Share a Smile Day (March 1) Children’s Stories, Poems, Etc

CAROLYN’S COMPOSITIONS
SHARE A SMILE DAY
MARCH 1
CHILDREN’S STORIES & POEMS, ETC.

For children (of all ages) I surfed the Internet and found the following sites with stories, poems, and finger plays that provide Share a Smile Day entertainment.

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JOKES
Q. Which is the longest word in the dictionary?
A. “Smiles”, because there is a mile between each “s”!
More http://kids-jokes.vickysjokes.com/

If peanut butter cookies are made from peanut butter, then what are Girl Scout cookies made out of?
More http://press4fun.blogspot.com/p/weekly-smiles.html

Knock, knock. Who’s there? Aardvark. Aardvark who? Aardvark a million miles for one of your smiles!

More  http://www.angelo.edu/faculty/kboudrea/cheap/cheap3_knock.htm

TONGUE TWISTERS

Smelly shoes and socks shock sisters.
MORE http://www.buzzle.com/articles/tongue-twisters-for-kids.html
Sam’s shop stocks short spotted socks.
Sunshine city, sunshine city, sunshine city

More   http://www.squidoo.com/tongue-twister

SONGS
NEVER SMILE AT A CROCODILE

Never smile at a crocodile!
No, you can’t get friendly with a crocodile
Don’t be taken in by his welcome grin
He’s imagining how well you’d fit within his skin
Never smile at a crocodile
Never dip your hat and stop to talk awhile
Never run, walk away, say good-night, not good-day
Clear the aisle but never smile at Mister Crocodile

You may very well be well bred
Lots of etiquette in your head
But there’s always some special case, time or place
To forget etiquette
For instance: Never smile at a crocodile
No, you can’t get friendly with c

continue http://www.childrenssonglyrics.com/n/65-n-childrens-songs/425-never-smile-at-a-crocodile.html

S-M-I-L-E
Tune: Battle Hymn of the Republic
Written By: Unknown
Copyright Unknown
It isn’t any trouble
Just to S-M-I-L-E
It isn’t any trouble
Just to S-M-I-L-E
So smile when you’re in trouble,
It will vanish like a bubble
If you’ll only take the trouble
Just to S-M-I-L-E

It isn’t any trouble
Just to L-A-U-G-H
(or ha-ha-ha-ha laugh)
It isn’t any trouble
Just to L-A-U-G-H
(or ha-ha-ha-ha laugh)
So laugh when you’re in trouble,
It will    continue  http://www.kididdles.com/lyrics/s050.html

STORIES

A SMILE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS
by Margo Fallis

Big Bob Bumblebear was the happiest bumblebear in the land. He spent his day flying among the flowers, gathering pollen and buzzing away merrily. He had a smile on his face all day long and never frowned. Whenever Big Bob saw another bumblebear feeling said, he’d tickle them with flower petals, or tell them a joke, trying to cheer them up. He didn’t like any bumblebear to feel unhappy.
One day, as Big Bob was buzzing through the pansies, he was humming and having a wonderful time. He saw some of the other bumblebears sitting together on the grass. He flew over to them. They didn’t see him at first. He heard his name. “That Big Bob! All he does is smile. I am tired of him smiling all the time. He is a pain in the neck!” Big Bob couldn’t believe his ears. They were saying mean things about him. All he tried to do was make the other bumblebears happy and this is what they did; talk bad about him? Big Bob stopped smiling. He hung his head down and flew over to a patch of spring green grass and sat down. His antenna fell in front of his face. His wings sagged. He felt unhappy and very very sad.
All the other bumblebears stayed busy most of the day. “Say, where’s Big Bob?” Sally asked.
“I’ve not seen him all day,” Davy answered. “Has anyone seen Big Bob?” Davy went from flower to flower, asking every bumblebear he saw if they’d seen him.
“I’ve not seen him.”
“I don’t know where he is.”
“At least we don’t have to listen to him tell us to smile and be happy.”
“It just so happens that I like Big Bob’s smiles,” Davy said to the others. “I enjoy him   

Valentine’s Day—Children’s Stories & Poems

CAROLYN’S COMPOSITIONS

VALENTINE’S DAY

CHILDREN’S STORIES & POEMS

 

For children (of all ages) I surfed the Internet and found the following sites with stories, poems, and finger plays that provide St. Valentine’s Day entertainment, especially when waiting to see what sweetheart messages await the reader.

(Subscribe to this site to receive, an email of current posts, by typing your email address in the subscribe post at the top right of this page. You will receive an email asking you to confirm the subscription. Emails will not be published.)

JOKES
What did the boy snake say to the girl snake on Valentine’s Day?
Give me a hug and a hiss…
What do you have if everyone drove a pink car?
A pink car-nation.
Why do birds marry?
They’re tweet hearts.
Why did the banana go out with the prune?
Because it couldn’t get a date.
What two words have a thousand letters in them?
Post Office

More jokes

TONGUE TWISTERS
Vain Violet’s velvet valentine vanished.
Six lovesick swans swim.
Swim, swans, swim!
Well swum, swans!

More at

SONG

FROG WENT A’COURTIN’

Frog went a courtin’ and he did ride, uh-huh
Frog went a courtin’ and he did ride, uh-huh
Frog went a courtin’ and he did ride,
With a sword and a pistol by his side, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh

He rode right up to Miss Mousie’s door, uh-huh
He rode right up to Miss Mousie’s door, uh-huh
He rode right up to Miss Mousie’s door,
Gave three loud raps and a very big roar, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh

Said Miss Mouse, are you within, uh-huh
Said Miss Mouse, are you within, uh-huh
Said Miss Mouse, are you within,
Miss Mousie said, I sit and spin, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh

Took Miss Mousie on his kne, uh-huh
Took Miss Mousie on his kne, uh-huh
Took Miss Mousie on his knee,
Said Miss Mousie, will you marry me, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh

Continue

STORIES
Valentine’s Day: The Worst Holiday Ever
Cindy Lynn Yahoo! Contributor Network

 ”I hate Valentine’s; it’s the worst holiday ever. It’s even dumber than Groundhog!” I grumbled, stripping off my basketball jersey and slam-dunking it into the wicker laundry basket.
“Uggh, uumph,” my twin brother, Randall, mumbled from inside the shirt that was caught on his nose and ears. He pulled it free with a jerk and said, “Yeah, and Valentine’s Day is tomorrow.” Then he tossed his sweaty jersey toward the hamper. It sailed through the air, snagged the edge of the basket and slid in.
“Awesome,” we yelled, as we jumped and slapped each other in a high-five.
Randall sat glumly on the bed. “Blair, you know Mom is gonna tell us we have to give Valentine’s cards to everyone in class.”
“Yeah, I know. She’ll say it’s only polite. And that we should make the valentines ourselves, so they have meaning.” I scratched a skeeter bite on my arm, wondering if I could claim the bump was chicken pox and get out of the school Valentine’s party.
My brother sighed. “She’s probably already got out the construction paper, glue and … “
“Those sissy-looking paper doilies.” I finished the sentence for him with a shudder. “When they open our Valentine’s cards, everyone will once again think we’re …”

Three Lent Studies…Begin Ash Wednesday 2/13/2013

EASTER is early in 2013. I invite you to read SHALOM! MY LORD AND MY GOD! The Easter Story as told by Mary .

LENT is upon us.

Lent is a time to delve into God’s word. CAROLYN’S COMPOSITIONS offers tw0 Lent Studies…

Post List for the Lenten Study: The Seven Deadly Sins
Post List for A Daily Online Lenten Study

and/or one 27-day study:

26 Devotions Based on the Alphabet: Introduction

Thank you for visiting CAROLYN’S COMPOSITIONS…Carolyn Cornell Holland

Groundhog Day—Children’s Stories & Poems

CAROLYN’S COMPOSITIONS
GROUNDHOG DAY—CHILDREN’S STORIES & POEMS

For children (of all ages) I surfed the Internet and found the following sites with stories, poems, and finger plays that provide Groundhog Day entertainment, especially when waiting to see if Punxsutawney Phil will see his shadow or not. The illustrations are coloring pages.

JOKES

• What do you get when you cross a groundhog with a pistachio?
  A green beast who predicts a dry spring, and acts like a nut.
• What happened when the groundhog met the dogcatcher?
  He became a pound hog!
• What do you call a Punxsutawney Phil’s laundry?
  Hogwash.*

(Subscribe to this site to receive, an email of current posts by typing your email address in the subscribe post at the top right of this page. You will receive an email asking you to confirm the subscription. Emails will not be published.)

STORY

GROUNDHOG DAY
written by Debbie Williamson

“Fawn,” said Spot, noticing that her friend was getting ready to go outside.
“What are you doing? It’s freezing outside today.”
“Don’t you know what day it is?” asked Fawn.
“Let’s see,” said Spot, looking at the calendar that hung on the wall of the barn.
“It is February 2. Oh, it’s Groundhog Day! Wait for me. I’ll come too.”
“Okay,” said Fawn. “But hurry.”
Fawn and Spot walked over to what they know as Groundhog Hill, where every year on February 2, a groundhog pops up through his (to continue reading click on http://rosaezquerra.blogspot.com/2011/02/groundhog-day-on-line-story.html )
Cpoloring page
The real story of Groundhog Day occurred a long, long time ago. It began with Philbert the Groundhog, and, of course, it began while he was sleeping.
Yellow was Philbert the Groundhog’s favorite color. Philbert’s birthday was in March and his friends hoped that he’d wake from hibernation to a grand birthday surprise. Philbert always ended his hibernation on his birthday, and his friends wanted to be ready.
They all worked together. Underground, the bunnies and the squirrels and the mice pushed sleepy

Boilo: A Pennsylvanian/Lithuanian Yule Beverage

CAROLYN’S COMPOSITIONS

BOILO:

A PENNSYLVANIAN/LITHUANIAN YULE BEVERAGE

 New Word: Boilo
Pronounciation: BOY-low
Definition: alcoholic yule-tide cocktail; coal country cocktail, …1
(Not just any coal country. Pennsylvania coal country.)
…a name unique to a handful of Pennsylvania counties.
And not just any Pennsylvania coal county.

My sources speak of counties that, more than one hundred years ago, were populated with Lithuanian immigrants who mined anthracite coal. This includes the Schuylkill County community of Minersville, town where my the family of my maternal grandfather—Adam Borinsky, a. k. a. Albert Charles Briskay—emigrated from Europe to America in 1894 when my grandfather was two years old.
Thus it can be concluded that boilo is a part of my heritage, probably consumed, and perhaps made by, my ancestors, who lived in boilo’s epicenter: Brewing up a batch of wassail-like boilo is a time-honored traditional event, with roots in the early mining communities and cultures of northeast Pennsylvania, especially in the Schuylkill county area.2
The invention of

Christmas Lights Brighten Our Home

CAROLYN’S COMPOSITIONS
CHRISTMAS LIGHTS BRIGHTEN OUR HOME

Photo taken by Monte

I returned home from running errands to discover my husband, Monte, had installed our Christmas lights. Along with a lit garland were two large old-fashioned candles.
That evening, when I spoke with my daughter Sandy, who lives “through the woods” from us, commented about the bright candle light.
“I can see them from my kitchen window,” she said. “When you no longer need them, I’d like them.” (This isn’t an off the cuff “I want” statement—I’d told my children that they should let me know what they wanted when we no longer needed the items.)
Later Monte noticed how bright they shone from her kitchen window.
Perhaps few people will see our lights due to our living on a dead end street. But our daughter, our neighbors and we can all enjoy their brilliance.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

ADDITIONAL READING:
Rack, the Green-Nosed Reindeer

Rack, the Green-Nosed Reindeer

CAROLYN’S COMPOSITIONS

RACK THE GREEN-NOSED REINDEER

Co-Writers:

Carolyn Cornell Holland, Rafael Burkardt and Marcus Holland*

~~~~~~~~~~~~

One day Jack Jellyfish visited Santa’s reindeer, Rack…

and Taran Tyrannosaurus Rex.
“Why do you have a green nose?! Why is it green instead of red?” Jack asked Rack.
“Because I want to stop Christmas,” said the Rack, a distant relative of Rudolph who often flew with Santa and Rudolph on Christmas Eve. After all, Rudolph sometimes needed relief during his long night’s work. Usually Rack dimmed his nose so as not to compete with Rudolph.
“So he asked me to stomp on his nose so it wouldn’t work,” said Taran. “His nose turned blue and yellow when I stomped it. Then the blue and yellow blended…”

“… and my nose became green,” continued Rack Reindeer.
“Why would anyone want to stop Christmas?” asked Jack.
“Because he’s upset. He’s angry,” said Taran.
“Why?” asked Jack again.
“Because he delivers gifts to everyone but he never gets a gift.”
“You bet. I’ve pulled Santa’s heavy sleigh filled with gifts through blizzards, icy cold weather, the Equator sun…and who gets all the recognition? Who gets all the cookies and hot chocolate? Santa! But does anyone ever

‘tis the 2012 season to be merry!

CAROLYN’S COMPOSITIONS

“’TIS THE 2012 SEASON TO BE MERRY!”

Monte and Carolyn Holland

Today is Christmas Day, 2012. The joyous celebration of Jesus’ birth on Christmas Eve is behind us. We need this annual reminder that God is ultimately in charge (who else can preside over a virgin birth?).
Families gathered today and exchanged gifts (and probably lots of them will be exchanged again beginning tomorrow or regifted at a later time).

We had some wonderful days leading up to Christmas. While Carolyn gathers sisters, those of you who know me know that Santa and I recently became at least brothers, although he is a little chunkier. And I have had holiday adventures as a result.
Heritage United Methodist Church in Ligonier, Pennsylvania, scheduled bell-ringing for the Salvation Army in front of the local Giant Eagle supermarket. On Tuesday, December 11, I signed up for the 1:00-2:00 p. m. slot. I arrived all decked out in my Santa suit.
What a fun time! I offered a lot of Merry Christmases, even to a number of folks who seemed to be too caught up in the season to see the merriness of it. Surprisingly many of those same folks came out with a smile and an offering for the kettle. There were a few women with children who approached me. The children weren’t quite certain how close to get to me.
“Do you want to pull my beard to see if it is real?” I asked.
Nobody took me up on that offer.
Lots of people seemed unable to pass Santa without making an offering. One man even said, “I can’t go by Santa without making a donation.”Another man said my suit must be old because it was somewhat faded.
“It’s because my wife made it for me in the 1970’s when our children were small,” I said.
By the time I left my post the kettle was considerably fuller, and I’d had a great time greeting folks, strangers and friends alike.

Santa enjoys a bear…

A week ago Carolyn and I had to go to Slippery Rock to prepare an apartment and show it to potential renters. On the way up we stopped at Creekside Restaurant just outside Apollo. It is a great little hometown-style diner. We sat down in a booth and awaited service.
A little further down the aisle a man and woman were finishing up their meals. She exclaimed THERE’S SANTA! (I did have a red shirt on, BUT NOT MY Santa hat.)
She proceeded up to our booth, telling me what she wanted for Christmas— that

2012 Christmas Letter from Monte & Carolyn Holland

CAROLYN’S COMPOSITIONS
2012 CHRISTMAS LETTER FROM MONTE & CAROLYN HOLLAND

MERRY 2012 CHRISTMAS & A JOYFUL NEW YEAR 2013
FROM LAUREL MOUNTAIN BOROUGH, PENNSYLVANIA

Santa reflects on the meaning of Christmas…

OUR 2012 ORNAMENT: Forty years. Yes, this is the fortieth year our Christmas card has been a handcrafted ornament.
To celebrate I tried to prepare a special ornament, but discovered it cost just under $2.00 to mail, so I will hand distribute as many of them as possible during 2013, leaving, hopefully, only a few to main. Instead, this year, we’re sending those of you who joined our list after the beginning years one of the earlier ornaments, among them a peach and an angel .

I made the peach in 1984 when we lived in Stone Mountain, Georgia. Monte was in his second year of seminary study at Candler Theology School (Emory University). As you know, Georgia is all about peach (and dogwood). The peach symbolizes God’s bounty provided for us.
The angel is designed as a paper doll. Angels play a significant role in the Christian story—for example, an angel appeared to Joseph, telling him to stay with Mary.

MONTE: This year I helped my brother Elwin, 91, maintain around-the-clock personal care workers. On February 25th he fell and broke his hip. Since I held his medical power of attorney Carolyn and I rushed to his hospital bedside in Syracuse. When Elwin died March 4th we went to Northern New York for two weeks, where we dealt with his affairs. As executor of his estate we returned in May for four weeks for Elwin’s committal service, an auction, the sale of his house and a family reunion. It was good to get together with many of the family.
In April I finished a thirty-square roofing job on our Slippery Rock apartment building. In June we spent a week with Nolan’s family at Lakeside, Ohio. In late September I took a trip with a friend to Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Churchill Downs, and a Secretariat festival in Paris, Kentucky. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to visit these well-known places. At Indy I met Donald Davidson, long-time radio broadcaster with the Indy 500. I got his autograph, which is special. In September I placed third in a pie contest with an apple-rhubarb pie topped with meringue.
October came. I finished putting the new roof on our Laurel Mountain Borough home. Sandy and I went to the Northwestern-Penn State game at State College, and at the pre-game tailgate feast Sandy took my picture with the President of Northwestern University, my alma mater.
A post-Thanksgiving Friday highlight was attending Ligonier’s light-up night. Jordan, a twirler, marched with the band, while Sandy, Michael, Nolan, Tammy, Vince, Marcus, and I watched (Carolyn, not feeling well, didn’t go with us). When Vince and Marcus joined two caroler statues in the park, thus forming a quartet, a newspaper photographer caught their image and it was published that week. It was a much better quality photograph than the one taken by us.

        

As a member of the Borough Council I’ve worked hard on road maintenance. I’ve preached about once a month at an assisted-living facility and filled in occasionally at Bethlen Home in Ligonier.

A white Christmas scene at our house

CAROLYN: For me, the year began with a three-month to-do list: learn to use E-bay; WRITE my novel, empty boxes we had stored in Sandy’s attic when we moved here in 2003 (which filled my living room in mid-January).
It was a doable plateful for the snowed/cold-in months. I stayed on schedule until…life happened.

 IT’S A GIRL!
Last year’s news, you say? Yes…and this year’s news too, I answer.

At the end of January I noticed an excessive number of hits on several of my writing blog posts—posts about my mother that wouldn’t usually be visited. I told Monte something was going on. He replied that someone might be doing a research project. On my Mother’ memorial service? I responded. Unlikely.
On February 5th I was contacted, via a blog comment, by a second sister my mother released for adoption. Now I can safely say that all my mother’s nine children are accounted for. In one year I’ve gained two sisters, two brother’s-in-law, four nephews, and one niece.
While Darlene (who contacted me the same way in January 2011) was born on December 2, 1953, P.’s birthday is December 30, 1948. She lives a distance south of us, but when she visited her northern mother-in-law in August she and her husband stopped by for an evening visit. (I won’t elaborate—further information is on CAROLYN’S COMPOSITIONS in the ADOPTION category, )
In May we moved into Elwin Holland’s home in Heuvelton, New York, where we worked hard preparing the house for market and its contents for auction. The local

Sancta Lucia: Swedish Christmas Tradition with Italian Roots

CAROLYN’S COMPOSITIONS
SANCTA LUCIA:
SWEDISH CHRISTMAS TRADITION WITH ITALIAN ROOTS

In 2004 my husband Monte, a Swedish friend Roy, and visited the Church of the Savior in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, to attend a Sancta Lucia celebration. My heritage is one-fourth Swedish—my paternal grandmother, Ida Victoria Berg Cornell, was a Swedish immigrant.

Before reading about Sancta Lucia try to answer the following questions about the December 13th Swedish celebration:

• The Sancta Lucia celebration is rooted in what country?
• Lucia was born into a poor peasant family in Sweden. T F
• Lucia married into a Pagan family. T F
• The Sancta Lucia celebration isn’t a major Christian event in Sweden. T F
• Found guilty of treason, Lucia was sentenced to a life of servitude and _______________.
• Lucia remained a virgin in the tradition of St. Agatha. T F
• At _____ a. m. On December 13th the (youngest – oldest) daughter in a household, places a wreath containing lit candles on her head, awakens her family members, and serves them Lucia buns.

December 13 is Sancta Lucia Day in Sweden. Its roots—both sacred and secular—can be traced through Swedish history and medieval custom to the 4th century martyrdom of a Sicilian virgin named Lucia.
For the ceremony, the eldest daughter of a household rises in the wee morning hours and dons a white dress (for purity) with a red tie (for martyred blood). In the kitchen she fills trays with Lucia buns (saffron cookies), ginger cookies and glogg (all representing deliverance from hunger). At two a. m. she places a wreath made from