Another school year comes to a close, and that means the month of May is bursting forth in full bloom! How does your garden grow thus far? I hope you’re sporting a rainbow of colors in your front yard, back yard, side yard, and maybe even as a centerpiece on the dining room table. Be on the lookout for butterflies, bumblebees and hummingbirds enjoying your garden offerings this season, too. Springtime affords much to celebrate and enjoy. Make the most of May with these silly holidays and create some family ones of your own.
Lei Day – What a colorful, fun, springtime holiday to celebrate with the ones you love. Held annually to honor Hawaiian culture, the celebration recognizes the tradition of crafting and wearing leis brings awareness to lei’s symbolism of love and friendship. Make a homemade lei to celebrate the day. Buy or cut foam flower shapes about two inches in diameter. With hole punchers, punch a hole in the center of the flower. Cut several plastic drinking straws into one-inch pieces. (Drinking straws with a large opening work best.) Cut a piece of yarn for each person, long enough to stretch around the person’s neck and hang to the waistline. Wrap a small piece of masking tape around one end of the yarn to make threading the yarn easier. Let each lei-maker thread flowers shapes and straw pieces alternately to fill the piece of yarn. Tie the two ends of yarn together once the lei is complete.
Raisin Week – Work together in the kitchen to make cinnamon rolls with raisins with simple ingredients. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut parchment paper to fit the bottom of a rimmed baking sheet. In a small bowl, stir together four tablespoons of softened butter, one-fourth cup brown sugar and two teaspoons of cinnamon. Stir until the mixture yields a paste consistency. Unroll a tube of crescent rolls onto a sheet of waxed paper and separate the dough into eight wedges along perforation.
Spread the cinnamon butter paste over the wedges. Sprinkle five or six raisins onto each wedge. Roll each wedge into a tight crescent, starting at the wide edge of the dough. Place the crescents on the prepared baking sheet. Bake the rolls in the preheated oven for ten to 12 minutes until golden brown. Cool for 15 minutes on the pan and then move the rolls to a cooling rack. While the rolls cool, prepare the frosting. In a small bowl, stir together one-half cup powdered sugar, one tablespoon milk, and one-half teaspoon vanilla extract. Once the rolls are completely cooled, drizzle frosting on each roll. Enjoy!
Children’s Book Week – If you’ve read my column long enough, you’ll know I’m a huge fan of children’s books, so of course I think we should celebrate this one. Allow me a shameless plug for my own children’s book and then some plugs for my friends’ books. Check out some of these great books to celebrate: A Gingerbread House by Julie Lavender, The Dachshund Dash by Michelle Medlock Adams, The Dog That Gave My Brother Words by Wendy Hinote Lanier, The Marvelous Mud House by April Graney, Parrotfish Has a Superpower by Jill Esbaum, Even Better than Sprinkles by Linda Skeers & Heather Fox, Dream Big, My Precious One and The Gift Shop Bear by Phyllis Harris. And, if you’re looking for a chapter book to read aloud with the family, here’s two of my favorites: The Mystery of the Radcliffe Riddle by Taryn Souders and Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage.
National Bike Week – Go for a family bike ride and enjoy the beauty of springtime. Try to find a new location to enjoy a fun trek and explore somewhere you’ve never been.
Lumpy Rug Day – Now isn’t this a strange holiday to celebrate? Get really creative with this one. Throw a blanket on the floor in the den and stuff a couple of towels underneath the blanket to make a lumpy conglomeration. Hide some treats in the towels as well, like a package of unpopped popcorn, some trail mix packs, or individual packs of chocolate candies. Then call the family in to gather around the “lumpy rug.” Create a story together about “the animal that lives under the rug” or the “tiny family that lives under the rug” or maybe the “plant that grows under the rug.” Pick a topic and go wild with creating a fun story. When the story resolves with a happy ending, remove the blanket and share treats together on the den floor.
Statesboro native Julie Lavender loves the beauty of this time of year and spending time with family. She is the author, with her husband David, of the newly-published book, 'Raising Good Sons: Christian Parenting Principles for Nurturing Boys of Faith and Character.'