the row of carrots, looked so optimistic to me!  


For more years than I can recount, Paul has planted a garden.  
The work involved is astounding to someone like me who pulls weeds for 10 minutes and needs the rest of the week to recover!


Each year something seems to foil his plans somewhere down the line.  
For a few early years, things grew beautifully, but family tragedies and other challenges seemed to occur at harvest time 
and many things didn't get picked.  The last few years, weather has been the obstacle.  
Oh, and then there are the groundhogs and rabbits.  


Despite it all, through sheer will combined with problem-solving, composting, 
and a lot creative fencing, 
Paul has managed to grow a surprising variety of nourishing fruits and vegetables.  
I am so grateful for his efforts!


And, each mid-winter, Paul is at his garden planning again.  
I love listening to his vision for the year.  I never tire of hearing his plan.
Each spring, he's out there turning soil and planting food potential.  
It is such a hopeful exercise.  
The persistence.  
The courage to try again this year!  
He understands the trials and tribulations are part of the process.  
I actually think this may be part of the appeal for him.  
The struggle and the challenge add to the sense of satisfaction of creating 
amazing food from the earth with one's hands and heart. 


He doesn't give up!  It's really very inspiring.  


And, when his hard work and Mother Nature are in harmony...well, it's absolutely delicious!  


He's planting early for our area.  Taking a risk that usually pays off.  
And, yesterday, on what was a glorious first day of Spring, he raised the beds and in the ground went the carrots and lettuce.

And, then last night he checked the weather...and would you look at that...

He's a fighter though and he and Emma covered the garden in plastic 

so the 2-3 inches of rain expected will not wash away his seeds.

I'm pulling for you babe!  

Despite a rainy start, it feels like this is going to be a banner year for your garden.  

Hope springs up in me when I think about it.  

Don't give up!

This month's theme is reflected in this post...do you see it?

A dragon of a different color...

Creative Every Day/Flickr Project 365 photo for 3/20/2010:

Similar to "Sick Day" when I got jazzed about the tissue photo, I took a thematically appropriate photo for my 365 project and then played around a bit with some other shots from that session.  I am very pleased with this crayon photo!  
My little inner-Aimee is jumping up and down saying, "lookwhatididlookwhatididlookwhatidid!".

Cool, huh?!

I heart cheese...

Creative Every Day/Flickr Project 365 photo for 3/19/2010:

Throwing this one in to help you guess the theme for March.  It's less subtle here.  

Sick day...

Creative Every Day/Flickr Project 365 photo for 3/18/2010:

I fooled around with a shot of the tissue...I really like this photo!

Sisters, on Wordless Wednesday...

Creative Every Day/Flickr Project 365 photo for 3/17/2010:

~Happy St. Patrick's Day!~
Got the theme yet?

A black and blue and a boo-boo, too!

Creative Every Day/Flickr Project 365 photo for 3/16/2010:

The full bruise sort of looks like a swimming mermaid.  
Emma earned it falling at a recent color guard practice.  Ouch!

Not to be outdone...here's Annie's boo-boo.  Under all that bandage adhesive is the knee she skinned when running through the Home Depot parking lot on Saturday.  Ouch!

School lunch...

Creative Every Day/Flickr Project 365 photo for 3/15/2010:

Remember...there is a theme this month...
...I'm just not "telling" you what it is...
...I'm "showing" you!


Got it yet?


Pictured...corn syrup and this month's menu for the school cafeteria.  


When I walked the school pantry to look for gluten-free options, I was amazed at the number of foods that contained high-fructose corn syrup.  
I quickly realized that gluten was the least of our troubles when it came to the cafeteria food. I was told it would be too expensive to provide real/whole foods.  

There are viable options to artificial, fructose-laden, and nutritionally-deficient foods in schools and heck, while we are at it -- providing those options 

opens up a whole new world of learning! 

Here are some resources to do just that:
Green Mountain Farm to School 
REAP Farm to School
Chef Ann Cooper
Farm To School
Connecticut Farm to School
Mud Baron
The Lunch Box
and I couldn't resist:
The Case Against Chicken Nuggets as a School Lunch


Please note: I believe in balance.  I believe in cake as much as I believe carrots.  I believe in yummy, delicious treats and that butter is a health food.  I believe labeling foods as good and bad and restricting creates a whole slew of problems that don't arise if we are relaxed about food and providing a range of items instead of lists of forbidden foods.  I believe we should be focused on fitness, not fatness.  I get cranky when, in the interest of health, a school tells me that I can't send in a home made cupcake to celebrate a milestone, but they serve tater tots, chicken patties, and French toast sticks and call it a nutritious lunch.  


(I also think less (as in NO) homework would allow my young, 
elementary aged kids to go outside and play much more than they are currently able!)

~ I implement this all imperfectly 
and I am learning all the time ~


I'm just saying: 
I do think it would be vastly wonderful if we were providing REAL food in our schools -- sometimes in the form of a vegetable, sometimes a cookie.   


And, great if the ingredients came from a local farm.  


And, even better if students had a hand in growing and preparing that food within a whole learning context.  There is a tremendous curricular opportunity in farm to school and school garden programs for kids to get out of their seats 
and get connected to their world.


"Rural is beautiful" is right there on our town's website.  
With a photo of a cow.  
And a farm.  
Seems pretty natural that we would have a farm to school lunch program.  
Let's garden, let's farm!  


A farm to school program would not only energize and nourish growing bodies, farms, and our community it would honor our children (and families and teachers) by energizing and nourishing the whole "educational ecosystem" with some real-life, hands-on, project-based, creative and enduring learning.


Maybe I should have photographed a soap box for today?

May break bones...

Creative Every Day/Flickr Project 365 photo for 3/14/2010:

Put a sock in it!

Creative Every Day/Flickr Project 365 photo for 3/13/2010:

Squeaky clean...

Creative Every Day/Flickr Project 365 photo for 3/12/2010:

Put a fork in it!

Creative Every Day/Flickr Project 365 photo for 3/11/2010:

Minty fresh post...

Creative Every Day/Flickr Project 365 photo for 3/10/2010:

A spicy post...

Creative Every Day/Flickr Project 365 photo for 3/9/2010:

A spot of....SUKI!

Creative Every Day/Flickr Project 365 photo for 3/8/2010:

This one is thematically obvious, 

at least to me, because I know the theme

so I'm not labeling anything in the photo.  

Yep, that's right, end of the hand-holding!

Time to grow up!

Life is hard, you better get used to it!

In the meantime...

...here's a bit of fun...

...our kitten, Suki, wanted to be a part of today's photo shoot!

Fuzzy, wuzzy...

Creative Every Day/Flickr Project 365 photo for 3/7/2010:

Annie's not looking to relaxed here...
...probably because I flipped on the light to kiss her good night and take the photo.
Hmmm, what could this month's theme be?!?
I know, I know...the mystery, the intrigue, 
I'm sure it's keeping you up at night!
Maaawww (the sound of evil laughter)!

Which came first?

Creative Every Day/Flickr Project 365 photo for 3/6/2010:

For those of you playing along with 

the "guess the month's theme" ridiculousness...

I don't think this one needs labels!

And, chicks just BEG for a collage!

We order our chicks from Hoover's Hatchery in Iowa.  They are delivered via US Postal Service.  You can see them snugly packed for travel in the above photos.  Soon, Paul Emma will gently dip their beaks in water so they learn to drink and they'll be set up under the heat lamp.  Eventually they'll head outside in their brand-spanking, newly-built chicken tractor!  For now, until Paul gets home, they are in the living room in front of the heating vent.  
They are driving the cat insane!

Have piggies, will smile...

Creative Every Day/Flickr Project 365 photo for 3/5/2010:

(Theme?  See the clues I've provided in the photo?)

Emma took these great photos and I played with them in Picasa.

(Words in these two are not a clues, just comments!)

Annie was teaching me some hand games and 

well, things got very silly, very fast!
Fun times!

Boots...

Creative Every Day/Flickr Project 365 photo for 3/4/2010:

My boots...
...gazing longingly at the outside -- waiting for mud and dirt.

Guess that theme!

Creative Every Day/Flickr Project 365 photo for 3/3/2010:

(Annie painted these!)

I'm tired.  
The beautiful moon shone brightly upon me, my mind got going, 
and well...I didn't get enough sleep.  

(Cool shots of the moon, "noticed" by Annie, 

photographed by Paul and Emma, 

collaged by me)

I also feel a bit disconnected from the ones I love at this moment (my perennial complaint!).  

And, I have an intense urge to clean, organize, decorate for Spring feather my nest.  
Is it any wonder then that I was drawn to these amazing bird houses?  
(Get it?  Nesting!)

OK, maybe I'm stretching, maybe I'm delirious with exhaustion, maybe I'm making up stories and meaning out of randomness...but it seems to fit.  I discerned a theme out of this too...but...I've decided not to just announce what it is.  
As the month progresses, see if you can guess!

For us, each year, March is a very busy month and it rolls 
right into a whole season of busy-ness for our family.  
I intend to be mindful.  
I intend to be connected and centered -- nested inside and outside of our little bird farm house as much as possible -- ringing in Spring together with snuggles, with books, with hikes, with chicken trailers, with seeds and soil and sunshine. 

I recently stumbled upon a interesting farming blog - check out Throwback at Trapper Creek.