Tutorial: Yardwork, With Kids

Before we start, I want to announce the winner of last week's giveaway for a LoLo Craft apron. Congratulations....

TheAngelForever!

I've sent you an e-mail - if you can send along your snail mail address, I'll get your apron out to you.

Thanks, everyone, for your congratulations and for your great Yea Me ideas last Friday. I can't TELL you how nice it is to have finally reached my wedding weight again (woot!) and to NOT have a Fitness Friday post.

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With the advent of fall comes all sorts of lovely things - pies, holiday parties, big woolly sweaters and vibrant leaves.

And with the advent of lovely, vibrant fall leaves...comes the falling of those lovely leaves. *sigh*

And the raking.

In the spirit of the Season (doesn't Fall inspire sharing?) I thought I would present a short tutorial today, on the fine art of raking leaves.

Consider it my Autumn Gift to you.

You're welcome.

Step 1: Take a cue from the lovely Snow White and enlist the help of any woodland creatures and dwarfs you can round up. (Come on - you don't really think she could clean up that dirty ol' dwarf cottage without her chipmunk friends, right?)

Step 2: On second thought, dwarfs aren't much good at cleaning. They really excel at the Making of Messes. Distract your dwarf at the bottom of a leaf covered hill with a few leaves. Sneak away when he's not looking, and - going back and forth the hill like a typewriter - rake all the leaves down the hill.

Step 3: Giggle at the size of the dwarf's eyes when he sees a mountain of leaves rolling down the hill towards him, roughly 11.2758 times his size. Curse your luck at not being blessed with an extra set of arms to use to take a picture of the funny face.

Step 4: Go find your woodland creatures. They're short, and wouldn't have been much help at the typewritering of the lawn anyhow. Arm your woodland creatures (or woodland fairy, as the case may be) with a rake and the directions "get 'em down the hill!" (Incidentally, I've come to the conclusion that leaves should only be allowed to fall on hills - the cleanup really is much more fun that way. Who's with me?)

Pushing works well...

....as does pulling.

Step 5: Wonder how long it's going to take the woodland fairy to move that pile down the rest of the driveway - it's hard work lugging this camera around and taking pictures!

Step 6: Call your woodland creatures (or fairy) back to you when you realize that the Pile of Leaves is nearing Bigger Than Them status. (This is the point where you put the camera down and grab a rake for yourself.)

Step 7: Find a convenient corner of the yard (or the yard of an abandoned/condemned neighbor house...whatever) and leave the leaves there. They'll decompose, right? Mulch and all that...

Step 8: Reward your woodland fairy with a great shot to remember the afternoon by - fairies are such vain creatures.

( Heh...fairies have such -interesting- fashion sense, don't they?)

PS - the tutu was a gift from the fabulous Wonder Woman/Myrnie, and that funny little clip in her hair is the prototype of my new Winter lineup for the shop. I have a little pile of them done in the workroom (including some ADORABLE little bowties for the boys!) but can't seem to get my act together to actually get them through Hair/Makeup/Photoshoot and into the shop. Harumph. I think I need more woodland creatures.