it takes a village

i've been bursting to share these acorns since sunday.  but i have this thing about the hierarchy of blog posting.  i couldn't share this until i had first posted about pay it forward and the mail.  and then there was the birthday.  is that weird?  i couldn't just throw this in with another post (gasp!) or mess up what seems to be the natural order of things (inside my brain).  so finally, here it is.

i've been wanting to try this project since i first saw it over at leslie's weeks ago.  you know how i feel about acorns.  and these beads, well.  how could i resist?  the kids have been excited, too.  only first, i had to find a bunch of really big acorn tops.  luckily, there is this tree right outside of my painting class that drops enormous acorns.

so every week, when i'm walking into class carrying my large cardboard portfolio, my bag with my lunch and my camera and my water bottle, not to mention my purse, there i am, bending over, crouching down, bags tumbling all around me as i gather acorn tops and stuff them into my pockets.  a pretty sight.  yeah, that's me.  the squirrel-painter.  (do you know this book?  about a squirrel who paints?) 

anyway, i digress.

sunday morning was the perfect moment.  we got out the newspaper and the glue, the acorns and the felt balls.  and we went to town.  i'm not sure who had more fun - me, or the kids.  there was sorting and matching and gluing.  seriously, what's not fun about gluing?  and then, when all of that was said and done, there was the naming.  yes!  the naming.

the kids - all on their own, i take zero credit for this - named their acorns.  they created an acorn family.  there was a grandmother and a grandfather.  there was a baby.  one was called naomi.  the king was nicholas and the queen was catherine (that was only after the king changed his name from robespierre).  there was even a pope named leo and a bishop called john.  i'm not kidding.  and you know we don't follow the pope and the bishop at our house.  that's my eight year old son for you, in a nutshell.  or an acorn shell, as the case may be.

after the naming, there was the village built using wooden blocks and train tracks.  there was the church ("you know, mommy, i built a church and not a synagogue because i have the pope and the bishop but no rabbi."), the apartment building, the school.  everybody's got a car.  of course. 

and then there were the desperate moans of children who needed more acorn caps.  because they didn't have any teachers.  who was going to work at the school?

so there i was, on tuesday again, stooped over with my painting bags dangling around my face, gathering (wet, this time) acorn caps and stuffing them into my pockets.  they're dry, now.  and ready to be turned into teachers.  firefighters.  and more.

i can't wait.  what fun, what fun.

Comments

[leslie]

love the image of you in my mind collecting acorn tops!!! :)oh.......i am the same way about posts.....see...couldn't post about anything else until i mentioned the birthday! :)your acorns are really fabulous! i especially love the naming of them....how cute is that?!

[cloth.paper.string]

emily, this is so great. i love the cast of characters so much. and too the image of you filling your pockets with the treasure that others might pass by without knowing what they're missing.

[Stefani]

So completely adorable, made more so by the image of your gathering, and the sweet constructs of your gentlemen. I love overhearing this kind of play. Good stuff.

[Hannah]

Oh my, they are FABULOUS! I am keeping this in my ideas folder for when my Little Bit gets bigger... she'll eat them now, but soon! :)

[leslie]

the acorns.are wonderful.and beautiful.

[kristin]

woa.

really good.

[Alicia A.]

I love them!!! (the acorns and the clever children.)

I need to make some of those.

[Alicia A.]

I love them!!! (the acorns and the clever children.)

I need to make some of those.

[Nancy Cook]

I made these acorns for the first time last Fall and continue to make them. They are so fun!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/26532187@N00/390419744/in/set-72157600516446281/

[Grace]

Holy smokes, this just rocks! What amazing, creative little ones they are! I love hearing how your two children seem to genuinely enjoy one another. What a treasure. I hope mine will, too.

[kristin]

what a great village you have all created.really beautiful. i love your colors.

[Jessica Hood]

i LOVE these acorns!

[Loretta]

How do yo make the felt balls? I'd love to know.