1: Poems & Sories About Motherhood
July 9, 2008 by admin
Filed under Holidays, Mother's Day
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1: Poems & Sories About Motherhood
Story: The Easter Bunny & A Stranger
One December evening, around Christmastime, a group of rabbits huddled under the elm tree. The winter had been worse than usual, and the rabbits had only a few old bits of potato to eat. They were all feeling cold and bad tempered.
Suddenly Acorn hopped up with a cry. “A stranger is coming up the hill!”
As the stranger came closer they all could see that he was a very old rabbit. He was perfectly white, and his fur shone against the snow with a silver glow.
“Good evening,” the stranger said in a deep voice.
The rabbits of the grassy hill looked at him.
“I’m wondering if you could give me a meal and a bed for the night,” he said.
Now the rabbits could see that he was shabbily dressed. His blue jacket had seen better days. His ears flopped over, as though he were very, very tired.
“Who are you and where do you come from?” Quicksilver asked rather sternly.
The stranger shrugged. “I’m a stranger,” he replied. “I mean no harm, and I’ve been traveling a long way.”
“That’s no business of ours,” Acorn said in his most grown-up tone of voice. “I’m afraid we cannot help you. We barely have enough food for ourselves.”
The other rabbits nodded in agreement.
“And as for a bed,” Acorn continued, “why should we take in a stranger who won’t even tell us who he is?”
The other rabbits nodded again. They all felt there must be something odd about a stranger who appeared from nowhere. They all moved closer together in their circle, turning their backs on the strange visitor-all of them except Early.
He had been quietly watching the stranger. There was something in the stranger’s eyes that made Early want to speak to him. Early had never before seen a rabbit with eyes like that. They were as blue as the sky.
“Excuse me,” Early began, hopping forward a step or two. “We have room in—”
But at that moment Clover reached forward and cuffed him on the ears, knocking him backward.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Acorn whispered crossly.
“Do you always have to be different?” Quicksilver hissed.
And they stepped in front of Early and glared at the stranger, who turned and hopped away into the icy night.
As soon as the stranger left, it began to snow. The rabbits gathered together, forming a tight circle against the sharp wind. The snowflakes fell more and more heavily.
Slowly the rabbits turned and hopped off to their warm rabbit holes. None of them spared a thought for the stranger left out alone in the storm-none of them except Early.
“It’s terrible,” he murmured to himself, “for an old rabbit like that to be outside when it’s cold.”
Early peered through the darkness and the falling snow. He felt he could not bear to go back home while the stranger was out all alone in the storm.
He set off slowly down the hill. He was going to find the stranger and bring him home. He didn’t care what the others thought.
The wind whipped the snow into white clouds around him. The branches of the trees creaked and groaned. Early struggled down the hillside.
The woods at the bottom of the hill were silent except for the moan of the wind. All the animals had taken shelter from the storm.
Early hopped along as quickly as he could. The snow was falling so hard that he began to wonder how he would ever find the stranger.
He kept going. He had never been so far from home before. Not alone. He looked around, but none of the trees looked familiar. He was sure he was lost in the terrible storm.
He stopped by a fallen tree branch. He was shivering and his fur was stiff and icy.
“I’ll never find the stranger,” he murmured to himself. “And how will I ever find my way home?”
Just then, he thought he saw something move across the snow. “Hello!” he cried. “Hello! hello!”
He thought he could hear an answering cry. Then he saw a pair of eyes moving toward him. The eyes drew closer. Early ran forward as fast as he could. It was the old rabbit, the stranger and he was shaking with cold!
“It’s you!” Early cried. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere.”
Early was not certain that he would be able to find his home again. But with the stranger beside him, he just seemed to know the way. They went slowly through the storm to the warmth and safety of Early’s rabbit hole.
Early slept near the door and let the stranger have his bed.
When he woke up the next morning, Early ran to his bedroom to see if the stranger was still there, but he had gone. Early asked his brothers about the stranger, but they just stared at him.
“You know he left last night,” they told him. “Why would he have come back again?” They did not know that Early had brought the stranger back to the rabbit hole.
Early did not understand why the stranger had left without saying good bye. Sorrowfully he went back to his room. He pushed open the door.
There, on the freshly made bed, he saw a small package wrapped in brown paper.
“To Early,” he read on the card, “from a friend.”
He tore the paper off the package. Inside was a small egg made of green stone. The color was deep and fresh, like the first spring grass. The green egg glinted in the light.
Early did not want to tell anyone about the stranger’s gift. The egg gave him a special feeling that was his alone.
Carefully he wrapped it up again and hid it under his mattress. Sometimes, when no one was around, he would take it out and look at it. It reminded him of spring and summer and days when the world was green and bright.
Craft: Egg Piñatas
Uncooked eggs
Tiny confetti
Pin
Tape
Paints
Using the pin, carefully make a small hole (approx. 1/4″ circle in the top and smaller in the bottom) in each end of the egg. I heat the pin end using a match first, seems to make it easier to push the pin through. Place your mouth over one of the holes and GENTLY blow the contents out into a bowl. The eggs can be used later for cooking.
Now tape over one hole using masking tape. Place some confetti in the top hole of each and tape shut. Now have the kids carefully paint the eggs pretty colors. You can also dye them before blowing out the insides, and then paint over the tape after filling with confetti.
These eggs can be hidden around the yard for the children to find and break open! Great fun! And the confetti can be left for birds to place in their nests.
I’ll Be Home For Christmas
Dessert – Chocolate Soufflé Torte
Ingredients: 225 grams (8 ounces) of semi-sweet chocolate, 115 grams (4 ounces) + 1 teaspoon of unsalted butter, 5 separated eggs, 1 cup of sugar and a 20 centimeter (8 inch) flowered spring-form pan
In a pan, melt chocolate and butter, and set aside. Next, beat the egg yokes with a half cup of sugar, using the mixer, until light and fluffy. Fold in the chocolate mixture, then transfer to another bowl. Clean out the mixture bowl and whisk the egg whites until foamy. Gradually add the remaining sugar, beating to form soft peaks. In two or three additions, fold in the egg whites into the chocolate mixture, then pour the mixture into the spring-form pan, and bake at 175 Celsius, 350 Fahrenheit for 45 to 50 minutes, with a shallow pan of water placed on the lowest rack in the oven. The cake will be done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool for 20 minutes. During this time the cake will deflate. Top with powdered sugar and serve.
Assortment of Christmas Humor
Herbei, o ihr Gläubigen (German)
F. H. Ranke, from Adeste Fideles
by John Francis Wade
Herbei, o ihr Gläubigen,
Fröhlich triumphiernd,
O kommet, o kommet nach Bethlehem!
Sehet das Kindlein,
Uns zum Heil geboren!
O lasset uns anbeten,
O lasset uns anbeten,
O lasset uns anbeten,
Den König!
König der Ehren,
Herrscher der Heerscharen,
Du ruhst in der Krippe im Erdenthal.
Gott, wahrer Gott,
Von Ewigkeit geboren!
O lasset uns anbeten,
O lasset uns…
Kommt, singet dem Herren,
O ihr Engelchöre,
Frohlocket, frohlocket, ihr Seligen!
Ehre sei Gott im Himmel
Und auf Erden.
O lasset uns anbeten,
O lasset uns…
Dir, der du heute
Bist für uns geboren
Jesu sei Ehre und Ruhm und Dank!
Wort des ew’gen Vaters,
Fleisch für uns geworden!
O lasset uns anbeten,
O lasset uns…
Ça Bergers (French)
Ça Bergers Ça bergers assemblons-nous
Allons voir le messi-e
Cherchons cet enfant si doux
Dans les bras de Mari-e
Je l’entends, il nous appelle tous
Ô sort digne d’envi-i-e
Laissons là tout le troupeau
Qu’il erre à l’aventure
Que sans nous sur ce côteau
Il cherche sa pâture
Allons voir dans un petit berceau
L’auteur de la natu-u-re
Que l’hiver par ce frimas
Ait endurci la plaine
S’il croit arrêter nos pas
Cette espérance est vaine
Quand on cherche un Dieu remplit d’appas
On ne craint point la pei-è-ne
Joyeux Joyeux Noël (French)
The Christmas Song
Le feu danse dans la cheminée
Dehors on tremble de froid
Nuit de Noël, de sapins parfumés
Partout, tu fais naître la joie
Et au réveillon, pour les amoureux sous le gui
Les baisers seront permis
Et les enfants, le coeur vibrant d’espoir
Ont peine à s’endormir, ce soir
Le Père-Noël s’est mis en route
Sur son traîneau chargé de jouets
Et de cadeaux
Et les petits le guettent et ils écoutent
La ronde folle des rennes dans le ciel
Et moi, pour vous je fais ces simples voeux
Qu’on échange depuis l’Enfant Dieu
Jeunes et moins jeunes
Soyez tous très heureux
Joyeux, Joyeux Noël
Et les petits le guettent et ils écoutent
La ronde folle des rennes dans le ciel
Et moi, pour vous je fais ces simples voeux
Qu’on échange depuis l’Enfant Dieu
Jeunes et moins jeunes
Soyez tous très heureux
Joyeux, Joyeux Noël
Joyeux Noël à vous
Maman embrasse le Père-Noël (French)
Moi, j’ai vu petite maman hier soir
En train d’embrasser le Père-Noël
Ils étaient sous le gui et
me croyaient endormi
Mais sans en avoir l’air,
j’avais mes deux yeux entr’ouverts
Ah si papa était v’nu à passer
Je m’demande ce qu’il aurait pensé
Aurait-il trouvé naturel,
parce qu’il descend du ciel
Que maman embrasse le Père-Noël
Moi, j’ai vu petite maman hier soir
En train d’embrasser le Père-Noël
J’ai bien cherché pourquoi,
et j’ai deviné, je crois
C’est parce qu’il m’avait apporté
de si beaux jouets
Aussi pour l’an prochain, j’ai bon espoir
Qu’il viendra encore à mon appel
Et de nouveau, je f’rai semblant
de dormir profondément
Si maman embrasse le Père-Noël