As crazy as life gets these days, its so nice to know that some things in our week our constant.  Grateful to join friends to play and learn together on Tuesdays!

Have you ever read Patricia MacLachlan’s All the Places to Love?  It is simply precious.  The paintings by Mike Wimmer really bring the message of this book to life. The story is about a beloved child, Eli, his lovely family, and the sharing of their favorite places with him: the field, the river, the hills where they pick blueberries…  Later Eli’s sister, Sylvie  is born and he is anxious to share with her all the places to love. 

I fell in love with the story long before we moved to the Heber Valley, though I see so many similarities within the paintings.  No matter where you live, or who you live with, having special places to share special moments and memories truly make life beautiful.  It is easy to feel the love we have for one another and share that love with others as well.

After reading this lovely story and sharing as we read, large recycled engineering plans were pulled out, along with some of our favorite art mediums: art sticks and junior oil pastels.

The kiddos chose a favorite place that they love to illustrate:

The dancer, explorer, and I were illustrating our garden box, and later the dancer needed to have the condo itself in the scene.  So happy that it is a favorite place for her now. 🙂

Zach drew the nearby mountains, river, and new boat his Great Grandpa Probst helped him build…what a great memory for him to have!  Oh, and when I asked if I could take a photo, it was his idea to display it on the wall…so cute.  🙂

The builder chose a rainbow.  He enjoyed the colors and had me tear around the rainbow per his request. 

Cassandra wanted to draw her home in Alabama with her best friend who lived nearby: Lindsey, I think.  She and Holly loved having their big sis Caroline with them today.

I was impressed with how long the kiddos enjoyed their drawings, and we laughed as we noticed the boys ready to go outside, while it was the girls who could have drawn longer!

What are your favorite places?  Do you already share them with loved ones?